Benefits of quitting cannabis

Hello everyone,

Firstly, thank you so much James for your message, so here it goes,

I too am addicted to weed have been for 21 years smoke everyday, all day, cannot remember a day without.

I used to socially smoke with others but over the years, “just me”.

This so called “joy of getting stoned” has ultimately resulted in an up and down cycle of dependence and depression.

I have a love and hate relationship with weed.

I’ve fooled myself for years. Every bag of weed is the last,(yeah, look how many years have gone by).

I am embarrassed to tell anyone of my addiction. The few friends I have don’t even know I smoke weed, nor my family.

I do feel very much on my own.

I have three kids which I have promised to many times I would stop. I can’t stress the guilt!

I’m on day 3, I feel like a headless chicken a raging loon from fits of anger to just breaking down to tears.

Sweats, headache, I haven’t slept for two days and for some reason I’ve been shaking most of the day.

But positive thinking, I’m 3 days clean!

Writing this all down has clarified things for me and strengthened my resolve to change.

I am with you all the way,

Lou x

Hey lou..

Your probs sound excatlly the same as mine Well done for getting to day 3 iam on day one AGAIN.. I managed to quit for 4 months earlier this year.. I know cannot belive i was stupid enough to go back thinking i could controll it... I know have no job and pretty much no life again the hardest part is the first week or two... Today ive eaten nothing and not hungry and been on the verge of crying just get past these first weeks it will be worth it you will start to look in the mirror and actully like what you see lol i feel your pain  the headless chicken , raging loon, sweats, insonmia.. But belive me its worth it i used to get crazxy dream aswell when i did actually sleep so you might have that to look forward too aswell it is actully nice to dream again even if they are messed up... Very well done for getting to day 3 though that is very impressive in its self but only ther beging.. Stay stong youll get there mate

oh yeah about that last bag of weed thing every bag ive smoked in the last year or two was going to be my last Listen to this once i chucked my weed in a trash can in the town on thwe way home becuse i wanted to quit then bout 5 hrs later im down in the town at 5am going through the bins with a torch becuse i want to get high again... and i have done simlar things so many times throwing it then going back too look.. This weed really has me under its spelll but iam really done now... I really wish you the best of luck i know how hard it is.. We will get there

Hi lou

Im 6 days clean myself, thanks to the help of this site and the members on it.  

Sounds like you are at the crossroads of your life aswell.  I will be following your post and I hope you can get past this very difficult period.

Best Wishes

Lee

Well done lee 6 days think i will have to do my own journal tomorrow  sounds like we all at the crossroads good luck to you all

hi all,

i feel emotionaly over whelmed....just to have messages!!!!

thankyou:)

i will be following every ones post aswell..

lou x

Lou -  so glad you found your way.  I think we are all here because we were desperate - and our stories are so much the same -

rouse81 - your dumpster dive made me laugh because I'm a 60 year old woman and have done similar things!!! What we have done for weed!!  Crazy.   

We've all been there - right, Lee T.   Coming here has been the saving grace for me.   I was also a 'solitary' smoker and it had become a very isolating experience.  I also felt that I was probably the only one in the world that had this problem - I'd watched other people around me - even my own children -quit, without much effort. 

Now I want to come here every day and cheer everybody on because I KNOW we can do this.  I'm on day 21 - and feeling better and stronger every day.  I had to rid my house of EVERYTHING that I could smoke or smoke with - I made the decision a few days before I ran out and tried to smoke less during those last days.  Other times I had bought a bag and decided to just smoke all of it quickly and then quit - that didn't work - the transition was just to severe.

Hope something someone says here helps you - we've all given up way too many years of our life to this.  Keep coming back - keep posting and PLEASE don't give up trying.

Grandma

Hi Lou , You are doing well to be 3 days clean , for me things only just started looking up , and i'm into early hours of day 5 , just finished day 4, so I have no doubts you will be feeling better soon if not already .

As for the last joint , last bag of weed, I can relate entirely to this, I've spent the last decade toking up , and about 7 years out of that I've spent trying to quit , every bag of weed being the last , every joint being the last smoke of ever . So much to the point that I would Smoke an 8th in a night just to make sure it was all gone so I wouldn't smoke the next day , and then buy another 8th .  That's 25£/50$ a day on cannabis   What a waste !!!

I feel differently this time, and there's a lot of like minded people on this board which I'm feeling helps a great deal !

Please keep posting ,and hang on in there, things do and will get better, and the benefits will far outweight the downsides of this horrible detox . You can do it Lou!

CAT x

Hi Lou,

I'm so glad that you decided to come on here and I hope you keep posting, do keep coming back.  I think we've all found this forum useful, I hope you have read some of the accounts of other people, you're not alone, and you might find some useful hints and tips!!

keep at it, keep focusing on why you want to quit, on the bad things weed does, don't let yourself trick yourself into thinking that you're doing the wrong thing, or that it will in anyway make you feel better; You say you have that 'love hate' relationship with it - remember that the 'love' you feel is the lies that weed makes you tell, and the hate is the only truth.

I think that one of the things that everyone has encountered when quitting is insomnia, often accompanied by bad dreams, this is very significant in relation to the other bad effects people have felt

This might not immedietly appear to be an important point, but sleep is highly under-rated in this 24hr society of ours, but what is little know is the degree to which loosing sleep can have such a horrendous effect on our health.

Depression, anxiety, emotional instability, headaches, even digestive problems - low appetitie and nausea, are all conseqeunces of sleep deprivation.

For me this started to settle down after a week, and it makes the world of difference.  It might not seem like much, but really try your best to sleep.

So cut right down on caffeine, do not have any beyond late afternoon, don't use alcohol to sleep, I've also found that exercise really does help a lot.  These might seem like silly little minor things, but it will help you a lot.

And if, like so many here, you end up having to have a few Day One's before you crack it, don't worry, you'll get there.  I'm on day twelve, it gets easier with time, and i feel better already.

hi everyone,

day 4!!

i got a couple hours sleep..

been keeping busy..

i went out today,which i only really go out unless i have too..

didnt feel so parrnoid..

I spent the money,that i normaly smoke up in air,on treating myself and the kids..

i have something to show for it !! 

that made me feel so good:)

everyone has been so kind,made me stronger

i  feel this has really really help me..

thankyou...from the heart

lou xxx

Well done lou

Keep it going.  Each day does get easier, especially if you keep your children in mind. 

I have found that each day brings out feelings that I thought were lost. 

In a few minutes I would have done 1 week.  I hope to see you in my position in a few days and feeling even better.

Stay Strong and Determined

Best Wishes

Lee x

well done Lou !  Keep posting and keep quitting .

Doing very well !

Cat x

Good one Lou!!  It's great to hear you're already feeling the benefits - keep it up, there's plenty more of that to come!!

Lee T. - I started smoking after all my children were adults - then I took custody of a two year old grandson - and kept smoking for another 8 years.  As I watch him grow, as well as my other grandchildren, I am determined to keep this as far from their lives as possible.  

I'm hoping and praying that today is going well for you and that each day brings you more clarity, peace and conviction to keep moving in this direction. 

Grandma

 hi every one,

day 5..still going strong!

feel like im looking through someone else eyes today

which is so confusing and scary..

i really dont know who this person is..

i know see it is going to be a challenge not only with my addiction.but also with learning on how to cope and ajust to normal life..

as its something ive never known...

thankyou to everyone

lou xx

hi  everyone again

i too am determined to keep this out of my children life..

my kids are now 17,15..3

with feeling very different today ...i feel so upset ,hope some how i can make up for lost time..

with my 3 yr old theres just no way history is repeating it self

the guilt is a killer..

my son the morning told me  he was so proud of me..i just broke down..

ive promised too many times..

theres no way im ever going back......

Hi Lou

I myself have 2 daughters (16 & 18 years old).

Although I,ve been High throughout their whole life, I dont feel guilty.  This is because during there life I have always been a loving, careing, supportive and protective father to them, Whether Im High or not.

This evening I went round to see them while my ex partner was out, and told them that I had quit smoking weed and drinking for the last 8 days. I also apologised (for the fiftyith time)for any distress that I might have put them through, during the break up with their mother.  I only wish that they would have told me that they were proud of me.

There are much, much ,much worse parents than us out their, you only have to look at the news, and thats only the tip of the  iceberg aswell.

You sound like a very loving & caring mother.

Keep up the quit and you will soon be proud of yourself.

Lee.T

thankyou lee t:)

its 2.00 in the morning,cant sleep...

my kids have been my rock....

im a single mum and my older children dont even know ther dad..as he walked away when my 15year old was a 1year old..

5 years ago i met someone and had my 3 year old,to find out he was having a double life..when i was pregnant,i found out he had someone else pregnant at the same time,he also walked away.. she doesnt even know him either..

i also want to give up the fags although my mum didnt know of my secret addition...

i promied her i would give up smoking..ive sadly just lost my mum to cancer,she was only 57..

i want a smoke free life........

i just wish i had done this so many years ago...

the money ive wasted..

the weed took over everything in my life..

my self esteem...my self confidence.....my positive thinking...

just left  depression..

compleate tunnel vision...

ok...round 3 going back to bed....to see if i can sleep

night all

lou x

sweet dreams ! x

Hi Lou,

I hope you got some sleep last night and feel better today.  I'km sure it will get easier with time.  I'm sorry to hear about your mum.  Being a cigarette smoker makes things worse I know, I'm trying to quit both at the same time, but I did find that I felt better for ot having tobacco, so if you can manage that as well, you'll feel a lot better.

Keep going.