Cut down on Cannabis -> Need Help

[Muut]

Hello FC community!

I'm coming to you because I'm having little worries. I would like to make a break, and cut down my cannabis consumption. I cannot find reliable information on French Boards, this is why I come to you because you all have good knowledge.

Just to explain why I would like to cut down: I have been smoking for 7 years (since I was 14) but truly started smoking daily 1year and half ago. I would smoke around .17 oz (5 gramms) a week just so you have some info about my consumption.(from coffeeshops so it's kinda expensive ^^)

I need to slow down because cannabis does not allow me to get full motivation for working out. I have to say that, when I come back from work, I'm more into plugging my vaporizer rather than working out.

I don't plan on quiting vaporizing, but I know that if I want to fully commit myself to my objectives, I will have to put cannabis in the background for a little while.

One other problem, is that I am currently cutting down my Vanlafaxine treatment and during the evening I get some strange feeling in my brain (like a slight tiredness, feeling a little dizzy). I started a multivitamin cure and take 5HTP so I don't believe it comes from withdraws.

As soon as I vaporize, all those bad feelings simply go away and my brain feels good again. I also use Marijuana to avoid all the side effects that can be related to my treatment (mainly nausea but I manage to cure nausea with mineral gaz water so that is alright). I know there is no addiction to cannabis (at least not physical), but do you think my feelings can come from the fact that vaporizing has become a habit for me (vaporizing from 5pm to midnight), so a good part of the day I must say. I am already anxious just from thinking of evenings without weed lol. (fortuanetly I have a couple Xanax from an old prescription in case Anxiety becomes overwhelming (I used to be medicated with Xanax AND Cannabis, though I stopped Xanax and sticked to weed ^^)

thanks for your help!

 

[vape4life]

I completely understand and hear you brother. I'm in the exact same boat (minus the prescription pills) and yesterday was day 1 herb free for me. I did a 7 week break earlier in the year, but then cheated with some edibles and then fell into the daily vaping trap again. It hurts alot because I simply cannot sleep without it. I do personally (i know tonnes disagree with me) it IS physically addictive, as I can't sleep, sweat horribly, appetite, energy levels, etc are all affected and it's not "in my head".

I think taking a break is a really good thing to do to purge all the metabolites out of your body, because they do linger - and the long term effects of these metabolites are unknown.

There is TONNES of info on google with regard to withdrawl effects.

 

[Muut]

Oh man, you seem in the exact same situation ^^ I still have enough to "survive" 2 or 3 days and then the real deal will be : to go back to the netherlands or not to go back to the netherlands... Damn, I need a little more days to think about it.. I'm still not ready and I think I will first try to conciliate working out and cannabis. If I cant handle both, then I will stop vaporizing.

I see this like almost a break up with someone I love. Cannabis is part of my daily life and it is a plant I respect, I love and does not cause me any trouble in Life. It is just about motivation.. aaaaah motivation..

 

[vape4life]

I hear ya man. Same boat exact. And the first week sucks so fucking bad it's not even funny. I feel like a zombie, but at least i have zero cravings. My only problem is the damn sleeping/sweating.

I would rethink your statement "does not cause me any trouble in life" It causes a shit tonne of trouble in my life! The motivation is huge. It's weird though, alot of it is in the mind. After vaping I just kinda zone and surf or whatever....but sometimes with the right mindset i'll vape a bit and then lift weights and feel like the Hulk lol

For me personally, it's all about moderation so that's what I have to keep telling myself.

 

[OhTheAgony]

Oh man, you seem in the exact same situation ^^ I still have enough to "survive" 2 or 3 days and then the real deal will be : to go back to the netherlands or not to go back to the netherlands...

Where in Germany are you? I have some contacts in the North. Seems a bit ridiculous to travel all the way to NL for a bit of weed.

It may be the wrong time a year right now, but what I usually do when I'm abroad and looking for weed is I go to large city-parks to score. If you walk around and look and act like a tourist (strap a camera around your neck and everything) a dealer will usually approach you ime. Or just find a souvenir shop that also sells pipes and large rolling papers and ask the guy/girl behind the counter politely if they'd happen to know where you could find some holy marijuana, it shouldn't be that hard to find.

 

[Muut]

I am between Munster and Bielefeld. I'm only 1h30 from the first coffeeshop so it's not that far^^

@vape4life I will try to lift some weights after vaporizing

 

[OhTheAgony]

Oh, that's not bad at all then. I hope you've heard about the 'wietpas' though, you may have to drive a little further after the 1st of May.

 

[Muut]

yes I heard about it ^^ but Enschede is not concerned from what I've heard. It's just the southern cities right?

 

[OhTheAgony]

Oh yeah, correct. But there's a lot of talk about it still on a political level, so there still is a bit of hope it gets postponed at least. But I still have hope our current government will fall soon so we won't have to worry about any of this at all. If they do continue as planed it'll be until January next year before all of our coffeeshops will be off limit for everyone without a dutch passport. But still a lot can happen before that, lets just keep our fingers crossed

 

[vape4life]

3 nights without a wink of sleep.....ahhhhh 4/20 means nothing to me lol

 

[Muut]

Wow, Good luck man it must be very tough (especially during 4/20). I'm sure in a few days you will start to feel better! I am taking some 5HTP (I take it for avoiding withdrawals from cuting down my medication) but I saw in some threads it could help you get some sleep if you are anxious

 

[vape4life]

4/20 means nothing to me, just any other day. I've tried 5htp with no results. Ya it sucks, but I know it gets better after the week, and it's weird I can already feel myself being able to breathe easier? It's hard to explain, but definitely can tell a difference in ease of breathe, and I NEVER combust anything.

Listening to The Joe Rogan Experience the other night...he was saying to take a 5 or 6 day break to "reset" your system...that's the path i'm leading down....vape less, get higher. Otherwise the perception of the buzz due to tolerance gets kinda boring and stale.

 

[Syu]

I have had some challenges balancing my weed habits with working out. Loss of motivation rarely incurs but I find my output lifting heavy weights to significantly decrease while high. Cutting weed out entirely is one solution and I never really have problems thinking about it/craving it when I'm dry except at night when I can't sleep and have stuff to do early in the morning. One thing I've found to help regulate my more hedonistic urges is intermittent fasting. When I'm running on no food I tend to focus more on getting shit done and the prospect of post workout endorphins, getting high, post workout feasting, and allowing myself leisure time to dick around and relax is enough to inspire some more rigid structure. Anticipation eventually becomes a pleasure in itself and I feel increased motivation to fine tune my ritual - that includes giving my workout maximum effort. That's my personal perfect storm for enjoying cannabis and definitely outclasses getting high by itself due to lack of interest of doing anything else which is typically followed by guilt which makes for a unsatisfactory high.

I suppose the moral of the story is a little discipline in combination with good rewards can go a long way.

 

[vape4life]

Hey Syu welcome to FC and with a fantastic first post!!!! Thank you! Really appreciate that post and it definitely helps me. It's been over a week now and the sleep is finally arriving. It's only 5hrs/night but better than what was happening before.

I really liked how you said that the "anticipation" becomes a pleasure and i'm kind of realizing that now. I'm "framing" your post and will be re-reading it for motivation as that's the model I wanna follow too.

My breathing is really an eye opener and now that i'm hitting the gym more frequently and harder i'm actually getting hunger during the day! Typically i'd have no appetite all day long unless I forced it until the evening when i'd vape and then pig out all night.

Looking forward to more of your posts dude!

 

[Syu]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm glad you found my anecdote useful.

Working out has certainly become a most beneficial part of my life. I recall when I initially started training I'd dread each and every work out. Part of it was I had no idea what to train and had poor lifting form, but most of it now I think was a lack of any goal beyond some vague desire to grow stronger. I was constantly on the verge of burning out with each training session and the most pleasure I got was in the knowledge I wouldn't have to lift for another couple days. Miraculously I trudged through those horrible workouts, learned what to lift and how, improved my mediocre diet to half decent, and in time workouts became less painful and more rewarding. Still, I was unsatisfied with my progress. Eventually I encountered a good read on the importance of recording progress and setting goals. Having a solid structure for progression, I think, was a big tipping point for my training. Now I find I look forward to each and every workout, and while lifting is still hard as hell I certainly don't dread it. Beating my previous record by adding an extra rep or few lbs is satisfying bar none.

I am still no where near my ultimate goal but that doesn't matter. I'm making solid progress and I feel full of energy and generally great every day. I have without a doubt come a long way from the perpetually tired (but ironically insomnia ridden), skinnyfat guy I used to be.

So I suppose the moral of this story is once you build up enough momentum working out will begin to fuel itself. Keep at your goals and you will find that you naturally begin to do things you never thought you could do before - in my case, I stopped being a picky eater, learned how to cook more than chicken breasts, eggs, and steaks, read for hours on end about fitness, nutrition and the human body and have learned to discipline myself in ways conducive to other parts of my life. I still consider myself a novice, but again, that's okay, that just means there's that much more I can learn about to improve myself.

 

[vape4life]

You'll do well around here Syu, you're a very wise dude. I completely agree with your above post. I'm off to lift some iron! Peace!

 

[Muut]

Hello Syu. Interresting point of view. I must say I live following the same logic in my life. Cannabis only occurs at night after work, when all my shit is done . I usually work out right after work and hitting my vaporizer is my reward for having worked out. The only problem I see in this approach, is that you force yourself to wait for vaporizing. I must say that waiting and projecting yourself in the future with your vaporizer at the end of a day is a good way to stay motivated (If I work hard at work and complete my work out training at the end of the day then I will reward myself with some weed). I think the fact you need a reward will even more enhance your "addiction" to marijuana. It is a problem I saw in my daily life.

I try to change this habit now, but several months ago that's what I was doing. The problem is that I was waiting ALL DAY LONG for my after-work vaporizer. I think if you work-out, the feeling after is already a reward and Cannabis should be excluded from this reward and you should see it as some "optional shit" you vaporize for pleasure and not for reward(unless your a medical user. As far as I'm concerned, I have the "need" for vaporizing when I feel dizzy from my treatment, that's all)

If I see Cannabis as a reward, I have the feeling I am completely alienated by weed and cannot make decisions or cannot get satisfied without weed. This is what I'm trying to escape as much as possible.

 

[vape4life]

Great post Muut....completely agree...it's been almost 2 weeks on my T-break, and I used to hit the vape as soon as i'd get home from work, it was like the only thing i'd look forward to as a "reward" or just because I worked all day. Now, I do other things, feel like I have waaaay more energy, and have absolutely ZERO desire to. I am noticing a couple of negative effects though, one which i'm kinda embaressed to mention

 

[Syu]

Like I said, anticipation becomes pleasure. It's certainly not the fiendish cravings of an addict (having been medicated as a child, I have some point of reference in regards to withdrawals), but rather the optimism and comfort in knowing that something good lies just over the horizon. I absolutely agree that the post work out buzz in addition to the following general feeling of well being is enough to warrant weight training by itself, however in the latter part of the day what I need is often not a surge of energy but rather a means to wind down. As great as being infused with energy all day long is, the compromises to my already troubled ability to sleep significantly detracts from my ability to program my time and my general well being. Combining the two simply gives me the best of both worlds.

That is my personal experience in any case. There was a bit of a curve to pass before I got to the state of easy adherence I'm at right now, and I think amending my diet and eating patterns (another point cannabis gave me tons of trouble, hehehe) played a large role towards my well being. These days I don't really buy more than a gram at a time, and after I've depleted my supply I'll go some time before obtaining more. It's when I have stuff to do in five hours but find myself laying in bed only the slightest bit tired I decide it's time to restock.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

There were few things that helped me reduce my usage . It is very important what device you use.. !!!
I was abusing as a smoker more than 5 g a day sometimes.. I was abusing with my DBV 3-4 g daily..
I was abusing with my magic wand.. ( 1-3 g daily) ..Since i got my UD my usage is down to (0.2 - 0.5 daily ).
I blame the load size for my tolerance.. It like when eating in big plates people tend to have more food .. than eating in small plates. Controlled dosage is and extraction efficiency should be you main helpers in the quest.
Also you can try other herbs. I can get nice effects off few other herbs than mj :
I love wormwood hash, intoxicating mint, white sage,damiana,lotus varieties,wild dagga ... etc.. There is an ethnobotanicals thread you can check on if interested .