Need to Talk

[Addicted2THC]

It has been almost 3 weeks since I've quit smoking pot & cigarettes. I'm 26 yrs old, and I've been smoking pot for about 6ish years, and cigarettes for 10 years. I smoked pot it quite frequently, but not in crazy amounts. Most days a hoot or two would do the trick. A joint would sometimes last a few days. These 3 weeks have been a living hell!! I have never felt anxiety before...I have been experiencing bad anxiety, hot & cold flashes, headaches, nausea, loneliness, sleeping is difficult ( wake up a lot, and very hot & sweaty) I can't do the normal day to day things that I normally could. Work is even difficult. As of now, I'm taking the next three weeks off. I can't function. I want to know how long this should last for?? I've read other peoples entries and they smoke an insane amount of pot. Why would this be so severe when some days two puffs would be enough? I've been to the doctor and he said my blood was good, kidneys, liver, gallbladder ect...so the only thing I can think of is THC withdrawal...will this ever end?? What is the longest that someone has gone through withdrawal? I really need to talk to someone!! I don't want to take anxiety medication!! What should I do???

[rooster]

stay strong

matey try not to worry, if it is because of the drug then your symtoms seem normal, if it only took you a couple of puffs to give you what you need, then thats all it took you. Remember the drug affects people in different ways. You may of been just as stoned as someone with a higher tolereance who smokes a lot more. From what I have read,it sounds like classic withdrawal to me especially if you have been using constantly (regardless of the actual amount you smoke).
I wish you all the best and apart from the headaches, I suffered from all of your symtoms (and I still am), although my usage was a lot heaveir I admit. The physical symtoms have mostly passed after 4 weeks for me personally but everyone is different.
Giving up smoking at the same time may add to the symtoms but I cant speak from experience cause I still smoke roll ups.
Well done and best of luck!!


If your going through hell...keep going!
Winston Churchill

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Hi Addicted2thc and welcome to the forum.

First of all don’t panic the kind of things you are experiencing right now are perfectly normal for people who are trying to detox pot, I can’t really say how long you are going to experience them as everyone can be different, but like you say a lot of people who experience them the worst and for the longest have often been using fairly high amounts and for a fairly long time. If it is withdrawal from pot that is causing your symptoms and like I say those are fairly common symptoms experienced by those who are trying to quit, then the fact that you weren’t so heavy a user will probably mean that they won’t last as long as what some people here have experienced.

I would probably hold off on the anti anxiety medication for now if you can, there’s a good chance that what you are experiencing will pass soon and I would only recommend that line of action if you really need it, anyway many anti anxiety meds can take a few weeks to work and by which time hopefully all this should have passed.

Hang in there, I know it sucks but it won’t last forever, I am sure you will feel better soon.

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

All the best and good luck!

[Addicted2THC]

Thanks so much for writing back. Its been a rocky road so far. I haven't takin any pills yet, and I don't think I will.
Did you guys find it came in waves? Some days are better than others. There have also been a few times that I've felt stoned. Did this happen to you??

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

I found it had many ups and downs and felt pretty tripped out at times, it certainly is a fairly weird experience.

Hang in there pal, I am sure it will get better with time.

[Addicted2THC]

I've been also getting chest pains. its right in the middle of my chest. I've been to the doctor, and they tell me that everything is good. Did anyone experience this?

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Hi again Addicted2thc,

I have read hundreds of posts where people have described numerous different symptoms related to quitting pot and like I say they can be quite diverse and there’s many weird symptoms people can experience, but I must admit I do find that fact that you are experiencing chest pains a little concerning, it could just be an anxiety thing I think anxiety can produce that effect, in fact if you read the list of effects anxiety can cause it covers practically everything, it may just be that, but many people here experience severe anxiety and I am not sure it is all that normal to experience chest pains, although I don’t claim to remember every case of the top of my head, like I say it may be possible in extreme cases, but it may be a good idea to get a second opinion and maybe even an ecg and or whatever else it is they do these days to check your ticker, I don’t know I am not a doctor, but and I am not trying to worry you but unfortunately doctors do sometimes get it wrong or fail to see something that they perhaps should, if it was me I would l probably like a second opinion, but maybe I am just been paranoid, I don’t know what do you guys reckon? Any other advice is appreciated I sometimes find things like this a bit difficult to advise on, that’s probably why I say if in doubt consult a doctor and maybe even get a second opinion if you have to. Anyway that’s just my take on it.

I am not sure if that is of much help but I hope it is.

Take care and please keep us posted

[Addicted2THC]

Thanks so much for writing back With my chest, I've been to the hospital twice now. I have had two ECG tests, they have done blood work and tell me that I'm fine. The one doctor told me that it's musculoskeletal. ( The muscles in my chest get inflamed) Its not a constant pain. It comes and goes. I think that maybe when I get anxious it flares up. I've also been to a natural path. she told me that my body is really toxic right now,to stay away from certain things & that I hold alot of my feelings in my chest and when you are super stressed out ,that some of the toxins are released through your musculoskeletal. I think I've been really tense lately. I'll have the chest pain for a day or two, and then it will disappear. the drug withdrawal is the hardest thing I've been through.no one in my life right now has not experienced this at all!! I feel like I'm going crazy. I have wonderful people in my life, but no one can relate.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Oh good you have had an ecg and what not that’s good to know, it’s probably musculoskeletal then and like you say the anxiety may be making it worse, the list of symptoms people can experience when they quit drugs can be so diverse and dam pretty long, it’s just I couldn’t really remember chest pains as been one of the common ones which was why I was little concerned, but it sounds like you have had everything checked pretty thoroughly so it sounds like you are in good hands. Your body is indeed going through a lot of changes right now, working out toxins, having to make big readjustments ect, so it sounds like there is a very good chance it will all calm down in time.

Hang in there, take care and thanks for keeping us posted.

[Addicted2THC]

Pot does effect your serotonin levels....I'm wondering if it's permanent damage, or will your brain fix itself??

[Addicted2THC]

I know that pot effects your serotonin levels...can it damage them permanently???

[man with no name]

It will rewire itself.Yes, I noticed in the initial stages of withdrawl, that the anxiety and feelings of hopelessness did come in waves. I didn't understand why I was feeling hopeless because I am not in a hopeless situation by far. It was simply the withdrawl, but at the same time I was fighting alcohol withdrawl and the waves came crashing but everytime the wave recedes it returns smaller until it's smooth sailing. If you were drinking combined with the pot these waves will be intense and frequent but gradually abating over a few days.

[ajh151h]

It does affect your seratonin levels but unfortunately there is very little research about this and it is hard to say what the long term effect is of the drug with that chemical. However, the drug does not affect your seratonin levels in the way that a lot of drugs do or to the extent that many of them do.

In short, I wouldn't really think about withdrawal as a seratonin problem. Seratonin is just one of the many chemicals in your brain that marijuana withdrawal affects. When you are having fast, negative, abnormal thoughts, your seratonin levels are going to drop. If in the midst of all this chaos you suddenly have a serene moment, your seratonin levels will rise. Our thoughts aren't totally engineered by chemicals; the chemicals that the brain produces are created because of the thoughts that we are having.


I think that it is important to understand that what marijuana affects the most is your thought patterns. The thoughts that you have when you are going through a withdrawal are incredibly intense and so are the dreams that you will have. This is for a reason, and it's something that you have to get through. Like the previous poster said, if your going through hell, keep going. Your brain is incredibly powerful. Eventually it will figure out how to think normally again.


At many points in my experience I did not believe this was possible and I would think about how badly I had damaged my life. If my brain was permanently ruined then what was the point of even trying? Indeed, it seems like a major obstacle in getting through a marijuana withdrawal is the thought that your brain will never be the same. Many, many people have this thought and it torments the living hell out of them. I remember that whenever my anxiety was extremely severe this was always the thought that obsessed me the most. I know exactly where you are at.

If I can stress anything it is the fact that you should get good exercise as often as you can will yourself to do it. It will begin to clear your head if you do it enough times. It was very comforting for me after exercising to witness the fact that I could indeed think normally without thc in my system, and it really helped me put my whole problem into perspective. You've also probably heard of L-Theanine by now, but they are great as well for very short term relief.

Eventually you will be thinking more clearly than you ever did while you were smoking weed. That's really the point, isn't it?


P.S. This is my first post in awhile as I have not had steady access to a computer this summer. Hopefully I can keep coming back to CannabisRehab.org now, as I still value the support that I think it gives me. For a long time I thought that I should try to forget my whole experience with the drug and move on, but I recently realized that thinking about this issue and giving others sound advice is really a positive part of my life.

Thanks a lot guys

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Hia buddy it’s good to hear from you again, did you get to the ashram in the end, that’s kind of where I have been picturing you, anyway where ever you have been it’s great to hear from you again, it’s great that you are back. I agree I think helping others is one of the best ways to create a positive future for one’s self and whether we like it or not our past is a part of us, but if we treat it in the right way we can turn a negative into a positive and sometimes helping others to see the reality of the situation helps us to remember it ourselves, it’s when we forget that we are most at risk of repeating the same mistake.

I agree with what our friend ajh151h has said, when it comes to the chemicals that make us feel good serotonin is just one of a number of chemicals, it’s probably become so well associated with feeling either good or bad as this is the chemical that many modern day anti depressants target, or the ones that are most well known like Prozac for example, but there are many other chemicals involved, although drugs that target this chemical may do the trick for a lot of people, when it comes to those who are seriously depressed and don’t respond to drugs like ssri’s doctors will often try the others that target other chemicals too. Anyway without digressing into all that yes serotonin is just one of many chemicals in your brain that may be being affected by withdrawal.

I also agree that people can make really good recoveries, it can vary depending on the individual but you don’t know to what extent you are going to recover, so it could be much more than you think.

[serlee]

Drug Rehabbed,

I was just reading what ajh151h was saying about how marijuana affects your thought processes the most during withdrawal and about how intense these abnormal thoughts can be... do you think that this might be related to the delusional and paranoid thoughts I've been having? Abnormal is the lightest way to put it really... they are mental! and so freaking constant. I do worry that I will never be the same and its the worst feeling. What are your thoughts?