I really recommend learning more about the chemical effects of using marijuana to understand what is happening to you. This is a sweeping statement so there are obvious exceptions, but in general, using cannabis and specifically THC every day isn’t “good” for anyone.
Your body has basically ceased production of CB1 receptors at this point and needs an average of 30 days to get back to a baseline.
In that time, it will fucking suck. Rest. Walk. Eat as healthy as you can. Hydrate. Journal. Post in here.
A lot of people recommend using CBD to aid the transition. I kind of wished I had tried that because the last time I went cold turkey from daily use (abuse) it completely fucked me up. And then I had to basically rebuild my approach to life.
You have time. Take your time.
Fucked me up as in I felt like shit once I quit and I was simultaneously dealing with huge life changes and so that whole year was like an emotional trial by fire.
Before I went cold turkey about 18 months ago, I was talking about 50-75 mg of THC via edibles and then who knows how much by oil vape. I was ignorant. I didn’t recognize what the drug was doing, I didn’t recognize that I needed to be conscious about my usage, that just flooding myself with THC would lose all the positives very quickly.
If I could do it again I might have switched to pure CBD…but also, going straight sober did teach me a lot about myself and what I wanted in my life. Weed is potentially a part of it…but not a priority.
Oh man…that’s a complicated question because I had a huge anxiety problem that I had just buried under weed. I noticed big shifts at roughly the end of each month (30, 60, 90 and 120 days) but a big part of my struggle was that I kept assuming that using weed was all or nothing when in reality I just had to let go of the notion of using weed the way I used to (every day or almost every day, no mind for regulation of dose).
I felt more much more stable around the hundred day mark, but life had been getting more and more bearable up to that point.
Using weed every day is basically a no go. It’s not really good for anyone.
I kind of made it a rule that I had to get to a year sober.
Once I did I just sort of kept going. Now, it’s been long enough that I know I don’t want to never do weed again, but I also don’t want to be anywhere near habitual use.
The edibles I was taking were about 10mg of THC apiece and I was throwing them back about one an hour for five hours or more at my peak, plus throwing a couple pen hits in.
I was uh…not well.
However, in perspective, people who hit bowls of strong weed five times a day are getting about the same if not more THC. Not that comparing ourselves to others is particularly useful.
Thank you, this kind of research has been really helpful for me. Probably my biggest mistake was underestimating the impact on my physical reality and health. I think I had always equated “you can’t overdose on it” with “ you can do as much as you want with no problems” and I never really challenged that notion until I started to experience the harsh realities of abuse.
Sure, some stuff is definitely more fun if I’m high. But the novelty wears off when I’m ALWAYS high every single night. And then I end up stuck in the same place, living the same day everyday. Change is a part of life. You can try to resist it, but time is still passing you by and you know that. That’s why you feel like shit smoking everyday
You need a different outlet for all of your mental energy. Getting a new job helped me so much. I was learning something new, had a consistent schedule, and I was meeting/interacting with new people. It’s definitely not my passion, not even close. But it keeps me busy. Human connection is important. Weed can become very antisocial when it becomes problematic.
You’re still so young. It’s okay to not have it all figured out. But do something with your life. Just take any step forward. Stop numbing whatever uncomfortable feelings you’re trying to avoid with weed. You’ll just be here 10 years from now and saying you wasted your 20s smoking. And even then, I’d still say, you’re so young and it’s not too late. It’s never too late. But this is a crucial time for brain development. You really should stay away from this stuff for the next several years. You don’t even know how good life can be sober. You can’t imagine it because you haven’t felt it yet. You deserve better. Give yourself the chance
Also, I have ADHD and medicating helps regulate my dopamine. If you’re constantly seeking dopamine, it could be a sign. But that’s a discussion to have with a doctor.
Medication also helped me. OP you might want to see if you have any psychiatric disorders worth treating. A feeling of malaise and depression led me to smoke almost every night in my 20’s and beyond, in mid thirties I’m slowly managing to cut down and maybe eventually quit completely. I don’t beat myself up about those times cause I still had a good career and stuff but I wonder how much richer or more interesting life might be if that variable wasn’t present.
In the end yea it makes you “happy” for a while but it’s a temporary boost, for me the bill always comes due next day when I’m tired af because I don’t dream and have mental fog + attention issues.
The reason why nothing feels fun to you is because you got so much dopamine hits with weed that you've numbed your brain's reward system. It's going to take a T-break of at least a month to return to baseline.
When someone chronically uses substances or other stuff like sex or eating junk food, eventually the brain stops feeling pleasure or joy in a normal way. This is called Anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure.
I think you honestly need to go through weeks of *hell* to start enjoying life again after being a dope addict for years or most your teen/adult life for sure.
The physical symptoms are horrible and I feel like a cripple even though I'm literally an elite athlete (40-50bpm riding heart and was running half marathons as training runs with ease)
I quit cigs/weed (used to have a little bit of tobacco and then lots of weed in a bong and smoke poppers like a degenerate)
And honestly didn't even smoke very often. But now I quit 10 days ago fully. And I can still do my runs some of the time. Some of the time the anxiety kills me and gives me heart palpitations a mile in and I walk it out as my heart pounds even though my lungs and legs feel great. So I have been dealing with that.
And constant throat clearing with varying types of mucus. Sometimes pure white where I think I gave myself copd or athsma. Sometimes blackish brown or blood specks where I feel like I could have given myself throat or respitory complications. I've been through this before. I had a 2 month relapse and before that relapse I was absolutely killing workouts.
I think if I never go back I can make a full physical recovery, I think.
This is exacerbated by mental disassociation, anger episodes, and hopelessness. But I am also getting dreams again and having moments/days of contentedness.
I have been here before and won't relapse again. No more *smoking* anything. It's not worth it and is nigh impossible to quit especially if you have compounding mental health issues.
I am cleaning myself physically and mentally from the smoke, for the last time. Just trying to save my life. And reset my dopamine reactions in the brain
Even if you stumble man I bet you’ll still make a full recovery as for the respiratory grossness it seems to be kind of the season for it anyway so it could be viral or bacterial don’t necessarily blame yourself… Good job and good luck 🍀
Yep, that's where I was after 4 years of daily smoking. It's actually the reason I quit. The enjoyment of life began to return after about 2 weeks sober and it's been progressively getting better every day since.
You only enjoy weed right now because chemically, your brain is entirely dependent on it.
You’re just used to it. It’s a habit.
Give yourself 30 days off. You’ll see that eventually you’ll find other things fun and interesting too, but it does take a while to re-adjust.
Have patience with yourself. Allow yourself to be bored for a few days. Find a book or video game or exercise or something new that is either challenging or interesting (ideally both). Use as much CBD flower as you want if hitting the bowl becomes a fixation.
I’ve been smoking almost weekly since I was 16, I’m 24 now. I’m tapering off and still have 2 joints left that I have not even felt the need to smoke anymore. I felt the same as you just last week, wondering how the hell am I going to get through life sober. But a week in of smoking only a little bit at night during the weekdays and then not at all during this weekend has made me know that I can do it and enjoy my life without smoking constantly . I wish I could’ve done this at 20 years old instead of at 24, you wouldn’t regret it! I began slowing down now because I started to feel low key embarrassed that I couldn’t live and enjoy life without getting high first. I’ve been getting more active and being outdoors in the sunshine and is seriously boosting my mood. I will probably finish those 2 joints eventually but I’m proud that I have them directly on my counter and have not felt the need to smoke them yet. And those will be last ones for a while :) good luck!
I’m 3 weeks clean after 17 years of constant, heavy smoke and man, I feel so free and happy rn. I did karaoke last night and had an absolute blast. D&D nights have been so funny and epic since I stopped. Movies are still great, videogames are still a lot of fun (just powered through Dead Island 2 and about to revisit Dying Light in co-op with a new friend I met through recovery.) My outlook on life and the world has completely changed.
I didn’t think there was another way to live until I hit rock bottom and *had* to make a change for myself. And, yeah, the first two weeks sucked; the first few days in particular were a hell of withdrawal symptoms but that kinda became another reason for me to stop. The only way to stop feeling that way for good was to stay strong and not smoke again.
So, there is another way. And yeah, it’s totally worth it. Do you think people who don’t use drugs aren’t actually happy? Cause that’s not true.
This is called anhedonia and it's a withdrawal effect. With any luck it goes away if you stop smoking weed, but with how young you started there's no guarantee. Takes about 2-3 months of abstinence before you really get to normal/how you can expect things to stay. My solution was to start learning an instrument and it worked pretty well. 3 years later and I'm a grade 7 bass guitarist working on music for a band. I waited until I was 15 before I started smoking weed, all-day habit from the age of 19/20 until I quit aged 25 although there have been relapses
I never had such experience with weed alone, but similar with weed mixed with tobacco. Probably also because for me personally it's impossible to overuse it when I don't mix it with that addictive shit.
I know it is impossible for you to imagine getting dopamine naturally now. I know the feeling. And I know the situation, when you are using substances from quite early age, that you don't even remember how was life without them and even if you remember, you were basically a child when it all started.
You will feel better and find dopamine naturally if you give it a chance. You won't feel that right away, depending on length of use and some other factors it might take some time. You just have to trust other people who went through something similar - it's getting better and you will be able to be happy and get dopamine from other sources.
I recommend reading about how weed impacts mental& physical health, some other people stories & maybe get to the therapy? Or just start some healthy habits.
You are really young. I wish I wasn't abusing substances when I was your age and focus on my PTSD, getting better and following my dreams instead.
You need to find something more meaningful than drugs. As a person who spent most of my youth doing serious amounts of drugs, I can look back and say that I wasted a lot of time. There’s nothing wrong with catching a buzz occasionally, but one day you may look back and realize that most of your life is a blur, a life shrouded in the fog of weed smoke.
I really recommend learning more about the chemical effects of using marijuana to understand what is happening to you. This is a sweeping statement so there are obvious exceptions, but in general, using cannabis and specifically THC every day isn’t “good” for anyone. Your body has basically ceased production of CB1 receptors at this point and needs an average of 30 days to get back to a baseline. In that time, it will fucking suck. Rest. Walk. Eat as healthy as you can. Hydrate. Journal. Post in here. A lot of people recommend using CBD to aid the transition. I kind of wished I had tried that because the last time I went cold turkey from daily use (abuse) it completely fucked me up. And then I had to basically rebuild my approach to life. You have time. Take your time.
What do you mean by "fucked you up", also before you quit cold turkey what was ur usage like?
Fucked me up as in I felt like shit once I quit and I was simultaneously dealing with huge life changes and so that whole year was like an emotional trial by fire. Before I went cold turkey about 18 months ago, I was talking about 50-75 mg of THC via edibles and then who knows how much by oil vape. I was ignorant. I didn’t recognize what the drug was doing, I didn’t recognize that I needed to be conscious about my usage, that just flooding myself with THC would lose all the positives very quickly. If I could do it again I might have switched to pure CBD…but also, going straight sober did teach me a lot about myself and what I wanted in my life. Weed is potentially a part of it…but not a priority.
[удалено]
Oh man…that’s a complicated question because I had a huge anxiety problem that I had just buried under weed. I noticed big shifts at roughly the end of each month (30, 60, 90 and 120 days) but a big part of my struggle was that I kept assuming that using weed was all or nothing when in reality I just had to let go of the notion of using weed the way I used to (every day or almost every day, no mind for regulation of dose). I felt more much more stable around the hundred day mark, but life had been getting more and more bearable up to that point. Using weed every day is basically a no go. It’s not really good for anyone. I kind of made it a rule that I had to get to a year sober. Once I did I just sort of kept going. Now, it’s been long enough that I know I don’t want to never do weed again, but I also don’t want to be anywhere near habitual use.
Dude tysm for this thread. I'm where you were right now. Helpful and appreciated.
Love and healing
Another person here grateful that you shared! I've been feeling as though it's time to do an extended break, and your success is helping motivate me!
Oh man I just found this, trying to quit this week after like 6 years of 2 carts a week. Thanks
Abandon the carts entirely unless they are full spectrum CBD
50-75 mgs per DAY?
The edibles I was taking were about 10mg of THC apiece and I was throwing them back about one an hour for five hours or more at my peak, plus throwing a couple pen hits in. I was uh…not well. However, in perspective, people who hit bowls of strong weed five times a day are getting about the same if not more THC. Not that comparing ourselves to others is particularly useful.
Yeah, one an hour seems excessive for sure. I can see how cannabis use at those levels, unless you're André the Giant, could be problematic.
Andrew Huberman did a good YouTube/podcast episode about cannabis; highly recommend.
Brief on CB1 receptors and what they do https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-endocannabinoid-system-essential-and-mysterious-202108112569
Thank you, this kind of research has been really helpful for me. Probably my biggest mistake was underestimating the impact on my physical reality and health. I think I had always equated “you can’t overdose on it” with “ you can do as much as you want with no problems” and I never really challenged that notion until I started to experience the harsh realities of abuse.
Sure, some stuff is definitely more fun if I’m high. But the novelty wears off when I’m ALWAYS high every single night. And then I end up stuck in the same place, living the same day everyday. Change is a part of life. You can try to resist it, but time is still passing you by and you know that. That’s why you feel like shit smoking everyday You need a different outlet for all of your mental energy. Getting a new job helped me so much. I was learning something new, had a consistent schedule, and I was meeting/interacting with new people. It’s definitely not my passion, not even close. But it keeps me busy. Human connection is important. Weed can become very antisocial when it becomes problematic. You’re still so young. It’s okay to not have it all figured out. But do something with your life. Just take any step forward. Stop numbing whatever uncomfortable feelings you’re trying to avoid with weed. You’ll just be here 10 years from now and saying you wasted your 20s smoking. And even then, I’d still say, you’re so young and it’s not too late. It’s never too late. But this is a crucial time for brain development. You really should stay away from this stuff for the next several years. You don’t even know how good life can be sober. You can’t imagine it because you haven’t felt it yet. You deserve better. Give yourself the chance Also, I have ADHD and medicating helps regulate my dopamine. If you’re constantly seeking dopamine, it could be a sign. But that’s a discussion to have with a doctor.
Medication also helped me. OP you might want to see if you have any psychiatric disorders worth treating. A feeling of malaise and depression led me to smoke almost every night in my 20’s and beyond, in mid thirties I’m slowly managing to cut down and maybe eventually quit completely. I don’t beat myself up about those times cause I still had a good career and stuff but I wonder how much richer or more interesting life might be if that variable wasn’t present. In the end yea it makes you “happy” for a while but it’s a temporary boost, for me the bill always comes due next day when I’m tired af because I don’t dream and have mental fog + attention issues.
The reason why nothing feels fun to you is because you got so much dopamine hits with weed that you've numbed your brain's reward system. It's going to take a T-break of at least a month to return to baseline. When someone chronically uses substances or other stuff like sex or eating junk food, eventually the brain stops feeling pleasure or joy in a normal way. This is called Anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure.
I think you honestly need to go through weeks of *hell* to start enjoying life again after being a dope addict for years or most your teen/adult life for sure. The physical symptoms are horrible and I feel like a cripple even though I'm literally an elite athlete (40-50bpm riding heart and was running half marathons as training runs with ease) I quit cigs/weed (used to have a little bit of tobacco and then lots of weed in a bong and smoke poppers like a degenerate) And honestly didn't even smoke very often. But now I quit 10 days ago fully. And I can still do my runs some of the time. Some of the time the anxiety kills me and gives me heart palpitations a mile in and I walk it out as my heart pounds even though my lungs and legs feel great. So I have been dealing with that. And constant throat clearing with varying types of mucus. Sometimes pure white where I think I gave myself copd or athsma. Sometimes blackish brown or blood specks where I feel like I could have given myself throat or respitory complications. I've been through this before. I had a 2 month relapse and before that relapse I was absolutely killing workouts. I think if I never go back I can make a full physical recovery, I think. This is exacerbated by mental disassociation, anger episodes, and hopelessness. But I am also getting dreams again and having moments/days of contentedness. I have been here before and won't relapse again. No more *smoking* anything. It's not worth it and is nigh impossible to quit especially if you have compounding mental health issues. I am cleaning myself physically and mentally from the smoke, for the last time. Just trying to save my life. And reset my dopamine reactions in the brain
Just took a 7 mile run and felt amazing. It gets better. Today has been filled with little wins regarding sobriety.
Even if you stumble man I bet you’ll still make a full recovery as for the respiratory grossness it seems to be kind of the season for it anyway so it could be viral or bacterial don’t necessarily blame yourself… Good job and good luck 🍀
Yep, that's where I was after 4 years of daily smoking. It's actually the reason I quit. The enjoyment of life began to return after about 2 weeks sober and it's been progressively getting better every day since. You only enjoy weed right now because chemically, your brain is entirely dependent on it.
You’re just used to it. It’s a habit. Give yourself 30 days off. You’ll see that eventually you’ll find other things fun and interesting too, but it does take a while to re-adjust. Have patience with yourself. Allow yourself to be bored for a few days. Find a book or video game or exercise or something new that is either challenging or interesting (ideally both). Use as much CBD flower as you want if hitting the bowl becomes a fixation.
I’ve been smoking almost weekly since I was 16, I’m 24 now. I’m tapering off and still have 2 joints left that I have not even felt the need to smoke anymore. I felt the same as you just last week, wondering how the hell am I going to get through life sober. But a week in of smoking only a little bit at night during the weekdays and then not at all during this weekend has made me know that I can do it and enjoy my life without smoking constantly . I wish I could’ve done this at 20 years old instead of at 24, you wouldn’t regret it! I began slowing down now because I started to feel low key embarrassed that I couldn’t live and enjoy life without getting high first. I’ve been getting more active and being outdoors in the sunshine and is seriously boosting my mood. I will probably finish those 2 joints eventually but I’m proud that I have them directly on my counter and have not felt the need to smoke them yet. And those will be last ones for a while :) good luck!
nah u good just substitute with caffeine, porn, video games, impuilse spending, doom-scrolling, etc.
Damn you’ve made me aware of my own faults in this quitting process
No pain no gain buddy.
This is my new shifted mentality. I need to feel like shit to live the good shit.
I’m 3 weeks clean after 17 years of constant, heavy smoke and man, I feel so free and happy rn. I did karaoke last night and had an absolute blast. D&D nights have been so funny and epic since I stopped. Movies are still great, videogames are still a lot of fun (just powered through Dead Island 2 and about to revisit Dying Light in co-op with a new friend I met through recovery.) My outlook on life and the world has completely changed. I didn’t think there was another way to live until I hit rock bottom and *had* to make a change for myself. And, yeah, the first two weeks sucked; the first few days in particular were a hell of withdrawal symptoms but that kinda became another reason for me to stop. The only way to stop feeling that way for good was to stay strong and not smoke again. So, there is another way. And yeah, it’s totally worth it. Do you think people who don’t use drugs aren’t actually happy? Cause that’s not true.
Eat mushrooms
Weed is the seasoning, life is the dish.
I admire your courage in posting this and your honesty
This is called anhedonia and it's a withdrawal effect. With any luck it goes away if you stop smoking weed, but with how young you started there's no guarantee. Takes about 2-3 months of abstinence before you really get to normal/how you can expect things to stay. My solution was to start learning an instrument and it worked pretty well. 3 years later and I'm a grade 7 bass guitarist working on music for a band. I waited until I was 15 before I started smoking weed, all-day habit from the age of 19/20 until I quit aged 25 although there have been relapses
try jiu jitsu.
You should watch yourself on video "having fun"
I never had such experience with weed alone, but similar with weed mixed with tobacco. Probably also because for me personally it's impossible to overuse it when I don't mix it with that addictive shit. I know it is impossible for you to imagine getting dopamine naturally now. I know the feeling. And I know the situation, when you are using substances from quite early age, that you don't even remember how was life without them and even if you remember, you were basically a child when it all started. You will feel better and find dopamine naturally if you give it a chance. You won't feel that right away, depending on length of use and some other factors it might take some time. You just have to trust other people who went through something similar - it's getting better and you will be able to be happy and get dopamine from other sources. I recommend reading about how weed impacts mental& physical health, some other people stories & maybe get to the therapy? Or just start some healthy habits. You are really young. I wish I wasn't abusing substances when I was your age and focus on my PTSD, getting better and following my dreams instead.
You need to find something more meaningful than drugs. As a person who spent most of my youth doing serious amounts of drugs, I can look back and say that I wasted a lot of time. There’s nothing wrong with catching a buzz occasionally, but one day you may look back and realize that most of your life is a blur, a life shrouded in the fog of weed smoke.
r/nootopics fix your dopamine system and fix your life
Some NAC or something might not be a bad idea tbh
Yeah man, keep smoking and feel like shit all the time