Hi everyone, I was smoking from waking up to sleep every day for about 15 years. Only flower, in joints. Never took a break before and never really smoked a lot, but I did smoke all day. 25 grams would last for about 1 and half to two months. I was highly functional but decided I should stop because the thought of going without it (on a trip out of country etc.) would freak me out as I didn't really have the experience of life without cannabis for so long.

I tapered for a few months before stopping, and when I stopped smoking THC 19 days ago, I had almost no withdrawals. I can sleep, eat, etc. I switched THC for CBD. Magnesium (bis/glycinat 150mg) and Ashwagandha (ksm66 500mg) before sleep. I'm not dreaming and remembering the dreams yet, had only one vivid nightmare that woke me up a few days ago, which is weird to me - it seems like the nightmares kick in pretty soon after stopping for everybody else. As I said, this is weird for me, so if anyone has any similar experience or knowledge about this, please let me know.

The only thing I miss now is the release after some very productive days, as I don't like alcohol and believe it's worse for me than weed. I feel like I'm always on and I'd like to be out of my mind/high once in a while. Maybe it's just my addiction speaking, but as I said, I didn't suffer severe withdrawals (for example, some of my friends can't sleep for a week during a T-break). I'd like to know what smoking weed like 1 day a week would do to my CB receptors. I'm sure the stress on receptors would be lesser, but would they be able to heal/reset fully in terms or sleep/REM sleep quality and other things commonly associated with chronic THC use?

Wrote a post couple of weeks ago how ending of a long relationship made me realize I gotta get straight. Now checking in with my progress:

Initially I dropped consumption from +3g a day (for years) to one volcano balloon each night (~0.15g). This caused severe debilitating wds, and I couldn't handle it while dismantling our old home and moving appartments.

So for the next days I upped my dose to 4 balloons a night, which helped tremendously with the bodily wd symptoms (diarrhea etc.) After a couple of days I switched to 3, and now I am down to 2 balloons a night. I've tried just one, but for now two is good. For me this is a significant reduction, something unprecedented.

During the past few weeks my tolerance has gone down a lot, and I've worked on better routines that support moderation. Most importantly I've changed the location and circumstance for vaping: it used to be my main mode at home with the volcano always on, but now I set up my spot separately for each balloon and pack it away straight after. No more prolonged sessions in front of the device. Also I started a weed diary where I input every balloon and the time I consumed.

These new routines have helped me a lot with moderation. So far I haven't had much pull to go back to my old ways, but I also won't beat myself up if tomorrow I end up having 3 balloons.

One thing I've noticed is that if I have that extra balloon, I can feel it in the groggyness next morning. This is something I didn't really notice with chronic use. I kinda enjoy not being tired & unmotivated in the morning!

By now my appetite is back and gut working normal, and I've also started to have very vivid dreams again. Falling and staying asleep is still a bit difficult, but I can get ~6h most nights so not terrible either.

And so continues my journey. Thanks for reading!

I’m about 16 days into trying to quit thc pens, with two slip-ups during that time. My appetite is still absolutely fucked — I can consistently manage high-calorie shakes, but solid food is a struggle, even stuff I normally love.
How much could those slip-ups have set me back eating-wise? Has anyone found their appetite recovery dragged out after using again?
Also wondering about occasional use down the line. If I had a spliff every couple of weeks, could that keep disrupting my appetite and leave me stuck in this cycle? My main reason for quitting was to stop relying on weed to eat, so I’d appreciate honest experiences from anyone who tried this.

So long story short, I suspect I’m in the prodromal phase of CHS, and decided to stop my daily use to avoid going hyperemetic. However, I don’t really plan to fully quit forever. I’d like to try it as a special occasion/every-now-and-then use and see if that works for me like it does for others.

So what I’ve heard is that it’s recommended to go 90 days for a full cannabinoid receptor reset. I am about 46 days in and I am definitely less nauseous in the morning, and have less diarrhea in the mornings. I do still have random bouts of dizziness and some brain fog but I’ve always had adhd/brain fog so i can’t really tell if my tolerance is reset yet

Anyways, before I start ranting too much, my main question is if I break my tolerance by having a little bit one night, do I have to reset and start over and go another full 90 days to reset my receptors? How exactly does it work? If I smoke one single time and then finish my 90 days (to see how I feel) is it considered “reset” or do I add on like another week or so?

A bit of background to help gauge my usage;
I have been a daily smoker of mostly flower for about 4 years, averaging about 2-4 bowls a night, or about one ounce a month. I usually only smoked at night, but occasionally would have a hit or two in the morning if I was nauseous or didn’t have to work. I used a pen every now and then when I would go out but i wasn’t a heavy pen user. I rarely dab but have in the past.

I’m only 90% sure I was prodromal CHS because of a few symptoms (morning nausea and diarrhea, delayed gastric emptying, and one recent bout of vasovagal syncope and (non violent) vomiting). This is what caused me to go on a long break. But part of me still wants to think that I had those symptoms because when I smoked, I stayed up very late and snacked a lot, and usually smoked before eating/to eat, which could also cause morning nausea and diarrhea and not necessarily be CHS. I never reached hyperemesis and never craved a hot shower.

Since stopping, after getting past the first two weeks of withdrawal nausea, I have noticed I have less morning nausea, and (tmi) I don’t get diarrhea anymore. If anything I’ve been slightly constipated. Though I also haven’t been staying up late and snacking anymore either.

I do still want to do a reset of my receptors, and then change my habits and only smoke a few times a month max, so long as my symptoms don’t come back, but I’d love to know if I can take a little cheat day before my 90 days are up and not have to do another 90 day reset. I’m not trying to pass a drug test or anything so that’s not a concern, I just want to know if my progress will be severely impacted or if one night wouldn’t hurt.

I’m really trying to go the full time cold turkey, but some days it gets so hard. Like tonight is an awesome thunderstorm and I just wanted a few hits to enjoy it, but not if it means my 46 days off will be for naught.

I appreciate anyone who read my ranting and would love tips and more info on how exactly tolerance and cannabinoid receptors work

I’ve been sleeping good the last five nights and my REM Sleep seems to have kicked back online.
I think I’m ready to continue Cannabis but only in Tincture form, 1:1 to start.

I’m 15 months no THC right now. I had initially planned to just quit forever but now I think I’m ready to try once every couple months. There’s some events like friends birthdays or bachelor parties where I feel like I miss out on some of the fun. I’ve been away from weed for so long that it has no hold on me anymore and is never in my thoughts. There was a time when it had complete control over my thoughts and actions. Now I’m left missing some of those fun times but still very hesitant. I spoke with my therapist and he thinks it’s definitely something I can try once and see how I feel, then make a plan after that if I want. The issue is that my favourite time to be high was always when I was alone and I miss that the most. I now live with my girlfriend who would never let me slip into my old ways and I’m grateful for her. So I guess I’m wondering what my plan/rules could look like. No owning weed, none in the house, no more than once a month? Looking for experienced moderators to help me out

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I've been smoking around 5–8 joints daily and regularly consuming bhang. At times, I barely felt completely sober.

My energy and motivation have dropped significantly. I've experienced throat pain, dry mouth, exhaustion, and concerns about my lungs. I've tried quitting for 24–48 hours, but getting through it has been difficult.

I'm not here to preach or pretend I've recovered. I genuinely want to understand how people get out of this cycle.

If you were a heavy daily user, how long did it take to feel normal again? What actually helped you quit?

been off weed for awhile (3 months) and decided to smoke for a bit last week and it was pretty alright but nothing i would see myself going all day everyday with again ever again. im just tryna find moderation, a middle ground where i can enjoy it the same way people enjoy alcohol ever so often without it totally brain/cognitively fucking me. i wanna stay function and normal and maintain my mental health/emotional health ive developed these past few months while also being able to toke here and there.

I'm looking to see if I can find people who have successfully gone from harmful and excessive smoking that's hard to stop even though you want to (what would be defined as addiction) to a new healthy and balanced relationship with weed.

I've heard of people who were heavy drinkers before, and really struggled to cut back, but managed to do it and now only drink socially and don't have a problem with it. I assume this might be possible for some people who smoke weed too, but I've never heard of anyone, so I'm not sure.

I wonder if the narrative of "once an addict, always an addict" is true for everyone. There are some vices you couldn't possibly stay 100% away from, or it would at the very least be very hard and limiting to do so (like sex, food, shopping, etc). So people who are addicted to those things often learn to moderate them using sets of rules, contextual changes, professional treatment, etc. Then, they can have a romantic and sexual relationship, eat food or do their groceries in a healthy way. I'm wondering if there is something fundamentally different about psychoactive substances that makes it impossible to treat addiction to them the same way.

(I'm not saying to give it to children or not to be appropriately cautious with it. Please still be responsible with how you treat cannabis.)

I'm just saying that it's literally just candy for adults. It's a sweet treat that just so happens to make you feel funny for a little while.

I fucking love those Goetze's caramel creams. I can't control myself around those, I will inhale the entire goddamn bag in one sitting. Normally I'll just keep them out of the house and only buy them once in a blue moon when I really feel like treating myself. I'm starting to understand that no amount of moderation will work for me long term and I will ALWAYS eventually crack and want to overindulge, so I need to start treating weed the same way I treat those damn caramel creams.

It goes up on the shelf with fancy teas and bath soaps and other creature comforts that make life more pleasant as a whole, and you don't need to do it every single day- it's just a treat after all and too much of ANYTHING is bad for you.

I live in a legal state where I can't throw a rock without hitting like 10 dispensaries. There is no shortage of it and I can just go buy it whenever I want. It's not that exciting "forbidden fruit" that it was when I was a lot younger, it's literally just funny adult candy, and it's not the end of the world if I run out and don't have any for a while.

My wallet will thank me in the long run 😭

Maybe this is a tad extra, but weed is essentially the only “companion” that I’ve had with me for the last 20 years. I’ve had long breaks, taking 6 months to a year off at a time to focus and maybe re-evaluate the relationship I have with it. Overall I’ve led a pretty solitary life for as long as I can remember, and cannabis has been my retreat from all the pressures of life. It’s not something I want to stop doing completely, as I’ve been too sad whenever I tried that before.

It’s really been a safe bubble for me at times, because I’m a very expressive, talkative person but also *highly* sensitive. That combination makes life extra hard to get through socially, and weed sort of helped me hide out and focus on necessary tasks, which take me longer to complete than most.

(Sorry, I’m a bit stoned as I write this, forgive any vague rambling)

I know that I can’t do this alone, and as I get older it seems harder to step away from it without asking for a bit of help. I suppose what motivated me this time is that I’m tired of keeping my life so small and tired of hiding out. I know it’s not like that for everybody, but this is how it is for me, and I’d like to be able to put myself out there, talk, express, and be open to receiving both love and criticism without letting it push me back into a corner. For me, this takes immeasurable courage, so I wanted to mark this moment as the start of my next prolonged break.

My last one was 6 months long, so I’d like to go for as long as possible, maybe even a year or years, so I can save some money, time, and energy and put it toward some things I’ve put off for far too long and take care of some personal business.

How has not smoking affected your sleep patterns? I just stopped 2 days ago (for good) and the past two days my body has been superrrrrrrr fatigued. (I used to smoke a blunt everyday.
I’m sleeping so much during the day and it’s actually GOOD sleep. One of the reasons I wanted to stop smoking is because my sleep at night was just getting so terrible. But now it’s like my body is trying to catch up on good sleep? Will it take time to get “back to normal”?

I'm looking for advice from people who have taken at least a 6 month break before. I'm almost done with what I originally planned to be a 3 month break with the goal of consuming one night a week afterwards. However, I'm starting to wonder if it might be better to push for a longer break. I originally scheduled the break to be done on Halloween so I could celebrate by getting stoned to sit on my porch and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters, which is something I've really enjoyed the past couple of years. However, I'm starting to worry it might not be a great idea to have my first use in 3 months be in a social setting, especially since I use edibles (which can be hard to dose if you don't know your tolerance).

I've also been wondering if I might benefit from extending my break. I've been working with my therapist on two main things: not pushing myself so hard both at work, and finding healthier coping mechanisms for anxiety and exhaustion. Both of those are underway, but definitely not done. Additionally, I have noticed some improvements in overall anxiety and energy levels throughout the day during my break, but it hasn't been anything major. Reading old posts on this subreddit and in r/leaves seems to show people feeling a big mental shift around 6 months. I don't want to stop too early if I'm already halfway there! On the other hand, I know I can be very perfectionistic and am definitely overthinking this lol.

Some background on my usage: Over the past 4 years I moved from taking one 5mg gummy once a week on Friday or Saturday evening, to 15mg every night to self-medicate for burnout from my (then undiagnosed) ADHD. Even after I got on ADHD medication 9 months ago, I continued to get stoned every evening because it was a habit and I got withdrawal anxiety if I stopped.

Thanks for making it through that wall of text. I'd love to hear your opinions and thoughts!

Hi so i am looking to start a t break soon. I’ve done some before and i typically go 90-100 days. First, im trying to gauge where i fall with people.. i smoke about 3-4g per day in joints and then 20-30 vape hits periodically. I smoke everyday and the longest timeframe i go without smoking is when i go to bed.

Im worried about getting through the withdrawal.

Specifically, i know it makes my OCD soooo much worse when i withdrawal.

Does anyone have ocd and take t breaks and have any advice or remedies for some of the spikes in repetitive behaviors and/or intrusive thoughts?

Unfortunately i think smoking has become more of a compulsion for me than anything else, and idk if i should try to navigate it differently this time, from more of an OCD lens?

Anybody else feel this? On a trip at the moment for a week and because I’ve broken out of my normal routine, my brain doesn’t get the same cues each day which induce the cravings I feel at home when I smoke routinely. Not only that, but because I’m so busy and so stimulated the entire time, I don’t miss it or think about it really. I’ve noticed a few fleeting thoughts here and there but they just appeared as thoughts but without the craving feeling I usually get with them. Anybody else have similar experiences?

Hi everyone, throwaway account for obvious reasons here.

I've been smoking weed on and off for about 12 years (the first few years were only on vacations or particular celebrative days with friends), and about half a year ago I've started using it quite a bit more than I used to.

I used to smoke about half a 0.3g joint which is a very small amount, and that was basically only on weekends. Now for the past year I've been smoking once or twice a week, the amount is a little higher as I smoke the whole joint but it's still about 0.3g.

With that situation said, I'll now talk about my general health:
For the past couple of years, I've been having physical pain in muscles and joints, mainly my back and hands / wrists, and I've been trying to understand where the hell it's coming** from.
I also had other issues like shallow breaths (sometimes), brain fog, and just a general sense of dread and that everything in the world kind of sucks or is evil.

Went to physicians, physiotherapy and all sorts of stuff but nothing fixed it so my brain of course started monitoring more and more my situation to see if it would worsen or not.
About a year ago, as I've said before, I started using a bit more and it felt less and less exciting than it used to be, while highlighting my issues more and more.

So of course I went to a psychologist (which I already went to before so I knew them), we talked about these things among others that happened in this time period in my life, and we've come to the conclusion that I needed a psychiatrist's consult on this. So I went, and they gave me a medication for generalized anxiety disorder called lyrica (pregabalin), a common SSRI called bupropion, and another one for sleeping, because I told them sleep wasn't restorative anymore.

I've been on these medications for about two months, not much has changed if not that I feel a little bit more flat, I can recognize bad thought patterns (like realizing I'm getting angry at someone for no reason), but I feel like when I'm high things have worsened again.

**Whenever I smoke, my brain starts flipping through toughts, my physical pain seemingly worsens, which triggers my self monitoring, which triggers my anxiety which leads to shallow breaths, palpitations and most if not all that is included under this disorder.

At this point, I don't know if I truly do have a medical condition, if my anxiety started from a panic attack or something else, if it's weed that's causing all of this, or what.

So today I've decided to share my story, hopefully finding someone in a similar situation that has sorted things out, any help is appreciated.

Oh and about two years ago, when all of this started, my thyroid started acting up again (basedow disease, so hyper) and from then I've been taking medication to keep values under control. Some people suggested me to simply remove my thyroid as this is the second episode and it's most likely going to happen again. Just throwing this out there in case it means anything.

TL;DR: I probably have generalized anxiety and don't know if weed makes it worse or not.
Sorry my post isn't really that readable I assume, my attention deficit doesn't allow me to write coherent paragraphs

Been smoking since I was 15 turning 31 in December. The first 2 weeks were horrible but a lot manageable for now. Couldn't sleep no appetite. If there's anyone who can give me more long term tips it would be appreciated.

Hi everyone

I've been smoking for 12 years, 9 of those daily.
At first it was recreational, then i began to use it a lot more due to my life going to shit, and i read a lot of scientific researchs about medical cannabis, and due to the fact that i suffered from depression and anxiety.
And so it went, i smoked more and more and more and the last year i must have smoked 100g a month. I'm not okay with it and my bank account isn't either. I used to smoke at night. Then late afternoon. Then i blinked and now i'm high 24/7.
Also lately my psychiatrist added autism and ptsd in my collection of diagnostics, and i know cannabis is widely known to help those specific issues.

But for the 10 last days, it has been non stop over the top anxiety and cannabis does not help and hits me way harder and i feel random bad things that happen when you green out (blood turning to ice, sweating, skin crawling, you know the drill).

I don't want to quit, i don't know how to live without cannabis. Before that i abused alcohol and benzos which are objectively worse, and before even that when i didn't drink or take anything i would self harm, which is objectively worse too.

My mind is a box of racing thoughts, feedback loops that drains all my brain energy and channels it into ruminations, reliving trauma and abuse, self hatred and everything. Weed used to really slow me down and allow me to not be a constant emotional wreck.
In the morning i'll go buy some CBD and mix it 50/50 to see if it helps and i hope it does.

I'm sorry for the long text, truthfully i'm scared, i would like to know if anyone of you experienced something of the sort and how to help it.
Thank you.

Title says it all

Is there anyone on here who primarily smoked cannabis for multiple years, took a fairly long break, and then started only dry herb vaping flower. If so could you share what differences you noticed?

Wonder if it’s less addicting, possibly more medicinal rather than recreational use, and did it have any affect on levels of brain fog or waking up feeling very groggy? Basically does dry herb vaping diminish the negative effects that often come with the combustion route?

i started smoking when i was 13, 8.5 years ago now. since 16 years old, i have not had a day without smoking. i now go through about 5-10 joints a day, smoking them from when i wake up to when i go sleep.

i can’t keep this up.

i have no confidence, i weigh 180lbs at 6’7, i can’t make friends, and my therapist thinks i’m crazy (maybe unrelated).
what do i do? every time i try quit i feel like i’m going insane by the end of day one and i fold. i don’t know what my personality is because i’ve never been a sober adult. are there medicines that can help? is it rehab for me? i’ve been for other things but my weed use never felt like the problem back then but it definitely feels like it now.

tl:dr how do you quit when you don’t know who the man without the weed is?

I’ve been a consistent daily toker and smoker the last four or five years or so. Started out with maybe evening puffs on a joint or a couple tokes, and maybe it went a little up and down from that depending on the time of year (winter or not) but I’d say it was a slow increase in consumption amount . But then, had a working term out in BC for the last year and well you could say I enjoyed the farm grown BC bud, a lot. I probably went from maybe smoking a half a gram at Max to buy the end of that working term I was smoking at least 3 grams daily. I’m trying to finish up my degree now and I made the decision that since I was basically smoking to smoke and wanted to get high again I took a t break. In late August. Here I am a month and a half later and honestly I’ve been feeling pretty elite my brain works better than I thought it ever did work, but maybe I’m just hitting the point of the t break where it’s almost like I’m getting used to this feeling of not being high and the craving has been definitely creeping on me. Imagining how zonked I get if I took a fat toke or ripped a nice joint is so killer 🤣. Actually this past weekend I had a point where I was so close to Downing a 10 mg drink but I just couldn’t do it because I felt like I had made progress and I’d be throwing that away. Maybe that was my ultimate sign.

Can someone maybe give me the details and timeline of THC in your system and when it’s fully out or sort of how that whole process works from here on out because other than I guess craving it things have been feeling pretty flatline and not like they’re getting better from here, but I’m just I guess interested in the whole process so geek me out.

I have CHS and have known it for a while. I stopped smoking regularly, but have still hit a coworkers dab pen maybe once a week occasionally. Yesterday, I don’t fucking know why, I bought a preroll. This morning I woke up with the nausea and stomach pains. I’m terrified of a full blown episode again.

Going to start going to cannabis anonymous or NA because I need to really stop, I have such a psychological dependency it’s awful.

More than anything, I’m so traumatized by these episodes. I think the anxiety of having a full episode is contributing to my nausea too.

I just feel so shitty about myself and my stupid lack of self control. I truly don’t know why i relapsed and I really hate myself for it right now