Smoked daily for the last year and a half, and have been spending a significant amount of my income from a part time job (i'm a student) on weed. It's day 2 of my break. Reasons for quitting include anxiety and depression , money, and also how i'd turned from being a social stoner to isolating myself and not wanting to share my weed like i used to not care about. My cannabis use has also been affecting my studies too, missing classes to get high instead. I already feel a lot clearer headed and motivated. My plan is to keep myself occupied the majority of time as i know that boredom is the main trigger for myself. I feel it's also going to allow me to rebuild my social skills and confidence that i've lost through use. Most likely smoke over summer, but keep use to weekends. Also moved back to my dads recently, where it's going to be very hard to smoke as he's always around, where as at my mums she was never in so i would just wake up and spark up in bed without a care. Wish me luck.
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CD Moderators: someguyontheinternet
[MEGA] Cannabis Quitting Thread aka I need a break
- Thread starter Zzyzx
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Transitioning from a heavy smoker to casual smoker
The title pretty much says it all. Basically i'd like to get more out of my weed and smoke less, but moderation is a more difficult task than abstinence. Is there anyone who has that made this transition that could offer advice? To give you a frame of reference i'd like to cut back smoking only a couple times a week or something. One of the issues i'm having right now is that i cant eat unless i'm stoned so i find it that much more difficult to not smoke gratuitous amounts of weed.
The title pretty much says it all. Basically i'd like to get more out of my weed and smoke less, but moderation is a more difficult task than abstinence. Is there anyone who has that made this transition that could offer advice? To give you a frame of reference i'd like to cut back smoking only a couple times a week or something. One of the issues i'm having right now is that i cant eat unless i'm stoned so i find it that much more difficult to not smoke gratuitous amounts of weed.
PriestTheyCalledHim
Bluelighter
- Joined
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- 14,714
Just gradually cut back and smoke less. Try smoking only on weekends instead of daily. I've read about people who can't eat unless they're high and you're going to have to force yourself to eat. This has never happened to me but I have a friend who is like this.
the problem is im not very functional without weed. i have a plan that by tapering the dose in edibles i can ween myself off of daily use(by taking barely threshold doses). unless someone offers up a better solution in this thread.
in the past 2 years the longest i've gone is about 3 days when my mom grabbed all my weed when i was back on break -__- lol. prior to these two years i was able to smoke some days and not other days without a problem
have you gone back to weed since? i definitely realize how apathetic it makes me which is partially why i made this thread. however when i first started smoking weed it had no such effect because i wasnt using it in such excess.
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If you can I would transition to social smoking only. Even if you end up visiting a friend just because you want to get high, at least you'll be getting out of the house and interacting with another human being.
If your bodily functions aren't stable without smoking then that's a sign you need to take a break. Your body uses its own cannabinoid-like substances to regulate appetite and all the weed you're smoking has probably caused some down-regulation of the appetite receptors (see: the vagus nerve). Tapering is probably a good idea. If you can stop completely for a month you will return to normal. Weed doesn't usually seem to cause any permanent damage.
If your bodily functions aren't stable without smoking then that's a sign you need to take a break. Your body uses its own cannabinoid-like substances to regulate appetite and all the weed you're smoking has probably caused some down-regulation of the appetite receptors (see: the vagus nerve). Tapering is probably a good idea. If you can stop completely for a month you will return to normal. Weed doesn't usually seem to cause any permanent damage.
@foreigner i already make my rounds smoking with different people on a daily basis, and multiple sessions with different groups at different times during the day. which is why i think going cold turkey for a month would be so difficult for me... because social smoking is the majority of my social interaction. going through withdrawal AND being essentially friendless i think would push me towards social smoking. its a vicious cycle haha, possibly when im home from college for the summer i could make the cold turkey thing work. but i guess im just not that committed at this point
@illuminatus i have a hand full of relatively well connected friends so paying for it isnt an issue, and a budget would probably just lead me to bugging my boys for smoke ups haha. also if i was good with budgets i imagine i'd be a little better at the moderation thing.
@illuminatus i have a hand full of relatively well connected friends so paying for it isnt an issue, and a budget would probably just lead me to bugging my boys for smoke ups haha. also if i was good with budgets i imagine i'd be a little better at the moderation thing.
Hoes call me santa
Bluelighter
^I don't know about the OP, but sometimes when you always have ounces of weed around it doesn't work that way haha.
I'd suggest you start cutting back by not smoking during the day for the first week or so. Have your first smoke after 6 PM for example. You will smoke once or twice a day instead of all day long that way and then you can even cut back to one day out of two, and etc.
I totally feel you about the appetite. I have difficulties eating as well when I take a break, but I just force myself to eat since I know my body needs it and it usually makes me feel better. My food consumption goes down a bit compared to normal days when i'm on a break though. Try to eat healthy things that give you energy instead of fat and greasy foods as well. I found that exercise (jogging or any sport) helped a lot to keep my mind busy, as well as helping my lungs too.
I'd suggest you start cutting back by not smoking during the day for the first week or so. Have your first smoke after 6 PM for example. You will smoke once or twice a day instead of all day long that way and then you can even cut back to one day out of two, and etc.
I totally feel you about the appetite. I have difficulties eating as well when I take a break, but I just force myself to eat since I know my body needs it and it usually makes me feel better. My food consumption goes down a bit compared to normal days when i'm on a break though. Try to eat healthy things that give you energy instead of fat and greasy foods as well. I found that exercise (jogging or any sport) helped a lot to keep my mind busy, as well as helping my lungs too.
Psylex
Bluelighter
Same here brah... in one month i managed to cut back from smoking all day long to smoking one day out of two and i'm planning on getting rid of my weed addiction one day (not having the urge to smoke anymore). My main motivation for tapering off is the withdrawals i get from weed (let's face it, the thc level is massive these days) : personally when i'm dead sober i get an all day long left sided chest pain showing the "physical" anxiety of this sudden thc break :/ Well, i guess i'm "lucky" only having slight anxiety and mild depression as a side effect from daily ganja instead of schizophrenia for the unluckiest ones. Another motivation for this extremely annoying cleansing would be because of the massive tolerance you get after a while (sometimes a joint seems more like a cigarette than what it first was like during the "honey moon").
Good luck to all the folks out there attempting to get more of their freedom back
Even though i love utopian chemistry, some hardcore junkies really disgust me sometimes
Ps: What is the shortest cold turkey time in order to feel 100% "normal" again when sober? (Like p0ly said)
Good luck to all the folks out there attempting to get more of their freedom back
Even though i love utopian chemistry, some hardcore junkies really disgust me sometimes Ps: What is the shortest cold turkey time in order to feel 100% "normal" again when sober? (Like p0ly said)
superelephant
Bluelighter
Is anyone else paranoid of quitting/cutting back because they feel it would be detrimental to their comprehensive antioxidant regimen? 8(
GOTCOOKIES?
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2011
- Messages
- 137
My partner and I used to smoke heaps, until weed became dry, now the cravings have gone
Same here brah... in one month i managed to cut back from smoking all day long to smoking one day out of two and i'm planning on getting rid of my weed addiction one day (not having the urge to smoke anymore). My main motivation for tapering off is the withdrawals i get from weed (let's face it, the thc level is massive these days) : personally when i'm dead sober i get an all day long left sided chest pain showing the "physical" anxiety of this sudden thc break :/ Well, i guess i'm "lucky" only having slight anxiety and mild depression as a side effect from daily ganja instead of schizophrenia for the unluckiest ones. Another motivation for this extremely annoying cleansing would be because of the massive tolerance you get after a while (sometimes a joint seems more like a cigarette than what it first was like during the "honey moon").
Good luck to all the folks out there attempting to get more of their freedom back
Ps: What is the shortest cold turkey time in order to feel 100% "normal" again when sober? (Like p0ly said)
props dude, let me ask you this do you chill less with people who burn from sun up to sun down now that you've cut back. i always imagined i wouldnt mind being around smokers but when im first trying to cut back i'd have to go hermit for awhile.
wickywacky
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2011
- Messages
- 42
Here I am again. I haven't posted in this thread for a long time. The last time I was here it was mostly because I had too much tolerance and just wanted a break, but since then (after another long period of smoking every day again) I've come to realize just how damaging smoking every day is for me. Don't get me wrong, I think marijuana is a wonder drug when used properly. If I could just freaking keep it under control (you have no idea how bad I want to kick myself for the fact that I can't) it could do great things for my life. Marijuana use in balance (for me, this means maybe 3-4 smoke sessions a week at MOST) makes me feel confident, more creative, helps with pain in my body, helps me be more relaxed and flexible for exercise and yoga sessions and helps me breathe deeper. But marijuana out of balance was pretty much destroying my life.
I don't know exactly how it happened but one day I just had this deep awakening about it. I cried to my boyfriend for hours, finally admitting (really admitting, not just saying I need a break for tolerance) how bad my addiction has gotten. I was lying to myself for so long. Even though I had periods of admitting my addiction in the past I would always go right back into my unhealthy use. Now I'm looking at why I use, not just attempting to control my usage. I can't control my usage because of the underlying issues that I've been running from. Low self worth, the desire to harm myself, wanting to live in a fantasy world and avoid contact with others, avoid anything real... there are so many reason. And I know now that until I learn to heal those things I will never be able to use marijuana in a healthy way. So taking these "tolerance breaks" are really useless. I go back to smoking and have maybe 3-4 good days where I use it in a healthy balance and then I slip right back into my addiction and begin using it compulsively again, all day, every day, sometimes smoking up to 10 bowls in a row (no lie) and getting zero euphoria out of it. I was blowing through hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month, all to feel the same stoned haze and lack of happiness all day. My creative work was suffering. I'm a writer, and while occasional marijuana use fills me with creative flow, my all day stoned-ness was leaving me sitting there staring at my work with a blank mind for hours on end, unable to think up a single sentence.
It was also hurting my relationship. I found myself wanting to avoid my boyfriend most of the time and be alone in my office. Talking to him just took too much energy. I didn't exactly feel socially anxious around him as we've been together and lived together for ages, but being around anyone, even someone I love as much as him, was just becoming so agitating. It was easier to stay in my stoned fantasy world, staring off into space and imagining myself as a far better person than the one I was becoming.
Another bad thing is I basically live in fear of getting it, either because of lack of funds or lack of a hookup. I only have one hookup and sometimes they run out for months on end so my life was constantly built around finding money to "stock up" on supply in case they were to run out. This is a very upsetting way to have to live. I would say my stomach was always in knots any time I had less than a quarter ounce left, and if I wasn't able to get ahold of my hookup and my supply got down to an 8th or less I'd be crying from anxiety. It made me feel so pathetic. I'm not the type of person who wants to depend on things like that...in fact, in every other area of my life I live very independently, needing very little. I'm all about basic, simple lifestyle and this terror I'd feel over running out of pot doesn't fit with that.
I just reached a point where I couldn't lie to myself anymore. My life had become heartbreakingly sad. My anxiety was becoming so terrible that I stayed in my apartment for days on end, afraid to even go outside to take out the trash because I thought I might run into a neighbor and be forced into some sort of small talk with them... that can't be right and it's for sure not healthy... I know I'll never be a "people person" by my quiet/introverted/creative nature, but living in fear of basic human interaction? I don't want that shit.
So I decided to quit until I can do the self work necessary to be able to trust myself to use marijuana in a healthy way. That may take a couple months, a couple years, a couple decades, I don't really know. I also don't know what I'm going to do without using it medicinally as I have a health condition that makes my body intolerant to other pain medications... but I guess I'll have to make do somehow... I'm afraid to use it medicinally, it will just trigger my addiction again.
The decision to quit was one week ago today and in the past week (especially the second half of the week) I already felt major changes. I was no longer afraid to engage in conversation with co-workers in the break room. In fact I was quite talkative, even charming and funny! It was such a milestone for me to actually talk and make people laugh instead of sitting there quietly in my own little world feeling like an alien who no one understood. Although I never smoked AT or before work, even having it sooo built up in my system was effecting me a lot.
I also was able to work on my writing for hours and feel focused instead of of lost daydreaming and unable to put my thoughts together...huge for me and important if I want to have a career in the future...
It's amazing how much mindset effects things. In the past when I took those breaks I was just as much in the midst of addiction as when I was smoking. I may have not been actually using, but all day every day I was still obsessing about using, thinking about how great it was going to be when I could use again, how high I was going to get, etc. The addiction was still owning me.
I really relate to what a lot of you guys are saying here...especially powdakilla. Thank you.
I don't know exactly how it happened but one day I just had this deep awakening about it. I cried to my boyfriend for hours, finally admitting (really admitting, not just saying I need a break for tolerance) how bad my addiction has gotten. I was lying to myself for so long. Even though I had periods of admitting my addiction in the past I would always go right back into my unhealthy use. Now I'm looking at why I use, not just attempting to control my usage. I can't control my usage because of the underlying issues that I've been running from. Low self worth, the desire to harm myself, wanting to live in a fantasy world and avoid contact with others, avoid anything real... there are so many reason. And I know now that until I learn to heal those things I will never be able to use marijuana in a healthy way. So taking these "tolerance breaks" are really useless. I go back to smoking and have maybe 3-4 good days where I use it in a healthy balance and then I slip right back into my addiction and begin using it compulsively again, all day, every day, sometimes smoking up to 10 bowls in a row (no lie) and getting zero euphoria out of it. I was blowing through hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month, all to feel the same stoned haze and lack of happiness all day. My creative work was suffering. I'm a writer, and while occasional marijuana use fills me with creative flow, my all day stoned-ness was leaving me sitting there staring at my work with a blank mind for hours on end, unable to think up a single sentence.
It was also hurting my relationship. I found myself wanting to avoid my boyfriend most of the time and be alone in my office. Talking to him just took too much energy. I didn't exactly feel socially anxious around him as we've been together and lived together for ages, but being around anyone, even someone I love as much as him, was just becoming so agitating. It was easier to stay in my stoned fantasy world, staring off into space and imagining myself as a far better person than the one I was becoming.
Another bad thing is I basically live in fear of getting it, either because of lack of funds or lack of a hookup. I only have one hookup and sometimes they run out for months on end so my life was constantly built around finding money to "stock up" on supply in case they were to run out. This is a very upsetting way to have to live. I would say my stomach was always in knots any time I had less than a quarter ounce left, and if I wasn't able to get ahold of my hookup and my supply got down to an 8th or less I'd be crying from anxiety. It made me feel so pathetic. I'm not the type of person who wants to depend on things like that...in fact, in every other area of my life I live very independently, needing very little. I'm all about basic, simple lifestyle and this terror I'd feel over running out of pot doesn't fit with that.
I just reached a point where I couldn't lie to myself anymore. My life had become heartbreakingly sad. My anxiety was becoming so terrible that I stayed in my apartment for days on end, afraid to even go outside to take out the trash because I thought I might run into a neighbor and be forced into some sort of small talk with them... that can't be right and it's for sure not healthy... I know I'll never be a "people person" by my quiet/introverted/creative nature, but living in fear of basic human interaction? I don't want that shit.
So I decided to quit until I can do the self work necessary to be able to trust myself to use marijuana in a healthy way. That may take a couple months, a couple years, a couple decades, I don't really know. I also don't know what I'm going to do without using it medicinally as I have a health condition that makes my body intolerant to other pain medications... but I guess I'll have to make do somehow... I'm afraid to use it medicinally, it will just trigger my addiction again.
The decision to quit was one week ago today and in the past week (especially the second half of the week) I already felt major changes. I was no longer afraid to engage in conversation with co-workers in the break room. In fact I was quite talkative, even charming and funny! It was such a milestone for me to actually talk and make people laugh instead of sitting there quietly in my own little world feeling like an alien who no one understood. Although I never smoked AT or before work, even having it sooo built up in my system was effecting me a lot.
I also was able to work on my writing for hours and feel focused instead of of lost daydreaming and unable to put my thoughts together...huge for me and important if I want to have a career in the future...
It's amazing how much mindset effects things. In the past when I took those breaks I was just as much in the midst of addiction as when I was smoking. I may have not been actually using, but all day every day I was still obsessing about using, thinking about how great it was going to be when I could use again, how high I was going to get, etc. The addiction was still owning me.
I really relate to what a lot of you guys are saying here...especially powdakilla. Thank you.
I used to be a huge pothead, I got to a point when i woudl wake up in the winter and have a toke before getting out of bed. When I tried to stop it seemed impossible then I realized that it was all in my head and all i needed was to REALLY want to stop.
i get what your saying but thats why i didn't post in the quitting thread, i was trying to make a cutting back thread lol.
but for whatever its worth i take a snap when i want to sit down and eat a big meal in the middle of the day. later in the day i'll smoke a blunt or something dont get me wrong but im getting better at staying sober longer and smoking less when i do :D
Bagseed
Bluelighter
^ awesome post. even though my use is not as "bad" as yours, with not smoking more than 2-3g a week mostly (but with a vaporizer, a little bit goes a long way^^), i can relate to a lot of what you say. i'm on a break myself since yesterday and plan to make it at least a month. i hope that i can learn using cannabis in a good way again, because it still is my drug of choice. but as you've said, being in an all-day haze is nothing like smoking once in a while or even every few days. i miss the true psychedelic effects weed used to give me.
i've read my last posts in this topics again right before and i find myself a little bit pathetic because back then i had excactly the same goal as now but i totally failed, continuing my old habit after the break was over in no time (allthough i have to say in retrospective i used more herb before the break, but not really sure about that).
i wish you (and everyone else on a break / trying to quit) good luck and all the best.
i've read my last posts in this topics again right before and i find myself a little bit pathetic because back then i had excactly the same goal as now but i totally failed, continuing my old habit after the break was over in no time (allthough i have to say in retrospective i used more herb before the break, but not really sure about that).
i wish you (and everyone else on a break / trying to quit) good luck and all the best.
wickywacky
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2011
- Messages
- 42
Thank you. I'm still going strong! It's nice to get deeper sleep and actually remember my dreams.
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