Taking A Break That May Turn Into A Quit

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Hi Folks, My name is Bryan. I’m a late 40’s dude that’s been using weed for the past couple years and am now experiencing physical consequences associated with how much and how often I’m vaping my dry herb. Seems like we can all agree - YUCK!

If I go daily for about month, I start to develop either the prodromal symptoms of what is being referred to as CHS, or maybe just acute symptoms of CWS with a really short onset time after my last dose.

I’ve started and stopped vaping a few times during the past two years and noticed that all of my symptoms go away within a few weeks of abstinence.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the medical research community discovers as this topic gets more attention and more coin gets allocated to this topic of research.

I have no real medical experience, but do enjoy educating myself through medical journals and peer reviewed articles. That kind of research also led me here to this site: weedless.org. Thank you for making this forum. I’m not a fan of big tech / Social media.

Currently: I’m on another break. Been a week. I’m over the worst of the most recent withdrawal symptoms that took about a week to pass.

Last night, I read through your experiences for a couple hours taking in all the similarities between our experiences. One thing that caught my attention was the question, “Why are you really using weed so often?”

For me the answer to that question has changed over the past two years. In the beginning it was to have fun and find enhanced enjoyment in various contexts. However, I can now see that I have entered into a dependence relationship with weed. I’ve noticed that I now have a very reduced tolerance for the mundane and now turn to marijuana to take me from a place of general boredom and ennui to the place of novelty that I’ve come to enjoy. The only problem. This type of relationship isn’t working for me anymore. Trying to live with “Rot Gut” is no way to live at all.

I’ll be taking the rest of the month of September off, and then I may give it another shot to see if this is something I can integrate into my life in a healthy way. For me, I’d be happy if I could have a blast once a month. Or who knows, maybe next month will show up and my response will be a shoulder shrug and a, “Whatever, I’m over it.”

Next: I’m confident I need therapy right now. Because I have past trauma in my life, I may be a good candidate for some EMDR. I didn’t come up with that on my own. My friend is a therapist and suggested it. I’m currently pinging my network here locally to try to find a good therapist that practices EMDR.

Because you all have been so willing to be vulnerable and transparent, I commit to the same. I’ll share my journey with you honestly in the hope that it will help us both.

Take Care, Bryan

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Hi Bryan! Welcome to the community! It’s great to have you here, and thank you for opening up about your experiences with weed and its associated physical consequences.

I’m curious to know, how long are you planning to take a break from weed? It can be helpful to have a clear plan when making changes to your routine. We’re here to support you every step of the way, regardless of what your goals may be.

Best wishes. You got this!

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Hi! Thanks for the warm welcome. Over the past year, I’ve taken a break for a few weeks here and there, but never more than that. The withdrawals on a break have always been worse than the CHS-like symptoms that motivated me to take the break. I think I’ve been deliberately in denial of the correlation. I have it in my calendar to break for 35 days and then want to see if reintroducing a monthly recreational session will be enjoyable. I’m definitely going to go the full 35 days. However, just given the amount of mental energy and time this has used up, I’m leaning more toward making the break indefinite. I wanted to give myself some wiggle room because I’m tired of viewing myself as a duplicitous goof. I’d like to work on the integrity and integration part of my life. Thanks for asking. It feels good to be seen and heard.

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Update: There must be something extraordinarily powerful about putting our thoughts down on paper because I woke up this morning and I was just done. On the way out the door this morning to work, I gathered up the two vaporizers that I had, a couple grams of midgrade flower, put them in a paper bag, and dropped them in a random recycling bin that was out for collection on the way to work.

Here is what I wrote in my journal after waking this morning. Once I write something down…

20230907

07:00 I sleep so much better when there is low or no THC running through my system. My last sesh was on the 3rd after a five day break. I expected the withdrawals to just bump up again for a day or two and then subside again and that is exactly what happened. I had just a tad bit of nausea as I was making coffee this morning. I’m 1/2 way through my coffee and no nausea. My body is feeling the run I did two days ago. My legs are sore my neck feels a bit off. Running is another thing that I love to do that always seems to come with consequences. Perhaps I can work out a program of moderation :slight_smile:

IMPORTANT: When I woke this morning, my busy mind, the thinking mind, was mulling over the obvious connection between how much better I feel after such a short period of time. The mind is aware that using marijuana has in fact made my life worse, not better than it was two years ago. The funny thing about this is that my life wasn’t that great two years ago. I was depressed, scared s—less by the pandemic and all the doomsday media, the f----- election where it looked like someone cheated via voting machine manipulation, the f----- job (that pays well), and the marriage that was suffering because of two wills in opposition. Like, I don’t want to ever go back to being that person either.

Dude, you really don’t need to expend this type of energy on trying to integrate an unnecessary thing into you life. There was a time when it was fun. For a while it even took away your emotional pain and put you at ease.

That ship has sailed. Don’t wait for the ship to return or for another ship to come by. Build your own.

Bryan: What kind of ship do you want to build?

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I really enjoy reading your writing. I am 0n day 15 of no weed. I stopped because of anxiety and depression. I have read that pot can make my anxiety and depression worse. I was smoking an ounce per week since l lost my child. I am still waking up several times in the night. Really hopeing quiting helps. I need dental work done and l am sure smoking hurts my teeth. Keep writing it helps me. So thank you

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Dang. Didn’t make it past your third sentence without breaking down and crying. My heart breaks for you. Ugh! Feelings…Yikes. Thank you for sharing what you are going through and what is helping you find peace on your journey.

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