Admiral

For anyone who smoked marijuana regularly for a long period of time, did you feel stoned long after you quit? I'm not talking about the mind change, euphoria or shift in perception, just the stoned, vacant feeling. I can sit and stare at the wall for minutes on end. My eyes just sort of unfocus and my mind goes blank, I feel like a rock, heavy and empty. At first I blamed this on depression but I don't feel sad or anything. It's just like I feel tired, but not tired. I get this way at work sometimes too, even in the noisy fast environment I find myself just sort of staring out the window, not wanting to move.

I often times felt this way the day after I did edibles. In the last three years or so of using I almost never smoked, I only cooked edibles out of the pot. They were so potent and so powerful that I would feel really out of it the whole next day. That feeling never really went away, like it's not as intense as it was back then, but it's still there and I'm not sure why. Does PAWS happen with marijuana? I was under the impression that it only happened with drugs that produce a severe initial withdrawal like alcohol or opiates. I also drank but at my worst I was bingeing 2-3 times a week, not ever enough to produce withdrawal.

I don't feel depressed, I just am looking for answers, sometimes I worry that I got too swept up in the pro marijuana movement and have permanently changed myself in some way through years of use.

Dee74

I smoked for 30 years, mostly daily, and never had that, Admiral.

Do you think it's possible you might have something else going on?
Have you seen a Dr?

D

Admiral

I don't have a doctor, I haven't since my pediatrician. To be honest I've always been scared and aprehensive about going, and it's been so long that I don't even know how I would go about finding a doctor to see. In a few months I won't have insurance anymore as well, so it's not really something I think about often.

Dee74

why not go why you still have insurance?
I understand fear, but it's got to be a better option than just sitting with whatever the problem is and hoping it goes away, surely?

D

Lyoness

Hey Admiral. I agree with Dee that you might as well see a doctor while you have coverage. But I did want to say that for six months after I quit smoking pot I was definitely "not right" shall we say. I felt out of it, not exactly stoned, but not clearheaded either. Foggy, cloudy, slow, thick. It did lift, but it was a good, solid six months.

bigsombrero

Admiral, if you're in the states and in a large city, you can still see a doctor real easy anytime. I've been where you are with the doctor thing, if you want any add'l info let me know.

Soberish

I felt cloudy and foggy after I quit too, it took a long time to start feeling normal for me. I think part of it was that I was still drinking and that I isolated a lot towards the last few years I had been smoking. I think I became accustomed to doing nothing and feeling paranoid/nervous around others all the time that even when I was sober I felt this way if that makes any sense. The reason i quit was because i was feeling very anxious and paranoid all the time and started getting what i guess would be mild panic attacks? The dank wasnt fun anymore and i seen life passing me by.

I have been weed free for about 2 years now and it gets better after 6 months and even better after that. Now that I have quit drinking and started working out I feel even better....not perfect but then again no ones perfect right? I have read that there is PAWS with long term cannabis use and that it can take up to 2 years. The brain needs to rewire itself. I also noticed that caffeine can make me feel really cloudy if I get into daily routines of large amounts. Instead of drinking a 160 mg diet energy drink + two 44 ounce diet sodas a day I have cut back to just a 44 ounce soda a day or on some days just an energy drink.

Just thought I would share my experience with marijuana. It doesn't hurt to see a doctor either.

Soberish

Here is some more on PAWS, at the bottom of the page there is people who have replied that have reported feeling post acute withdrawal from pot. There are also others who talk about PAWS from other drugs so you may have to read through them to find the ones about marijuana.

PAWS « Digital Dharma

I hope this helps, I know for me it did because I got to see that there were others that felt the exact same way I did. I do believe it gets better with abstinence.

crackerboy

Hi, Admiral,

PAWS occurs when the brain is "rewiring" itself back to normal after having been modified by the continual presence of drugs. Recovery can't be accelerated, but the effects can be moderated by good nutrition, exercise, and outside support.

Back "in the day," there was no discernible withdrawal or post-acute syndrome from weed, because it was about 1/10th as powerful as the current crop. Ah, the benefits of modern agriculture! Now, however, heavy users can expect up to two years of PAWS, gradually improving over time.

Recovery is totally contingent on abstinence from cannabis and any other mood altering drugs, including alcohol and tranquilizers. If you have anxiety or depression, there are other classes of drugs that work. Most recreational drugs work by stimulating roughly the same neural pathways, and affect our moods by messing with the reward system. Thus, anything that stimulates the old pathways will prevent recovery back to normal.

The PAWS article recommended above has a lot of good information. As to doctors, call your local medical society. They have lists of doctors in various specialties who are taking patients. You probably want an internist for a complete workup before you lose that insurance. Denial ain't just a river in Africa. Step up and take responsibility for you life and health. No one else is going to do it.

Bill

sugarbear1

Tomorrow I will have 21 months away from weed and alcohol and I'm much better than I had been. Much better meaning I have residual stuff--still have memory recall problems on occasion, I can't do simple arithmetic in my head, and, um, I guess that is mostly it for now.

My sponsor reminds me I'm old. I'll be 52 in April. 35 years of progressive drinking and smoking weed mostly consistently. Age, using/drinking/ or what??

Yes, I feel PAWS was "more" for me because of the pot smoking.

alonzollamas

Finally I found someone with the same problem of me. I started smoking marijuana long ago but I dont anymore. The symptoms you described are the SAME for me. Have you found any cure? I guess it´s something related to fats stored in body. I´m not too thin and I think marijuana gets stored with fats along years of use (and abuse). But please tell me... have you found anything that could help?

alonzollamas

I have the exact same thing... Finally I found someone that understand me by feeling the same thing.

Dee74

This is a pretty old thread alonzollamas but welcome

How long have you quit for?

We have a marijuana sub forum now too
https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...ana-addiction/

come check it out
D

alonzollamas

Admiral where are you my friend

FreeOwl

If this were happening for me, I'd go talk with a psychologist about it.

Sounds a little bit to me like your brain could be compensating for the absence of marijuana with other forms of 'comforting' dissociation. The desire to 'check out' or to stare out the window and not engage in life can be a form of dissociative coping.

For me... Marijuana played a role along with other substances to help me numb feelings, dull pain, ignore the unpleasantness, detach from my reality that was filled with stressors and anxieties.

Although I've not experienced quite the same thing - I can say that having similar experiences for many days after potent edibles - I wonder if these experiences you describe are a protective, dissociative coping.

larrylive

LOl Dee,
post #13, "this is an old thread" (you said in 2018) getting even older. and weed is getting stronger.
And now it's getting legal.
As to those with PAWS, exercise!!!

Regards,
Larry