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I thought I was vaping cannabis oil, but it was actually Spice (MDMB-4en-PINACA), this is my withdrawal and recovery story

globgrobglob

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Aug 21, 2025
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I've been a regular cannabis user for years, smoking/vaping dry herb up until about two years ago, when for convenience (no smell, easy to carry around) I switched to vaping (cannabis oil carts, THC vape pens). More recently, about 8-9 months ago I started ordering cannabis oil extract off the dark web as it was cheaper and since I thought that that what was going into the vape pens anyway. I was using daily and throughout the day. The dose/concentration in retrospect is unclear, but I was vaping around 1-2ml a day or more.

After a few weeks (a lot of it is more in retrospect, but some of the symptoms I felt and ignored at the time) I started noticing the stuff was giving me headaches (manageable) and a degradation in my ability to stay asleep for long periods of time like cannabis afforded me to. Also instead of increased appetite I developed a proper eating disorder where I severely limited my diet and literally sometime couldn't deal with the sensation of putting something in my mouth and chewing it etc so I had to spit it out. To counter the sleeping issues I supplemented my regime with some Zolpidem.

I started developing social anxiety - I had to disconnect from friends and family. Couldn't even answer the phone or say hi to neighbours. Cognitive skills were also on the decline and a brain fog developed. Since I'm a drug addict, I decided to add Modafinil SR 200mg per day to the mix to deal with the brain fog and the creeping lack of motivation. I did help countering it, but that led to debilitating insomnia.

Things got to a state where my mood was so low, no sleep, not eating very well etc, that even in my brain fog I realised that something's not right (doh, finally). I learned about wedinos.com a service that accepts drug samples and tests them for you for free (you pay for the shipping). I sent two samples of oils I got from two different vendors. It took only a couple of days and the results confirmed it indeed was not cannabis oil but MDMB-4en-PINCA aka Spice (or a variant of Spice).

At this point I was really not getting anything positive out of the drug so I decided to wean off it gradually but not too slowly. Over the course of two weeks I was vaping less and less until I completely stopped. That's when the withdrawals started (this was exactly four weeks ago).

Week 1 was the toughest physically - diarrhoea and vomiting, severe sweating (from the palm of my hands, something I've not experienced before). I was using 10mg Zolpidem to get some sleep, but I wasn't getting much. Feelings of dread and suicidal ideation were constant, and I experienced one psychotic episode where I ended up harming myself (I've not had one of those before. It was horrible).

Week 2 I decided to start weaning off the Zolpidem as it was not actually helping at all. Over the course of the week I gradually reduced from 10mg to 2.5mg and then stopped. The feelings of helplessness and dread continued but came and went in waves. My gut was very clearly messed up, I couldnt pass stool at all. I tested my urine (pee on a stick) and apart from mild dehydration there was nothing out of the ordinary. Sleep was terrible; I didn't follow a schedule and was getting no more than an 1-2 hours of sleep per night even that was broken and interrupted.

Note about craving - I was (am) lucky that the stuff really put me off weed/noids (fake weed) so I had no cravings for it at all. I did however have cravings of escaping my situation by any other means necessary. I gladly kept those at bay and rode the waves.

Week 3 the gaps between the troughs was getting wider. I even started getting waves of optimism, feeling that things will work out in the end. I started passing stool again but only a tiny bit at a time. I started working on my sleep hygiene. Getting sun in the morning and trying to bed before midnight. Taking supplements like magnesium etc (though ultimately I didn't feel I was getting much benefit from it so I stopped). Sleep was still very poor and I was lucky to get 2-3 hours per night, though it was improving every night and becoming less interrupted.

Week 4 - this is where I am now. Tomorrow week 5 starts. I've been totally clean of any illicit drugs or otherwise since stopping the Zolpidem two weeks ago. Sleep is much better, past 2-3 days I was getting up to six hours of uninterrupted sleep. Falling asleep also became a non-issue. Stool is still a work in progress, but it's improving every day.

Overall now, my diet, sleep and cognitive functions are maybe at 70% but I'm seeing improvement every day and I'm confident it will go up to 100% within a few weeks. I think I was both lucky and unfortunate to discover what I was using was not actually weed. I've suffered many withdrawals before from other substances, some a lot more acute but perhaps not as prolonged and certainly not what you'd expect if you were thinking you were using cannabis oil.

I hope this helps someone steer clear of what I went through, or encourages you to quit if you’re already caught up in it and I'd be happy to answer any questions if it helps someone avoid this.
 
Do you know the dose you were consuming? I've used MDMB-4en-PINACA on and off via smoked, vaporized, and oral RoAs and have never had any of these downsides. I often put it down for weeks at a time, or substitute it with THC-O tincture or HHC distillate in a dab rig (or box mod), and I'm always shocked when I read stories like this about MDMB-4en-PINACA.
 
I don't know the dose unfortunately. I was using a few different sources too which I assume they all had different potencies.
Sounds like maybe you didn't develop a dependency as I have due taking those breaks though.
 
I'm sure it's also a result of dose, my only interactions with MDMB-4en-PINACA have been in wicked low doses so far, so that combined with infrequent use is probably what's going on with my end.

I'm glad you're on the path to recovery from this dude, good luck with getting from 70% recovered back to 100%!
 
For completeness' sake, just in case someone needs an extra push or is discouraged to jump on the sober wagon, I've now been 4.5 months of being completely clean of any and all drugs. Cognition is at 100%. Getting 8 hours uninterrupted sleep every night and eating (and pooping) well.
I'm fortunate enough to have not experienced cravings due the ultimately god awful traumatic experiences I've had.
 
i always preamble a noid obtained to not be cannabis based. we do not know wth we are ingesting unless tested.
thanks for the report and congrats on your journey of recovery. :)
best to you and yours
✌️
 
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