Life advice

[Searching]

Will it be harder to detox smoking after I move to a new city, or easier?

Right now I'm not doing anything, just waiting until I can move there, when my university course begins. I'm hoping to move there in the next week and start a part-time job.

Part of me thinks it'll be easier to detox then, when I'm exposed to lots of new people, excited at university, working etc. That while I'm bored and waiting it's cool to smoke a bit because when I'm busy and stimulated again I will stop naturally. That I'm OK, I'm just 24, don't put myself through the anxiety of quitting right now it'll happen when you move. This how a close friend of mine is telling me to approach it.

At other times (when I wake up in the morning especially) I take the smoking really seriously and think if I don't quit NOW I'll still smoke when I get to college and I'll skip classes and **** up and smoke forever.

What's your experience with this?

[program jb3]

University students are probably the group of people most likely to smoke, so I think you're definitely going to run into it. And when you do, it will be easier to turn it down if you've got six weeks sobriety behind you. And, If you have any of the detox symptoms people here sometimes get, you'll probably want to be over them before you have to take classes and study all night.

I've seen some of your other posts where you worry that you'll be "all achievement and no fun", and I've got to say, achievement is not a bad thing, especially in school. Working as hard as you can in school will help you find a job doing something you love (not just something that makes you money), and that will net you much more fun in the long run.

There are people for whom cannabis is not a problem, but the fact that you are posting on this board makes me believe you are not one of them. I felt the same way as you at 24 (though I wasn't even a daily smoker), and I was never able to shake the feeling that it wasn't doing me any good (I'm 41 now). Take a minute and think about how lucky you are; I'd give anything to be in my twenties, starting school and sober.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Hi Searching and welcome to the forum.

Yeah tough question, when will be the best time to quit? Your friend may be right there may be one time to detox that is easier than another, however from what I have seen the old this is not the right time type view is often just an excuse to delay it so it’s any time other than now, university life will more than likely involve a fair amount of people around you smoking dope, to be honest there probably will never be the “perfect” time, there will probably always be plenty of opportunities, temptations and reasons to smoke, if you truly want to do it then I think the best time is usually now. Anyway that’s just my take on it.

Take care, thanks for posting and please keep us posted.

All the best

[Searching]

jb3 and Rehab Admin thanks so much for your thoughts - they're really wise points and being able to come to this community is a wonderful thing.

I'm going to give it a go. I had a joint last night and the drug left over I washed down the sink. So this is day 1. Thank you all for this forum. I hope to come out the other side of this and be able to happily help people in the future do the same.

[Searching]

Hello again everybody,

I wrote 7 months ago asking for advice about quitting. I've been smoking pretty much daily for those last seven months.

I suppose I really felt that it was making my life more enjoyable. I finished the semester of university - I went to all my classes and handed in all my work - but I did almost all of it high.

The hardest part for me is feeling like I don't like my life and I want to be somewhere else. It's easy to think that it will be OK and to smoke through the bad times.

I still feel hopeless but I think that the drug has to go. So tonight I'm back, quitting again. I just wanted to log my progress. How amazing to see that I wanted something so much but then went back on it.

I'll keep you all posted.

[forever quitting]

Hey searching

Welcome back

Thanks for updating with your progress. i've read your previous posts and just wanted to say good luck with your quitting this time round. It can take several attempts at quitting - i should know i've had many of them. each time though is getting longer and longer - i lasted four months in my last attempt! It is really easy to get complacent and to talk yourself back into smoking. I too, each time, have wanted to stop more than anything and each time i have went back on it I have felt so disappointed in myself. Quitting is a long hard slog but totally worth it in the long run. So dont beat yourself up about it and best of luck with quitting this time round. You have passed the first hurdle, recognising it is a problem, so just remember your reasons for quitting and i am sure you will succeed. Remember we are here on the rehab group if you need support.

Keep strong

FQ

[Searching]

day 2

Hey Forever Quitting,

Thanks so much for the support. I'm on my second the drug free day now.

Here's an update for you and everybody. In part, it's also for me.

I'm feeling pretty low tonight. I had so much confidence in myself when I was smoking - it caused me to disregard a lot of people. I feel like I have no social skills anymore. I know they will come back. My main priority now is quitting for good - I really want this to be the last time.

My feeling at the moment is that if someone offered I would accept - what I want to stop is buying it and smoking every day. I'm not sure if this is dangerous though. It was how I used to be before I became addicted.

I started smoking every day, I think, because I wasn't happy with my life. the drug didn't really solve that - I am now having to face those same problems again. The challenge is how to become happy again - I don't really know how.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Hey Searching, thanks for the update. It’s very rare that our drug use ever solves our problems, it usually just anesthetizes us for a while and leaves us having to face the same problems when we awake, with the only thing it having achieved is to have delayed us in dealing with them properly. Solving these problems can be tough and there will be times that you will feel like you have not got a clue what to do, but this is all part of the long and arduous road we have to travel. What it is we need to do can be different for all of us, but the one thing it usually involves is changing our lives completely in a way that is going to work for you, so have a good think about what it is you want to do, where you want to be going, what it is you want to achieve and what you need to do to achieve that, then just take it one day at a time. Stay positive buddy, I am sure you will get there in the end.

Take care, thanks for posting and please keep us posted on how it goes.

All the best

[Searching]

BFB thank you so much for thinking and replying on my posts. Your advice is wise and kind and really means a lot. I'm going to write out those things you said, about where I want to go and achieve, right now.

I think I'll come back to this post a lot to keep me going. Having other people believe in me is a nice feeling.