What actually helped me quit after 15 years daily use. Posting to help others quit or moderate after finally getting success
Was going to post this in r/leaves but their mod rules are absurd.
TLDR - Taper on Tincture!
- Changing the use from smoking to edibles to moderate consumption. It’s important to break the oral fixation component. Gummies work but don’t hit fast enough I recommend droppers/ tinctures to replace the smoking.
- TAPER, TAPER, TAPER! Once you’re totally on tinctures slowly reduce usage over time. It’s very hard to taper with regular pot. I tried going cold turkey several times and would relapse because I had severe withdrawals. I had such bad insomnia, nightmares, and irritability it was hard to fit my life (I have demanding job and family). Tapering works. Takes longer but also after trying to quit many times it’s what made it stick. By the end of taper I was using a tiny fraction of a 1:1 THC CBD dropper, about 1mg per night. Only minor withdrawals after going to zero from there. Again this is after many years of using heavily so I had to work my way down to this amount. Needs to be repeated - Taper on tinctures !
- To help w the oral fixation get a CBD only vape. Eventually get rid of this too but helped me a lot early on. When I really was struggling to not use especially after getting to zero mgs, a cigar helped. I don’t use nicotine so wasn’t worried about getting addicted to it. Would get a huge head rush and feel sick but would satiate the repetitive urge to smoke a joint.
- Supplements - when going to bed while tapering to replace the decompression habit of blazing - magnesium glycinate, L-Theanine, high quality ashwaganda and CBD. I think melatonin has too many side effects personally. Having a nice cup of tea at night also helped me.
- Exercise - No need to go on a crazy workout plan, but the more steps the easier to sleep while quitting. Lifting weights REALLY helped the most. Yoga and breathing also really good.
- Wildcard advice- going on vacation helps. Can drink all the time (helps withdrawals) and you’re getting dopamine from the travel. The sleep issues are bundled with jet lag so less noticeable. If you’re not on vacation don’t recommend drinking bec hangovers can be a trigger. It could be a good way to kick start a cold turkey is all I’m saying.
- Self talk - don’t tell your addict brain you’re never smoking again, in my experience it led to a panic that would lead me to use. Just say we’re not smoking TODAY. One day at a time eventually it gets easier. First week is the hardest. With taper method it’s extremely manageable. Don’t shame yourself, a lot of guilt will come up as you unwind usage. Just focus on the positives.
I recognize this is not the most scientific, healthiest, or “pure” method. Just offering the most effective way to handle it in my experience after trying several times.
I guarantee using taper method with tincture is easier than going cold turkey, and subsequently quitting the tincture is easier than quitting smoking. At the very least you’re doing a massive harm reduction by getting off of smoking vs the drops.
Background -
Started smoking as a kid and never looked back. I have ADHD and was in a band, I loved it. I used joints, blunts, carts, edibles, spliffs, bowls, you name it. Weed didn’t ruin my life but it’s slightly better without it. Decided to quit because I went a few days without and felt like garbage and realized how addicted I was. Couldn’t stop. Bad withdrawals. Opened my eyes to how bad it was. Then I looked into the negative impacts on my heart and brain health and scared myself into committing to it. Took me 6 months of on and off quitting, was only successful once I did the taper method. That took about 3 weeks of taper and one week of abstinence to kick it.