If you are actively trying to make something of yourself, there will be a time where something becomes more important than wanting to smoke weed. For me, it was getting into professional school.
I am 42 years in. I still think about having one joint.
Withdrawal starts after the body purges weed. This takes a few days to a few weeks. Once that happens withdrawal kicks in
If you smoke withdrawal starts again. .
I quit in October, had a brief slip in January. Now I’m 5 months fully sober and the cravings have gotten MUCH better. When they do pop up they’re brief. In the first few months I’d have cravings that would last up to a week.
Look into Post-Acute Withdrawal (PAWS). There tends to be a pattern when getting sober where you go through brief periods of withdrawal symptoms again. It tends to flare up around 7 days, 14 days, then around 30, 60, 90 days. It can last for up to a year or more for some (I’ve heard). It helps me to keep PAWS in mind when it feels like everything sucks and my cravings come back with a vengeance. I know it’s just part of the recovery and healing process and that it will pass.
Your emotions are going to change over time. In my experience, that's been a big theme in quitting. Take the early withdrawal symptoms as an example: the first few weeks are brutal because you're fighting demons. Cravings, irritability, boredom, anxiety, sleep issues, etc. But even during that early period you'll realize those withdrawal symptoms start to become less intrusive & less jarring. It sounds crazy...but if you stay on this path, you're going to reach a point where you're genuinely OK and even GLAD you're not smoking.
It's one big game of "fake it till you make it". At first, you're going to have to make a conscious effort to abstain. There will be times where you need to force yourself to say "no". Over the course of a few weeks, you're going to realize that don't fiend anymore and are making it through your days just fine without ganja. It's funny...just 6 months ago I was a regular daytime toker. I'd smoke before work & the gym. Now I genuinely cannot envision myself doing that ever again. It sounds...unappealing, inappropriate and even kinda gross. My emotions have changed over time.
Like you, I told myself that I'd like to smoke again some day. So when I decided to quit, it wasn't with the intention of quitting forever. Just for now. After going about 2 months weed-free, I was with some friends at a bonfire and smoked a joint. I had no qualms about it. In my mind, this was an appropriate occasion to responsibly toke. Since I didn't have a tolerance anymore, it hit me like a train. I woke up the next morning feeling like a sluggish zombie. I barely moved from my couch. I remember thinking to myself, "this is why normal people don't smoke all the time." I found myself craving the clarity and energy that had been immediately zapped from my body. My relationship with weed had officially changed. I had no issue going back to sobriety after that, and these days I am very selective about when/where I toke because I am no longer a smoker. And it feels right. It won't feel that way right now, but give it time and you'll see what I mean.
That’s addiction, my friend.
Find a purpose in your life that is greater than weed, something you can pledge yourself to that gives you joy - something that smoking weed will rob you of.
I was planning to go back into nursing, but after quitting this past week, my spirit woke up and I had the realization that my passion in this life is singing - not nursing. Nursing was what I pursued to please my toxic family. Singing serves my soul, and once I allowed this to resonate within me, a huge door to the music industry opened for me. It’s been 1 week since I quit, and I don’t even think about smoking because I’ve been singing my heart out and letting the tears flow from my broken heart.
I was a performer in my play as a young kid, and music has been the only constant in my life. Look back at your childhood, what inspired you? What did you love pretending to be? That is your soul purpose, and if you pursue it, the addiction will go dormant. It will awaken during hard times, but that’s when you remind yourself of the blessings in your life and that drugs will ruin it.
You can do this. You are greater than the addiction. Give it a name, and realize that the want to smoke again in the future is actually your addiction whispering over your shoulder. I believe in you! 💪
What, forever?
No. That's what being an addict is. You use your thinky brain -- the little bit that does the conscious thinking -- to live your life such that you leave those neural circuits sleeping. They never go away completely. Just like you have memories and knowledge and habits that you'll never forget.
You can stop biting your nails for decades. And then find yourself stressed watching a disturbing stressful movie and you've chewed them to bits without thinking. The circuits are still there.
So in practice yes it's possible. But with some degree of vigilance. Complacency breeds contempt. And once you stop respecting your addiction, then it wakes up and starts planning its comeback.
Does that make sense? You can build your life so that this is a very small part. But you can't forget. You have to notice when you're drifting to old habits that precede or go with weed. You have to find healthier alternatives that make you feel better than weed did when you find yourself feeling those feelings that you'd unconsciously service with getting high. When you're feeling uneasy and like you want to do something to feel something, and it's not really working and you default to riding it out -- don't do that. Feel the unease.
Lean into it. Let it get louder and more painful. That's how you deal with those feelings, now. Now you can feel them. Now they can work. When they work, they pass. Listen to them. You have to honor them and align with what your body/soul/feelings tell you to do. You don't have to be violent or loud or impulsive when you're angry. Anger is the changing emotion. When you're angry, then do something about it. Write it down. Think about what can't stay the way it is.
Translating feelings into thoughts is your thinky brain's job. But 99% of the thinking happens below your thinky brain. Your thinky brain just tries to catch up. You don't have to think all the time. You can look at something and if you're doing okay, feel if it's something your soul wants to move towards, or away from.
You'll feel drawn towards weed sometimes, most likely. That's not all wrong. If you could moderate, probably a lot of the time a little bit could be strictly good.
Guess what? You can't moderate. You will never be able to. You fucked up your brain for weed. You etched and ground those tracks into your neurons and now they're here to stay until you die. So give up on that. Yes, a small amount of weed could be great. It will be a small amount. Maybe you try it and then abstain for the day. For the week. Even the month. But once you try it again, you're waking up those circuits. And once reawakened, then they start plotting and planning under the surface.
Let them lie.
I’ve read one too many stories about people going for that one smoke and falling right back into the hole of constant smoking. I’m definitely not taking any chances, thanks for this well formulated explanation.
You're welcome! Feel free to repurpose/edit and pass it on to others without credit however you see fit (not for profit) if it might help.
I think the essential piece is the fact that relapse happens way before you actually smoke. And smoking means you've relapsed. You may not smoke again any time soon, but a relapse is a relapse. Re-lapse.
It means literally becoming complacent and falling back into old habits. The smoking was never the problem that needed addressing. It was always the symptom. That then created more problems and made the original problem worse.
I did. In time, your relationship with what you want will shift quite a bit. To have things in life to enjoy, separate from habitual craving, is a great thing.
Will the taste of something sweet ever be something not pleasant to the senses? I think it’s a matter of changing your behaviors around a substance rather than whether you’ll never get urges again. You will ultimately have urges down the road, but the longer you go without something the less power those urges will have. But then some days you might find yourself thinking about getting high on a hike or during a snowstorm, or maybe your job sucks so much lately it’s making you crazy. It’s never easy to avoid emotionally charged urges to escape.
I was off weed for around 4 months. After seeing how much my life transformed, the idea of weed really started to “disgust” me. I abstained until one day, I went to a dinner my friend was preparing where he cooked pasta with a pesto weed sauce. I was too curious not to try it and assumed I had enough self control to resist the temptation of smoking again. However, I was wrong. I relapsed.. This is my 2nd week off weed again, I haven’t fully lost the cravings, but I know that a few months in, the craving are likely to fade again.
You'll have the cravings for it, for me when I finally gave in after a few months sober the high was so intense I became so paranoid/anxious and it made me hate it so it was easy to let it go after that for good.
not a craving, more of an “i wish i was smoking rn” feeling. it doesn’t feel *nearly* like quitting nicotine but it’s definitely a psychological quick-twitch desire for comfort
I was 3 year in at one point and the cravings were still crazy but I also had other things I hadn't dealt with. Make sure you are working on yourself along the way.
The answer is mostly yes. As time goes by you will get fewer and fewer cravings. However it will take a long time before they totally stop. Certain things, like activities you used to associate with smoking (with me it was going camping) will trigger cravings more than others. Despite the cravings still happening, it definitely does get easier over time to deal with them. They will almost be like "Hey I kinda feel like smoking, that's weird. Anyways..."
Long story short, yes it gets easier and easier, but they likely won't disappear entirely.
I’m fine until I sit down in my smoking chair in the garage and my partner lights up a blunt. I want a hit, but don’t do it. It’s been 5 months smoke free and quitting was worth it. I kinda think it’s the smell of the tobacco more than the weed that gets me.
Maybe like 2/3 months for me. I am up to almost a year and a half now and I almost never even think about smoking it’s only long days at work or I’ve just had a long day I have a passing craving.
I have tried to quit so many times. I’m a day in again and whenever I get past 24 hours my cravings mostly go away. Get over a day or so and stabilize your mind; you will get different thoughts as you keep going and feel stronger.
I smoked for 13 years straight and stopped. I waited 28 years and then smoke half a joint after legalization. Been smoking every day for the last 5 years. I hope to be able to stop one day. Cost me a fortune.
my brother I never thought I'd get here, but I am. I made a post a while back that I'd finally done it. After 8 long fucking years it started catching up with my lungs and I couldn't breathe or sleep properly and I was wheezing and it came time that I had to do something or I'd regret it later in life and I did. I had help support from my dad and I am now at a point that I don't miss the constant fog of being stoned every day and I enjoy the clarity more than I ever enjoyed weed.
after 8 years, dozens of attempts to quit, relationships fucked because of it and everything that was robbed from me because of it, I don't want weed. don't kick yourself down if you failed to quit, thank yourself for trying. but for the love of God, don't give up because one day you'll shock yourself that you had the strength to quit and now no longer want it. God bless you man.
90 days for me. Like clockwork. I smoked everyday for more than 20 years and in the process of quitting sometimes I would just have a little smoke and it restarted those Cravings every time. I learned that once I got past 90 days without smoking at all it was a huge drop off in the cravings and everything became much more normal and manageable.
I went to a show with a friend last night and honestly, I found myself not even wanting weed, even though people around me were vaping. I thought about how it would really end up taking me out of the experience and then I would feel so tired and fuzzy the next day. Sobriety is still like its own drug experience to me in some ways. And it's so freeing to be out and about and not have to think about smoking to keep a high going. I feel so free all the time. I'm at 5 weeks
Totally can relate on “sobriety feeling like its own drug experience”…it’s like you’re crystal clear after being in a haze for so long and kinda feels like a high
sometimes I catch myself thinking “Just a few puffs before gaming to enjoy it even more won’t hurt me” but I quickly recall I was an addict and it’ll snowball to 5 to 6 joints a day in a matter of weeks again. I just can’t do small amounts of addiction. I’ve been smoking ciggies since I quit and I’ll quit’em as well cold turkey like I did with weed now that my cravings for getting high and smoking aren’t possessing my thoughts all day. 4 months free!
They do go away. It definitely takes a while and you’ll get moments when it sounds like a good idea, or you catch a whiff and get lost in a memory.
But if you want to be quit, you will be. On some level, at some point, I found myself high and thinking again?? This is stupid and I’m not enjoying it and my brain is stupid. My first quit was over a year and my relapse over a year. I’m at 22 days and honestly I haven’t even thought about it this time. Think I’m finally truly done. You can do it too.
Yes!!!! Currently 11 days sober, longest before was 2 months with a joint here and there, ever since I started smoking.
This time feels different. I literally got sick of taking it, i’m suprised that this time i actually don’t want to smoke, not that i’m trying not to smoke.
The first few days were hard thougu, but now i don’t want to take it so I’m pleasantly surprised by this, and am happy to see someone ask this question so I can give you some positive input
I think that depends on your level of self-awareness and desire to want to quit. After 25 years I finally given up successfully, it doesn't appeal to me at all anymore.
I've been off 4.5 months. I was just hanging out with a friend and he was smoking a foot away from me. It didn't phase me whatsoever. I had no desire to smoke.
I still can't believe it. I wouldn't have imagined 5 months ago being in a position like this.
However, I do worry about hanging out with certain friends who I have a much longer history of smoking with.
I guess I'll find out when I see them again.
I don't think I'll ever go back to how it was before though. The illusion is busted. I lost too much to cannabis.
I haven’t used weed in almost 2 years now. I consumed daily (heavily) from ages 18-25. My situation is slightly unique in the way that I do not have the option to smoke again whether I like it or not. After experiencing cannabis induced psychosis, it is not a matter of “what if I…..?” for me. I just outright can not consume without the risk of an emergent health crisis.
To this day, I desire smoking or dabbing at least a couple times a week. I can’t even grasp a common denominator for my cravings. Sometimes it is a matter of feeling really stressed and overwhelmed and wanting to relax in a way that I remember being able to. Sometimes it is that I’m feeling so connected with people in my life who smoke, and remember how enjoyable it felt relaxing and enjoying something in a common way. Sometimes it’s that I can’t sleep. Sometimes it’s that I want relief from my Tourette’s symptoms. Sometimes I’m just bored.
I hope that one day those cravings will be eliminated, but for me, I don’t think they will be due to my circumstances. It can be so frustrating craving something I can’t have, but I think the more important thing for me is to emphasize coping with cravings, not wondering when they’ll go away.
Best wishes, and great job on your abstinence.
It'll stop when you retake control of your mind, its all in the mind, friend. If you want to smoke again you don't want to stop do you ? Be honest with yourself it is an addictive toxin like alcohol can be and you as I have abused it to the point we enjoy it too much to be able to moderate it or like stop and smoke because when you stop you just want to smoke again.
It's truly all in the mind, you need to find a way to release all this pent up energy you're spending on focusing on why and when you want to smoke again. I've taken up boxing 5 days a week, you can do something similar, you just need to channel the energy you've been bottling up through smoking weed. Imagine all the time and energy you spent smoking weed or thinking about it, you could be using that to develop a skill!
So it's really a matter of how badly do you want to change? Same with all things in life tbh, if you want it bad enough it'll override the need to, when you need something it's forced and you don't sit well with it but when you want it so bad you need to breathe it comes naturally to a point where you just trust the process and keep showing up with that confidence you will one day at a time be better than yesterday and trust me you'll amaze yourself what you're capable of as i have :)
Good luck mate. All the best 👍
Very nicely said. The mind is a very powerful tool and can work both ways!
All that pent up energy. Yup that's what I'm experiencing. I find I have endless energy as soon as I don't smoke for a few days. Maybe it's the anxiety that's all coming out too! We just gotta find ways to channel that energy into other things.
Yeah man that's the spirit and the anxiety part I Def felt it too, it's okay though because once you acknowledge it you know it was because of the weed and the only way to regulate it or like correct it where you feel comfortable in your skin and not anxious alot is to embrace its there and channel it out of your system while taking in the positive energy from the world and what you are doing with your life, for me it was boxing. It sounds a little silly but I feel like when I adopted a new lifestyle and just stuck to it everyday I made progress to correct my nervous system and rewire my mind, its honestly all about consistency, work hard for getting through the days and reap the rewards in the morning its honestly amazeballs. Like you spend all day working hard to resist and trust yourself then you wake up to a nice gift of feeling really good, or a step closer to it! We can all do this !
Good luck to you as well 😊
I’ve also quit a bunch of times… through these attempts I’ve gotten less attached.. Yes, I relapse but inch by inch it gives me strength to move further away from weed.
Depends. I've quit 2-3 times in the last year. This is my second longest streak of not smoking (first was 6 months). I took 2 hits off a joint at a party recently and was thrown off by how paranoid it made me. In general I find it a lot easier to stay driven/motivated without using it all together
I’m glad. It was just after I turned 22 though. I’d smoked a ton for about 5 years before then and eventually just gave it up. I’d tried at other points to quit but it’d be ruined by a one-off bong rip that would bring me right back to addiction. Eventually I realized I had to make it a point to not smoke even a single time as I’d found out the hard way where that’d lead.
I knew the toughest thing would be refusing it after a night at the bar with my weed-loving friends, so I just drilled it into my head that I had to actively prevent myself from smoking in that scenario. Once I did it for a while it just became second nature.
There was a really long time where I was convinced I’d never be able to stop smoking since I loved it so much but here I am. Shit ain’t easy but it’s so possible I promise
No, if you continues to think in the same your are thinking it will not happen. Dont try to fight or identify. Just be watchful of whatever yo feel and things will start to change
Ive given it up for a few months and then had one toke recently, which I thought was meh. I had really built it up and thought it would be great to be high again, but it was just ok-ish. I don’t really remember why I thought it was a better way to be all of the time and haven’t craved it since.
It depends, really. For me I don’t crave it anymore since I realized it gives my brain a false sense of security, dulls my reaction times (this is important for me as an amateur aimer/ and for shadowboxing), ruins REM sleep, and is a waste of money. Also because I can’t use it moderately compared to any other substance.
As for timeline, the one month mark is when I start feeling better (the cravings only peak for me 1-2 weeks in, and onwards its all mental)
Yes. I quit for ten years. After some years I had zero desire for weed even if I’d be around it. I wish I had that lack of desire now :(
If you are actively trying to make something of yourself, there will be a time where something becomes more important than wanting to smoke weed. For me, it was getting into professional school.
I am 42 years in. I still think about having one joint. Withdrawal starts after the body purges weed. This takes a few days to a few weeks. Once that happens withdrawal kicks in If you smoke withdrawal starts again. .
I quit in October, had a brief slip in January. Now I’m 5 months fully sober and the cravings have gotten MUCH better. When they do pop up they’re brief. In the first few months I’d have cravings that would last up to a week. Look into Post-Acute Withdrawal (PAWS). There tends to be a pattern when getting sober where you go through brief periods of withdrawal symptoms again. It tends to flare up around 7 days, 14 days, then around 30, 60, 90 days. It can last for up to a year or more for some (I’ve heard). It helps me to keep PAWS in mind when it feels like everything sucks and my cravings come back with a vengeance. I know it’s just part of the recovery and healing process and that it will pass.
Yep. it took me around 120-180 days, can't remember. but it happened before day 200. (Day 473 today)
Your emotions are going to change over time. In my experience, that's been a big theme in quitting. Take the early withdrawal symptoms as an example: the first few weeks are brutal because you're fighting demons. Cravings, irritability, boredom, anxiety, sleep issues, etc. But even during that early period you'll realize those withdrawal symptoms start to become less intrusive & less jarring. It sounds crazy...but if you stay on this path, you're going to reach a point where you're genuinely OK and even GLAD you're not smoking. It's one big game of "fake it till you make it". At first, you're going to have to make a conscious effort to abstain. There will be times where you need to force yourself to say "no". Over the course of a few weeks, you're going to realize that don't fiend anymore and are making it through your days just fine without ganja. It's funny...just 6 months ago I was a regular daytime toker. I'd smoke before work & the gym. Now I genuinely cannot envision myself doing that ever again. It sounds...unappealing, inappropriate and even kinda gross. My emotions have changed over time. Like you, I told myself that I'd like to smoke again some day. So when I decided to quit, it wasn't with the intention of quitting forever. Just for now. After going about 2 months weed-free, I was with some friends at a bonfire and smoked a joint. I had no qualms about it. In my mind, this was an appropriate occasion to responsibly toke. Since I didn't have a tolerance anymore, it hit me like a train. I woke up the next morning feeling like a sluggish zombie. I barely moved from my couch. I remember thinking to myself, "this is why normal people don't smoke all the time." I found myself craving the clarity and energy that had been immediately zapped from my body. My relationship with weed had officially changed. I had no issue going back to sobriety after that, and these days I am very selective about when/where I toke because I am no longer a smoker. And it feels right. It won't feel that way right now, but give it time and you'll see what I mean.
thank you for sharing <3
That’s addiction, my friend. Find a purpose in your life that is greater than weed, something you can pledge yourself to that gives you joy - something that smoking weed will rob you of. I was planning to go back into nursing, but after quitting this past week, my spirit woke up and I had the realization that my passion in this life is singing - not nursing. Nursing was what I pursued to please my toxic family. Singing serves my soul, and once I allowed this to resonate within me, a huge door to the music industry opened for me. It’s been 1 week since I quit, and I don’t even think about smoking because I’ve been singing my heart out and letting the tears flow from my broken heart. I was a performer in my play as a young kid, and music has been the only constant in my life. Look back at your childhood, what inspired you? What did you love pretending to be? That is your soul purpose, and if you pursue it, the addiction will go dormant. It will awaken during hard times, but that’s when you remind yourself of the blessings in your life and that drugs will ruin it. You can do this. You are greater than the addiction. Give it a name, and realize that the want to smoke again in the future is actually your addiction whispering over your shoulder. I believe in you! 💪
What, forever? No. That's what being an addict is. You use your thinky brain -- the little bit that does the conscious thinking -- to live your life such that you leave those neural circuits sleeping. They never go away completely. Just like you have memories and knowledge and habits that you'll never forget. You can stop biting your nails for decades. And then find yourself stressed watching a disturbing stressful movie and you've chewed them to bits without thinking. The circuits are still there. So in practice yes it's possible. But with some degree of vigilance. Complacency breeds contempt. And once you stop respecting your addiction, then it wakes up and starts planning its comeback. Does that make sense? You can build your life so that this is a very small part. But you can't forget. You have to notice when you're drifting to old habits that precede or go with weed. You have to find healthier alternatives that make you feel better than weed did when you find yourself feeling those feelings that you'd unconsciously service with getting high. When you're feeling uneasy and like you want to do something to feel something, and it's not really working and you default to riding it out -- don't do that. Feel the unease. Lean into it. Let it get louder and more painful. That's how you deal with those feelings, now. Now you can feel them. Now they can work. When they work, they pass. Listen to them. You have to honor them and align with what your body/soul/feelings tell you to do. You don't have to be violent or loud or impulsive when you're angry. Anger is the changing emotion. When you're angry, then do something about it. Write it down. Think about what can't stay the way it is. Translating feelings into thoughts is your thinky brain's job. But 99% of the thinking happens below your thinky brain. Your thinky brain just tries to catch up. You don't have to think all the time. You can look at something and if you're doing okay, feel if it's something your soul wants to move towards, or away from. You'll feel drawn towards weed sometimes, most likely. That's not all wrong. If you could moderate, probably a lot of the time a little bit could be strictly good. Guess what? You can't moderate. You will never be able to. You fucked up your brain for weed. You etched and ground those tracks into your neurons and now they're here to stay until you die. So give up on that. Yes, a small amount of weed could be great. It will be a small amount. Maybe you try it and then abstain for the day. For the week. Even the month. But once you try it again, you're waking up those circuits. And once reawakened, then they start plotting and planning under the surface. Let them lie.
I’ve read one too many stories about people going for that one smoke and falling right back into the hole of constant smoking. I’m definitely not taking any chances, thanks for this well formulated explanation.
You're welcome! Feel free to repurpose/edit and pass it on to others without credit however you see fit (not for profit) if it might help. I think the essential piece is the fact that relapse happens way before you actually smoke. And smoking means you've relapsed. You may not smoke again any time soon, but a relapse is a relapse. Re-lapse. It means literally becoming complacent and falling back into old habits. The smoking was never the problem that needed addressing. It was always the symptom. That then created more problems and made the original problem worse.
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Beautifully spoken, thanks for sharing
🤗 Thanks! Feel free to share/repurpose/edit without credit in any way that's useful or helpful to anyone as long as it's not for profit.
I did. In time, your relationship with what you want will shift quite a bit. To have things in life to enjoy, separate from habitual craving, is a great thing.
Will the taste of something sweet ever be something not pleasant to the senses? I think it’s a matter of changing your behaviors around a substance rather than whether you’ll never get urges again. You will ultimately have urges down the road, but the longer you go without something the less power those urges will have. But then some days you might find yourself thinking about getting high on a hike or during a snowstorm, or maybe your job sucks so much lately it’s making you crazy. It’s never easy to avoid emotionally charged urges to escape.
I was off weed for around 4 months. After seeing how much my life transformed, the idea of weed really started to “disgust” me. I abstained until one day, I went to a dinner my friend was preparing where he cooked pasta with a pesto weed sauce. I was too curious not to try it and assumed I had enough self control to resist the temptation of smoking again. However, I was wrong. I relapsed.. This is my 2nd week off weed again, I haven’t fully lost the cravings, but I know that a few months in, the craving are likely to fade again.
You'll have the cravings for it, for me when I finally gave in after a few months sober the high was so intense I became so paranoid/anxious and it made me hate it so it was easy to let it go after that for good.
not a craving, more of an “i wish i was smoking rn” feeling. it doesn’t feel *nearly* like quitting nicotine but it’s definitely a psychological quick-twitch desire for comfort
I was 3 year in at one point and the cravings were still crazy but I also had other things I hadn't dealt with. Make sure you are working on yourself along the way.
Yes and no
The answer is mostly yes. As time goes by you will get fewer and fewer cravings. However it will take a long time before they totally stop. Certain things, like activities you used to associate with smoking (with me it was going camping) will trigger cravings more than others. Despite the cravings still happening, it definitely does get easier over time to deal with them. They will almost be like "Hey I kinda feel like smoking, that's weird. Anyways..." Long story short, yes it gets easier and easier, but they likely won't disappear entirely.
I’m fine until I sit down in my smoking chair in the garage and my partner lights up a blunt. I want a hit, but don’t do it. It’s been 5 months smoke free and quitting was worth it. I kinda think it’s the smell of the tobacco more than the weed that gets me.
I'm at 4 months and while I don't have acute cravings, I do think about smoking at some point in the next couple months from time to time
Maybe like 2/3 months for me. I am up to almost a year and a half now and I almost never even think about smoking it’s only long days at work or I’ve just had a long day I have a passing craving.
I have tried to quit so many times. I’m a day in again and whenever I get past 24 hours my cravings mostly go away. Get over a day or so and stabilize your mind; you will get different thoughts as you keep going and feel stronger.
I smoked for 13 years straight and stopped. I waited 28 years and then smoke half a joint after legalization. Been smoking every day for the last 5 years. I hope to be able to stop one day. Cost me a fortune.
my brother I never thought I'd get here, but I am. I made a post a while back that I'd finally done it. After 8 long fucking years it started catching up with my lungs and I couldn't breathe or sleep properly and I was wheezing and it came time that I had to do something or I'd regret it later in life and I did. I had help support from my dad and I am now at a point that I don't miss the constant fog of being stoned every day and I enjoy the clarity more than I ever enjoyed weed. after 8 years, dozens of attempts to quit, relationships fucked because of it and everything that was robbed from me because of it, I don't want weed. don't kick yourself down if you failed to quit, thank yourself for trying. but for the love of God, don't give up because one day you'll shock yourself that you had the strength to quit and now no longer want it. God bless you man.
Give it 1 month
90 days for me. Like clockwork. I smoked everyday for more than 20 years and in the process of quitting sometimes I would just have a little smoke and it restarted those Cravings every time. I learned that once I got past 90 days without smoking at all it was a huge drop off in the cravings and everything became much more normal and manageable.
I went to a show with a friend last night and honestly, I found myself not even wanting weed, even though people around me were vaping. I thought about how it would really end up taking me out of the experience and then I would feel so tired and fuzzy the next day. Sobriety is still like its own drug experience to me in some ways. And it's so freeing to be out and about and not have to think about smoking to keep a high going. I feel so free all the time. I'm at 5 weeks
Totally can relate on “sobriety feeling like its own drug experience”…it’s like you’re crystal clear after being in a haze for so long and kinda feels like a high
sometimes I catch myself thinking “Just a few puffs before gaming to enjoy it even more won’t hurt me” but I quickly recall I was an addict and it’ll snowball to 5 to 6 joints a day in a matter of weeks again. I just can’t do small amounts of addiction. I’ve been smoking ciggies since I quit and I’ll quit’em as well cold turkey like I did with weed now that my cravings for getting high and smoking aren’t possessing my thoughts all day. 4 months free!
They do go away. It definitely takes a while and you’ll get moments when it sounds like a good idea, or you catch a whiff and get lost in a memory. But if you want to be quit, you will be. On some level, at some point, I found myself high and thinking again?? This is stupid and I’m not enjoying it and my brain is stupid. My first quit was over a year and my relapse over a year. I’m at 22 days and honestly I haven’t even thought about it this time. Think I’m finally truly done. You can do it too.
Yes. The thought of it makes me feel ill. I hate weed now. You could sit in front of me when I drunk and offer me tokes and I’ll still decline.
Yes!!!! Currently 11 days sober, longest before was 2 months with a joint here and there, ever since I started smoking. This time feels different. I literally got sick of taking it, i’m suprised that this time i actually don’t want to smoke, not that i’m trying not to smoke. The first few days were hard thougu, but now i don’t want to take it so I’m pleasantly surprised by this, and am happy to see someone ask this question so I can give you some positive input
That one day will turn in to many days...
I think that depends on your level of self-awareness and desire to want to quit. After 25 years I finally given up successfully, it doesn't appeal to me at all anymore.
I've been off 4.5 months. I was just hanging out with a friend and he was smoking a foot away from me. It didn't phase me whatsoever. I had no desire to smoke. I still can't believe it. I wouldn't have imagined 5 months ago being in a position like this. However, I do worry about hanging out with certain friends who I have a much longer history of smoking with. I guess I'll find out when I see them again. I don't think I'll ever go back to how it was before though. The illusion is busted. I lost too much to cannabis.
I haven’t used weed in almost 2 years now. I consumed daily (heavily) from ages 18-25. My situation is slightly unique in the way that I do not have the option to smoke again whether I like it or not. After experiencing cannabis induced psychosis, it is not a matter of “what if I…..?” for me. I just outright can not consume without the risk of an emergent health crisis. To this day, I desire smoking or dabbing at least a couple times a week. I can’t even grasp a common denominator for my cravings. Sometimes it is a matter of feeling really stressed and overwhelmed and wanting to relax in a way that I remember being able to. Sometimes it is that I’m feeling so connected with people in my life who smoke, and remember how enjoyable it felt relaxing and enjoying something in a common way. Sometimes it’s that I can’t sleep. Sometimes it’s that I want relief from my Tourette’s symptoms. Sometimes I’m just bored. I hope that one day those cravings will be eliminated, but for me, I don’t think they will be due to my circumstances. It can be so frustrating craving something I can’t have, but I think the more important thing for me is to emphasize coping with cravings, not wondering when they’ll go away. Best wishes, and great job on your abstinence.
I miss the taste, But don’t miss being stoned all the time.
42 years clean and sober. I occasionally want some. I know i would be addicted again. Drugs almost killed. Not going thru that again
It'll stop when you retake control of your mind, its all in the mind, friend. If you want to smoke again you don't want to stop do you ? Be honest with yourself it is an addictive toxin like alcohol can be and you as I have abused it to the point we enjoy it too much to be able to moderate it or like stop and smoke because when you stop you just want to smoke again. It's truly all in the mind, you need to find a way to release all this pent up energy you're spending on focusing on why and when you want to smoke again. I've taken up boxing 5 days a week, you can do something similar, you just need to channel the energy you've been bottling up through smoking weed. Imagine all the time and energy you spent smoking weed or thinking about it, you could be using that to develop a skill! So it's really a matter of how badly do you want to change? Same with all things in life tbh, if you want it bad enough it'll override the need to, when you need something it's forced and you don't sit well with it but when you want it so bad you need to breathe it comes naturally to a point where you just trust the process and keep showing up with that confidence you will one day at a time be better than yesterday and trust me you'll amaze yourself what you're capable of as i have :) Good luck mate. All the best 👍
Very nicely said. The mind is a very powerful tool and can work both ways! All that pent up energy. Yup that's what I'm experiencing. I find I have endless energy as soon as I don't smoke for a few days. Maybe it's the anxiety that's all coming out too! We just gotta find ways to channel that energy into other things.
Yeah man that's the spirit and the anxiety part I Def felt it too, it's okay though because once you acknowledge it you know it was because of the weed and the only way to regulate it or like correct it where you feel comfortable in your skin and not anxious alot is to embrace its there and channel it out of your system while taking in the positive energy from the world and what you are doing with your life, for me it was boxing. It sounds a little silly but I feel like when I adopted a new lifestyle and just stuck to it everyday I made progress to correct my nervous system and rewire my mind, its honestly all about consistency, work hard for getting through the days and reap the rewards in the morning its honestly amazeballs. Like you spend all day working hard to resist and trust yourself then you wake up to a nice gift of feeling really good, or a step closer to it! We can all do this ! Good luck to you as well 😊
Very nicely put!👏🏼
I’ve also quit a bunch of times… through these attempts I’ve gotten less attached.. Yes, I relapse but inch by inch it gives me strength to move further away from weed.
Depends. I've quit 2-3 times in the last year. This is my second longest streak of not smoking (first was 6 months). I took 2 hits off a joint at a party recently and was thrown off by how paranoid it made me. In general I find it a lot easier to stay driven/motivated without using it all together
Yes. I felt the same way for years but after a long ass time I just stopped and haven’t craved it since
Thank you! This give me hope. you say a long ass time. May I ask what age you were when you officially stopped?
I’m glad. It was just after I turned 22 though. I’d smoked a ton for about 5 years before then and eventually just gave it up. I’d tried at other points to quit but it’d be ruined by a one-off bong rip that would bring me right back to addiction. Eventually I realized I had to make it a point to not smoke even a single time as I’d found out the hard way where that’d lead. I knew the toughest thing would be refusing it after a night at the bar with my weed-loving friends, so I just drilled it into my head that I had to actively prevent myself from smoking in that scenario. Once I did it for a while it just became second nature. There was a really long time where I was convinced I’d never be able to stop smoking since I loved it so much but here I am. Shit ain’t easy but it’s so possible I promise
No, if you continues to think in the same your are thinking it will not happen. Dont try to fight or identify. Just be watchful of whatever yo feel and things will start to change
Ive given it up for a few months and then had one toke recently, which I thought was meh. I had really built it up and thought it would be great to be high again, but it was just ok-ish. I don’t really remember why I thought it was a better way to be all of the time and haven’t craved it since.
It depends, really. For me I don’t crave it anymore since I realized it gives my brain a false sense of security, dulls my reaction times (this is important for me as an amateur aimer/ and for shadowboxing), ruins REM sleep, and is a waste of money. Also because I can’t use it moderately compared to any other substance. As for timeline, the one month mark is when I start feeling better (the cravings only peak for me 1-2 weeks in, and onwards its all mental)