has anyone's brain recovered after quitting pot?

[regret]

I've been smoking cannabis on and off for about 8 years. I took my fist hit when I was 15 or so. I used to be a class presidsent in middle school (8th grade) that was prior to my parents moving me to a new school. I found the wrong group of friends at the new high school and you all the know the story from there.

As of late, my memory is dodgy. my motivation is shot. I can be emotional and I have a helpless feeling.

I'm back in college at the age of 25. I have a beautiful GF that I love so very much. I often lie to her about the pot use so doesn't catch on to the "problem". Even though I dont currently have a job I still a find a way to get some.

Im quitting soon as Im sick of feeling like an idiot. Will my memory come back? Some people have reported that even after heavy use they were able to return to normal. I am so scared that this is permanent. I have a hard time remembering the easiest things.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Marijuana Brain Recovery

Hi regret welcome to the forum.

My brain has recovered to a certain extent, I am much better than I was, but my memory and cognitive abilities have never recovered fully, but as a result of quitting they have improved.

If you watch this YouTube video on the subject, it says that for many who stop some brains can pick up function, but it can depend on a number of factors such as how much and for how long you have used and your brains susceptibility to been harmed by drugs, some people are much more vulnerable than others.

Also from what I have read on the subject you can’t repair brain cells that are already dead, but the brain can learn to rework around damaged areas, so the brain can recover to a certain extent, but will never be as good as it was.

The most important thing is to stop harming it as soon as possible, so your rehabilitation to whatever extent it will be can begin.

As well as quitting as soon as possible, I would also advise that you provide your brain with as many of the nutrients, it will need to rewire it’s self around the areas that no longer function properly, as possible (not exceeding the recommended daily allowances of course), like omega 3 and 6, as well as a wide range of vitamins and minerals, especially B vitamins. In fact you can even get special cocktails that are specifically designed for good brain health. I am just off to see what I can find on the net, why don’t you do the same.

So anyway it’s not all bad news, it’s most likely that you will recover to some extent, but to do so you have got to detox first.

Take care, the very best of luck and please keep us posted on how it goes.

[regret]

Cannabis Rehab Admin ,

Thanks for the reply.

What are your experiences with smoking? How long? etc etc

It's hard to belive any PSA, personally. There are so many different biased reports for pro and anti mariijuana. Some of the anti claims are so ridiculous and are later found out to be funded by certain Anti-pot groups. Either way, I guess the important thing now is to have a positive mindset and look forward to a life with clarity.

It's been 4 days since I've had absolutley no chronic. I havn't been able to afford it lately so it seems to have worked in my favor. Also, I'm not coming off of smoking an 8th(old days) a day trying to detox cold turkey. I've got about 10 hours of sleep in those 4 days. Super emotional. Very agitated. But I'm feeling better already, I think.

I'm doing some research on brain supplements now. I'm sure they would help.

Anyone else want to chime in on thier recover experience?

[mac1977]

I quit smoking skunk everyday over 3 months ago, the first two 2 wks were pretty bad with flu like symptoms and physical withdrawal, after that its been more of an emotional battle-boredom, cravings and trying 2 convince myself not 2 go back to smoking it. Its been getting better as time goes on but i think its gona take about 6 months before its fully out of my head n i dont think about it anymore. Stick with it.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

It can be a bit of a minefield when it comes to information on marijuana. There are so many conflicting views and maybe sometimes both the pro and anti groups make ridiculous claims. At the end of the day if there’s one thing I have learnt about marijuana, it’s that it can affect us all differently and some of us are more vulnerable to its negative effects than others. Allot of marijuana smokers are quick to rubbish the claims that the anti marijuana groups make, but just because they are right wing Christians or whatever, doesn’t automatically make everything that they say about dope wrong and again maybe some of the things that they say won’t be experienced by everybody, but that doesn’t mean they are not experienced by anybody.

Excuse me for one moment, I am not referring to you or anybody else here, but sometimes people tend to think in black and white and think that either something has to be experienced by everybody, or that it can’t be experienced by anybody, life’s not like that, it’s like that doctor in that video says, some people’s brains are much more vulnerable to damage from drugs than others. All our bodies are more vulnerable to certain things than others, some people can smoke into their 90’s and never get cancer and some die in their 30’s from it, we are all different.

I am an ex user who has learnt the potentially negative effects of smoking dope from firsthand experience, I am not a Christian and I am not right wing, nor am I affiliated with any political party or group. And I am not saying that the problems discussed in CannabisRehab.org will happen to all dope smokers, just that they can happen to some. So regardless of what the pro or anti people say, if as you say, you like me have experienced problems from smoking pot first hand, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks, you know it can be true for you.

I smoked chronic pretty heavily for a few years, at my worst I was smoking an eighth a day and by the time I finished I was depressed, anxious and struggling to string my sentences together, my memory and cognitive abilities were shot to bits. Like I say I have recovered to some extent, but I am not the person I once was, it has had a lasting damaging effect on me.

So all I would say to people is carefully monitor the effect it is having on you, if it is causing you problems, regardless what any of your pro the drug smoking buddies say, maybe it is time to quit.

Like I say Mr Regret I am not aiming this specifically at you or anyone else here, I just think it’s worth bearing in mind and something I needed to get it off my chest.

Anyway all that aside like you say the important thing is to maintain a positive mind set, well done on your efforts to detox cold turkey, it’s the harder method compared to gradually tapering off, but if you can achieve it will get you clean allot faster. I always have allot of respect for anyone who can do that, I gradually tapered off before I quit, but there’s no right or wrong and different things can work best for different people.

I did do a bit of looking for things you can take that will help the brain to improve its function and there are many supplements you can take, but one that cropped up again and again, as reportedly been very beneficial was ginkgo biloba, it has numerous beneficial antioxidant properties and is believed it can help by improving the blood flow within the brain, anyway I am going to give it a go, so I will let you all know whether I think it has much of an effect.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us and please keep us posted on how it’s going, anytime you want to get something off your chest we are here to listen.

All the best.

[regret]

That was exactly the point I was getting at BFB.

There is no black and white. Everyone is affected individually. That's why I take these vidoes that show the brain shrinking etc with a grain of salt.


I quit cold turkey but my point was I wasn't coming off of smoking a lot per day. Rather, I've been slowly cutting down throughout the past few months as I havn't been able to afford it.

Its a full 7 days today.

I've been staying with my GF over the past week and I believe this is helping a lot.

I had a close friend who's a newbie to smoking the drug come over last night to my gf's with some of the nicest I've seen in a while(kush hybrid). He was very surprised to see me not want to smoke as I got him started even though he was ANTI. I later talked to him when we were alone and explained that I had smoked since I was in HS and this is the time to stop for me.

I drank 3 beers instead and went out without taking a puff even though it was next to me.
For me, it's almost as if I've gone through a bad marriage with MJ. We were once very close, I've realized our differences , I'm going through a bad breakup and I don't even want to talk to her now. Even if she's calling me, I'm not picking up. Doing so would just exasperate the whole situation.

However, I can see how having it around you complicates matters greatly. I contemplated taking a hit last night. It seemed so innocent! ! For a moment my brain justified it and i was telling myself:

You've gone a week w out it!
Your doing it socially!
Its friday!

I can be a very strong willed person at times and last night displayed that. My gf asked me to shotgun a hit and I told her no. she doesn't understand the extent of my problem with MJ, only has an idea.

I'd warn anyone not to be around the stuff for thr first few months.

Over the first 4 days or so I avgeraged around 2hrs of sleep. Would stay up until 5am and wake up around 7. It wasn't until I drank some wine on thursday night that I got a solid 6 hours of sleep. I've been going off that. last night I got around 4.


I am still doing some research on the brain supplements and will come back and make a thread with research posted for us trying to detox or otherwise.

I want to share that I'm still feeling a bit unmotivated. This could be due to alack of sleep and I believe the remnants of THC.

The reason Im sharing this is because I want others to be able to see that it's possible to quit. I've been depressed, emotional, short tempered, unclear, unmotivated, fiending, losing money, ruining relationships, and losing all of my dreams. It is tough but reading others stories was encouraging hopefully this helps others.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

That’s cool, I suppose all I am saying is that sometimes it is possible to take the information, that warns of the dangers of marijuana, with a bit too large a grain of salt and think that there’s no way that could happen to you. I know when I smoked marijuana I closed myself off to those who warned of the dangers and only listened to the pro side of the argument, as it fitted in with what I wanted the case to be, rather than what it actually was, or was for me anyhow. I am not saying that you are doing that, but I know allot of marijuana smokers do. The images that show marijuana from stopping the brain from working properly, to a significant extent, certainly tie in with the experience that I had, but like that doctor said some experience it more than others.

It’s good that you cut down for a few months before you quit, I think it makes it a bit easier that way. It’s probably best if you can avoid been around those who are smoking for a while at least, that seems to be the standard advice those in the know give to people who are trying to give something up, but doing what you did the other night is really hard, it’s very impressive to say the least, a special well done, you really do have some will power.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, I am sure it will be of help to others.

Take care and please keep us posted on how it continues to go.

All the best.

[i_wanna_be_normal]

Good on you regret!!!

well done REGRET for not giving in to temptation good on you,its good to know that you hate the stuff just like i do and it is like your ex wife winking at you to say" come and have one more babes"....
the other day i was at my brothers house,my cousins came down and were smoking,we went out side in the garden i was smoking a cigarette and they were smoking weed,this was the first time ive seen or smelt the drug since ive given up and because i was feeling good i thought let me have a few puffs,but luckily my brother was there and he told me NO WAY!!!!! ,i felt good that i didnt and realise sometimes the temptation is there when the opportunity is there so its best to stay away from anyone smoking weed,just look at it as your ex wife and that you really hate her guts.....lol....good luck mate!!!!



i wanna be normal

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

JebbusLordJebin I hope you don’t mind I have moved your post, as I felt it deserved a thread of it’s own. You can now find it here Marijuana and Dissociative Depersonalization Derealization Disorder.

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

Well done regret you are doing extremely well!!! Thanks for telling your story.

[elevatorgrrrl]

quitting the drug and brain recovery

Im quitting soon as Im sick of feeling like an idiot. Will my memory come back? Some people have reported that even after heavy use they were able to return to normal. I am so scared that this is permanent. I have a hard time remembering the easiest things.

hey regret, welcome!

I was addicted to the drug for about 6 years starting when I was a college freshman. I quit about 8 months ago and I can definitely tell you that my brain function has improved dramatically. When I was addicted I had those helpless feelings too, like I was going to be a pothead forever because it was out of my control.

When I was smoking a lot my mind always felt foggy (and i couldnt remember sh*t, of course). It took roughly six weeks for me to get that "cloudy" feeling to go away, and then after that i've been challenging my brain a lot to make it strong again.

the thing is though, that everyone's brain is different, and how much your brain recovers when you quit is based on your expecations, and how much you use it afterward. if you want to see a drastic improvement, first of all QUIT, like 100%, for at least six weeks, then see how you feel. I read this Swedish report one time on how pot affects the brain and they say it takes a good six to ten weeks to the foggy or passive state go away.

I used things like audio therapy, puzzles, reading, memory games, etc.... I was really trying to get back the mental vitality i had back when I was in high school. I think its possible for you to recover almost 100% if you stay committed to quitting AND to exercising your brain with challenging activities.

hope that helps!

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

I think its possible for you to recover almost 100%s

That’s not been my experience, I have quit for two years now and my mind is still foggy and memory is still rubbish, I do all that mental exercise stuff, eat healthy and try to keep my mind active. I have somewhat recovered but no where near almost 100%.

[needabreak]

smoking ajoint is not a bad thing anymore than drinking a pint of beer is-the problem isnt wat u do its how u do it-if i didnt overdo smoken i'd prob be sitten relaxn now with one-the fact that i know its a problem 4 me has brought me here-u as well i think-if u believe that wat ur doin is haven a bad effect on u then u know u have to stop-noone will ever be able to tel u that that is good or bad-its detrimental effects can only be judged by u for u-u can take advice and find out more information but its how u feel that counts-example a fat man cant eat hamburgers-i can eat as many as i like(which wouldnt be too many) i dont have a problem with eating wile overeating the rong things will kill someone else much quicker-my point is that said fat man could prob enjoy a smoke (so long as he was in control) whereas wat he really wants to do is eat-smokn pot for us is eatn burgers for him-without control it'll controll u-and me and everyone else who's here to kick the weed-ps i dont believe smokn affects ur brain power-its ur emotional/psycho side that it screws up-

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

My heart goes out to you board room blogger, genuinely, Ive read all the posts on CannabisRehab.org and I can understand you liked your smoke but had to give it up. peace

[mac1977]

Hi i just wanted 2 give an update at where im at i gave up smoking the drug everyday 4 and a half months ago, up to the 4 month mark it was pretty hard was getting cravings for smoking it again and couldnt really find any enjoyment in anything i did without it. Now at 4 and a half months things are starting to change dramatically, ive recently accquired a sense of calm level headedness that i never had when i smoked and im starting to enjoy things without even thinking about weed, i think the battle is nearly over. I hope this shows people on here that things do get better with time if u stick at it, CannabisRehab.org was a great help in times of doubt