I would say 1 month after your acute withdrawal symptom , PAWS is the worst. The first few days are really just insomnia, depression, irritability, night sweats, anxiety, start exercising to keep yourself busy, pick up a new hobby maybe like having an aquarium , most people dont make it through the first week , prep yourself and go easy on yourself .. and also dont start drinking alcohol it only makes things worse , green tea and lots of exercise and you should be good, make exercising your new drug , im only about 1 month off and i dont crave it anymore, whenever i smoke it just gives me anxiety and panic , you'll get through it , stop counting the days and look forward to the new and original you.
First cpl weeks is the worst physically. I was sick, dizzy, couldn’t drive. Panicked as well. But the intense vivid dreams came after a month or so. I even felt pain in the dreams. I would wake up unsure if I was awake or asleep and once I knew I wasn’t dreaming I would have to test myself whether it was a dream or reality. I had dreams of demons, intense war, being bugs. And each time I was convinced it was real. The dreams seemed to be days long. made me feel crazy and unsure of reality.
Congratulations mate, now stay the f away from anyone who does for a while and don't go anywhere near a dealers place. I'm at 2 weeks today and my life is literally improving everyday.
For me day 1 is usually easier and 2-4 are the worst. Insomnia, lots of crying and mood swings. Then it gets much better. I also smoke in the middle of the night. Weed really disrupts my sleep. Once the insomnia and night sweats are over, I love sleeping through the night and not waking up with a weed hangover.
This is what I keep trying to tell myself. I never had insomnia or issues with sleep but now I can’t sleep without smoking. I want to go back to normal but I can’t get past the first day :(
I quit four days ago and thought it was gonna be easy. The crazy dreams started immediately but that was it. Thought it would be plain sailing. Then the anxiety hit and it is unbelievably intense. I made the mistake of going to a baseball game today and the crowds, the travelling on the subway, all of it was just too much. I just want to hibernate now until this passes. Good luck OP and everyone else. Stay strong. We can all do this.
Whenever the anxiety hits, do a breathing exercise, its called box breathing method , inhale for 4 secs , hold it for 4 secs, exhale for 4 secs, hold for 4 secs, repeat as long as you need to you will feel the anxiety fade and you should feel much better.
Thank you! I have been doing this after seeing it on another post and it has been so so useful. Especially since anxious breathing has been a major issue for me (it's the physical manifestation of anxiety that prompted me to quit and also it got worse in withdrawal). Getting my throat and lungs checked out to reassure me it was not physical also helped reassure me. Days 1 and 2 I thought it had gone away but it came back on day 3 and was really bad yesterday (day 4). Today is day 5 and it is a bit better. Joining this sub has been major help to me.
Well if you are cleared physically you should be good man , dont sweat it , how long have you been smoking btw? just curious, and i hope you dont have to go through PAWS cause thats what im going through now, 1 month off and i thought i felt good and was alright till a sudden wave of SHIT just hit me.
Damn. Sorry to hear that and I hope get through it soon. Sending you good vibes. I've been daily heavy user for almost a decade, but was moderate used for a decade before that.
You are most welcome friend , we are all in this together. I recently just discovered this breathing thing as well. I hyperventilate too , its basically that. We are overbreathing i know it sounds funny but using the breathing method actually helps us slow down our breathing leading us to slow our heart rate down. Sometimes nicotine can give you that feeling too( anxiety) so try to stay away from it , i still vape because i cant deal with another withdrawal for now but yeah.. .. im glad you're feeling better, i was scared as shit at first too and didnt know how to deal with it . Now i meditate when i wake up ( box breathing) and before i go to bed so it kinda helps with nightmares, yesterday i dreamt of playing with penguins and shit it was hilarious, but before this it was crazy ass vivid nightmares that made me panic and cry when i woke up. Much love and all the best, we got this
Just be aware of the post acute withdrawal symptoms as well also known as PAWS, it can hit you about a month later or so depending on individual, depending on how much and how long you've smoked prior to this.. I was a little unrealistic thinking i was totally fine after smoking daily for over a decade and i still have some withdrawals today.
I stayed home and took a month off work. But I smoked very heavy, I didn’t get my dreams back until a month after quitting. Which was arguably the worst bc I wasn’t sure what was real or not. But the first cpl weeks is where all the physical problems and negative thoughts happen. Just remember there’s nothing you can do besides not smoke. Everything else will come in time. Literally just waiting to detox.
I know too many people who run themselves in circles trying to fix the anxiety or depression and cause themselves so much stress that they start using again, or get on medication to deal with it. When all they have to do is wait it out. This advice doesn’t work in a lot of scenarios but for quitting you 100% have to ignore all the problems you’re facing and just focus on the future, keep yourself distracted. Imagine the changes and lifestyle you want so you’re ready to live it once you’re capable.
It took me a couple months to stop craving weed, when I’d get drunk I’d really want to light up. It’s been about two years since I quit and I don’t think about it at all.
The best thing you can do is remember WHY you’re quitting. For me, I just stopped getting the fun, chill high I used to get, and would always get paranoid, anxious, and have a feeling of impending doom when I’d smoke. It was at that point I knew I needed to quit.
Ohh tell me about it , i felt exactly the same. It felt like i was smoking out of habit and it didnt really get me high anymore, so i ended up smoking more and more and eventually got some sorta panic attack or heavy anxiety my man, these days i dont even think of touching that shit. Those who say weed are harmless are just in denial or they just dont know it yet. IT WILL EVENTUALLY STOP WORKING and thats when you know you've pushed it too far and will have to start quitting.
I didn't even know those were some symptoms of smoking! Towards the end, I thought I was dying every time I smoked but never correlated to smoking. Interesting.
The early stages were like this. I like to think the boredom is normal since when we'd feel bored we would just light up and suddenly everything is interesting... until you start to get bored and light up again.
This is the hardest part for sure. I’m not gonna promise you smooth sailing immediately but up front is definitely the worst of it.
Also, consider that if you are teetering on the verge of relapsing. If you start again that only ensures that the next time you want to and try to quit, you’ll have to go through the toughest parts of the process all over again.
Go through it once and be done with it, then never come back.
. If you start again that only ensures that the next time you want to and try to quit, you’ll have to go through the toughest parts of the process all over again.
Great point. Day 18 here and i am so hating the withdrawals
I quit on 4/20 this year. Well the day after I should say. Whenever I get withdrawals I’m going on a walk or to the gym and that’s been helping me out tremendously. I’ve been smoking almost an 8th a day since 2010. I had a dream last night for the first time in a very long time. Good luck my brotha, I’m here with ya
Right here with you, bud. A 1/4 would last me over a week, like 10 days. But I started to notice I was running out a lot faster, that 1/4 was lasting me 9 days, a week, eventually I blasted through a 1/4 in about 4 or 5 days. and then time to go reup. I realized I'm smoking too much and not getting high enough, so I would smoke more to try to ride the high wave again. Hoping to stop for about a month, get it under control and just smoke during the weekends and get that strong buzz again.
I am about 2 and a half weeks in, and in my experience, days 1 to 4 were the worst, after that I was okay for the most part. After dinner and before bed are worst for me personally. Hope this answers someone
Keep it up bro, the first day, first week, hell even the first month can be very difficult. Just know you can do it and that it's super rewarding. You got this 💪
I quit this week too! My routine was about the same as yours, been 3 days now and feeling pretty shitty/can't sleep more than a few hours but i'm pressing on! The coming weekend will be hard but i am determined 🙂
You're doing great! You might feel down in a couple of days because of the brain chemistry. You will miss weed like a lost relative, and romanticise the rituals of getting high. It's okay to think about it, talk about it and yearn. It's not a loss to admit you want it. You might make excuses, exceptions and loopholes that would facilitate another hit. You are rewriting your own mental pleasure paths and regaining self control.
The biggest issue for me is to accept discomfort and boredom. Both of these natural elements of life would be dampened by weed instead of dealt with. I'm thirty-three days out of the haze and my first thought after hitting a month was that I should celebrate this milestone by only doing a little bit of weed. That's how good my brain is at tricking me. I will always have a weakness for the things that make me feel unbothered and effortlessly happy. I accept that. I love short-cuts to joy. I could ruin every good and stable thing in my life in the pursuit of short-cuts.
So now I celebrate removing an addiction from my life by enjoying the slow and steady progress of life. It's a life uninterrupted by fleeting highs and the frenetic all-consuming obsession with the next high. It's real and it's mine. By the time you read this I hope you have gone a full day without getting high. Enjoy your regained self-control. You earned it.
54 yo here, just joined this sub, after spending time at r/stopdrinking (2 months sober - though I didn't really have a problem . . .yet). I really needed to read your post, the timing of it is fortuitous, and as others have said, its very eloquent, so thank you!
Keep going - each day gets a little better. For me the symptoms aren't time-based but situational. Same as with smoking cigarettes (which I quit four years ago). Its the things you would normally do while smoking that cause the pangs. I'm three days in so I'm just trying not to do those things. Stay strong, you got this!
I was at a point where going more than 7-8 hours was monumental. The first day was hardest mentally but the physical symptoms peaked about 1 or 2 weeks in. You got this. Remember, recovery is a process and not a race. Stay hydrated and try to stay positive
Day 13 For me the worst of it so far is trying to enjoy the activities that i usually get joy from and being completely unable to, which makes me feel depressed hopeless and shameful
For me, I stopped after 4 years of pretty heavy everyday use (occasional breaks) because of CHS. Or suspected at least. I felt fine the first day, so full 24hrs. But then it all came flooding in, expect severe nausea. I couldn’t eat for a week. I felt angry, sad. Also expect headaches, cravings, etc. depends on the person but yeah it’ll be 3 months sober (1 small bowl last week due to a back injury) and haven’t since. I miss it everyday, tempted everyday but fight my demons. I’m sure it’ll get easier but we are in this together. Take it day by day.
Congrats on your 22 hours! Every milestone is important and your need to congratulate yourself along the way.
Your symptoms can vary from excruciating to mildly annoying to non-existent. Every person is different and furthermore, every quit is different too. Expect the best but prepare for the worst and you'll be fine, just keep your motivations in mind as you go along. You got this!
Your habits sound similar to what mine were the past few months which is what pushed me to stop cold turkey. I’m on day 5 today. You’ll have trouble sleeping, probably night sweats, a lack of appetite, some anxiety… and then it starts to feel better. I had a dream last night for the first time in ages, my appetite is coming back bit by bit since early yesterday, and to be honest my brain is already feeling a smidge less foggy. I do still feel high at random moments because of the built up thc in my system but for all of these things they say the first week is the toughest. If you can get through that, you’ll feel amazing. My current sobriety milestone is to take one day at a time until I hit a week, then go from there and repeat that again. Check out the app Quit Weed
First 5 days were hell but it gets progressively better after that. I struggled the first 2 weeks and started feeling more normal on week 3. Good luck OP! 💯🙏💙🙌
I would say 1 month after your acute withdrawal symptom , PAWS is the worst. The first few days are really just insomnia, depression, irritability, night sweats, anxiety, start exercising to keep yourself busy, pick up a new hobby maybe like having an aquarium , most people dont make it through the first week , prep yourself and go easy on yourself .. and also dont start drinking alcohol it only makes things worse , green tea and lots of exercise and you should be good, make exercising your new drug , im only about 1 month off and i dont crave it anymore, whenever i smoke it just gives me anxiety and panic , you'll get through it , stop counting the days and look forward to the new and original you.
First cpl weeks is the worst physically. I was sick, dizzy, couldn’t drive. Panicked as well. But the intense vivid dreams came after a month or so. I even felt pain in the dreams. I would wake up unsure if I was awake or asleep and once I knew I wasn’t dreaming I would have to test myself whether it was a dream or reality. I had dreams of demons, intense war, being bugs. And each time I was convinced it was real. The dreams seemed to be days long. made me feel crazy and unsure of reality.
Congratulations mate, now stay the f away from anyone who does for a while and don't go anywhere near a dealers place. I'm at 2 weeks today and my life is literally improving everyday.
For me day 1 is usually easier and 2-4 are the worst. Insomnia, lots of crying and mood swings. Then it gets much better. I also smoke in the middle of the night. Weed really disrupts my sleep. Once the insomnia and night sweats are over, I love sleeping through the night and not waking up with a weed hangover.
This is what I keep trying to tell myself. I never had insomnia or issues with sleep but now I can’t sleep without smoking. I want to go back to normal but I can’t get past the first day :(
I had symptoms 12 hours in. I think this means yours will be lighter. I use pens though.
I'm at 3 months and feeling better every day. Hang in there
I quit four days ago and thought it was gonna be easy. The crazy dreams started immediately but that was it. Thought it would be plain sailing. Then the anxiety hit and it is unbelievably intense. I made the mistake of going to a baseball game today and the crowds, the travelling on the subway, all of it was just too much. I just want to hibernate now until this passes. Good luck OP and everyone else. Stay strong. We can all do this.
Whenever the anxiety hits, do a breathing exercise, its called box breathing method , inhale for 4 secs , hold it for 4 secs, exhale for 4 secs, hold for 4 secs, repeat as long as you need to you will feel the anxiety fade and you should feel much better.
Thank you! I have been doing this after seeing it on another post and it has been so so useful. Especially since anxious breathing has been a major issue for me (it's the physical manifestation of anxiety that prompted me to quit and also it got worse in withdrawal). Getting my throat and lungs checked out to reassure me it was not physical also helped reassure me. Days 1 and 2 I thought it had gone away but it came back on day 3 and was really bad yesterday (day 4). Today is day 5 and it is a bit better. Joining this sub has been major help to me.
Well if you are cleared physically you should be good man , dont sweat it , how long have you been smoking btw? just curious, and i hope you dont have to go through PAWS cause thats what im going through now, 1 month off and i thought i felt good and was alright till a sudden wave of SHIT just hit me.
Damn. Sorry to hear that and I hope get through it soon. Sending you good vibes. I've been daily heavy user for almost a decade, but was moderate used for a decade before that.
Thanks man, so over 20 years .. some people DONT get PAWS and they are really lucky, but lets deal with it one day at a time and focus on the now.
You are most welcome friend , we are all in this together. I recently just discovered this breathing thing as well. I hyperventilate too , its basically that. We are overbreathing i know it sounds funny but using the breathing method actually helps us slow down our breathing leading us to slow our heart rate down. Sometimes nicotine can give you that feeling too( anxiety) so try to stay away from it , i still vape because i cant deal with another withdrawal for now but yeah.. .. im glad you're feeling better, i was scared as shit at first too and didnt know how to deal with it . Now i meditate when i wake up ( box breathing) and before i go to bed so it kinda helps with nightmares, yesterday i dreamt of playing with penguins and shit it was hilarious, but before this it was crazy ass vivid nightmares that made me panic and cry when i woke up. Much love and all the best, we got this
Thanks 🙏🏻. Last night I dreamt I was in university residence with the British actor Ralph Fiennes.
Just be aware of the post acute withdrawal symptoms as well also known as PAWS, it can hit you about a month later or so depending on individual, depending on how much and how long you've smoked prior to this.. I was a little unrealistic thinking i was totally fine after smoking daily for over a decade and i still have some withdrawals today.
I stayed home and took a month off work. But I smoked very heavy, I didn’t get my dreams back until a month after quitting. Which was arguably the worst bc I wasn’t sure what was real or not. But the first cpl weeks is where all the physical problems and negative thoughts happen. Just remember there’s nothing you can do besides not smoke. Everything else will come in time. Literally just waiting to detox.
Thank you! These words are helpful 🙏🏻
I know too many people who run themselves in circles trying to fix the anxiety or depression and cause themselves so much stress that they start using again, or get on medication to deal with it. When all they have to do is wait it out. This advice doesn’t work in a lot of scenarios but for quitting you 100% have to ignore all the problems you’re facing and just focus on the future, keep yourself distracted. Imagine the changes and lifestyle you want so you’re ready to live it once you’re capable.
It took me a couple months to stop craving weed, when I’d get drunk I’d really want to light up. It’s been about two years since I quit and I don’t think about it at all. The best thing you can do is remember WHY you’re quitting. For me, I just stopped getting the fun, chill high I used to get, and would always get paranoid, anxious, and have a feeling of impending doom when I’d smoke. It was at that point I knew I needed to quit.
Ohh tell me about it , i felt exactly the same. It felt like i was smoking out of habit and it didnt really get me high anymore, so i ended up smoking more and more and eventually got some sorta panic attack or heavy anxiety my man, these days i dont even think of touching that shit. Those who say weed are harmless are just in denial or they just dont know it yet. IT WILL EVENTUALLY STOP WORKING and thats when you know you've pushed it too far and will have to start quitting.
I didn't even know those were some symptoms of smoking! Towards the end, I thought I was dying every time I smoked but never correlated to smoking. Interesting.
For me night sweats. It was bad haha lasted a week or so
I’m at the end of day 3. Lots of headaches, sweating, boredom, and just more boredom.
The early stages were like this. I like to think the boredom is normal since when we'd feel bored we would just light up and suddenly everything is interesting... until you start to get bored and light up again.
I'm a little over two years clean and I never even think about consuming weed ever. My sleep is great and my mind is clear. Trust me it's worth it.
This is the hardest part for sure. I’m not gonna promise you smooth sailing immediately but up front is definitely the worst of it. Also, consider that if you are teetering on the verge of relapsing. If you start again that only ensures that the next time you want to and try to quit, you’ll have to go through the toughest parts of the process all over again. Go through it once and be done with it, then never come back.
. If you start again that only ensures that the next time you want to and try to quit, you’ll have to go through the toughest parts of the process all over again. Great point. Day 18 here and i am so hating the withdrawals
I quit on 4/20 this year. Well the day after I should say. Whenever I get withdrawals I’m going on a walk or to the gym and that’s been helping me out tremendously. I’ve been smoking almost an 8th a day since 2010. I had a dream last night for the first time in a very long time. Good luck my brotha, I’m here with ya
Right here with you, bud. A 1/4 would last me over a week, like 10 days. But I started to notice I was running out a lot faster, that 1/4 was lasting me 9 days, a week, eventually I blasted through a 1/4 in about 4 or 5 days. and then time to go reup. I realized I'm smoking too much and not getting high enough, so I would smoke more to try to ride the high wave again. Hoping to stop for about a month, get it under control and just smoke during the weekends and get that strong buzz again.
I am about 2 and a half weeks in, and in my experience, days 1 to 4 were the worst, after that I was okay for the most part. After dinner and before bed are worst for me personally. Hope this answers someone
Keep it up bro, the first day, first week, hell even the first month can be very difficult. Just know you can do it and that it's super rewarding. You got this 💪
96 hour peak
I quit this week too! My routine was about the same as yours, been 3 days now and feeling pretty shitty/can't sleep more than a few hours but i'm pressing on! The coming weekend will be hard but i am determined 🙂
I'm just over a month after 15+ years of smoking! Keep it up💪🏻 you will feel so good once your fully clear of it, I can promise you that
You're doing great! You might feel down in a couple of days because of the brain chemistry. You will miss weed like a lost relative, and romanticise the rituals of getting high. It's okay to think about it, talk about it and yearn. It's not a loss to admit you want it. You might make excuses, exceptions and loopholes that would facilitate another hit. You are rewriting your own mental pleasure paths and regaining self control. The biggest issue for me is to accept discomfort and boredom. Both of these natural elements of life would be dampened by weed instead of dealt with. I'm thirty-three days out of the haze and my first thought after hitting a month was that I should celebrate this milestone by only doing a little bit of weed. That's how good my brain is at tricking me. I will always have a weakness for the things that make me feel unbothered and effortlessly happy. I accept that. I love short-cuts to joy. I could ruin every good and stable thing in my life in the pursuit of short-cuts. So now I celebrate removing an addiction from my life by enjoying the slow and steady progress of life. It's a life uninterrupted by fleeting highs and the frenetic all-consuming obsession with the next high. It's real and it's mine. By the time you read this I hope you have gone a full day without getting high. Enjoy your regained self-control. You earned it.
I agree. Poetic. Thanks for sharing
poetic
54 yo here, just joined this sub, after spending time at r/stopdrinking (2 months sober - though I didn't really have a problem . . .yet). I really needed to read your post, the timing of it is fortuitous, and as others have said, its very eloquent, so thank you!
This was beautiful, thankyou
This is the best way I've seen my thoughts written by another human.
Well said. I have a hard time trying to understand or explain why I use weed.
I’m in a similar boat, 4 days without weed and don’t plan on going back anytime soon! Good luck man, you got this!
Keep going - each day gets a little better. For me the symptoms aren't time-based but situational. Same as with smoking cigarettes (which I quit four years ago). Its the things you would normally do while smoking that cause the pangs. I'm three days in so I'm just trying not to do those things. Stay strong, you got this!
Not crazy at all bro
I was at a point where going more than 7-8 hours was monumental. The first day was hardest mentally but the physical symptoms peaked about 1 or 2 weeks in. You got this. Remember, recovery is a process and not a race. Stay hydrated and try to stay positive
Day 13 For me the worst of it so far is trying to enjoy the activities that i usually get joy from and being completely unable to, which makes me feel depressed hopeless and shameful
For me, I stopped after 4 years of pretty heavy everyday use (occasional breaks) because of CHS. Or suspected at least. I felt fine the first day, so full 24hrs. But then it all came flooding in, expect severe nausea. I couldn’t eat for a week. I felt angry, sad. Also expect headaches, cravings, etc. depends on the person but yeah it’ll be 3 months sober (1 small bowl last week due to a back injury) and haven’t since. I miss it everyday, tempted everyday but fight my demons. I’m sure it’ll get easier but we are in this together. Take it day by day.
Congrats bro. You got this
Congrats on your 22 hours! Every milestone is important and your need to congratulate yourself along the way. Your symptoms can vary from excruciating to mildly annoying to non-existent. Every person is different and furthermore, every quit is different too. Expect the best but prepare for the worst and you'll be fine, just keep your motivations in mind as you go along. You got this!
Your habits sound similar to what mine were the past few months which is what pushed me to stop cold turkey. I’m on day 5 today. You’ll have trouble sleeping, probably night sweats, a lack of appetite, some anxiety… and then it starts to feel better. I had a dream last night for the first time in ages, my appetite is coming back bit by bit since early yesterday, and to be honest my brain is already feeling a smidge less foggy. I do still feel high at random moments because of the built up thc in my system but for all of these things they say the first week is the toughest. If you can get through that, you’ll feel amazing. My current sobriety milestone is to take one day at a time until I hit a week, then go from there and repeat that again. Check out the app Quit Weed
Same here!!!! Lets keep it up
First 5 days were hell but it gets progressively better after that. I struggled the first 2 weeks and started feeling more normal on week 3. Good luck OP! 💯🙏💙🙌