tjg

I want to quit but I am so scared and don't know if I can do this alone.

IndaMiricale

Well my parents grew pot, so I grew it at 4 years old. My entire family never hid it. So I tried it around 4th grade. I started smoking regularlly in 9th grade.

Then it was a green light. I grew for years in Colorado. And smoked till I was 39.

You can do it. I did.

Welcome aboard to SR..

hypochondriac

I wasn't a pot smoker, much anyway, just wanted to say hi and welcome tjg x

doggonecarl

Scary, yes. But it can be done.

I had to lose every pot smoking friend. I could say no to the first invite to smoke. Maybe the second time. But by the third time I convinced myself that they were twisting my arm and I had to smoke.

misterritter

Its been a long time since I smoked, but I did pretty much every day I had some all through college. I don't remember much about how hard it was to quit, basically it just wasn't around anymore, but the one thing I clearly remember was somewhere from a couple of days to a week or so after I quit, I felt like this fog had been lifted from my brain. I never felt that way with alcohol unless I was hungover the next day, but it didn't last for days without another binge.

I remember feeling like I had been functioning in slow motion or moving through some substance that was slowing down my thinking, moving, etc. The idea of a fog or haze being lifted from my brain is the best explanation I can come up with.

That was a nice and unexpected little present for quitting.

Good luck, there is lots to be learned at this site. I am spending way too much time reading through the posts :-) .

tjg

Thank You. Maybe someone can answer my questions?

My father, brothers, uncles...alcoholics. Everyone smoked when I grew up. I had my first cigar at age 2 and was occasionally using candy money for cigarettes by age 5. I have been full time smoking since I was 19. I have tried so hard to quit...I haven't been able to make it more than a month without nicotine.

I don't drink. Alcohol made me throw up every time I drank it...And I didn't like the feeling of being drunk.

I have had arthritis and joint problems since I was 16. I can't take pain meds, they make me ill. I did "without" until my Dr.s put me on Paxil and Xanax...while they figured things out. After three years I moved to Seroquel (to sleep) Topomax ( for migraines) and Effexor (helps with pain). I was on that mess of a mix for almost a decade.

I used medical marijuana to get OFF of the drugs that were Killing me. It took three years of tapering down, one at a time, to be able to Trust myself.

Now I am wondering if 24 hours off of marijuana is going to put me back into an ER and life on psych meds.

I have ptsd and managed to live with it, constructively, for my whole life...until the psych drugs.

I hope I made sense.

tjg

I found a thread with articles and read them. Maybe it won't be as bad as I am thinking?

RobC420

Glad you're here tjg. I'm an ex pot smoker of 12 years. I've been clean and sober for 18 months now. I've found that seeing (and being completely honest with) a good doctor has been an important part of my recovery from day 1. I would highly suggest getting one if you don't already and they should be able to answer your medical questions.

There is a really good thread going in the Substance abuse forum with stories from marijuana addicts. Please check it out and share your experience if you like:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...na-anyone.html

andisa

Yep, 20 years addicted. Smoked near every day throughout. It was what I looked forward to. Eventually I realized, how sad is that! That the thing my life revolved around was the next opportunity to escape my own life! To dull the pain or whatever. That's no way to live. Life is short. Best to be here for every minute of it.

Know that you can change any behavior you decide to change. When you're ready to change it comes much more naturally than until you make that decision to change. Trust in yourself will carry you far, knowing you can do it. You won't go crazy or end up in ER if you stop smoking pot. It might seem like you will, I know how that is, how impossible it seems to quit. At first. Give it time, the urgency will pass and it does become easier with time. Take it easy on yourself, and reach out for help. It helps!

DK101

I can only speak for myself but I find it amazing how I've evolved over the years, from thinking how better it was being stoned or drunk or stoned and drunk...
to really appreciating how much better everything and I mean every single thing is sober.

dSober

I've had three substance addictions posess me and I have managed to rid myself of one; weed. I smoked daily for 25 years or so. I started on the west coast when the going price was $10 a "lid" (usually 3 or 4 fingers high in a sandwich baggie, old timers will know); roughly an ounce.

When I moved back east I was outraged by the price here, more so by the steady increase over the years, so I grew it in my backyard camoflagued with tomato plants. When my daughter got old enough that I was concerned she'd recognize it, I decided to stop and have only smoked very occasionally since. I still smoke cigarettes and I'm here because I'm a recovering alcohilc of 25 days... this, hopefully the last, time

For what it's worth, my experience was that weed was the least difficult to quit, for me. In retrospect I think, it was because I was sufficiently motivated and because I didn't experience any physical withdrawl symptoms. I say this not to minimize the hold of ANY addiction but to encourage that it CAN be done, even after a long term of abuse.

I haven't been able to rid myself of cigarettes yet, even though I watched my wife die from lung disease, a couple years ago at age 51, and as I said, I'm still strugling with alcohol. Hopefuly it has finally destroyed my life sufficiently to let me go :-)