r/QuittingWeed

so i (18F) decided to quit weed 21 days ago after 2 years of smoking because i started developing what i believed to be CHS (cannibanoid hypermesis syndrome) and its been so difficult.

i havent had severe cravings because i miss the weed, but i miss the way it made me feel. i miss not overthinking about everything, not feeling sad all the time, not having that outlet that i could always rely on to help my brain just stop. and i dont know what to do.

i also would smoke with my mom just one on one and now my brother and sister smoke with my mom without me and its really saddening to feel so left out, especially that they started right after i stopped. i really dont want to smoke again, but part of me wants to just to rebuild that connection and of course make my brain fucking stop. but i really really dont want to.

i genuinely just feel so alone and sad all the time and like no one understands how hard this is right now. anyone else here experience something similar? even with just the overwhelming sadness all the time?

Been smoking weed in the evenings consistently since I was 19. Mostly bud out of pipes or joints.

In high school I could put in minimal effort and get solid results. I was considered a “high achiever” because things came to me easily. I was able to get a good scholarship to the college I wanted to go to, and graduated high school in 2020. I ended up taking a gap year at home because of covid that year. That’s when I started smoking. I got pretty hooked over that year because there was nothing to do.

I ended up going to college the following year and I was still able to do the same thing. Minimal effort, solid results. All the while, I was smoking every day, sometimes in the middle of the day, alone. Missed out on parts of my college experience by smoking it away.

Ended up graduating, finding a good job in my home city, and moved into my own rental house last year. All the while, I’ve been feeling astonished with my age. I couldn’t believe I was 22, 23, then 24, now 25. I still felt like I was 19. I would even tell people about it jokingly. I thought it was just because of the covid era and my gap year. I’m realizing now that it’s more than that.

Now that I’m 25, I can feel the long term effects and it’s seriously concerning. I can’t remember things, my critical thinking feels slow and off, I stutter talking, I can’t focus, I feel like I’m not the same person I used to be. Living alone doesn’t help because I’ve allowed smoking to consume my life after work. I’ve been rushing home as quickly as possible to take that hit and sit on the couch for the rest of the day.

In theory I’ve checked all the boxes. Graduated college, got a good job, living on my own, paying for everything on my own, etc. But lately it’s all been feeling very empty. I think it’s time I address the elephant in the room for good.

Over the past year I have tired to quit a handful of times, each time caving in after a week or so. I want it to be for good this time. I want to never smoke again so I can regain control of my life. I’m hoping this self-reflection will help me find the right path, and I hope it may resonate with some of you. Sorry for the rambling, but I think putting this all out there for strangers to see will help me in my recovery.

Been smoking again for about a 2 weeks
I’ve quit multiple times but the longest since 2017 has been recently with 8 months before picking it up again two weeks ago

There’s nothing here guys, really
We’re better off without it… emptiness crept in real quick

I gotta stop

Quitting was the absolute best decision I’ve made.
Since I stopped I immediately picked up going to the gym and for 6 months straight I’ve been in the gym 6 days a week. I feel ambitious again and I feel like I have control. What I found that helped me the most when I had cravings funny as it sounds was to order a good meal on door dash then throw on a movie. Obviously the gym helps tremendously also. 6 months in I still have cravings I’m not sure if they ever go away but I just know it’s not worth it so I haven’t folded yet. I highly suggest everyone to put it down you’re wasting away life getting high. I smoked 12 years straight everyday and I can honestly say I don’t remember much of my 20s because of it. This summer has been the most I’ve been outside and it’s because of quitting. Just wish I would’ve done this sooner but can’t look back only looking forward to

I’m four days clean after smoking everyday for 8years straight and it really is the damn weed. I feel so alive, I can smell things so well, I’m not anxious 24/7 or in my head constantly. No spiralling thoughts that I can’t shut up.

I'm now 3 almost 4 weeks without weed. The abstinence symptoms aren't that bad, I sleep fine, my appetite is back to normal and I don't really crave it all that much.

The boredom however, that shit is kinda killing me. I mean, I work out regularly, I do have plenty of hobbies, and I'm not really experiencing the whole "I need weed to enjoy doing things" symptom a lot of people go through.

But it's still horrible. I have severe ADHD, so boredom is something I'm shit at coping with in general, and weed sorta worked as a coping mechanism for that.

There's just too many hours in a day, and especially in the evenings the monotony drives me insane. Doing stuff like watching series, playing video games and such is far from enough to dampen it.

What do you guys do to deal with it?

Over the past 3 or 4 days I’ve been attempting to quit smoking and vaping entirely, but i bought nicotine pouches and edibles thinking they would help but all they’re doing is resetting my progress. if anybody knows a efficient way to deal with the temptation please let me know. any help is appreciated

Hi everyone! First time posting here :)

I am 27 and have been smoking weed daily since i was 14. Im at a point in my life where smoking is becoming a chore, i don’t want to constantly have that fuzzy haze over my whole life, I’m gonna be going back to school and want to really focus on my education, getting stoned every day at my big age is just starting to not fit in with my goals for my future.

I decided to quit once I finished the ounce I’m on. Im currently on my last grinder so I just was hoping for some tips on how to manage my first few weeks without it. Since I’ve been a heavy user for over a decade, I’m worried about possible withdrawal symptoms and changes in my mood. What did you guys do to get yourself through it, and how long should I expect to feel off?

Thx in advance <3

Every time I try and quit the withdrawals are awful during the night to the point where I relapse just for the sake of sleeping. The insomnia often keeps me up for the entire night, and if I do manage to sleep I only have vivid nightmares. I have consistent hot/cold sweats asleep and have to change often in the middle of the night. I either wake up sleep deprived or depressed from the bad dreams. Everything else about quitting feels good to me, I just can’t get past this. The longest I made it was about 1.5 months and it never got better. Anyone have suggestions? (Plz no meditation or screen time hocus pocus, i just need something that helps during the difficult period so that I have a better chance at being able to do this :/

Broke a sobriety streak with 2 hits of a joint that I bought due to stress and then I immediately realized I didn’t want it and threw it out. I have never done that before.

Should I reset my clock? It hasn’t been super long but I barely felt anything and definitely didn’t emotionally numb.

So tired of this stupid drug. That is all.

I really want to quit it now. I miss reality. And, the prospect of growth. It’s taken me away from the person I used to be and no wonder I have insecurities and under confidence now. I’m living in imposter syndrome because of the things this doing to me and it took me so long to admit it. Maybe because it was not always like this. Now it’s not even fun. It’s not even making me happy or laugh out loud. It’s just compulsion I use to feel like I’m doing something, or to delude myself into thinking “now I feel normal”. It’s adding nothing to my life and taking away everything. I think this time I’m done. I can no longer see a future where I can continue doing this and be the person I want to be or have imagined myself being. It’s ruining my dating life, my social life and my relations with my family. I HATE it. But I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s the normalcy I have. I thinking just thinking for myself and maturing. That’s the way to go

Although I realize that this Sub is primarily dedicated to those looking to, in the process of, or having already quit weed. It feels like the best place I may be able to share this.

I can't lie and say that I'm completely done: as I still will smoke if there's a joint getting passed or someone offers to. But the constant habitual use/always having some on hand is over with for the foreseeable future, maybe even forever.

It's been over a month now since I finished the last of what I had & decided to not pickup anymore. The mental part was surprisingly easy, as I quickly realized that I was just very used to to having it as part of my routine, not that I was chasing a high.

There were some withdrawal-like symptoms for the first several days & that's since passed, but man do I miss being able to sleep. I now have to basically exaust myself to even be able to fall asleep - and haven't been getting more than 5 hours a night since stopping; as once I wake up, it's over with. Can't even take naps anymore if I wanted to. This alone has me wanting to keep it going, as I'm not happy I allowed my body to develop such physical dependency without consciously realizing. I'm trying to get my body back to a normal sleep routine before I begin looking into additonal sleep aids to crutch me through this.

Aside that: the worst part is the deep depression I'm now battling from realizing how much of my life & time I wasted just smoking weed and how oblivious I was to the damage I was doing. I take full ownership of that & won't blame the weed. But in hindsight, I can now see how surely it wasn't helping anything; and at the very least should have managed the habit better, if not allowing it to become one at all. The "man, what the fuck was I doing" feelings are hitting like a freight train.

I'm 31 now, & although sure it's still "young" in a sense with lots of time left: it's extremely saddening to realize my entire youth & 20's were basically spent being high, stagnant, & in isolation - essentially doing nothing with my life; and it's been very rough to sit with that reality.

It never got in the way of my work or ability to hold a job, but fuck, I know I could've done so much more for myself and with my life in that time. Feels like there's a massive chunk of my life that will forever be missing & although I'm making important changes now, I can never get that pivotal time back. I feel behind as hell and like I massively stunted my personal development in all areas especially socially and career-wise. Better late than never I suppose, but I'll probably carry a lot of guilt, shame, & self resentment over this for a while.

Someone asked me about my life story the other day and I think I did everything to avoid answering out of shame as to me it feels there really isn't much to talk about. There's almost no good stories to share, trips to talk about, or good times to look back on - just a bunch of regret. I made such a mess of my life and now have an enormous amount of work ahead of me. I threw away a lot of time and what could have been good opportunities & I'm not sure I'll ever fully understand why it took this long to snap out of it.

Seeing how easy it was for me to essentially go cold turkey after over a decade of regular use just further amplifies these feelings because why couldn't I have done that sooner, or just had better habit control. I wouldn't even say I was "addicted." The habit was just so baked into my routine (no pun intended) that I was never fully sober enough and failed to realize it was doing far more harm than any of the benefits, if there even were any.

None of this was meant to be anti-weed, as everyone manages differently and I otherwise have no issues with it overall. Sure I suppose it could have been worse if it were harder drugs, and I don't mean to make light of those going through those situations; but it still feels all the same.

I realize that most of this is still fixable to a degree, that it's not the end of the world or my life - it's just saddening knowing how much harder I've made things for myself for no reason, along with all the time I robbed from myself.

I'm probably being a little hard on myself, and maybe this is just all a bunch of negative self-talk and "living in the past," but I need to be honest and accountable with myself. It's been extremely eye-opening to really sit and realize how damn foolish I was allowing myself to be on autopilot for so long. Smoked a little J with my brother about a week ago, and instead of relaxation, all I could feel was anger at myself that I went through so much of life constantly sedated and unpresent.

Although the change is surely for the better, It's been hard to be proud of myself yet. Feels like I spent the past 10+ years in some sort of self-imprisomment and didn't even attempt to break out - I think that's the hardest pill to swallow. Hoping I'll get through these feelings eventually and can climb out of the mental rut sooner than later.

I'm sorry if this was too drawn out, repetitive, and ended up turning into rambling - but I feel I needed to let this out somewhere.

Thanks for anyone who took the time to read & offer positive encouragement. Props to anyone who's trying to change for the better whether that be with weed or anything else.

I quit smoking weed back in late June and I’ve been having a really hard time . I used to do it all day long and it would take up all my free time . I’ve noticed that when I really want to smoke instead of smoking I get drunk instead. I don’t want to get drunk as often as I used to smoke bc if I did I would be an alcoholic. Should I get a nic free vape to try and replace smoking weed ?

Was going to post this in r/leaves but their mod rules are absurd.

TLDR - Taper on Tincture!

1. 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.
2. 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 !
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

Every single person on my dad's side of the family has some kind of anger managment undiagnosed mental illness. Trust me, u have never seen a ground of more spiteful and hateful people, to the point were it is a legit mental illness, really hard to expline to people, short fuse over everything.

Im realizing I have the same mental illness. Im so mad. I would spend like half an hour wrong to catch a fly in my house so I can release it and now I am wholeheartedly planning on killing the squirrel that ate my grapes this year, which sent me into such a fit of rage when I found out just now that I had to go lie down. This isnt weed withdrawl, its mental illness that was suppressed by weed. I really dont want to turn into my dad and i definitely will never get that bad if I tried but I think I might just go arpund being mean to people around me.

Dear u/paperlevel. First off, thank you very much for creating this subreddit. Very appreciated. Definitely not complaining. Thank you.

13 days ago I posted this, requesting the possibility of getting a weed sobriety day counter like stopdrinking and stopsmoking have. It looks like it is automatic through u/badgebot, and wound not require ongong work for you.

I tried sending you a direct chat message, but it looks like that is not possible. So I am asking again.

Thank you and have a great day.

26 days out. Really want too. Ugh

I'm 29, been a heavy weed smoker since my 21st birthday. These last 28 hours have been hell.

For the last month or so I've been dealing with the morning nausea - usually a hit of my dab pen and it'll go away no issues. Yesterday I woke up nauseous and just knew if I smoked, this would only continue.

I've had this happen back in 2020 - I did go to the ER and was given fluids and a muscle relaxer, so this time around I thought id spare myself the $5000 bill and see it through from home.

I've never experienced pain or exhaustion like this. This has to be my final wakeup call for quitting. I've been wanting to for years but just could never beat the cravings with how readily available it is.

If you're experiencing CHS symptoms- don't wait until you're incapacitated and experiencing this kind of pain. Just quit. It's not worth it.

I’m 18 and I’ve been smoking weed for the last 2 years basically all day long every day. I know that it’s time to quit because i feel nauseous or dizzy all day long, and I have basically zero short term memory. I almost feel like I am in a constant zoned out state where I can’t really focus my eyes on anything. I’m only a little more than a day in and now I just don’t know what’s normal. please I just need someone to tell me if this is normal, and what I can do to “fix” my brain.

Going to try to quit for a year if I can, if anyone is quitting starting tomorrow and wants to team up? Haha been smoking almost daily for 8 years and looking to stop to see if my life improves. Looking like it will be hard to resist, but I am planning on starting tomorrow morning. Going to cover my last vape with coffee grounds tonight!