Benefits of quitting cannabis

Its New Years Eve 2011 and im sat at home on my own preparing for a night of sitting in front of the TV playing PS3 and getting lean, is this what I want??? Honestly it isnt, id much rather be out socialising and having fun, meeting new people and generaly enjoying myself. Instead of that ive just rolled a joint ready to smoke after writing this post.

The truth is I love weed so much and smoking it makes me feel great (in the short term) but ultimatley its at a massive sacrifice and im now at a cross roads as to where to turn.

Im 28 years old and like most of the posts ive read on here from guys, im single with no children. Ive smoked weed daily for the last 10 years, only giving up once for 2 months.

About 3 years ago on my 25th birthday to be exact, I sat in front of my PC, joint in hand and just felt utterley depressed. As if by miracle I started chatting to a girl I worked with (id always thought this girl was amazing). We had a long chat and I remember turning off my PC with a massive smile on my face. Over the course of the next 6 months we saw each other all the time, would chat for hours on thep hone and eventually we started going out properly. During this 6 months she knew I smoked weed however id always play it down and say it was only when I was with my friends and didnt smoke all the time. As things started to get serious I knew I had to make a choice, this girl or weed. The decision was easy for me and the girl won hands down everytime. It was strange as id wanted to stop smoking weed for a while but was so scared and the odd time id ran out of weed id sat up wide awake all night. Maybe I was lucky but when I did stop smoking i didnt really get cold swaets or the shakes or feeling light headed. My biggest problem was insomnia but I bought some sleeping tablets and to be honest id say after 3 days I was fine. I managed to last 2 months of not smoking it and although I missed it, I never felt tempted, this girl meant too much to me. That leads us to one fateful night when we had an argument over something silly and trivial. I left her house jumped in the car and the 1st thing I thought was weed. The reason I gave myself was Id only gave up weed for this girl and if she was going to be like that then I was going to smoke weed. I bought a 10 bag, rolled a joint, smoked about 3 drags and felt so stoned, it was like I’d had my 1st joint. We made up the next day and everything was fine but id cracked and smoked a joint. From then on it started again!! Id only smoke at weekends and then every couple of days. She hated weed with a passion but I guess she loved me so much that she put up with it for me. I was smoking nowhere near as much as I used to just 1 joint of an evening but she didnt like it still. We then decided to move in together. I agreed to before we did i wouldnt smoke weed in the week and ony at weekends which I did, however that only lasted about a month. After that id ask if could just have a little joint of an evening in the week. Again as much as she hated it, she’d let me. I then of course had to keep pushing the boat out and started asking every night if could smoke a joint. When she refused id wait for her to go t bed and then smoke without her knowing. Ultimatley it ruined our relationship. For a year we werent intimate, didnt have sex all because of me, i was just more interested in getting high and when I did get high I didnt want to know. She stayed with me that whole year but ultimnatley it just got to much. Im ashamed of the way i treated her and hate myself for it. I never paid her any attention and didnt even take her out for birthdays/valentines days etc. Ultimatley it got to the point where she couldnt take anymore and she said she was leaving. I was heartbroken but do you know what the stupidest thing was…. I looked at the whole situation and thought well I can get high without feeling guilty now and whenever I want. That was more important to me then saving my relationship so I let her go without even putting up a fight. Its been 2 years since she left me. Shes now with another guy and from what I hear is extrmeley happy and in love again. It doesnt surprise me, this girl was stunning and amazing in every way. Everytime think about her it makes me so sad and upset to relalise I threw away the best thing that ever happened to me.

Alot of you that have read this are probabaly thinking this is more suited for a break up forum however the point im trying to make is that it was weed that caused this. Weed was more important to me then anything else including her.

Weed has isolated me from my friends and family. Im extremely lucky that I have both as I know if I ever called my friends up or my family they’d do anything for me but truth is lie to all of them about what im doing, how im feeling. I feel so low but I could never let anyone I know, know that. I dont make committments to do anything as it has to fit in with me getting lean. Ive messed up countless opportunities with girls as ive cancelled on them so I can get high or ive got high before theyve come over and then spend the entire evening staring at the TV making no sort of conversation.

Im fairly intellignet, ive got a good job and am highly thought of within my organisation however I know I have held myself back and had I not been a stoner its no doubt in my mind I would be doing even better. Alot of my friends who were also stoners are now settling down, having kids, buying houses etc. Im still stuck in on my own, still smoking daily and hating it although id never admit that to any of them. I tell them I love the single life, the not having committments, being able to do what I want. The truth is im lying to them all. I want to go out, start socialising again, meet new people maybe meet a girl who made me feel like I did once before. The problem is that one thing stands in my way and thats smoking weed. Even now from writing this, I think about going out this evening yet all I want to do is get stoned. Ive been out all day so I havnt had a joint today, its 7pm currently, but its unheard of for me to go all day without a joint. Because I havnt smoked I am literally roasting for a joint but I know as soon as ive smoked it, i’ll stub it out, and just want to smoke another and then another and then another all basically to mask the reality of being a stoned and lonely guy whos sat in on his own but too scared to do anyhing about it. I know when I smoke weed i go into a shell. Im not my funny or confident self, I avoid any form of conflict even if its light hearted amongst friends. I even avoid making phone calls as i dont like talking to people when Im stoned. Im usually very depressed and sometimes just want to cry for no reason at all. Its ruining my life and I know that but im just so scared of giving up. I havnt got the added and incredible motiavation of having an amazing girl to get me through it, im totally on my own this time and I think thats what scares me the most. I guess the fact that im on this website and actually writing this leads me to beleive that I have taken the 1st steps and can hopefully conquer this but I think its going to be a very lonely and dark path id need to tread 1st and im not sure if can do it. Im going to make every attempt I can to do this although saying that im still going to smoke the joint I rolled before I started writing this (stupid isnt it after wrting all this im still going to smoke). Im sure everyone thats been through this before can understand my logic. Hopefully I can beat this. I know it will be much harder this time but if I did it before then surely I can do it again!!!!!! Finally would be great to read comments of people who are in the same position as me. Sometimes just knowing your not alone in a problem makes it that much easier so maybe we can help each other. Ive requested help from this and other websites so I pray that it works and im strong enough to do this. I know id feel so much better come the end of it, i just dont know if I can make it that far!!!!!

Well Ive just smoked that joint and yes i feel lean and yes it feels nice but do I feel happy.... nope feel worse. Infact im thinking how long til I can roll another one. Before when I was reading all these posts I was honestly comforted to know that im not alone but also inspired me to do this and use this site to help me through it. I need to be honest I know  will smoke 1 more joint tonight but only 1 (ive sort of let myself accept that im going to smoke one more and once ive done that, theres no changing my mind). Ive also accepted that at some point tomorrow im going to smoke one probabaly more but im back to work Monday and ive promised myself that im not going to smoke weed. My plan is to try and keep myself busy all evening which I think I can do. I know the hardest part will be going to bed as Im so used to smoking a joint before bed and just crashing out yet reading everyone elses stories on here I know its the same for everyone and something im just going to have to ride out.

Well its new years day and I managed to get through last night only smoking 2 joints. I had a great sleep but I woke up thi smorning feeling my usual tired, lethargic and groggy self. I was also greeted on my facebook newsfeed to pictures of my ex and her bf out at a party from last night, made me feel very low to be honest. 1st thing I thought (as usual) skin up and forget all about it!!! Well I havnt I decided to come back on here and just read some more success stories and it did make me feel better. Also knowing that the reason shes with this guy is all my fault and solely down to my weed addiction and the fact that I put that 1st before her. I cant beleive how stupid I was. I only have 2 joints worth of weed left now. Usually id be on the phone arranging to pick up another ounce but im not making that call. Like I stated last night im going to smoke these 2 today and then thats it. 2 joints in a whole day for me is unheard of anyway, normally id of smoked 6 or 7 so the fact ive mentally prepared myself for just 2 today is a start and tomorrow the real hard work will begin.

Hi. I totally understand everything you say. Seems to me you should do this for "yourself" (as a person, you are more important than anyone else in the world). I remember the first benefit of stopping was feeling great in the mornings, not coughing so much and having an increased sense of 'go get em' in daily life. I've only quit for 4 weeks so far and seemed to of been an equal (if not more) smoker as you. Maybe you can delete the telephone number you use. Cup of tea every craving is a good one with a ciagarette too (if you smoke them), I read that one here also and agree.  You are most definately not alone and after years of loving smoking it I'm getting a good sense of achievement having kicked it for this long and am really looking forward to the 6 week mark. Best of luck mate. Just think to yourself, you won't die by quitting (in-fact just the opposite) and it's only a VERY small part of your life to sacrifice for major benefits for the rest of it.

hows it going nowillpower?

Sorry I havnt updated for a while, in honesty after reading all the success stories on here i felt a bit ashamed of myself. Truth is I cracked after only 6 hours however funnily enough it was proabably the least enjoyable joint id ever smoked and I really felt like id let myself down after id finished it. On a more positive note I have however managed to seriously reduce the amount of weed im smoking. For the last 2 weeks ive been really strict with myself and have only smoked 1 joint of an evening in the week and just 2 joints if ive been at home at the weekend. I used to smoke proabably 4 in the evenings on weekdays and maybe 8 a day at weekends so I suppose I should try and take some positives that ive majorly managed to reduce the amount im smoking. I have noticed the difference firstly financially, I bought a 1/4 and it lasted me 2 weeks. I probably used to get through an oz every 2 weeks so in that respect ive spent alot less money. Ive also found myself being alot more socialable and trying to go out more. On Thurday and yesterday i didnt even smojke a joint at all, although in all fairness I got massivley drunk both times instead so I suppose it wasnt really much to shout about as id merely replaced 1 vice with another, that said it has made me realise I can go a day without a joint. Today is Sunday. Its 5.00 pm and I still havnt smoked a joint yet so I make that about 40 hours weed free which is got to be a record for me. Im going to have a nice joint after dinner tonight though, feel ive earnt it. Im hoping I can stick to this and look to just 'phase it out' rather then doing the cold turkey option. Whether it works or not remains to be seen but im just trying to remain positive. Has anyone else ever tried this approach?? Am I kidding myself or is it possible to just gradually cut down before stopping?? I hope everyone else is still making progress in their battles....