Neuropathy from withdrawals?

[csp81]

I quit weed about a week ago, tapered down for few weeks first and then haven't smoked at all in about 8 days. I was a daily smoker for many years though I have quit before for a month or two at a time. I will say that the months leading up to quitting this time I was smoking significantly more than I usual would. Several times a day, all-day, every day.

Anyhow, the withdrawals haven't been too bad this past week. I actually feel that they were worse during the tapering stages. My anger/irritability/mood swings were pretty out of control when cutting down, though I wasn't really having any physical symptoms during this time.

Since quitting completely the only things I have experienced is a little anxiety from time to time, a couple nights where I took a little longer to fall asleep, a little dizziness once or twice, and there was one occasion out of the blue where I got this massive hot flash and started sweating. That being said, I have noticed a particular symptom come up in the past week that doesn't seem to fall into any of the typical marijuana withdrawal symptoms. I have googled around and can't seem to find anything on it. It's some kind of peripheral neuropathy symptom that I suppose would best be described as pin-***** sensations. I don't want to say pins and needles exactly, because I feel like when you say that people think of the feeling you get when your arm or leg falls asleep, and it's not that. It basically feels like very mild mosquito bites or pin pricks that I feel randomly all over my body. Not constantly, just every once and while. Sometimes more than others. Some days I will barely feel any and some days it's almost all the time.

I'm posting here wondering if anyone else has ever experienced anything like this? It's a little disconcerting as neuropathy can be linked to some pretty serious disorders and the stress that it's causing me isn't exactly helping the quitting process.

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

yes!!!

My hands and feet have been numb intermittently so to speak and definitely the exact feeling you decribed. You are not alone. Glad you posted this. I was getting 😟. I never had it before i quit.

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

I'm on day 3 and my foot is numb and hurting and it's painful to walk. This happened out of nowhere so here I am trying to Google some answers and this is the best I could find. At least some of you have the same experiences. I did not fall did not twist or roll my ankle and anyway just been sitting. It's the craziest weirdest thing!

[Blessed888]

Yes it scared me so bad just yesterday. I tried to get up and walk it extremely difficult. I was about to call the ambulance until I took an anxiety pill to calm myself down

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

Re:Neuropathy

You probably thought of this already but have you been tested for Diabetes? I'm type2 and had similar symptoms when I was diagnosed. After I got my blood sugar under control those symptoms went away and they haven't come back.

Fwiw..I'm 2 weeks sober and no neuropathy so far. I did have very bad headaches the first few days,upset stomach, insomnia & anxiety. I was also a heavy user for many years.
I wish you much luck.. Neuropathic pain is very painful.
Take care

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

I wanted to add to this in case anyone came across this post (like I did)

I have smoked since I was 19 at University, pretty much most nights before going to bed (with breaks during holidays, travelling etc) but never really more than 1 month at a time.

Decided to quit and had very bad and very painful neuropathic pain in feet (both big toes numb) shins going hot (like sunburn) same with the knee caps, muscle twitches, forearm burning and tingling and also tingling in both hands. I'm in my early thirties and loved smoking - nothing against it at all but I did not know that withdrawing like this (cold turkey) would cause such strange (and really painful) symptoms.

For the poster above, I went to the hospital, had bloods checked then had them checked for vitamin deficiency and plasma etc but all results were normal. I was supplementing with B12 and B6 vitamins at the time as I thought the numbness was due to a vitamin deficiency somehow. I was too embarrassed to tell the Dr about quitting and just did not allign those symptoms at all (I thought I might have MS or nerve damage from the gym or something, but did say to him I had been a bit of a party man through life which I have)

I'm pretty certain that is is from withdrawal after 12 years on decent grade weed, given all medical tests, including neurological resistance tests and nerve reaction tests showing normal.

Seriously worrying but I am determined to quit long term, I'm not saying I'll never toke a joint again but hoping not to. Very scary times.

I also used a steam room / sauna about 2-3 weeks into quitting and that made my skin burn a few hours later (I used them all the time when smoking consistently) - the worst neuropathic pain and some of the worst pain I have ever felt in my life.

There are studies on rats which show pregabalin to be beneficial for neuropathic "pain" in rats, there are just very few studies on human reactions to high level THC withdrawals after a long time smoking.

Everyone reacts differently and perhaps we are in the rare genetic pool that reacts this way. My sleep is also terrible but I can deal with that knowing it should calm down in a few more weeks.

Currently 4 weeks since my last couple of tokes and determined to keep this up.

Good luck all, if you're reading this, try not to panic. I was prescribed pregabalin for the nerve pain but I haven't taken it yet as I can deal with the pain as it is now (although it's still crazy weird)

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

Same with me I was wondering will this feeling ever go away.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Great progress guys, and yes the feeling should subside. I can speak from experience that things do get better, but it does take time, and everyone is different in terms of how long and how much of a recovery they will make. The benefits of quitting long term outweigh the temporary withdrawal symptoms in my opinion.