Having a rough time taking a break.

I'm coming up on the 48th hour of my first break in 5 years, and wow do I feel horrible. I have varying degrees of nausea, and I can barely eat. I was not anticipating feeling this bad. Can anyone give me some pointers or give me an idea when this feeling will subside? The only good side is feeling this bad is keeping me motivated because I don't want to be like this.

Well, I honestly can't give any sort of helpful physical tips or anything like that, but I can say some things.

First, CONGRATS! It's awesome that you're taking a break. You obviously have worked up somewhat of a physical addiction to weed, but it's really exciting that you're fighting that and that you see it as the problem that it is. I just want you to know that I believe you can do it! 48 hours is fucking awesome for someone who used to do it at least everyday (I presume?). Keep riding it out man, there are only good things coming for you! You've been through the worst of it I bet, just keep pushin through

Not physically addicting? Not in my opinion, and those of thousands others going through what I can a fucking living hell. If I don't get my meds daily and go into withdrawal, i'm fucked. I've forced it and almost ended up in the hospital a few times. My doctor explained how dangerous cold turkey is and like SSRI's, he says to taper down. I just don't understand how people refuse to believe the changes it does to your brain chemistry and neurotransmitters.

OP: I honestly have tried EVERYTHING, and nothing helps but time.....my unfortunate biggest withdrawal symptom has always been EXTREME insomnia and night sweats, chills, irritability, and just basically feeling like i've been hit by a very bad flu. Make sure to drink lots of water, saunas to sweat, exercise when you can muster up the energy (it's really hard when you don't sleep for weeks), healthy food (plants and animals), veggie juices, supplements, and I think bodyfat has alot to do with it. Recently i've started mini t-break to help ween myself down to taper, and stopped vaping during the day. Guess what, at times I actually even feel medicated! I think it's the thc being burned up in the body fat.

Anyways, any questions fire away....i've been through this many times over my past decade of vaping, and no matter which time or when, I ALWAYS get the same fucking withdrawal symptoms. Presently, even with regular use, i'm having constant night sweats, which i'm starting to assume is related to my cannabis usage. I also cannot sleep more than 6.5hrs anymore no matter what....it's like it helps me sleep, but steals my REM or short wave sleep, and I wake up at 3am every fucking morning! Fuck my life.

Well you should have first decrease your consumation to minimum and then make a t-break.. Otherwise your are missing a love that's already gone too deep.. this is hurtful...

Forsure, but my own problem is that when I decrease consumption, I can go into withdrawal as well. it's fucked! But yeah, cold turkey is harsh.

biohacker said:

Forsure, but my own problem is that when I decrease consumption, I can go into withdrawal as well. it's fucked! But yeah, cold turkey is harsh.

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Have you tried vaping other herbs ? When i do T-break i vape lotus,damiana,wild dagga,baybean.. get's me quite baked to be honest ..
Also if things get too ruff i eat an abv cookie.. i imagine CBD supplements will work too .. I've read some cb family members activate THC and makes it burn out faster out of your system.. I have no scientific evidence for that atm.. but i feel it decreased the crave big time

I lose cravings quite fast, and in fact turn to loathing the herb even though I should be loathing myself for always letting myself get to this point of saturation. But when I don't sleep, I need to vape, and that can be frequent, so my solution has simply been no breaks lol.

I didn't know that you can get a therapeutic benefit like getting baked from other herbs that do not contain cannabinoids? I have no idea where I would even get herbs ilke that in Canada...haven't even heard of them. I tried vaping chamomile and peppermint teas, but didn't like it...too harsh. I have recently discovered different organic essential oils on cotton, that have been working well in my Nano...the lavender is intense!

I think you're on to something here man.....i love vaping just for the simple act of vaping, and this perhaps will help my psyche. It's all about habituation.

Maybe it's just from mainly switching to concentrates but I've been able to cut back a great amount. Well working 50-60 hours a week will do that too.. I've smoked every single day for the last 5 or so years as well and have wanted to quit for a few weeks but I know I'm going to have a hell of a time doing so.

I did use to smoke about a half O or less a week.. Now I dab about ~2 grams of nugrun a week and hardly smoke at all. If you have a rig and concentrates that could maybe help ween off. Just do a dab at night or something. I can easily get through the day without it. Usually it's at night or trying to sleep when I suffer. Another reason I don't want to quit is I have pretty easy access to painkillers and I do enjoy those so if I weren't smoking I'd probably just get into that.

Anytime I had to go a day or two without smoking at all or very little I felt fine overall though.

biohacker said:

But when I don't sleep, I need to vape, and that can be frequent, so my solution has simply been no breaks lol.

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Okay, Insomnia is one of the conditions which I use MMJ for. I do take tolerance breaks from time to time and I've found that drug substitution works best. During breaks Iv'e found that taking Klonopin or Xanax at night really helps with sleep just as well as weed does. However, I never use Ambien or Lunesta because Those drugs give me an awful hangover. Pain patients commonly substitute opiates for their tolerance breaks. That makes sense to me...

My breaks usually coincide with family vacations where I'll be busy with the kids and activities so much that I don't really miss Weed all that much. Although cannabis is known to cause a very mild addiction syndrome, it is very short in intensity and duration. For me, it's very similar to quitting coffee cold turkey. I might feel a little irritable, lethargic and have a mild headache for a couple days. Some people notice mild symptoms for maybe a week. After that it's just psychological craving for your long lost friend hahaha.

I've never really known anyone who has had much difficulty quitting weed....they just stop lol.

c0rpse said:

I'm coming up on the 48th hour of my first break in 5 years, and wow do I feel horrible. I have varying degrees of nausea, and I can barely eat. I was not anticipating feeling this bad. Can anyone give me some pointers or give me an idea when this feeling will subside? The only good side is feeling this bad is keeping me motivated because I don't want to be like this.

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It'll improve within a week. You may find extra emotional stuff coming up in dreams, nightmares and such. Those will pass also. After a month off, things should feel pretty stable.

I think a lot of cannabis users run into this issue if their breaks are infrequent or short. Taking 3 or 4 days off can suck because of the symptoms that kick in almost immediately. I think this keeps a lot of people vaping daily, to avoid the yucky part. Besides managing tolerance, breaks provide a kind of emotional release of built-up gunk, which make them worth the discomfort . Also, for a non-medical user, it can be empowering to make a conscious decision to stop.

If you can find it, look for the thread in the Lounge by Rick from Myrtlezap. He documented his process of quitting very eloquently. He said some things that were thought-provoking for me.

Keep busy and be patient with the re-balancing process.

Edit: Here's Rick's thread. It's a really good read, and on my top ten list for threads here.

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/cold-turkey.11512/

I'm sorry if I offend but I'm not sure WTF is going on in this thread. I have vaped a few times a day, every day since 2010. Prior to that I smoked a few times a day for 15 years, every day. This covers over half my life. Now I just said every day but that's not exactly true. I have taken a week or two off here and there over the years for travel, and for other reasons. I've never experienced any withdrawal whatsoever? Just some minor irritability and the annoying thought that I can't partake, but I find that this is easily dismissed. Whenever I take a break I just consider that it is always going to be there whenever I decide to come back. Last time I left the country I was gone for 10 days and didn't even think about it. I don't know anybody who has experienced withdrawal from cannabis cessation. why is my experience so different?

EDIT: sorry, just realized my post is rather selfish and not helpful

@kimura all I can say is good for you. I have all these symptoms mentioned above and my have the worse time with appetite. I am at the point that if I go any place at all the Solo is going with. I have been gone a week from home without and my appetite never came back. Now when I say no appetite I mean , have you ever done blow? Yea like that. I try to eat and food swells in my mouth.

kimura said:

I've never experienced any withdrawal whatsoever? Just some minor irritability and the annoying thought that I can't partake, but I find that this is easily dismissed. Whenever I take a break I just consider that it is always going to be there whenever I decide to come back. Last time I left the country I was gone for 10 days and didn't even think about it.

EDIT: sorry, just realized my post is rather selfish and not helpful

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I don't think you're selfish as you're just stating what your personal experience was when stopping cannabis for a bit. I pretty much have had the same experience as you when stopping weed. Perhaps a little more irritable or grumpy for a couple days and that's it. I swear I have a harder time quitting coffee than weed. If I stop cofee abruptly I get terrible headaches and I am one mean motherfucker for about 5 days lol. I never knew anyone who had much difficulty quitting cannabis, but obviously some do and they're right here on this thread. That said, I will go out on a limb and say having more than short lived mild withdrawal symptoms is extremely rare and certainly not the norm.

Newcastle said:

@kimura all I can say is good for you. I have all these symptoms mentioned above and my have the worse time with appetite. I am at the point that if I go any place at all the Solo is going with. I have been gone a week from home without and my appetite never came back. Now when I say no appetite I mean , have you ever done blow? Yea like that. I try to eat and food swells in my mouth.

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this is crazy. how much are you consuming daily? you aren't on any other meds?

do you guys start to get weird symptoms during the day if you don't partake first thing???

kimura said:

I don't know anybody who has experienced withdrawal from cannabis cessation. why is my experience so different?

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Google "cannabis withdrawal" or anything similar to those terms, and you will quickly learn of more people going through hell with this, than you could even imagine. There are even forums dedicated specifically to this issue which i'm a part of as well. Your experience is so different, because EVERYONE is different. SO many factors affect the body chemistry, and habits can become extremely addicting.

kimura said:

do you guys start to get weird symptoms during the day if you don't partake first thing??

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For me personally it goes like this....just like they say, the withdrawal effects start 24-48 hours after cessation, then peak over 3-4 days, and gradually lesson over a period of 1-2 weeks. After 3 weeks I start getting a few hours of sleep and feel like a different person, and after over a month i'm nearly back to "normal". So the first day.....basically around early afternoon if i've been sober since the night before I will start getting serious cold chills, and that continues for days and nights resulting in no sleep and massive sweats in the night.....this goes on an on....

Looking forward to reading the Cold Turkey thread..... I need a better plan to cut back than I have been doing, and cold turkey isn't going to happen ever again as it's almost landed me in the hospital a few times and I nearly went crazy and lost my mind. I'm not blaming the weed here, i'm blaming my excessive use and relationship of gluttony with the weed....let's say average 2+g/day.

biohacker said:

For me personally it goes like this....just like they say, the withdrawal effects start 24-48 hours after cessation, then peak over 3-4 days, and gradually lesson over a period of 1-2 weeks. After 3 weeks I start getting a few hours of sleep and feel like a different person, and after over a month i'm nearly back to "normal". So the first day.....basically around early afternoon if i've been sober since the night before I will start getting serious cold chills, and that continues for days and nights resulting in no sleep and massive sweats in the night.....this goes on an on....

let's say average 2+g/day.

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Sorry to hear about all your trouble with tolerance breaks. I too have read through a lot of the clinical studies on MJ withdrawal syndrome. As you pointed out, most of the studies confirm that some people experience a withdrawal syndrome which typically starts after a day or two, then peaks on around the 4th day and can continue up to one or two weeks. However, they also say that the symptoms are short lived and relatively mild. Your symptoms are certainly not mild ... night sweets, chills and no sleep. Those symptoms you describe are often associated with withdrawal from opiates not MJ. I've defiantly known several people that had a hard time with tolerance breaks from opiates, but not cannabis. Because your symptoms are so severe, it might be a good idea to talk with your doctor about the best way to wean off weed during tolerance breaks.

As I mentioned in my previous post, sometimes I suffer a little irritability and insomnia for a few days after stopping. So, I talked to my doctor and he said those symptoms can happen for maybe the first week , but after that your symptoms have nothing to do with withdrawal from Cannabis. His analogy went something like this: Say you have insomnia and start taking nightly doses of Benadryl to help sleep.. Then you abruptly stop taking it and your insomnia returns. Does that mean you are addicted to Benadryl? No, it means your insomnia came back because you stopped treating it. Same with MJ, if you started using MJ to treat insomnia it only makes sense that when you stop your insomnia will return. Are you addicted? No. Guess what? Before I started using cannabis I had anxiety and insomnia so it only makes sense that when I stop those symptoms will return.....

That's why my doctor prescribes Klonopin or Xanax to help with anxiety, irritability and insomnia during my tolerance breaks. I do that for two weeks every 6 months or so and it works like a charm. Talk to your doctor and see what he thinks. You, my friend, experience extremely severe symptoms (lucky you) and you shouldn't have to suffer that much. Good luck...

On another note, congratulations on your Herbalizer purchase. I don't know if it will help your tolerance, but once you've vaped like a boss there's no turning back. Herbie is hands down the best vape I've ever owned!!!

Edit: also 2 grams+ per day is pretty heavy useage. If you need to medicate that much for your condition maybe you should take more frequent tolerance breaks.. Perhaps every three or four months. That might help IDK..

Hey man, thanks...like you, it is by far the best vape i've ever used as well! The vapour quality cannot be beat. I have definitely noticed its vape signature, so what tolerance? LOL

Your doctor is wrong. People that have used cannabis for decades can experience withdrawal from it and PAWS for up to 2 years. It's not as mild as you might think. Seriously, a simple google search shows it all, and goes back over a decade....everybody is different. Some people have some of the effects and not others.

With respect to the Benedryl example...if you take it for a while and stop taking it and your insomnia becomes even worse, then that is called rebound insomnia. This is precisely what happens with cannabis since it's kinda like a hypnotic.... if you use it too much and then stop, rebound occurs....again, not in everyone. Alot of people don't even know how dependent they are because they can't abstain for long enough.

2 grams may be heavy usage to you, but I am able to live without pharma's. I use it for many reasons, mostly medical, but I can survive without it as well.

biohacker said:

Hey

Your doctor is wrong.

With respect to the Benedryl example...if you take it for a while and stop taking it and your insomnia becomes even worse, then that is called rebound insomnia. This is precisely what happens with cannabis since it's kinda like a hypnotic.... if you use it too much and then stop, rebound occurs....again, not in everyone. Alot of people don't even know how dependent they are because they can't abstain for long enough.

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You're right, my doctors approach with short term pharmaceuticals might not be right for you, but it works like a charm for me! See what your doctor says, he might have a solution to your T break troubles. You just need to find what works for you.

What you said about rebound insomnia was exactly my point. Rebound insomnia can occur with cannabis when you stop. Rebound symptoms are not indicative of addiction. I mean, if you had insomnia before starting Cannabis doesn't it make sense that you'd have insomnia again after you stop?? Your initilal insomnia before you started cannabis wasn't caused by an addiction and neither is your rebound insomnia after you stop weed. Rebound insomnia is not addiction.

Wow I'm glad I found this thread. I feel totally in sync with every where and it's good to know I'm not alone out here.

My mom died last dec from cancer. I decided a month later to quit cigarettes and to start taking full t-breaks during the week as I was not feeling the effects of the MJ anymore; my tolerance was through the roof. A few times this year I took 2 - 3 week breaks just to clear my head out and really bring down my tolerance, I would save my sessions for the weekends, I also have a lot of throat problems and wanted to do something proactive before anything really bad ie cancer happened

First off I live in an a non medical marijuana state and am now on an enforced 2 month break at least because I will be having throat surgery In The beginning of October. At first I really freaked out becuz I thought for sure my ent dr was going to try to get me to stop completely. I so wish I could get some trustworthy edibles,


Here are my observations and suggestions

The first couple of days are a little rough and you must keep yourself really busy with things that you don't associate with getting stoned. Water is key. Lots of it Herbal teas help a lot as well.


Exercise of any kind really helps. I run almost every day but any kind of sustained movement for 20 - 30 minutes will help. The urge to get high is powerful so keep a journal of daily progress. Building up a several no pot days and small notes of discomfort, withdrawal, lack of appetite is also important, the more you write down how your feeling the more you can see if the symptoms are subsiding, getting worse staying the same. You may be discouraged but after a few days/weeks of abstinence you can look back at the progress and feel some degree of pride.

I agree it does get easier. Not being able to sleep - can you wake yourself up earlier so you're more tired in the evening? Can you try to substitute one healthy meal. Keeping on a daily schedule helps. I know this hard. Reward yourself after a week. Do or buy something for yourself. And plan out the day you plan to break - my target is the beginning of November. Do not get down on yourself, everyone slips up and this is not failure. It's more of a learning curve.

Good luck and join me. Misery loves company, watching Bill Maher not high was a drag but hey wtf.

@Chill Dude, i've been through the doctors and (psych)....all they wanna do is push pharma's, and I have a choice and that's sticking to the natural herb. T-Breaks do help for a few days, but then i'm right back to where I started, but that's because of the medicinal needs. So basically the psych said NEVER to stop cold turkey and to withdraw like SSRI's for a period of a couple of months, and reduce dosage by something like 30% every 2 weeks or so (there was an exact formula for this). The reason for this is the structural changes (temporary) that occur take a long time to rebound (wake up)....things like melatonin, dopamine, etc. all must restabalize. If I cut it cold cold turkey, my body goes into serious shock and (withdrawal) and IMHO that is a physical addiction, in addition to my mental addiction. This is just my personal experience, and those of many, many others. Yes my withdrawals are harsh, but i'm also a long time chronic daily user. I have stopped on many occassions and the results are the same every time. It sucks, and there is nothing I can do about it except suck it up....i've tried everything, and i've even asked for pharma's to help come off the weed (yes I know it's not opiates, but to my body it is for some reason), and they said it doesn't work like that. It's basically Seroquell or herb. I choose the natural way, but again the doctors don't want me to take a T-break LOL.

@LongIslandmom I am sorry about your mom, and your throat issues......and thanks for your feedback. I know my body well, waking up earlier is not an option when you can't fall asleep to begin with (yes the insomnia is so severe the first week that I don't sleep AT ALL, not even the strongest sleeping pills (Sublinox) works). It's a huge shock to my body, and thus will only ever taper from here on out.

You guys have no idea how much I envy those that don't have withdrawal symptoms...or at least such severe ones. But it's my fault and responsibility, I don't blame the weed, only my abusive relationship with her. The poison is in the dose as with all things IMO.

I feel for ya c0rpse, I know exactly what it's like and it is different for everyone. Just because one person doesn't feel any negative effects from having a break doesn't mean it's going to be the same for everybody else. I would suggest doing other things that help you relax, perhaps take a nice hot bath, do some gentle exercise, have a nice cup of tea, do some yoga or meditation (if that's your thing), get your partner (if you have one ) to give you a nice massage, anything that makes you feel good.

I myself am almost 7 weeks through a break from the herb and I used to toke up everyday constantly, only stopping when I was at work, at a estimate I could go through nearly 2 oz's a month. I built up quite the tolerance and found the herb was using me, rather than me using it (as cliche as it sounds). I would use the herb to alleviate boredom and wouldn't enjoy anything much without it. When I go back to toking up again I will be trying to keep my tolerance as low as possible and to use the herb to enhance activities I enjoy, rather than alleviate boredom.

I remember thinking before I started my break that I would never be able to go without the herb for even a week, but I've realized it's all in your mental attitude. You really can go without it for as long as you want as long as you have the right outlook. I'm not doubting the physical withdrawals at all, I'm just saying half the battle is in your mind and you must try and occupy yourself with things you enjoy or goals you want to achieve.

Anyways I hope you are feeling better than you did.

Peace

steama said:

If a person believes cannabis is a kind of poison to them. If a person can't moderate the amounts used to the point cannabis severely disrupts their life. If cessation of cannabis causes extreme opioid like withdrawals. If a person has a belief they are mentally and physically addicted to cannabis.

Wouldn't it be better to avoid the evil weed altogether?

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Not if it allows you to stay away from evil pharma pain killers. Sometimes one has to pick the lesser of two evils.

I am pretty much like @biohacker
If i stop cold turkey i get the night sweats, severe chill episodes, major insomnia and because of those effects i have a really short temper.
I find that tapering down/reducing consumption helps a lot with the above symptoms.

And since i started my new job i am stuck in my car for 3 hours every day and that causes my back condition to flare up like it has never before, which in turn increases consumption... Can't wait to move!

At the moment i am at a point where i turn to concentrates to achieve the desired results, this means that flowers are not really cutting it for me anymore.
So it is time to taper off on the concentrates, maybe change the daily driver for a while to get a different vape sig.

Since i only vape at night during the week, it is a very simple change that i need to make!
I do not vape as soon as i get home but i stretch it out for about 2 more hours and then start medicating.
Somehow i find this gets me back to a much lower tolerance very quickly.
I also do not try and cram the regular amount into a shorter time frame!
Most of the time it is 2 bowls in Herbie and a lightly packed Solo stem right before bed and i sleep pain free, no insomnia and wake up feeling great!

The weekends are harder since i am home more often and you have to admit that doing chores/yard work/painting etc... is way more fun medicated!

lwien said:

Not if it allows you to stay away from evil pharma pain killers. Sometimes one has to pick the lesser of two evils.

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Tbh, I personally don't believe opiates are evil Pharma pain killers... Although they can be. There are many people on this forum including Vitolo who use opiates and other drugs in conjunction with cannabis. When used sparingly and as needed they have helped many people deal with their symptoms and pain syndromes. That said, anyone with an addictive personality should avoid opiates like the plague as they have ruined many lives when abused....

Btw, I don't think Biohacker mentioned he uses cannabis for any pain syndrome. He mentioned the drug Seroquel which is typically used to treat bipolar depression and major depressive disorder. Therefore, I don't think opiates would be needed in his treatment program.

And Biohacker, you say your tolerance breaks only work for a couple days before your tolerance is back to where it was... Then why take T breaks at all? I certainly wouldn't go through weeks of misery just for 2 or 3 days of lower tolerance. Why? That makes no sense to me.

I am becoming convinced that all you poor souls experiencing opiate-like withdrawal symptoms (not really though because real opiate withdrawal can kill you) are using Cannabis to self-medicate whether you know it or not. Like @Chill Dude said, rebound symptoms are totally different from withdrawal