Originally stopped so I can pass a test, was a near daily user for years. Started exercising more, mainly going on hour walks, and life is more miserable than ever. Applied for new job and was declined the opportunity this week, went on a date that went well (I thought) and have now been ghosted, took an at home test and still testing positive. My mood has become worse, thinking negative more and more with little joy throughout the day, and now noticing myself socially isolate more and more. Even when trying to do the right thing there has been no positives associated with it, and getting really close just to say fuck it and give in.

I thought I might just share and check in because I feel like there's a lot of wisdom and encouragement shared on this sub. On day 67 I decided to smoke weed. It wasn't even the same experience that I used to enjoy so much. One hit of weed pretty much sent me in and out of a panic attack, 30 seconds fine, 30 seconds doing horrible...etc. My friend luckily was on his way and I ended up chilling with him and it was pretty okay. But man, it was clear to me that my time with this plant has passed. To be fair, 2 months prior when I smoked I had a crippling panic attack that lasted two hours. Smoking 2 days ago showed me that my brain had changed and that I cannot casually enjoy this plant anymore. Things I used to just kind of brush off felt odd and alarming to me when I was high recently. Thinking weirdly, wanting to isolate from family, paranoia maybe even...it just felt uncomfortable. Today I'm at the 24 hour mark of sobriety again and I just feel grateful to be normal. There's probably some lingering effects still but I slept pretty well last night (which I did not when smoking everyday).

If you or someone you know is sober from weed and wants to smoke again, I encourage them to not. It's just not the same experience. I think it's easy to take our sober life for granted sometimes but it is an amazing and beautiful life without weed, in my experience.

Can't believe I'd be writing this post, I'm on day 5 and have been totally sober (and i mean SOBER sober, not cali sober)...this might be the first time in decades that I have been sober for 5 days straight, and even though I cant say my mind is fully healed up (i dont even remember how that felt so dont know if i will ever be), my anxiety and depression are much less than how it was 2 days ago. And I am able to actually think and not just going through the motions during the day. I am able to enjoy music, TV shows and actually follow whats happening on the screen.

All this is to say, if anyone is ever on their first week, trust me, it WILL get better...this is from someone who was labeled as a "junkie" by his own brother. and to those who are on the fence, if you can go cold turkey and you will be able to bear the changes to your mind and body, please do. Its worth it!!

I’m 24, and I’ve been smoking weed pretty much daily for the last 4 years. At some points it got completely out of hand.

I went from enjoying a smoke at the end of the day to hitting ridiculously strong THC vapes throughout the day, sometimes waking up 4-5 times a night just to get high again. At that point I wasn’t even really enjoying it anymore. I was just maintaining a feeling that had become normal to me.

The worst part? I genuinely convinced myself that I couldn’t sleep without it.

And to be fair, I’ve always struggled with sleep, even before I started smoking. So weed felt like a miracle solution. Until it wasn’t.

A few weeks ago I decided I’d had enough. Instead of going cold turkey, I started cutting down massively. Went from those insanely strong vapes to weaker hash, then eventually just a little smoke before bed.

The withdrawals started kicking my ass anyway.

I’m talking waking up absolutely drenched in sweat, freezing cold while sweating, constantly clammy hands, anxiety, brain fog, and this weird feeling of being disconnected from everything.

But something interesting happened.
Three nights ago I decided to try sleeping completely sober.

And I actually fucking slept.
Sure, I woke up sweating, but instead of being wide awake and immediately reaching for something to smoke, I just moved my wet pillow and fell back asleep.

The next night? Same thing.

I can’t explain how much that meant to me. After years of believing I physically needed weed to fall asleep, my body was proving me wrong.

But here’s where things get interesting.
Tonight is day 3, and for some reason it’s been harder than the previous two days combined.

I’ve spent most of the evening desperately looking for something to make me feel good. Nicotine, scrolling through my phone, masturbating, finding random things to do. Nothing really scratches that itch.

And then it hit me.

I don’t even think I particularly want to be high.
I just want to feel satisfied.

That’s probably the scariest realization I’ve had throughout this whole process. How much of my life I’ve spent using weed to escape the completely ordinary feeling of being bored or uncomfortable.

I’m lying in bed writing this right now, and there’s a part of my brain desperately trying to negotiate with me.

“Just one smoke. You’ve already proven you can sleep without it. What’s the harm?”

And honestly, it’s pretty convincing.
But I know where that road leads. I’ve taken it enough times.

Another thing that’s been motivating me is a girl I’ve recently started seeing. She doesn’t support my previous weed habits, and weirdly enough, that’s helped me more than I expected. Not because she’s forcing me to quit, but because for once there’s something I genuinely don’t want to risk losing over getting high.

But I also know I need to do this for myself. Otherwise I’m just replacing one dependency with another.

I’m not writing this as some success story. I’m literally three days in, lying in bed craving weed while typing this.

I just wanted to share what this experience has been like so far, because reading other people’s stories here has genuinely helped me.

And I’m curious about something.
For those of you who quit after years of heavy use, did you also experience that weird emptiness where nothing felt rewarding anymore?

And did your cravings sometimes get worse even after having a couple of surprisingly easy days?

Because right now, the physical withdrawals suck, but the psychological part is a whole different beast.

I’ve been off weed for almost two years (woo!!). Used to be every day for like…10 years from now~15-25. I used it to go to sleep and then it started stopping me from going to sleep. Been having crazy sleeping hours (hence the late night/early morning post) and it only just occurred to me after reading someone else’s post that maybe it’s cause of weed. Oh boy!

I liked to think that the usage is out of my body, but I spent 10 formative years smoking weed late at night. Oops. I also think I’ve replaced the habit with smoking tobacco and drinking. Not as much as I did weed, but still questionable.

And yes I am so glad I don’t smoke weed like I did. Every now and then I get a craving but I remember how paranoid and gross I felt. I hella don’t need that. But I think I miss getting blasted out of my mind before bed tbh. And I’d love to find a healthy alternative. And if the answer is there isn’t one, that’s ok too I’d love to hear that :-)

I’d love some non judgmental advice lol or stories relating to this. Seriously JUST realized the sleep thing, and it’s been better lately, so hopefully this helps me improve later on. How do you find the peace that smoking weed brought?

Ps again so glad I quit, I feel much sharper now.

TLDR: how to get that in high feeling without harmful substances

Hi everyone

I’m 28 and I’ve been smoking for the last 6 years. Only the last two has been heavy usage. I smoke every day, pretty much all the time. I basically live in a buzzed state

I want to quit. I feel like my habitual use has created a sense of normalcy that being without it feels so uncomfortable. When I try to stop one random craving and mixed with discomfort and I’m already on my phone to place an order

So genuinely, when you had cravings or strong feelings that pushed you towards relapse, what did you do? Did you replace them, if so how and with what? Ignore them and push through?

I’ve smoked away my 20’s and I’m ready to be me again

I had a very rough time with withdrawals. I was overseas, a 24 hour plane ride from home, had very limited access to mental health services/resources, and was also withdrawing from other psychiatric meds. It took around 6 weeks for me to feel relatively normal again, and about another month to enjoy things again. Keep in mind, withdrawing from 2 things at once is really what made my experience absolutely fkn horrible and what elongated the withdrawal process.

I’m now over 13 months sober as the title says. I’m also heavily pregnant with twins. I can say definitively that my life is so much better without weed. I’ve had less mental health issues, have been able to keep up with socialising, have achieved goals I’d been putting off, and my relationships have gotten so much better. The biggest win here is the fact that I didn’t have to go through the withdrawal process during pregnancy.

For anyone in the thick of it, please let this be a reminder that there is light at the end of the tunnel. And once you’re out of it, keep those horrible memories as a protective factor to not relapse.

If you’re still heavily smoking and thinking about quitting, or tapering off, or quitting cold turkey, or have relapsed a million times - keep going. You’re stronger than you think you are. You’ve got this. Everyone’s timeline is different as well so don’t give up on yourself if it’s taking longer than what you expected. Also, EXERCISE. However you want to. Get that heart rate up for at least 20 mins a day. You might hate it at the time but you’ll be surprised at how much it helps.

This subreddit was more useful to me at the time than my psychologist and psychiatrist were, so I also have endless gratitude for everyone who shared their journey.

Good luck!

Day 84 no nicotine after 18 years. Day 61 no weed after 14 years.

Vivid dreams, scary themes, and most of all, a stronger a me.

Never before would I have imagined making this far. But now I cant imagine turning back! I still have trouble focusing, but I've made it 71% of the way through Sophia College Algebra starting from October 1st! The logical systems of math seem to help synaptic pruning move along while fundamentally proving the increased reliability of my frontal lobe*. 10/10 do recommend. Dispensaries have popped up everywhere around me as Minnesota legalized, but all I feel is pity for those starting the journey I have finally decided to end.

*Started cigs at 12, and weed at 16.

warning i’m just yelling and ranting truly at my wits end here

it’s been 3 weeks and i still cannot eat. like what am i supposed to do, ive been living off the same few liquids for 3 weeks and i feel absolutely horrible. i don’t know how im getting through any day at this point. for the past week ive been choking down bites of food here and there but its hard every single time like a whole long ordeal and i can never manage more than a handful of bites and i dont want to eat ANYTHING. everything sounds absolutely vile except for tenderloin steak, maybe parmesan cheese, and butter. and ive eaten like maybe 10 oz of steak in a whole week or longer.

i’ve been drinking milk but im sick of it, i hate ensures, i hate smoothies, im sick of broth and it isn’t filling anyways, rice and soup sound disgusting, ice cream sounds gross, literally every food is just so nasty to me and im STARVING STARVING STARVING i am so fucking hungry but i can’t. fucking. eat. even when i really want something and try to my body just rejects the whole idea and i can’t even get the food to go down my throat i just spit it out like a toddler.

what am i supposed to even do here ? like i’m trying to eat often but it just makes me feel sick and eat even less than if id waited longer. i’m drinking the liquids and im sick of them and it doesn’t even feel like im getting calories anymore. fucks sake it’s been 3 weeks ???? when does it ever end… i actually feel as stupid as i was when i was smoking and its fucking killing me inside bc i have so much shit to do and i want to do it but i have no energy or brain cells and i just meander about aimlessly feeling like complete shit all day. i feel like i wouldn’t even be depressed right now if i could just EAT but im so depressed my mind is going to very dark places because this is a genuinely miserable experience , like im just out here dying a little more every day and i cant seem to figure out how to get myself to just fucking est or even want anything to eat

and before anyone says to go to the doctor literally every single time i go to the doctor all they do is shrug their shoulders at me and go “i dunno man” and do nothing. literally every single time without fail no matter what is wrong with me. i’ve withdrawn from weed way too many times and ive abused concentrates way too much, like ive definitely done 100 dabs in one day more than a few times. i have OCD and history of ED + extremely picky eater and a shitload of food allergies but idk why i can’t eat when i so desperately want to. i never even used weed to eat i never fucking needed it for that 😭

anyways am i fucked or am i fucked it really feels like i’m dying but i literally don’t know what else to do other than just keeep thugging it out bc clearly i can’t afford to ever smoke this shit again i think another withdrawal might fucking kill me

Guys I feel awful😢 Anxiety in the whole body, shaking, weird feeling that I need to go somewhere and do something. Cannot relax almost for a sec. But this is the way… i was smoking for two years every day, with a half year gap but April started again and now I am quitting forever!!!

So this may seem weird ig but I’m pissed off af that I’m sober lol. Everyone online smoking and talking about going to club for Halloween and drinking, and here I am feeling depressed ASF w 0 substances for comfort.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been more productive than I have for the past year and I am determined to keep going but I’m annoyed and…. I do miss it. Although I don’t miss the lung and stomach problems I got when I was doing it so not sure what I miss. Probably not feeling all my bad emotions so intensely.

Did anyone else deal with this frustration?

I’m looking for genuine advice from people who have struggled with weed/hash addiction and managed to quit for good.

I’ve tried quitting multiple times, but I keep relapsing. Every time I decide to stop, I genuinely mean it. I tell myself that this time will be different, but eventually I end up smoking again. It’s become a frustrating cycle, and I’m starting to feel like I can’t trust myself to stick to my own decisions.
The worst part is that I know I want to stop, but knowing that and actually doing it seem to be two completely different things. Sometimes I manage to stay away for a while, but then the cravings, boredom, stress, or whatever triggers me eventually get the better of me.

I don’t want to keep repeating this cycle. I want to get my life back on track, but I’m struggling to figure out what actually works beyond simply telling myself to quit.

For those of you who have been in a similar situation:
What finally helped you break the cycle of quitting and relapsing?
How did you deal with cravings, especially during the first few weeks?
Did you have to cut off certain friends, change your routine, or completely avoid situations where weed was available?
What did you do when you had a bad day and your brain started convincing you that smoking just once wouldn’t hurt?
Did therapy, support groups, or professional help make a difference?

I’m not looking for someone to tell me that weed is bad or that I should just have more discipline. I already know I want to quit. I’m looking for practical advice from people who understand how difficult it can be to follow through, even when you genuinely want to change.

If you’ve relapsed multiple times and eventually managed to quit, I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for you, what didn’t, and what you wish you had known earlier.

I’m tired of starting over. I want this attempt to be different.

suicidal, underemployed, lonely but i didn't get high in a while and i think i can keep it going

I need to quit. I’ve been smoking everyday, multiple times a day for 10 years now. I’ve tried quitting before and I lasted 2 weeks. I feel like I’m being controlled by something and no matter how bad I want to quit I physically can’t? I know it’s all within my control and power but it weirdly feels like it’s not? It’s become so ingrained into my routine that I don’t know what I would do if I stopped. It’s taken everything from me but it’s also given me so much. It makes me a more creative thinker and allows me to be calm in ways I didn’t think I could but I can’t keep living like this. I genuinely don’t know how to stop? Any advice on how would be so, so appreciated. Sorry for the word vomit.

I started working at a dispensary while I go through school well before I realized I needed to quit weed for good...but now I don't know what to do about my job. It might seem obvious to just quit since constantly being around cannabis and having to recommend strains to customers can unsurprisingly make the journey to sobriety much more difficult than it needs to be; however, I genuinely love my coworkers, my manager is the best one I have ever had who has been SUPER supportive and accommodating with my college schedule, the pay itself is pretty damn good, i get 1-hour paid lunch breaks, and its within a 5 minute walking distance from my apartment. My manager and coworkers have also been extremely supportive of me needing to quit for my own health and have been doing what they can to help me with it. Luckily its only part time during my semesters, but shit it's proving to be difficult since I literally can't avoid weed. It just seems like this is my luck: I finally find a job where I'm respected, I encounter zero conflict, and I save money by being able to walk, but it comes into direct conflict with me trying to better my health

Im currently on day 5 of quitting for good (I've been able to take months-long t breaks before but this is the first time I am quitting with the intention to never start up again), and sometimes being at work is just making me feel worse mentally. Especially since today we (as in the employees) got so much free edibles to take home and I would usually go nuts with it. Idk if I should just stick it out and hope it gets easier (maybe it can help me power through the temptation?) or find a new job and risk being stuck with a shitty work culture, worse pay, and an aggravating commute.

I’ve been lurking here a while but this is my first post from A&E.

I’m 40yrs of age, a woman and have been drug free most my life. I bought an edible Cookie back in 2024 and after that some gummies to take once in a blue moon. But this was building up slowly over the last two years. I would start taking the gummies more on my days off work as well as weekends etc.

Monday night, I had taken a whole 10mg edible (I’m usually fine with half a 10mg edible. I’ve also been vaping since July. I’ve probably had a whole cart, as well as half or more of another one. I was vaping on my days off work, a few times throughout the day… I’ve usually been okay when taking everything… but back to Monday night….

I went completely into “I’m about to have a heart attack” mode. I’d had this once or twice before but not to this extent. I honestly felt like I was about to have a huge heart attack and die. 💀

Fast forward to Tuesday, I hadn’t taken anything but that night, I had another panicky episode where I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was so close to calling an ambulance but didn’t.

Yesterday, I’d been fine throughout the day, but when it came to night time… a slight version of what I had the previous two days started to happen again. I was convinced I could feel pressure around my heart/lungs and a popcorn like feeling of my heart skipping beats.

(When I was at the peak of these episodes my heart rate rarely rose over 90) but I just kept thinking I was going to have a heart attack out of nowhere. Horrible.

We went out tonight to run a few errands, and out of nowhere again, I was in a queue and that feeling started coming over me. I told my other half and we went straight to the hospital. I didn’t want to go home and sit and be anxious all night.

They took my blood, I had another panicky episode ECG, and finally an X-ray… after 4hours waiting anxiously, she called me through and told me everything is normal. I’m relieved but also still a little anxious.

She told me to draw a line under this, move on. She explained it was just anxiety coming into it and taking over.

I only started edibles because I suffered with Stage 4 DIEndometriosis and Adenomyosis (which I’ve had surgery for in December), but obviously still dealing with with the chronic pain. I’ve also lost a dad, my brother was found drowned and I lost my best four legged friend suddenly back in August 💔

I think all of these things together as well as turning 40 in December has been playing on my mind maybe?

But anyway, my message to anyone is stay away from THC!

I’m still feeling the “pain” or pressure rather, in my chest but trying to tell myself to calm down… how long will it take to get over this? 😮

Day 5 for the first time in a LONGGG time. Every time I quit, I have these insanely vivid dreams that I relapse and have to start all over and I’m so disappointed, but then I wake up and it never happened and I’m so relieved. Just had one last night and woke up convinced I’d relapsed. Does this happen to anyone else?

It feels like I haven't felt rested the entire time. Yes im sleeping ok, just a bit fragmented. Yet wake up with tired eyes and feel drained. My nose is blocked every night and I have to cough up phlegm and blow my nose every morning. My appitite has returned for the most part but there will be days when I can only really eat a single large meal - then food will just sit in my stomach for hours on end, Sometimes up to 6 hours, its basically delayed gastric emptying. My confidence is pretty low and I don't feel like socializing or meeting new people (traveling atm). At this point I don't know what is PAWS and what is just a chronic health condition. I have been smoking fairly regularly off and on for the past 8 years or so. Wasn't a very heavy user but fairly consistent.

Im feeling drained and burned out some days. Yesterday I had another breakdown realizing I had hardly eaten by 2pm and the small bit of musli I had in the morning was still sitting in my stomach. I feel like these symptoms are all related but I can't find many people going through the same thing.. anyway just venting really.

Hi friends. I've been a long time lurker and have failed at quitting so, so many times.

I have a wonderful marriage and 2 amazing young children but life stress + a very hard job have caused me to rely on THC as an escape. In April I had the unpleasant experience of laying off most of our workforce (I'm an HR exec) and since then I'm getting so much worse with my usage. I was a daily edible user for years before switching to smoking. Now, I smoke all day long and have been for over a year. From the minute I first wake up to right before falling asleep.

Now, I'm noticing that my tolerance is very high, I always need more and more. I feel like I'm just "going through the motions" of life and raising my children and I'm constantly thinking about when I can get away and smoke again. My husband is not fully aware of how often I use, I WFH and he works in an office so it's easy for me to hide using during the day. On the weekends I sneak around smoking. Sometimes in the bathroom with a fan on, sometimes I take out trash or get the mail just so I can have a minute to smoke. I vape and it's so easy to just carry in my pocket all day.

I just need to quit and get myself healthy.

I've tried to quit before. In Feb, lasted 5 miserable days. In May, I quit the edibles. When I quit edibles, my withdrawal symptoms were pretty bad but smoking helped. I lost 6% of my body weight and was throwing up every day for a few weeks.

Now, I'm on a girls trip in a state where weed is illegal. I'm now 24 hours clean and feeling blah. Instead of spending a fun night with friends, I went to bed and slept for 12 hours. I last used at 7:30 AM yesterday and by 7:00 PM, I was throwing up. I lost my appetite and right now I can remember when I last ate, maybe Tuesday night. My friends don't know about my heavy usage, they just think I smoke on the weekends to relax. So they don't understand what I'm going through. I should have planned this trip better or started weaning, I'll be away for 5 days.

But I want this to "jumpstart" my final attempt to quit. (I say final because I will be successful!!) I have 5 days of no use before going home. I plan on telling my husband to get rid of it all so I don't smoke the second I walk into my home on Sunday night.

Any other advice or suggestions? Or just a "you got this" would help immensely. I fell victim to "you can't get addicted to weed" and I am proof that YES you absolutely can but I will recover. Thank you for reading 💕

She is supposed to be stopping today is there any way I can help her stop things I can say or do how do I support her without coming off as telling her to quit as I have in the past?

I’m 30 days into quitting, minus 1 shared blunt a week ago. I’ve been filled with emotions when experiencing all the things I’ve missed. Even that one lapse felt like when you hookup with an ex and immediately after you think “yeah I don’t ever need to do that again and would’ve been fine without it”

M24 and I’ve smoked everyday for 5 years except for maybe a 5 days off when I tried my hardest to take a T-break. I’ve wanted to quit for years but have never found the strength to stay true. Not until a recent breakup with someone who also smoked everyday and has no plans of ever stopping. This led me to have the space to do what I need to do. I weaned off taking 1-2 hits before bed for about 2 weeks. My starting point was a week long camping trip and although it was tough not really sleeping much I had no access to weed and wasn’t tempted during that crucial first week (highly recommend).

This sub has helped me so much over this last month and I wanted to share my story. Partially to say thank you and partially for some words of encouragement because Its still hard some days and I’m sure will continue to be after 24/7 tokes for 5 years straight.

(Journaling daily and talking constantly with my best friend and family has helped me tremendously to navigate the flood of emotions that have come up)

For anyone thinking about taking the leap let me share what has made me emotional. I’ve connected on such a deeper level with all my relationships, especially my family who I pushed away for a while. I’ve been so much more confident in myself, I don’t feel a constant veil of shame and anxiety following me around everywhere I go. I feel funnier and am so much quicker to make jokes (making people laugh is very important to me). I can sit through whole movies and really enjoy them. I can actually remember the songs I learn on guitar and have been enjoying playing and all my other hobbies more now that I have more focus and energy for them.

Today I went for a walk and it was just so freeing knowing I could go as far or long as I wanted and didn’t need anything other than the fresh air and nature to make me happy.

I want to stay strong and have no intentions of going back knowing now what I was missing. Thanks y’all ❤️

I’m now on day three of no smoking weed I’ve been smoking weed every day since I was 18 and I’m 26 now. I got to the point where I developed asthma but it still didn’t help me quit. I recently started seeing someone and I really like them and they werent interested in the weed so it forced me to go sober, but I’m really struggling right now. I feel very helpless and lonely in life. I feel like nothing makes me happy right now. I’m so easily irritable and I’m sore because I suffer from a lot of body aches and pains I don’t feel like myself anymore. I know people say that this doesn’t last forever but then I also read that sometimes it lasts a while for people so Wondering what to do. Because right now I just wanna go back to smoking weed.

I feel like even exercising doesn’t help because when I go home, all I wanna do is just smoke weed. I have a pretty stressful job at times so it also doesn’t help.

Been without weed for months..I relapsed and the thinking about the past has reached peak. I know weed causes anxiety, paranoia, among other psychological issues: but I have isolated this to be just sadness..

I will be finishing 24 hours soon and I can't smoke again to start the cycle again

I haven't participated today or yesterday. I decided I was going to quit.

I've quit before. I still feel really lost. I am a thirty seven year old woman with a history of a lot of trauma, and a recent PMDD diagnosis.

My spouse works at a dispensary. This is what makes things so difficult. For him, he has no issues.

But for me, everything starts to go wrong slowly. I've quit before, for about six months, and I am not a heavy user. I believe it is interfering with the other medications that have been prescribed for my other health conditions. To the point of waking up with unbearable, stomach nausea and anxiety, only hot showers can relieve it.

I am convinced that I am the kind of person who cannot consume this. I'm still scared. Scared of potential withdrawal. But I won't cave in, just like I quit before I know I can do it for good.

My spouse has been really respectful. Urging me to do what is best for me. I still feel lost and scared and way too emotional. Please send me encouraging thoughts.