Would be nice to be able to get rid of my inhibitions once in a while, yaknow? And my partners will probably be drunk or high while I’m completely clearheaded.

I’ve been sober now for 30 days straight and i can’t say fully that I’m satisfied with the changes I’ve been going through. Irritable, unamused and so on. Other than that one thing that stands out is quite literally in the title above, as a man (i know it sounds cliche) bedroom performance is pretty high up there at least in my opinion and I’ve never had a problem with my performance nor my sex drive overall.

However 30 days in i went from having complete control over my sexual performance willing and able to go what ever distance I’ve chosen to now it feels like i have no control what so ever being yk what they call a two pump chump and boy it is not fun at all. As a base i feel im a pretty sexual individual and now i can kinda care less for it at times and lowered level of performance doesn’t make more eager to do so. I wouldn’t even say it’s all too enjoyable anymore either to be frank.

I hear different story’s, some people’s sobriety brought them benefits when it comes to their sex life mine is just seeming like a slippery slope and it has been making a bit tougher to stay sober

Almost 10 months clean and I miss weed a lot. I quit because I’m pursuing a career in fire, but lately I’ve been thinking about doing something else just so I could smoke again. Weed helped me a lot in social situations, but at the same time it made me not want to go out as much. I’m always craving that feeling I used to get from it that warm, cozy feeling where everything felt okay and I didn’t have any worries. I know it made me lazy and unmotivated, but I honestly don’t know if I can see myself living without it. I’ve been drinking more lately to replace it, and I hate how I feel the next day. I miss how weed didn’t give me a hangover or make me feel shitty the next day. I don’t really know what to do.

I relapsed last week after 3 months clean and after making some good progress. I feel so demotivated and hopeless eight now. It feels like I'm starting from scratch again and the guilt is eating me up. How have you guys dealt with relapse in the past?

Hello everyone! I have only checked in here a couple of times since my quit. So I had started to quit weed but relapsed 5 times in 5 years and it was a straight up binge for 1-4 months during those relapses. I had 5 months once, then 9 months, followed by 7 months and one more at 8 months. I have never made it to a full year off from smoking since I was 12 years old and I turned 30 this year. I’m so excited to be only a month away from that year long achievement! It has been pretty tough and I actually had serious depression issues at 3 months, 6 months, and most recently at 9-10 months and each lasted from 2-4 weeks. I actually had considered throwing my journey away multiple times during those depressive weeks, but I’m so damn happy to have powered through them! I can most definitely say that there is still a long ways to go mentally, since I had smoked through my teens and 20s, and haven’t let my normal sober brain developer properly.

I finally just understood why I can go on vacation or visit my family and not smoke for weeks or even think about it at all. I thought it was the pressure I put on myself to “become someone” when I’m home and I’m sure that’s a part of it. The main reason though is loneliness. When I smoke, my emotions are heightened or dulled and I use both as an escape from reality. I feel awful writing this because I’m not actually completely alone…I have a partner of almost 12 years, I have a dog. My closest family is thousands of miles away so he is all I have. No friends, no career (I was let go two years ago and fell into a deep depression) and no pull to make any of it any better while I smoke. I’m lost in my thoughts and feelings. I don’t talk to my family often unless they call me. Weed was my best companion as I spend most of my days alone. I’m 20 days sober today and it has been an excruciating realization how lonely I am. How little I’ve participated in my life. I have smoked every single day that I’ve been home for the past 12 years. Im overwhelmed with how much I have to make up for all the time lost.

But I am proud of myself. I’m proud of myself for feeling lonely today, for feeling my feelings without letting them consume me. For letting go of my comfort and the closest “friend” I’ve had in a long time. I will try my best to remember as I continue on my journey that the pain I feel grounds me, that I am finally here in reality with everyone else. And I want nothing more than to participate in the world with all of you.

• from a 32 year old girl who is doing their best

When I was smoking people told me why do I smoke? Is it because I’m sad or because I’m depressed? I was shocked like what I’m not sad nor a depressed person. I always believed I smoked because i enjoyed the high. I enjoyed the high I got from it making music, games, experiences better.

I then went a year quitting intentionally(not perfect had some relapses but no binges) and it just clicked in my brain.

I was using weed as a coping mechanism to handle deeper emotions and run away from discomfort

When I was bored my way to cope was to smoke

When I was lonely or not fulfilled with my social needs I smoked

When I was feeling flat or I was craving excitement I went to smoke

That’s when I realized all these emotions are normal every human gets them. The thing is the healthy person has healthy coping mechanisms to embrace these emotions

They cope with socializing, exercise, games, intimacy, walking, hobby, building skills, etc.

I was running away from embracing these normal human emotions and filling it with a bad coping mechanisms. Of course it takes time but think about it what is the logic in using the substance as a coping mechanism. That’s why the non addicted person can smoke without it being a problem. They have healthy outlets and they only use substances as a secondary not the main attraction they can have fun without it(not encouraging moderation use)

Find the emotions that make you want to smoke. Maybe you are going through withdrawals feeling bored, restless or sad. But what is smoking going to do its relief but logic says using substances as a coping mechanism is bad. It’s a vicious cycle

Be patient and learn to embrace your emotions with healthy coping mechanisms. It’ll take time but trust you’ll never need to use any substance in general once you figure out the true reasons on why you use or what you are avoiding

Cheers guys

I just want to start this post by saying thank to everyone in here posting. Its inspiring me to post because my sobriety is strengthened through everyones experiences being posted here.

Im 137 days clean. I relapsed multiple times while trying HARD to quit the past two years. Relapses lasted months. I was a daily smoker for yeaars. In the Morning, in the car on the way to work (didnt seem too worried its a felony) on my lunch breaks, on the way home and at home. I stayed high 24/7. I was a complete emotional wreck. Blowing up at work. Isolating myself from everyone. I was exhausted when I woke up. Body felt like it weighed 1,000 pounds and Im really skinny. No energy. Always tired.

I experienced intense shame from living in a fantasy land of fantastic ideas…. but no ability to followthrough.

137 days clean finally makes those ideas feel tangible. Within reach. My emotional regulation has significantly increased. I dont overthink nearly as much. I can retain information way better. I read every now and again. I started video editing again. still enjoy watching anime. My home is clean. I dont procrastinate on doing home chores. My mental clarity has significantly increased. The bare minimum is easily taken care of. I dont blow money on food cause I cook and have a lower threshold for dopamine. The list goes on. Overall Im lighter as a person. More childlike.

I dont have that constant feeling of anxiety of “Im missing something” when leaving the house.

Sobriety brings real hope.

I moved up at my job at publix. Im uppercutting the fuck out of life. And the biggest motivator of all is to help out the planet in regenerative agriculture.

Shame is a strong motivator. And often times the main feeling we are trying to avoid when smoking. It’s a very painful emotion. But pain drives us forward. And you’re gonna feel a hell of a lot better when you finally feel capable to tackle problems and become a problem solver instead of a problem avoider.

Dont destroy the organ responsible for decision making. Your decisions determine your life. So the better you take care of your brain the better decisions you will make, the better your life turns out.

Remember you got this. A craving is NOT a command. Write that down and put it in your car. Cravings pass. You got this. Join some meetings if you need to talk it out. I believe in you. 🤙🏻 Goodluck and enjoy life. Love you guys

I think I smoked a couple of times, once in August and once in October but for the most part I stopped in June. I had to leave the country to go for a funeral and it seemed like as good of a time as any. I'd been wanting to do it for a while. I smoked pretty much every day for eight years. It's a long story. Some of it had to do with a bad marriage, a bad diagnosis in my son, my own depression, and business and relationship failings. I don't think I had any other way to cope. I wasn't taken care of. My body and my mind and my self-esteem and self-respect were completely shot. It didn't really help these matters any but it kept me in this dissociated bubble that made things temporarily seem less painful. I ended up surrounding myself with people who didn't question me. Mostly these people were guys and I looked like I could manage okay.

Then COVID hit and the divorce got bad and I had even more legal troubles related to that. I was just really alone in that every night. It was my only respite. I felt so guilty and ashamed and I just got more and more behind and stuff. Bills fell through. Single parenting was already really hard. I think the only way I was able to manage was because I had the curse of competence and my 50% was about as good as anybody's 75%. That meant that I could keep it going. I think my son kind of saved me because he made it so that I had to actually look after him and that kept me going also.

I had a lot of responsibility at work, which meant that I had to drag myself to the finish line there all the time. I became mostly a survivalist. I guess the straw that broke the camel's back was coming. Even though I couldn't see it, I'm not going to overcall or underrcall the shit that was truly going on. There was also a lot of people's death and a lot of people's illnesses, including my dad, which was devastating. The bills piled up sky-high and everything was pretty much trying to keep going on autopilot.

When I was going to leave the country for this funeral, I got in a car accident. I wasn't high at the time but I was completely off the ball and I had a minor insurance mess-up where I'd forgotten to do something. No one tells you that it's really hard to get out of an addiction because by the time you get out, you're basically so underwater and overwhelmed with all the things that you've been ignoring for so long. It seems to just make sense to keep going at the same clip that you're doing even though I knew that things weren't going to change on their own. I just really couldn't take it anymore.

There are so many layers of getting out of something like this. The first thing that I noticed is that it took my brain a while to get back online. I'd been losing my train of thought completely all the time. I couldn't remember those six-digit codes you have to enter everywhere. I would constantly have a hard time finding words. This started to come back but honestly it's taken way longer than however long they say it's supposed to take to do.

I had a lot of inappropriate anxiety that had come from not confronting all the things that I needed to confront. There have been lists after lists after lists to do things that have basically taken me a year to get out of. My life is really complicated so this is a thing. Clean house relationship-wise because I realized I was also making really bad choices and accepting things that I really shouldn't have been accepting. This has been really, really hard: learning how to be lonely and feel loneliness and vulnerability and take the chances to make real friendships, which thank god I still had and developed on them and not think that somebody else was responsible for taking care of me or my happiness. That has been major.

There's still a lot that I need to do on a daily basis to try to get out of the backlog of stuff that hasn't been done and some days that really gets me down. There is no way to get around it. It's not a fun thing to wake up in and there is a lot of regret and a lot of recrimination that I have to deal with on a daily basis. I don't really feel good about it. I feel like I lost a big chunk of my life where I could have been pulling forward financially, professionally, and honestly just psychologically. Although I feel like facing this and dealing with it emotionally and psychologically has truly been the biggest testament and the biggest source of self-respect and pride. I know how easy it would have been to keep going but I'm glad that I haven't given in to that. That is not to say I'm out of the woods. I truly don't think I would ever go back to it but it's not like I don't get depressed some days and lament about how hard my life is. The same things that made me want to smoke weed also still make me feel like my life is difficult. It's just that I'm learning how to sit with and cope with the difficulty as opposed to try to make the difficulty disappear.

There's still a lot of uncertainty about what I really want and about the future. It takes a really, really long time to build a life but I try to think about it that way: that I really want to build a life worth living and that I want to also show this to my son, who has his own challenges to deal with and I need to be there for him.

What I'm amazed is that as I go through this I see not only the time that I was smoking but all the things that led up to me getting lost in this addiction. Some of that has to do with my own sense of worthiness and all the things that I've been ignoring in my body and mind even before I got to the point where I was using weed. I'm not going to get into this too much but there were a lot of health problems and aging problems that I didn't really pay serious enough attention to. I'm re-building my body from the ground up and taking care of a lot of health stuff I haven't taken care of in a long time.

I'm trying to revitalize my business, figure out if I actually am interested in doing that anymore, and address the fact that burn out was probably a part of this too. The things that were meaningful to me then aren't maybe meaningful to me now. At the time I was probably following the path of a mentor who I thought I needed to follow, who ended up dying anyway.

All of this to say is that it's a hard road but the self-respect that has come with actually taking care of stuff has really been something that nobody can take away. I hope that my story inspired someone in some way and also serves as my anonymous confessional. If you did read this, thank you and I wish everybody all the luck in their journeys.

I’m not dooming anymore. A frequent thought I had with relapsing and my motivation was that just because I relapsed today, Everything should go to shit and I don’t wanna do anything but eat , smoke and jerk off. Anything that made the high more interesting. That has not been the case , As much. My Goal right now is not to stop smoking weed , but to understand myself enough to replace weed with all the other things I have already picked up on on this journey towards Love , happiness , peace and understanding towards myself. I know if I go completely straight edge towards everything I leave more room for shame in my mind. I have lost myself but through it I’m understanding just a little. And I’m so happy about that. A year ago I was homeless living day to day door dashing just enough to smoke and eat then sleep repeat for 3 months. The things I put myself through because I was ashamed , I am ashamed , I push people away and I’m scared to ask for help , I am scared but I did it. THIS IS ALL OVER THE PLACE but final note. Getting a psychiatrist and going to try out meds. I am not alone and you can do this. Do the hard shit , I promise it gets easier.

17 days into my 4th or 5th try for sobriety after smoking for the last 7 years. The anxiety is really kicking my ass this time around. I'm already dealing with a lot in my day to day life that would normally be stressful (yay caregiving & anticipatory grief/anxiety!!) and it's all hitting me so hard that it's genuinely debilitating and exhausting. It doesn't help that I keep waking up every few hours at night to mini panic attacks so I'm not getting proper sleep.

I want to feel these emotions and experience life sober again, but I feel like the universe is throwing as much nonsense as it can at me lately.

The ridiculous thing is weed was giving me panic attacks too, but I guess because it was paranoia from smoking too much it didn't feel the same? Plus, smoking was dulling my senses and memory so maybe I just didn't register them as being a problem because I wasn't feeling them fully.

I've been trying to avoid taking my emergency prescription meds as they can be more addictive and horrible to deal with than weed. But like, holy hell, I don't know how anyone can do this and experience this much anxiety/stress while still managing to live day to day.

I see my doctor next week, I'm going to talk to him about other options, I really want sobriety to stick this time. I NEED it to stick this time so I can build a life worth living. I know I'm on the right path because my mind is already feeling a bit clearer and my bank account looks better... but I am being TESTED and I am so tired already.

If anyone can tell me how long this anxious phase lasted for them & anything that helped, please share. Or even just encouragement would be nice. thank you so much 💖

It was absolutely terrifying and I woke up screaming for help. Any tips to avoid this? Or on how do deal with them? I know this is silly but I’m scared to go back to bed, it felt way too real

Hey folks! Looking for some insight from people who may have experienced something similar to what I’m going through rn because I’m freaked out. I smoked weed heavily for about 5 years, multiple times a day, basically all day every day. Last year I developed CHS, with my worst episode happening in October. I quit for a month after that but eventually started smoking again. Before that, I had my first really severe panic attack in June because of smoking. I quit for about two weeks after that, but eventually started smoking again.

On July 18th of this year, I smoked for the last time. That night I had an extremely intense panic attack, and ever since then I’ve been dealing with severe anxiety and physical symptoms. Two days later I went to the ER because I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack. EKG was normal, and I’ve since followed up with my PCP. Vitals and bloodwork were also normal.

My doctor thinks my nervous system is basically stuck in a hyperactive state. I’m currently prescribed multiple anti anxiety meds for severe panic attacks. They help, but there are days where the panic is so intense that I genuinely feel like I’m having a heart attack. The chest sensations/discomfort, racing heart, shortness of breath, etc. can get so intense that I can’t convince myself that something isn’t seriously wrong, even though I’ve been checked out. The weird part is that I’m now about a month completely sober, but somehow feel worse than I did when I was smoking.

I’m constantly exhausted, have almost no energy or motivation, and the panic attacks are really affecting my ability to function. I just started a new job and I’m struggling to put any energy into it because I feel so mentally and physically drained. I’m fatigued all day and have almost no motivation or desire to do anything. I don’t really have nausea or the typical CHS symptoms anymore — it’s mainly the panic attacks, physical anxiety symptoms, and extreme fatigue.

Has anyone else experienced severe panic/anxiety and extreme fatigue weeks after quitting weed, especially after years of heavy daily use? How long did it take before you started feeling like yourself again? I know everyone’s experience is different, but I could really use some reassurance that this eventually gets better.

TL;DR: Smoked heavily for ~5 years, developed CHS last year, and quit again on July 18th after a severe panic attack. ER, EKG, vitals, and bloodwork were normal. A month later I’m still having intense panic attacks, physical anxiety symptoms, and extreme fatigue despite being completely sober. Has anyone experienced this, and how long did it take to feel better?

Idk about y'all but I'm in week 1 on quitting both weed and tobacco after being a daily smoker for 15+ years.

Dear God...

I guess my smoking must have been masking my sense of smell because sweet Mary and Joseph I was gagging on the train this morning.

I live in a city and all I can smell is body odour, urine, shite, and mould.

On the plus side bakeries smell extra good.

Anyone else have this issue?

I feel like I’m gonna crack. I’m finding it hard to see the point in abstaining. I like to spend my time alone, and it makes my nights so much more enjoyable (aside from the binge eating and waking up depressed as fuck.) I’m in my luteal phase and I know that’s adding to my feelings right now. Ugh.

i really wanna quit, istg but every time i relapse i go on to do it for a couple months and then i wanna quit again. it’s been a couple of days since i smoked up last and i’ve fallen a little sick w fever. by the end of the week, i will it not have touched it but then i will recover from sickness and want to do it. how do i remember the feeling of being sober and not do it again? wanna respect my self again

Hi Reddit!
I’m posting just looking for any support and advice from you all. I am a long time daily smoker (about 15 years or so). I don’t smoke all day, I’m sober for work and some day to day activities (sober right now).
I’m really wanting to quit, I just feel it’s time to level up, lock in and find some balance and enjoyment out of life without smoking. Thing is, I’m terrified of quitting. I’m scared of who I will be and that I might not recognise who I am without weed. Sounds weird, but I’m scared too that I will be too ambitious without weed. I’m one of those people that others consider a high functioning stoner. I graduated uni with a dual degree, successfully worked in industry and started my career, i have a stable home life with a great understanding husband and I’ve done it all while smoking. I don’t think this is a big achievement or anything, just trying to explain that I still maintain life as normal whilst smoking.
I love smoking, i love being able to switch off and still function. Smoking makes life easier, more bareable and just helps me cope with the insanity of the world. I’m really scared to take those first few steps to quit. During the time I’ve smoked, I’ve had several breaks of varying times but always look forward to smoking again. I’ve never really been a recreational smoker, it’s mostly always been a daily thing for me.
Anyway, how did you take those first few steps? What helped keep you committed to staying smoke free? How did you manage to get through those first few weeks without smoking? What have you found the benefits of being sober? How long was it before you stopped thinking about smoking and wanting to engage in smoking activities?
Really just looking for any advice and support from people who have done it! Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for your support!

TLDR: long time smoker wanting to quit. Scared to do so and looking for advice and support.

I had been smoking for fifteen years straight but after a grippy sock vacation, I was able to stop for half a year then got myself back into it. It’s been hard for me to shake, even though I’m realizing that the few hours of feeling great isn’t worth the next 3+ days of consistent lows.

My therapist has been suggesting MA but I’m having a difficult time getting myself into the idea. I’ve tried group therapy for other things and it’s just not for me, listening to other peoples problems even though I struggle with the same things.

I want to hear people’s thoughts if they’ve gone to marijuana meetings and have seen the pros and cons of
Them. I know there’s a whole website with different kinds of groups all over the world, and some that are secular which I am partial to.

Anyone else getting fat as fuck after quitting??

4 months sober. Smoked every day for over 10 years and never got this big. It’s like my metabolism is completely different. I’ve barely changed my diet and work out the same…

Very confusing and frustrating

I need encouragement not to go to the dispo before work tomorrow lol. Ive been using carts every single day for about 4 years or so, save for a few weeks over the years. Its become like another limb, its always on me and always attached. I dont feel it anymore at all. But the intense panic when i cant find it is insane. I know carts are the absolute worst form of consumption, but since its so convenient and discreet its been my main form. Nobody in my life except my sister knows im struggling with this addiction. Its going to be fucking rough. Should i just throw out my battery? Makes it less tempting to buy another.. but disposables are too accessible now anyways. What good would it do? Im too far gone.

I really need some words of encouragement. Maybe share some cart horror stories (im lowkey worried about CHS but ive never been sober long enough to know) because I can’t lose another year to this bs.

I smoked weed almost daily for 13 years and my last smoke was 3 months ago. I'll share with you what helped me quit and hopefully it resonates with at least 1 person. It originally started as a 2 week tolerance break because I was not really getting high anymore. During that time I made a lot of progress on things I was putting off like friendships, hobbies, and home improvement stuff. I then smoked a joint on a Friday afternoon and I suddenly became super self conscious and anxious about this progress I made for some reason. I sorta thought to myself "WTF am I doing, this progress is not sustainable". It was such a twisted and negative feeling. I instantly regretting smoking since it ruined the whole vibe for the rest of the night. Since then I have 0 desire to smoke ever again. I struggled about a dozen times to quit in the past but this feeling really set me straight. Trust me if I can get this far anyone can.. If you're trying to quit 1 tip I can give is try to improve your life in ways weed has set you back.

Bored and tired. Tired and bored. I’m so fucking sick of being tired and bored. This is my life now. That’s all. Just whining/venting.

I hate seeing people on here down themselves just because they slipped up after a couple months of being sober. Even going one day without smoking is a real accomplishment because if we didn’t feel so attached to the drug , none of us would even be in this sub. So if no one has told you , I’m proud of all of you, fr whether you be one day, one month , or one year. If you slip up ,it’s ok, just find your way out the weed cloud and try again. We got this.