I have been avoiding this forum
 

Hi all
I'm very scatter brained so I will attempt to keep this brief. I've been smoking since age 14-15, and am now 29. The past few years have been all day every day. I am recovering from bronchitis for like the 3rd time this year and it has therefore really hit me hard how much I need to quit. All I smoke is bongs. I'm coughing up black ****.

But the respiratory stuff isn't the worst, by any means. My life has been barely held together the past few years. I'm too stoned to even think almost every moment of my life. I need to mention that I have succesfully quit drinking alcohol and all other drugs, and am familiar with the recovery community. I spent a great deal of time on these boards using another user name. I'm not new to this terrible game, but this is the absolute first time I have actually forced myself to make a post.
I have so much more whirling around my head but I am going to click 'submit new thread' now before my addiction convinces me this is a waste of time!!

Hi,welcome! Step one is done, you are here...loads of great people on here, loads of help and support! I can't offer specific help but I guess someone here can... well done for making the 1st move !!!

Thank you for the welcome enfin. You are correct on all counts!

A bit more:
The last time I tried to quit was a few years ago. I think I managed about 2 weeks, but I wasn't doing it for myself nearly as much as the girl I was with, and we all know how that works out.
I feel different this time around. My mood is swinging about obviously; alternating between terror at not smoking weed any more and optimism at all the positives there are to quitting. I know how important staying busy is, especially initially. I have a full time job with plenty of room for working extra hours and learning new skills. I have a gym membership. and weight training has always been an extremely important component of my life. Sadly, it has been neglected more and more in recent years as the smoking has slowly taken over.
I know that everyone is different physiologically, but here is what i'm expecting:
Mood swings (I HATE these; obviously being an addict I am sensitive to mood)
Night sweats - last time I quit I was surprised at how bad these were
Vivid dreams/nightmares
Insomnia
LACK OF APPETITE - this is a big one for me. I actually binge eat (on junk food) when i'm stoned but when i'm not I find food very unappealing. I assume this is something that will go away as the garbage is slowly eliminated from my system?

I'm not an expert on quitting weed...but I guess it must have chemical effects on the body and systems plus mental ones... I've seen how it affects people, but haven't read as widely on it as on alcohol as I haven't used it thay much, it for ages and not addictivly. ... ... I always preferred booze!

There must be similar books on how to quit... have u looked on amazon or Google it??? They would be much more specific...

I reakon some foods/supplements would help as well. ....

There's a couple of kindle books on amazon for really cheap! !!

Thank you enfin! I will say that i am quite familiar with all the details and physiology that go into addiction and quitting. What is most importqnt for me is reaching out to others, in any medium. That is the part i always stopped at.

Cool
I think talking about it, even anonymously like here , stops u hiding from yourself. ...if I don't post here I can shut out the problem. .. lalalalalalalaal. .. fingers in ears....what problem.... I'm fine... till I drink 10 pints and am blasted !
If i talk on here I feel more honest and accountable. It makes me want to try...

I do remember my drinking days, enfin. They were awful. Initially just quitting alcohol resulted in major positive changes. But i kept smoking of course, and if you are using a substance you never learn to deal with the core issues that stem from addiction. I think a major hang up is how insidious weed is. With alcohol i would black out, have terrible hangovers, get in fights. That didnt happen with weed. But as i look back it is so clear how much weed has held me back from SO much in my life. Wasted college ed. Wasted TIME!!

Hi and welcome mm :)

I gave up after 30 years so it really is possible :)

It's a couple of weeks feeling uncomfortable for sure but that gets better - certainly nothing like alcohol withdrawal was for me.

This is a great supportive space - I think you'll like it. There's a few links at the top of the forum that may help too (below) :)

D

Thank you much Dee, I was waiting for you to chime in :). I have read your story numerous times. I was fortunate enough not to have severe physical withdrawals, but I was certainly heading in that direction.

That resource link was very helpful Dee, thank you. I have read a couple of those guides before; they are fantastic. It still comes down to action, however.

Welcome- what does your heart tell you- as opposed to your mind?

Hi Phoenix,
I'm not quite sure what you mean by your question. To be honest I have no idea how I feel, or how a certain part of me feels. My mind is so numb from being stoned all the time.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Wow, I just tried a gov link (NCPIC) from the Resource sticky.

You get this message

NCPIC was de-funded at the directive of the Hon. Sussan Ley in December 2016. As a result, the majority of the NCPIC website has been made inactive. Please check back in February 2017 when resources will become available again.


Yay politics. I notice it will be available again next month; just had to comment on it :)

Don't get me started, lol

Cached version of that NCPIC page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160306...ana-addictive/

and the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zg-W1UwME
D

I quit smoking weed in early December, after a long lifetime of smoking consistently.
I've been successfully clean & sober from alcohol & all other drugs for big chunks of my life, but "never counted" weed. I was raised by weed-friendly/counter-culture family & community, & have always considered it medicine - for anxiety, PTSD, etc. The legalization & casualness of acceptance in many parts of the US supported this perspective for me.
Wow. Letting go of it (which I did for a job which was important to me) has really surprised me with the impact! I've felt really lost without my comfort tool! Feeling restless, vulnerable...struggled with sleep...crazy, vivid dreams.
The lovely part is that it's ok. I can already feel my ability to breathe transforming, I'm capable of dealing with my anxiety (surprising myself), & am starting to sleep better.
But the coolest part is the vivid dreams! They scared me at first with their complexity & clarity, but I'm letting myself enjoy them & be curious. I've probably dreamed like this forever, but never remembered.
It's been about 5 weeks & I feel adjusted from the use (daily) of a substance I thought was required to maintain my mental health.
When you release something you thought was a critical, inevitable aspect of you, it is sort of a revelation.
Most importantly, at those moments that I miss it, I remind myself that I was doing real damage to my lungs & that reduced oxygen makes you tired/less functional. I already have more energy!
Hang in there! Allow yourself to be open to being pleasantly surprised!

THANK YOU for the post heartcore!! Your response really means a lot to me. I relate to a LOT of that, especially the 'never counting' weed part. Although I will say that subconciously, I knew i was swapping addictions when I quit drinking and that i'd eventually have to deal with my weed smoking.
I am interested in the dreams too! I actually had one last night, since I hadn't smoked due to being sick. It wasn't as vivid as I know they will get, but the truth is the VAST majority of time I do not remember any dreams at all.
Tell me, how did you keep busy at first? The urge to smoke just permeates every aspect of my life. It's hard to even think about alternatives since i'm so used to automatically reaching for it no matter what I had to do.

PS: Thank you Dee for taking the time to find the cached version!!!

Mm,
I'm just trying to fill time by doing the "next right thing," with the same intent with which I moved through those early days of quitting alcohol or hard drugs.
The funny thing is that I'm still doing the same evening & weekend activities I did before (my week absorbed in a new, full-time job - which in its newness does use energy). In the evenings I read voraciously, do SR., do the dishes, walk the pup, take a hot bath... The thing is I (thought I) needed to be stoned to make things like doing the dishes or taking a bath (or anything, really) pleasurable & relaxing.
Turns out there's only a few degrees of difference between doing the dishes stoned & doing the dishes not-stoned...
I had somehow convinced myself otherwise.
It is the transitions that took a moment to get used to - I'd toke after work to "move into" doing the dishes, then a hit to "move into" reading. Now I just stand disoriented for a moment in the middle of the kitchen & think - what should I do next...ok...I'll read for a little bit...& once I start reading, it's all good.
Mind you, I live alone & also don't have television, so I think I had just built a habit pattern which helped smooth over quite a lot of quiet time to fill.
But, here at 5 weeks, lying on the bed reading SR. on my phone & snuggling my pup, I'm completely content without a substance in my system...

I am 96 days off pot after smoking over thirty years. It gets easier as the days go on. I still crave it- I still have the voice that says, oh you can handle it, just get some today and smoke it!

I tried a million times to quit before I managed to even get this far. I was finally motivated by health issues. but it is nice now, to not be a slave to the pot.
When I am smoking it becomes like the God I am worshipping- it puts itself first and everything else gets aside.
When you first quit, allow yourself to do nothing for a while. Just be proud of yourself each day that you do not smoke, and do not get down on yourself. The only challenge for me was at first I felt bored and aimless. That starts to lift, after some time (2 weeks maybe)?
I love dreaming again.
You can do it- just try it. Tell yourself, you can always go back to it again. For me I first committed to one week, then one month, then just kept adding days.
Don't tell yourself you can never smoke again. Just take a week off and then build from there.