Lived Experience Forum

[Snuchu]

Well, I've been smoking weed every day for like two years, I think, and I've hit the point where you smoke weed and can function in real life without looking high or acting high.

When I try to wean off weed, I get nauseous, fagituted, and anxious plus depressed.

I guess I'm trying to seek if there's anyone out there in the same boat as me, and what they did in the end. Is it worth it trying to avoid it if I've been stable?

I guess I do rely on marijuana more than I thought, to cope in daily living.

[Outlanderali]

Hi @Snuchu

Thanks for your post and being brave enough to write here on the forums about this topic.

Here is a discussion that other members have had that you might find really helpful.

You mentioned that you feel like you do need drugs to cope with daily life, but have a think about other coping mechanisms you have and don't sell yourself short!

Outlanderali

[Sahara]

Hi @Snuchu, 

that's a good question... I hope others out there may have better ideas about this than me.

I gave up smoking weed about 13 years ago now. I was a daily smoker at one point, but I could easily go around 3 to five days without it. It depended on what was going on in my life at the time. I don't believe I ever developed much of a tolerance to weed, because I would get high very, very easily and hence I rarely smoked when I knew I had to go out in public. 

Also, none of my friends smoked weed very much and so I didn't smoke it when I was around them. These things probably kept my cannabis use in check. 

When I gave up weed, I also gave up drinking alcohol and also caffeine! I stopped 3 poisons at once! I was heavily addicted to coffee and I would average drinking around a bottle of wine a day, too. I did not even believe I had a problem.  I only gave these things up because a naturopath suggested I do so. I thought I would give it a try and at that time I sincerely believed I was not addicted to them, anyway. 

I suffered from nausea, headaches and lethargy for 4 days. After that, I felt a lot better quite quickly. During the withdrawal, I took over-the-counter pain killers for the headaches and slept a lot. I didn't eat much but I drank a lot of water. I honestly don't remember it being very bad at all. 

As far as my emotions were concerned, well, I think at that time I was so completely disconnected from myself emotionally that it just wasn't an issue for me. 

Of course, emotional problems were what caused me to come to rely on drugs and alcohol back then, however I had no idea of this at the time. It seems unbelievable to me now - but that is how is was. I never acknowledged any of my feelings back then and didn't become depressed until years later, when I was basically sober. 

Anyway, I have never gone back to smoking weed and I don't miss it. I still drink alcohol but not every day and I really do try to limit my drinks. 

Snuchu, I think you should ask your doctor what is the best way to get off weed. You might need to take a mild sedative or something else while you are going through withdrawal. I don't know. 

If you suffer from depression and anxiety, the weed might just be masking it, rather than causing it. This is something you would have to explore. Do you see a counsellor?

I

[itsRay]

I have used cannabis years ago but not now I also have a friend that used for over 30 yrs and was very much addicted to it.
I am intrigued by its potential for many treatments but also heed my friends warning that it can be very additive although it seems only in some people.

I noticed that some strains are very different to others, most illegal produced cannabis is produced for its weight and not for any therapeutic value.

You say you get nauseous, fatigued, anxious and depressed without it, that sounds like a red flag to me I used for four or five years and stopped without any of those effects. My friend got stressed and aggro and short tempered without it, even after going without it for months it did not calm the addiction but that was after 30 yrs heavy use.
But don't read me wrong I'm not against it infact I'm all for the research and use in understood situations It's just that i have seen both sides of the story so I am cautious. 

[Silenus]

Hi @Snuchu

I have smoked a lot of green in the past 25 years. Sometimes, I've seriously overindulged - 10-15 hits a day for about a 2 year stretch (for example). Other times, I've gone years without it with no problems.

I've never had an addiction problem with it. I've never had a problem going off it.

Having said that, there's physical addiction and there's psychological addiction... I've had times where I have been in such desperate psychological states of anguish that I felt I "needed" it for long periods.

Part of the problem these days is that weed isn't always weed. Compared to the "good old days" where weed was organic and normal, times have definitely changed. There's some seriously strong blow your head off hydro out there these days, and the individual strains have been getting stronger and stronger.

Big difference to straight good old fashioned green...

I had a single smoke a couple of weeks ago. Before that, I hadn't touched it for months. I can take it or leave it. I much prefer the mellow highs to the knock you out hydro stuff...

I have used the green for self medication from time to time, just like I use alcohol. It's not ideal, but when the chips are down, and the alternative is severe psychic harm or suicidal ideation or a blubbering anxious ball or rapid cycling or a mixed episode, it is at times the lesser of two evils.

But when it becomes the norm, it gets dangerous. If I've been smoking too much for too long, I lose my balance. Each day just blends into the next, and it's only about the next brain-numbing hit from the bong...

Been there. Done that. To me, it can descend to being a second rate life. It can lead nowhere if we let it control our lives to the exclusion of all else. It may help to cope with the extremes of that wild mental health ride (and in that, it is similar to psych meds, except it is deemed illegal by our current society). But balance is the key...

Don't get me wrong. I love the herb. Green and Pink Floyd... whoooaaahhhh...

And writing and food (munchies!) and sex and a whole lot of other things are differently appreciated in the altered state of consciousness that THC brings on...

I will always have a special relationship with green. But it's a respectful and careful relationship too, that seeks to find balance within the greater context of my life and the lives of my loved ones around me...

I hope you find a balance that works for you Snuch. I'm not advocating one way or the other. Just sending hugs and hopes for the best, as I always do. . 🙂

[Mazarita]

Hi @Snuchu,

I have bipolar and spent a over a decade as a very heavy user of weed (at my worst, one bong or J every fifteen minutes throughout the day). I managed to give it up cold turkey for five months about five years ago, had one J after that and was hooked again on the heavy use until just recently. It certainly became a very second rate life for me, increasing paranoia significantly (on top of already high social anxiety) and also significantly reducing motivation (already low due to the depressive end of the bipolar cycle being predominant in me). My days on the weed really became like Groundhog Day, smoking from first thing in the morning to last thing at night, everything seen through a blurry haze, and a lot of shame (and increased depression from that) about my dependence on it too.

Over the past several months I have been again trying to give up. I've finally managed to tear myself free of it over the past month and plan to never touch it again. Although the physical addiction is not that hard to get over, I was completely compulsive and addicted in my psychological relation to it. In this way it reminds me of gambling addiction: not physically addictive but something that really has the potential to bring a life to rock bottom. I started as a very casual user and gradually became a heavier and heavier user.

These are some of the methods I have used to give up this time around:

. seeing a psychologist specifically to help with this issue;

. tallying my daily intake as near to exact as possible and gradually reducing intake;

. talking openly about it on this forum and in real life and getting support in giving up;

. taking a trip to a place where it was not at all available to me for three weeks to finally break the cycle;

. continuing afterwards to make contact with supports to help me stay strong (this is where I am now).

Best wishes to you in your journey with this herb that can be helpful to some and so harmful to others.

[Silenus]

Props @Mazarita

I followed your journey on BlueBoard, and always wish you the very best. Respect.

Everyone's journey is different. Some things help, some things hurt. And they aren't always ghe same things at the same time... some things have worked for me, and then suddenly ended up being harmful...

I guess it's all about awareness. We need to be aware of what's happening to us when. Listen to what your body, your heart and mind, your thoughts and emotions are doing.

Are your coping mechanisms helping to heal or hurting you inadvertently? These are important questions only you yourself can answer. Being honest to yourself is important, because we often are so very very good at telling ourselves lies so often that they become the easiest things to believe...

Brutal honesty is a difficult thing. But in my opinion, it is essential to a balanced life journey, just so long as it goes hand in hand with gentle acceptance...

[Snuchu]

You guys hit bullseye with your descriptions...

I go day by day in a slight haze and it feels like the days go past seamlessly. I work, but I have no pride in that kind of work (janitor). I usually walk and chill on the computer all day, smoking weed even when I have to be in public. I just make sure my smell is very minimal.
All of my friends smoke weed as well, and we all recently went to the 420 festival in a big town nearby where I live. I could try to be a social weed user instead of smoking it everyday... but I really don't know.

I recently went off my meds for two weeks and usually I would destablize fast, but I think weed saved me and I was only slightly irritable and impatient. (I suffer from BP1.)

And all that being said, the country I'm in right now is considering legalization next year since our prime minister has declared it as one of our goals in his tenancy. So jail or charges isn't something I'm worrying about.

We'll see. 😛

[mBishop]

I was thinking of applying for medical cannabis for depression, my depression is pretty crippling, if anything doesn't go my way I feel very depressed for up to 2 hours.I've been searching some trusted marijuana app and came across this https://www.greenmed.io/blog/successful-stoner-cannabis-users-happier-successful/ . Silly things like not getting what I want to eat, or doing something stupid. I just sit and dwell on things, suicidal thoughts have entered my mind but I don't think I'll ever act on them. I know only about 13 states have medical marijauana, mine included, so I don't expect anyone here to be on it, but it would be nice to know whether or not it works. My depression pills (wellbutrin) aren't doing anything but helping my ADD.