• Cannabis Discussion Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules

Cannabis Withdrawal Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Libertin

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 26, 2014
Messages
193
Please post your experiences with cannabis withdrawal.

Did you experience withdrawal symptoms after cannabis cessation? If so, describe your symptoms.

​
Can cannabis cause withdrawal symptoms when use is discontinued? Conventional wisdom says no but increasingly, anecdotal evidence challenges this claim. Let's hear your stories, I'll start.

When I stopped smoking cannabis my dreams became extremely vivid and quite terrifying for about 5 days. The only explanation for this I've found is that cannabis suppresses REM sleep, when discontinued, the brain has the opportunity to catch up on REM sleep, this is known as REM rebound.
 
You're kidding me, right? Anything I've felt from cessation of cannabis use I've attributed to just being thrown off via change in my routine rather than actual withdrawal symptoms.
 
This has been done to death - withdrawals are real, they don't effect everybody but after heavy use there are distinctly unpleasant sensations involving sweats, insomnia, nightmares, anxiety and general malaise. Use the search engine for extended discussion.
 
Regarding dreams - I've been off cannabis for about two months and while I have gotten used to it my dreams are still stupidly vivid. Every night I go through intense, plot driven narratives that are so tangibly real it could almost be scary. I kind of enjoy it though. it's hard to tell whether the intensity is anything to do with pot but pot definitely de-intensifies dreams, so maybe it is just a matter of not previously having the capacity to remember due to the pot use. i dunno. Maybe that, maybe the REM stuff in the OP. But regardless, pot withdrawals and dreams are probably the most distinctive element.
 
ATLL765 said:
You're kidding me, right? Anything I've felt from cessation of cannabis use I've attributed to just being thrown off via change in my routine rather than actual withdrawal symptoms.
Click to expand...

Ah to be young and naive... I said this same thing many times before. Then I found concentrates, ended up smoking 5-7 grams of oil per day. Average weekly spending on concentrates was 750-1000 dollars. I could not control my usage, when I ran out I became psychotic and rage filled, diarreah, and night sweats/terrors. I stole from everyone I know and love to attain more, and honestly there were some days I went through 10 grams of oil. I prided myself on being able to dab gram hits, and I actually needed to smoke about every half hour to an hour or I would get extreme panic attacks. Looking back on it, it was the weed causing the panic attacks.

Cannabis caused me to become psychotic, and I also attained cannabinioid hyperemesis syndrome.

I am now an opiate addict, and I spend far less on opiates than I ever did on cannabis. Cannabis addiction is real, the withdrawals are real, I spent 50 grand in one year on concentrates, it's no joke.
 
The study involved 469 pot smokers, ages 18 to 64, who were recruited using word of mouth and advertisements. None of the participants suffered from recognized psychiatric disorders.

About one in four reported smoking pot more than 10,000 times in their lives -- the equivalent of daily use for 27 years. More than half smoked more than 2,000 times.

"These were heavy users," Gorelick says.

A total of 42.4% experienced at least one withdrawal symptom -- most commonly, cravings, irritability, boredom, anxiety, and sleep disturbances -- when they tried to quit.

Of those who reported withdrawal symptoms, 78.4% said they started smoking pot again to reduce them.

Overall, 33.3% of participants resumed cannabis use to reduce or avoid withdrawal symptoms.

"Heavy pot users should be aware that they may experience a withdrawal syndrome that will make them uncomfortable when they try to quit," Gorelick tells WebMD.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20080507/withdrawal-symptoms-from-smoking-pot



from what I understand it is well established amongst the medical community that heavy marijuana use will cause changes in the brain, and even studies out now showing recreational use will cause changes in the brain- some suggesting that these changes may cause an increased urge to continue use.

edit: my personal experience entails depression, anxiety, irritability and general emotional instability. A lot of up and down, and a feeling like I don't enjoy anything unless I smoke. I've always found ways to justify myself smoking again- sometimes things just as simple as boredum or being restless even if it is only at night. A few weeks after going from smoking all day to only at night I will start to stabilize out and don't feel the need to smoke, but still retain an urge to smoke.
 
Last edited:
withdrawal symptoms include:

more vivid dreams
more alertness
more energy
more ability to focus
less ability to relax
less ability to be high
 
dimensiontripping said:
withdrawal symptoms include:

more vivid dreams
more alertness
more energy
more ability to focus
less ability to relax
less ability to be high
Click to expand...

Severe stomach pains
Extreme weight gain
Waking up with sheets drenched in sweat (sweat actually smells like weed)
Inability to find any pleasure in life
Seeking of opiates or other hard drugs to hold you over til you find more weed.
 
I find after heavy use I'll experience something almost like a very light nicotine withdrawal. I don't know if this is really withdrawal, or just being used to being stoned all the time to the point where I don't know how to function without it.
 
addiction and withdrawal megathread is literally just a few posts down, closed
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top