Benefits of quitting cannabis

Dudes/Dudettes

M/40  20yr+ habit

Putting your feelings down is great therapy, it reafirms what your thinking and makes those thoughts become more real, thats why I am here. You have heard my story before it so cliché but we all have variations on the theme , I have to say i've had a good time with maryjane for this most part but have slipped into chronic mode of late, I have too much time on my hands, WHY have I got too much time on my hands, maryjane has engineered it so I have got time on my hands, to get stoned, nothing better than that stoned feeling, nothing else matters, thats where you gotta be, in that mode, but it does not always fit in with ?normal? life, so you change your life to get as much bliss time as you possibly can and thats what ive done all my adult life, there are times in life when this does not work, you have to be sober to change, productive days mostly end as soon as you inhale, most changes I have made in my life are a result abstinance .

Get to the point where your sick of the situation your in and then some, your ready for a break, its the only way to change the situation, get sober, I say a break, because, after over 2o years with maryjane I know her pretty well and to say quit I am not being realistic.

I've had many breaks of 1-2 weeks, one three months and one six months, the six month break was last one, a couple of years ago, actually getting in the first day usually is the biggest step, for me, after thinking about the idea for so long.

I have been on quitting forums before and they have been the very best way to give up, I have often wondered why there are not so many more people using them, with all the millions of MJ users out there, I guess this is a new one, it feels like a small room .

I havent even done day-one yet, i'll be singing a different story in the coming days no doubt

WELCOME!!  This IS a small, but supportive room.  I think I'm the 'senior' member here in terms of age - and length of THIS quit - I'm 60 and quit 5 weeks ago - but certainly not 'senior' in terms of wisdom and compassion.   After going through the 'this is my last bag' routine for over a year, I finally turned to google in desperation and found this group.  It has made all the difference for me.  

It sounds like you are a veteran quitter - you've done better at it than I've ever done.  I think I made it 10 days once before.  But I know you can count on me - and the wonderful group here to see you through whatever lies ahead.  If you have time to read through some of the previous posts, you may find them helpful as well.

Best wishes with your quit -

Grandma

 welcome..

im now at day 17...

i smoked for 21 years...very day,all day!!

i am so glad to find this site...

eveyboby here has helped me so much...dont know what i would of done without them!!

i think we can all relate to what you have said..

i also wish you the best with your quit...

like grandma said were all here!!!

lou x

Hi all

thanks for your comments grandma & lou

I am just checking in on day3, fine at the moment, all the usuals, sleepless,space out etc, i think its because of the THC in my system still in effect, for me it gets hard into week2, my theory is thats when THC starts depleting more so you feel it more, but without fail thats when it gets nasty for me.

i'll start posting a bit more then i guess, we will see,

could all be a different tomorrow

Hi THC ,

I feel what you're saying there . I'm on 3 weeks, and I do feel worse than week one .  Week 2 I spent with a chest infection , and I assumed I had kinder delayed the detox effects with nursing my chest infection, but after reading your post , I realise it could well be the THC levels in my body getting to an all time low, which is causing this .  I was surprised yesterday that with 3 weeks under my belt, so many benefits of quitting, and so many reasons to stay on the wagon , I still really find myself , ( more than ever lately ) with an urge to toke. 

Lovely to have you here with us , keep posti Congrats on three days clean , you are heading for a new and better life.

CAT

Hi all

Just checking in , day 5, so far its ok no major drama's yet, keeping my nico patches firmly stuck on, they really help me with the nicotine cravings, one of the side of patches is vivid dreams and of course one of the same side effects of quitting MJ, for me its ok I like the vivid dreams.

I'd used a volcano vapouriser for about the last four years ,tobacco/MJ mix, anywhere between 3-7 hits a day depending on when I start, either in the morning/afternoon, I had to switch from smoking due to bad chest pains, now I actually cant stand smoking or being around smokers, a bit like a reformed non-smoker, I've found inital quitting was much harder when I was smoking, the vapouriser cut out all/most of those toxic/chemicals you get from the burn so I guess I dont have to withdraw from those toxins . Since I switched to the Vapouriser exercise is much easier on the lungs and for the last couple of years Ive do the gym every other day if I can followed by sauna, apparently toxins including THC are stored in your fat cells and are released when you sweat, I actually feel like ive had a hit after being in the sauna for 30 mins.

Ive  spent an hour or so reading the different posts on this site this morning to reaffirm my resolve , James having read some your posts can only feel empathy toward you, hope your ok, you have given some great incites , a natural writer, check-in, I can relate to the post that “life for the most part is pretty mundane and boring”, my previous quit of six months I had those “unrealistic expectations” of what it would be like being sober, that I would be a completely different person,

it didnt happen, I wasnt that different, take away the THC effects I was the same underneath .

I think a lot of people follow the same pattern, after the initial quit, I do love that time where you feel alive again the first week or so, a little euphoria, then something happens (THC exit !) it gets really tough, I always hope its not coming but it always does, is it possible that the lack of posts on here is that after this initial time people have gone back to MJ !! this is the time you need support the most, post and tell me I am wrong .

Above post was on most recent, now removed mmm

THC , I don't understand what you were saying in your last post ..... What has been removed ? .......

The most recent forum posts rotate, to give the viewers alternatives , nothing has been removed

Cat

Hi THC, I'm glad you've joined the group and hope you find it beneficial. I can confirm that, for me at least, quitting cannabis gets harder after a week or so. The 3rd week presents serious challenges that only amplify in the 4th week. Beyond that is a mystery to me. A person of your quitting experience is a welcome asset to the forum. I'm sure your knowledge will be useful to at least some of the members. I look forward to your contributions.

...oh, and do you earn commission on Volcano Vapourisers or are they really THAT good!?

Lee at 07:05PM on Oct 30, 2009

Hi THC, I'm glad you've joined the group and hope you find it beneficial. I can confirm that, for me at least, quitting cannabis gets harder after a week or so. The 3rd week presents serious challenges that only amplify in the 4th week. Beyond that is a mystery to me. A person of your quitting experience is a welcome asset to the forum. I'm sure your knowledge will be useful to at least some of the members. I look forward to your contributions.

The 3rd week presents serious challenges that only amplify in the 4th week. Beyond that is a mystery to me

Lee I'm so glad you posted this here, because 2 days into week 3 , and I am literally climbing the walls ! up until now, well for the past couple of weeks I've been fine , or at least much better than I am now , and suddenly , BOOM , every reason under the sun why I should smoke, and why it would be ok to , is flooding my  brain , even though I know deep down , that it would be the most destructive thing I could do right now .

Thanks for posting ,

CAT

Lee - so glad you are still here -

THC, I'm confused - but that's nothing new - I'm guessing you must be on DAY 7!!!  Yeah!!!!!     I've made it to 10 days once before:D so I'm totally clueless as to what to expect - being now well into week 5.  The cravings are a lot less, but I'm still experiencing profuse night sweats.   I smoked the tobacco/MJ mix for the last two years and coughed up some pretty gross stuff for the first week.  The vaporizer didn't seem to work for me, but I think I had actually come to enjoy the ritual of my pipe.   I think our individual body chemistry must make so much of this different for each of us.  I agree with lee - week 3 and  were in many ways more intensel.  What WAS different and remains so is that it is no longer an urgent NEED - I know I will make it through the night without a toke.  

I hope things are going well for you - Lee - don't even think about it!!!:wink:

Hope you are having a good night -

Grandma

THC - The forum says that you posted 14 hours ago - I hope that's right  and that you're still going with your quit - thanks for checking in.

Good on you for quitting tobacco too.  As I said, I started mixing it and just couldn't even think about pot without tobacco - so I probably had the nicotine addiction going on as well.  Wicked.  And you're probably right about my blood being green!!!  Every time I would try and quit I would start smoking more and more.  

Wonderful that you find the dreams pleasant - it is interesting how many people from the past seem to be dropping in on mine as well.  Our subconscious working overtime, I guess.  I have had several dreams about finding stashes I had lost!! (I was always losing either my pipe or my stash!- it's amazing, I guess that I even remembered my name!!)

One of my daughters has a housemate that uses the vaporizer and swears by it.  I guess if you have to smoke, it's the safest way to go - but I never found the results as good as my pipe - so I think a lot of it might just be the 'pleasure' of smoking.:dry:

I'm glad things are still well with you - keep us informed.  I so appreciate knowing that other people are winning!!

Hugs,

Grandma

THC - The forum says that you posted 14 hours ago - I hope that's right  and that you're still going with your quit - thanks for checking in.

Good on you for quitting tobacco too.  As I said, I started mixing it and just couldn't even think about pot without tobacco - so I probably had the nicotine addiction going on as well.  Wicked.  And you're probably right about my blood being green!!!  Every time I would try and quit I would start smoking more and more.  

Wonderful that you find the dreams pleasant - it is interesting how many people from the past seem to be dropping in on mine as well.  Our subconscious working overtime, I guess.  I have had several dreams about finding stashes I had lost!! (I was always losing either my pipe or my stash!- it's amazing, I guess that I even remembered my name!!)

One of my daughters has a housemate that uses the vaporizer and swears by it.  I guess if you have to smoke, it's the safest way to go - but I never found the results as good as my pipe - so I think a lot of it might just be the 'pleasure' of smoking.:dry:

I'm glad things are still well with you - keep us informed.  I so appreciate knowing that other people are winning!!

Hugs,

Grandma

THC - so glad to hear from you - even if you are feeling horrid.  I can sympathize - 8 weeks for me tomorrow - and I've had days (weeks) when I've felt that every nerve in my body had been laid raw and exposed.  Coming back here has kept me going, or I would probably have given up.  As it is, I am more convinced every day that I simply can't go back to it.  The people that I DO talk to tell me that I SOUND so much

better - and I definately have more energy and better focus.

THAT is sometimes the source of the difficulty though - as you said, we've rewired our brains over the years and being

FOCUSED is sometimes very painful.

I take a lot of inspiration from you.  I know you've quit before - for longer than I've even been able to do now - and that you are back again  quitting.  That speaks volumes to me - because I know that if I were to start again, I would be back to starting all over - because this IS the right thing to do.

Stay strong - I so hope it gets easier for you

been a while since i posted, nearing the end of week seven now and managed to keep clean of weed nicotine and alcohol.

the whole quitting thing is very much a long haul,the body takes a long long time to adjust and repair and i still have a hell of a way to go, i do miss getting high but i know its "fools gold" and the payback is too much so i got stick at it, its just the realisation that iv'e still got a way to go, initially i thought a few weeks it will all be fine but i was kidding myself, a hell of a lot of damage has been done, a couple of weeks won't fix it, its dragging but there are moments of clarity which give me hope     .  

i have been tested a few times and turned down opportunities to use, i wanted to test myself more than anything else, it was tough but worth it and i actually had a good time without being high, being around people who are intoxicated rubbed off on me even though i was sober i got high ! 

on my last quit i had alcohol two months in that was a big mistake and i want to totally avoid it this time, then it made me feel so down, worse than i felt on weed and gave me a insight into how bad it actually is, its always been in the mix with MJ so i had not noticed so much. The goverment medical advisor in the uk said that if alcohol was a new drug that was discovered now it should be in the same class as cocaine or heroin, i can see why, its a lot more subtle than MJ, i didn't use it much but enough and i think it had an effect on why i relapsed at six months

good to see your still clean grandma i hope its going ok for you and high (or i should say hello not high )

to pete and

adyx420 > your going to repair/recover so much quicker/better than the older ones of us here so take this opportunity while your ahead

hi

nice to see you, and well done on making it to week seven!

I'm only 3 weeks behind you, though I barely drink, and never really have to any degree so hopefully I won't hit that issue.. I'll be extra carefui though, what with Xmas and all.. i'm not tea-total or anything, so I know I'll be coming across a bit of it here and there.. thankfully it never associated with weed for me.  A nice cup of tea or coffee is enough of a social lubricant for me!

You're right about alcohol's dangers though and how it would be classed alongside coke/heroin if discovered today..  nasty  stuff that took two grandparents to early graves and was behind some domestic violence/bullying in my family.

I too have had the opportuntiy to smoke, but have enjoyed staying clean amongst smoking friends and being able to drive the conversation along and keep it on track when needed. and at no point did I feel they were on a "differnent level" either, as one can if you're sober amongst a load of drunk friends.... so that was nice.. (though I guess it says more for the quality and meaning of my friendship than anything else.. weed was only a secondary aspect to our get togethers anyway.. conversation/tea/coffee and good food were always more important, even though we smoked a lot too..

been a while since i posted here again, just coming up to five months clean, still very much living with this addiction, its always in there background waiting and wants to come back, seems to be on my mind more of late and i have been having relapse dreams, maybe i still have THC in my system !!

I know this is not the answer and would be a very bad move, so why contemplate it  !, = my brain would just love to get into the "bliss zone" again regardless of the outcome , I can understand fully how we go back to it, been there before many times, 

I have taken up yoga,  this has helped with a bit of meditation 

i have to get passed this stage and be stronger to beat this, focus on all the positives and not forget why i quit in the first place

Good luck grandma, round two,  and everyone else here,