Opinions - Swim needs some help with going through severe weed withdrawal, can anyone help ??

[dcrn]

Hi,

Swim, is not your big smoker by any means. Swim tried weed a long time ago and would smoke here and there, sometimes on the weekends or at a party but sometimes he would buy it himself and enjoy it for a week or two. Lately, it's been a few weeks, swim has been smoking daily. One gram would last swim the whole night. He usually smokes a blunt (dutch master, grape flavor) and just chills, watches tv, talks on the phone and just likes that strong sativa high. He prefers sativa over indica. Anyways, Swim has realized that his weed use is getting out of hand, he ignores to do other things esp. working out (swim's life revolves around fitness & bodybuilding). Swim doesn't eat like he did before, it's all bad food, no training...he just has been getting stoned for a few weeks doing nothing. His wallet has suffered also, big time. Swim thinks he has developed a high tolerance and he just wants to quit. It's not that it's hard to quit, it's that the withdrawal symptops swim gets are really bad. Swim tried to quit few days ago, didn't smoke for 2-3 days and baaam..depression kicked in..Swim was feeling sorry for myself...Swim kept thinking he's all alone, no friends no nothing which is not true...then SEVERE appetite loss..Swim can go without food the entire day...even tho Swim feels empty and he feels he needs to eat, he just doesn't. Good food doesn't taste good anymore. Faster heart beat, racing mind, extremely irritated, unpatiend ...

How and what can swim do to overcome this withdrawal. Swim knows weed withdrawal does exist but it's not severe or lethal like harder drugs (heroin, cocaine). Swim does enjoy weed, but he can't just do it over the weekends. He has to do it daily or he has to quit. Swim right now choses that he has to quit.

So quitting is no problem, dealing with the withdrawal is. Please help.

[humdroid]

Y isnt gonna be much help, as, although he dosent smoke weed daily, he finds the withdrawals a bit of an ordeal.

Y has non weed related psychological issues though, so this must be borne in mind.

Y's symptoms of weed withdrawal take him by surprise, as he often takes a few days out from smoking it, and only takes the spliff up again, when the symptoms slap him on the face.
This is not the same for everyone though, some sail through.

What about tapering down?
Y, did once have a bad weed habit, where an eighth could vanish in a day, and if he tried to stop cold, he just couldnt.
Y tapered his use, and now he can get stoned off a bit of weed the size of a rice grain.

Y also liked the sativa, as it relaxed and gently showed Y his anxietys and possible ways of perceiving and reframing them.
Unlike SWIM, weed motivated and enthused Y, as Y is more arty bent, than sporty.

Y also gets a better appetite on weed, and food dosent just go straight hrough Y like it does when sober. Anxiety causes bad absorption for Y, even if diet good.

Y's wallet suffered, and it was this that forced the reduction, not Y himself.

If SWIM feels he can go cold turkey (loads do, and they have no bother) get in some chamomile tea or valerian, for calming, and some melatonin for the insomnia that comes with stopping weed.
Weed withdrawal can bring anxiety and depression on badly for those with existing conditions.

See, this weed, is not only hazardous when bang on it large, coming off it also has its hazards, as in the depression and anxiety.
This is where supplements come in handy.
Y knows also about the emptiness, but not wanting to eat feeling. Depression and anxiety can irritate the gut.
Google natural supplements for mood, as there is loads out there. Too much rambling for Y here.

One smack head said to Y, once the detox/cluck is dealt with, the real work begins, as in tackling the psychological addiction.
Y dosen't do smack, but maybe other heroin users can relate.

Those are Y's suggestions, and cliche as it sounds, good luck.
There is always the chance to come on here and post, for support during your weedless time.

ps, Even if Y could ever afford to get more weed, the withdrawal depression is what would put him off daily smoking.

[bman1]

Does swim's life revolves around fitness & bodybuilding anymore. Exercise is great. get your mind off it and oxygen in your blood. Good luck it wont last long find other things to do. Keep your mind off it soon you will be yourelf again

[sitNthink]

If swiy is big on health and fitness then one thing that swim has found may help with the anxiety and frustration is to work out to a fast paced music such as Drum n Bass. Swim also does this when angry in other general situations to and finds the rush of adrenaline from the work out, plus the music on top of the frustration swim already feels from not having a zoot in a while is quite a nice high and when finished he feels quite relaxed.
As far as the work out, swim would reccomend working out with dumbbells one arm at a time, put on a fairly heavy wieght (One that swiy can still pump at speed but not so light swiy barely notices it there) and push yourself maybe motivating swiy's self with a few angry thoughts at the start just for a lil boost to the adrenaline early on in the workout.

[readeadamie]

90% Erythrina mulungu extract helped me deal with the anxiety/irritability and depression. It's not the cheapest though. Magnolia or Pedicularis extracts work well too. For something milder and cheaper try some Skullcap. I found a Hops supplement helped stimulate my appetite. Part of the reason I gave up was because of bad short-term memory loss, Gingko biloba supplements work wonders for restoring memory.

[shekes]

We've all been there!

Keep in mind it will be all over in a couple of days! While weak cravings can sporadically emerge over a period of a few months, only the first week (mainly second and third day/night) of withdrawal is really hard.

Distractions help: a game, a movie, a walk in the nature or a visit to some exhibition, museum, traveling.

A few drops of St John's Wort during the day and/or a bit of Valerian to help falling asleep.

Avoid confrontations and dealing with any sensitive issues you might fuck up. Remember that cannabinoid deficiency render's you inattentive, indifferent, moody or even aggressive. Therefore be careful when driving, using any machinery, sharp tools etc. Be sure to dress warm, not to sit/stand/lay in a draft. Simply, take care of yourself!


Do NOT listen to this:

Originally Posted by sitNthink

If swiy is big on health and fitness then one thing that swim has found may help with the anxiety and frustration is to work out to a fast paced music such as Drum n Bass. Swim also does this when angry in other general situations to and finds the rush of adrenaline from the work out, plus the music on top of the frustration swim already feels from not having a zoot in a while is quite a nice high and when finished he feels quite relaxed.
As far as the work out, swim would reccomend working out with dumbbells one arm at a time, put on a fairly heavy wieght (One that swiy can still pump at speed but not so light swiy barely notices it there) and push yourself maybe motivating swiy's self with a few angry thoughts at the start just for a lil boost to the adrenaline early on in the workout.

While a little bit of exercise is OK, pushing yourself physically in any way would be a bad idea. Withdrawal makes you ignore pain and other signs that you have reached your (healthy) limits. You are prone to injury, so stay away from heavy weights! A swim in a pool or a longer walk are better.

A beer or even two might help but you must draw the line there as well.

[experienceduser92]

well swim my friend is a smoker as well and he went from smoking everyday for 6 years to not smoking because of lack of it being around now he went through some small withdrawl including lack of appatiete what he did was just ate and even no it didnt taste as good as usual he still ate it cause after a few days (3-5) it goes away and u feel better less deppresed and your appetiate comes back. its just that your body gets used to the drug making you hungery and happy once the body relizes the drug isnt there anymore just a few daays it starts to produce the chemicals that make u hungry and happy!

[sitNthink]

[quote=shekes;563012]
While a little bit of exercise is OK, pushing yourself physically in any way would be a bad idea. Withdrawal makes you ignore pain and other signs that you have reached your (healthy) limits. You are prone to injury, so stay away from heavy weights!/quote]
Hmm.. SWIM thought it was quite good advice but on reading this swim is going to be wary of this in future, however swim'll still maintain that some weight training to some fast music is a good relaxant in terms of the adrenaline high and then it wearing off. It almost makes him feel like a burden has been lifted or that feeling like your going to explode when your frustrated is sort of allowed to seep out gently similar to slowly unscrewing a bottle of shaken fizzy drink.

[SmokeRings]

SWIM is pretty certain that there is vast info regarding excersize being a natural withdrawl/anxiet/depression aide. If SWIYs life revolves around fitness, SWIM is surprised they didn't know that already!
S
WIM is a bit of a cynic (and obvious hypocrite to an extent, read other posts) regarding withdrawal from weed. She just doesn't see it. But she also feels that everyone has the ability within themselves to kick whatever habit they have. The brain is an amazing place. Some have an easier time stopping addictions, as she believes body chemistry plays a huge factor in dependency/tolerance/drug of choice/etc for each and every human. No one is the same.

SWIM also thinks most people use NOT just for recreation, but self-medication for any number of issues. Some admit it, some are hell bent on saying just the opposite. SWIM has rarely met a somewhat regular user (to her that's some sort of high at least several times a week) who didn't have other reasons than to just have a good time. Life is hard, sometimes it downright sucks, everyone has a story.

SWIMs advice would be to taper, as suggested, FORCE yourself, it's weed, not coke or meth for goodness sake! Quit obsessing about it, get back into a normal routine and get in the gym.

SWIM obviously smokes, daily actually and enjoys various other substances as well. She chooses to do so for fun, for self-medication with family issues as well as bipolar disorder. She isn't afraid to admit that it's not always for fun. Does that make her an addict? Well yes, anyone who uses regularly is, but to her, there are definite degrees to addiction.

SWIM puts herself in the category of highly functioning addict. She never misses work, her house is immaculent, she's obsessed with her yard so it's beautiful, still goes out socially, pays bills on time, etc! She does not think that makes her better than anyone else though. To ridicule one for their drug of choice, method of administration, and so on just REEKS of hypocrisy! She tries very hard to never judge anyone for their decisions, we only have one shot at life and we are entitled to live it as we wish. However, that said, as long as you are only hurting yourself! She means that literally, obviously we know addicts can hurt family and friends emotionally and financially if they are at the "I steal shit to get high" addiction level!

SWIM has the utmost faith that SWIY will be ok, that it's not nearly as bad as they think. Train your brain, just like you train your body with excersize. Reverse the negative thoughts with uplifting thoughts, try yoga, mediation or other spiritual methods of relaxation if needed.

Keep everyone posted with your progress!

Reputation Comments on this post:

I tend to agree with your analysis that there is little or no scientific evidence for cannabis withdrawal.

[shekes]

^ I wasn't criticizing you, just disagreeing.

Withdrawal makes SWIM blunt, impatient and irritable and reluctant to focus. SWIM had injured himself on several occasions (the day after a strong high or when withdrawing) when exercising and handling sharp objects, had car accidents, caught colds etc.

For example one morning SWIM wanted to cut a white bread bun in half to smear jam for breakfast and holding the bun in the left hand and the knife in the right SWIM has in his usual manner cut the bun from the top through to the hand. However, being unfocused SWIM cut through the bun and deep into his left hand so that he bun was immediately soaked in blood. While in "normal" circumstances SWIM focuses automatically when handling sharp objects, when withdrawing, only the realization of the injury made SWIM focus and treat the injury.

I can provide numerous examples.

Apart from getting impatient and aggressive in conversations SWIM experienced several occasions when he said things he should have kept secret with severe consequences for SWIM and/or other people.

I wonder whether the latter phenomenon of " involuntary indiscretion/imprudence" is caused directly by THC affecting SWIMs amygdala. I might post this a separate thread/topic.

I agree that exercise is an excellent distraction from withdrawal and I would say that the effectiveness of the distraction is proportional to the intensity of the exercise. However, when the exercise is such that one can get injured or injure another person the risk outweighs the benefit of the distraction. I think that lifting weights is exactly that kind of exercise and OP should be advised against putting on a heavy weight.

[Nature Boy]

Originally Posted by dcrn

Hi,

Swim, is not your big smoker by any means. Swim tried weed a long time ago and would smoke here and there, sometimes on the weekends or at a party but sometimes he would buy it himself and enjoy it for a week or two. Lately, it's been a few weeks, swim has been smoking daily. One gram would last swim the whole night. He usually smokes a blunt (dutch master, grape flavor) and just chills, watches tv, talks on the phone and just likes that strong sativa high. He prefers sativa over indica. Anyways, Swim has realized that his weed use is getting out of hand, he ignores to do other things esp. working out (swim's life revolves around fitness & bodybuilding). Swim doesn't eat like he did before, it's all bad food, no training...he just has been getting stoned for a few weeks doing nothing. His wallet has suffered also, big time. Swim thinks he has developed a high tolerance and he just wants to quit. It's not that it's hard to quit, it's that the withdrawal symptops swim gets are really bad. Swim tried to quit few days ago, didn't smoke for 2-3 days and baaam..depression kicked in..Swim was feeling sorry for myself...Swim kept thinking he's all alone, no friends no nothing which is not true...then SEVERE appetite loss..Swim can go without food the entire day...even tho Swim feels empty and he feels he needs to eat, he just doesn't. Good food doesn't taste good anymore. Faster heart beat, racing mind, extremely irritated, unpatiend ...

How and what can swim do to overcome this withdrawal. Swim knows weed withdrawal does exist but it's not severe or lethal like harder drugs (heroin, cocaine). Swim does enjoy weed, but he can't just do it over the weekends. He has to do it daily or he has to quit. Swim right now choses that he has to quit.

So quitting is no problem, dealing with the withdrawal is. Please help.

What you're describing aren't withdrawal symptoms. They sound more like a range of emotions more than anything i.e. your thoughts. Withdrawal symptoms tend to consist of vomiting, cold chills, fever, etc., which are practically unheard of when it comes to cannabis use cessation. Insomnia is one possible withdrawal symptom that comes with cannabis but few people report this lasting longer than several days after stopping use.

So essentially you're left with a decision. Subconsciously, you probably don't want to excercise as much but you feel as though you should. If you can really bring yourself around to excercising again, you should be able to do so if it's your true desire. I wouldn't recommend kidding yourself into thinking it's only just cannabis that's preventing you from doing what you identify yourself with. I've never encountered a study that determined cannabis use as a causal factor for physical incapability.

Decision time man. Have a bit of willpower if you're really that upset. Leave the cannabis in a drawer for a few days and see how things pan out. Withdrawal symptoms are a pretty weak excuse if you can't manage this. Too many people use cannabis as an excuse. It's right up there with "video games ruined my life" IMHO, no offense.

[nibble]

^^ The cold truth right there, I completely agree with the above.

[everytingirie]

SWIM would argue that you can experience mild forms of withdrawal from cannabis, though they appear in different ways than with other drugs, like opiates. The symptoms with cannabis are primarily psychological, with few to no physical effects.

SWIM is a heavy user of cannabis. He remains intoxicated for approximately 75% of his waking day. Over the past few years that he has been using, he has occasionally stopped for periods of one week to a few months. During this periods of not using, he tends to experience mental withdrawal symptoms for the first few days. After a week, all symptoms are gone, and he is back to his usual self.

These withdrawal symptoms, for SWIM, include anxiousness, depression, lack of temper, and anxiety. They are mild to moderate, and completely subside within 1 week. If you think that you need a break, take one. You will make it. It can be difficult, but compared to opiate withdrawals, it is nothing. These tend to include painful physical symptoms as well as the painful mental symptoms. Luckily, I know of no people who have experienced severe physical withdrawal symptoms from discontinuation of their cannabis use.

Good luck. If swiy is strong, he can do it. It's good to take a break for a while and get your life back on track. Once you have reestablished your life, you can give the cannabis another try. Perhaps try only consuming it once a day, only at night, something like that. That's what Swim does when he starts getting behind on life and the things that are truly important to him.

everytingirie added 2 Minutes and 22 Seconds later...

Oh, SWIM forgot to mention, another symptom of WD for him is insomnia. It can be quite shitty at times, but also subsides after a week.

[Lady Codone]

There is no scientific evidence to suggest that physical marijuana withdrawal exists in any form, but the psychological w/d can be pretty harsh. I suggest getting to the bottom of your depressed feelings, which aren't likely caused solely by quitting weed. Why do you feel lonely, and what can you do to decrease those feelings? Also make sure to make yourself get out and do something every day, whether it's exercising, socializing, or working your ass off at a job or on some project. It's also a good idea to examine why you can't moderate your weed use better and feel you NEED it to avoid depression. Drugs can either be used or abused, and any time a person feels the NEED to do drugs, that's dangerous territory.

I'm not suggesting you don't know anything about the effects of drugs, but it seems you have some misinformation on some things. For instance, neither cocaine withdrawal or heroin withdrawal are fatal, and marijuana has not been proven to cause physical withdrawal of any kind. If you were using it for pain relief, to increase appetite, or treat some other medical condition, quitting can lead to a temporary worsening of those symptoms, but that's not the same as physical withdrawal. Do some more research on the subject, as well as some soul searching. You seem like a nice person who isn't overly indulgent in bad behaviors, so don't despair. You'll make it through!