I'd like to stop vaping for 3 months, does anyone have advice? :) Thanks!

I've been an almost daily user for around 3-4 years (vape once per day, a couple hours before going to sleep). It is great for helping me combat depression and is more effective than anything else I've tried.

However, I am going to be taking the MCAT (medical school admission test) in a few months and want to stop vaping completely so I have a clear head while I prepare for the exam. Any tips on how to avoid withdrawl and stick to this plan? If I don't vape, I usually just think too much about wanting to do it to feel better. Thank you

 

Eat well and exercise, For the first few days you may have to just kinda "sit on your hands" and not stuff any herb into a vape. Stay focused on your goal and keep you mind occupied and things should go smoothly for ya. Since taking and passing the mcat is a big deal Just Know that you Know your future will be much brighter and you'll have plenty of time to vape after you take the test, and pass it.

Good luck to you james, make us proud.

 

Keep busy doing unrelated things to mj period.

 

All the above and get outdoors!

When I get stuck indoors, I go into.... mode.... hand reaching out for vaporizer.... can't stop it... must kill the boredom....

 

As above!

Lots of excercise and healthy food!!
Also pack all your vaping stuff away into a dark corner, out of sight and out of mind!

Good luck with your MCAT'S!!!

 

Give up the vaping slowly. Use micro loads and start from there. Eventually you will not need it as much if you are actually serious about your upcoming exam. I would focus my attention on studying and perhaps switching to having a cold beer in times of relaxation. This will help ease your mind although may encourage you to look forward to drinking. It is all you when regulating your needs. I stopped smoking and realized it saved me a ton of cash. Vaping with small loads and changing to higher temps will most likely put you in a more drowsy state and with a side beer you can achieve optimum relaxation without the need of using cannabis so much in between. I have a cold one every once in a while to balance out my schedule on vaping my meds and lower my chances of increasing my tolerance. Sometimes you just gotta take things slowly but the faster you pick up the studying the better you train yourself to be more openly considerate to what is more important which will benefit you in the long run. Think long-term = Successful Career/Passing Exam and Short Term= Vaping/Relaxation/Celebratory Vape Day in the end. Hope you pass my friend.

 

Agreed. If youre a heavy user you need to titrate the dose and wean yourself off slowly If you want the easiest time. For example if you vape 6-8 times a day try only twice a day. If you vape once a day try every other day, etc. Over time your tolerance will significantly lower making it easy to go cold turkey.

 

Agree with all the other suggestions & tapering off, get yourself some micro scales and use an excel doc to plan and monitor your tapering program, assign a 'daily use weight' to a 'start date' then taper down 1-2 day increments until you reach an 'end date' where you stop completely...or micro taper a few alternative days onto the end...depending how its going.

 

Every time I see your avatar here or on BF I think its train cars for some reason. Also quit playing on softcore servers, its HC all the time baby!

 

^^It's the rust lighting effect that does it.

Those are ol skool marshal valve heads in my ava if yer wondering.

 

Yea I figured it out after clicking on your profile to see the larger picture.

...wait, what was this thread about again?

 

Change your routine. I don't miss it when out of town because I don't get antsy when I am normally vaping.

 

...just returned from self imposed 2 week period of non-use...something I do periodically to sort of "renew my chops"... personally I find it relatively easy to abstain for 30 days or less...I need no weening or anything else and I find it rather enjoyable (on some levels) after the 1st week...whenever I do this there is always a part of me which wants to extend it longer...oddly I usually resist this......however, I always come back more enthusiastic than I was before...do not worry, you will be alright...

 

Thanks for all the great replies! I've decided I'm going to keep vaping normally each night this week and then taper down to nothing over the course of the next week.

Is this a good plan? Or is one week not enough to go from smoking once a day at night to nothing?

 

Sounds like a solid plan.

 

Good luck to you. My opinion is to go cold-turkey. First few nights will be restless, but nothing unbearable. Exercise and coffee should help tremendously as well.

 

I'm of the belief that withdrawal (hate that word use with MJ because it implies addiction, as in physical.. which it isn't), is strictly psychological, and suggests that the behavioral need is simply to use mind over matter to redirect the 'feeling' of something missing (which is what I basically see being suggested by others with comments to do 'other' stuff). However, the mind is a powerful thing and can play tricks on ones psyche that make you feel like your having an addictive withdrawal, especially if your using for and have found it working for your depression.

I think, as was mentioned (and I believe it paramount), regarding the need to keep what's important at the forethought of a major life goal and beat over nagging temporary uncomfortable feelings of loss will be your best course of action because the direction of your studies are a major one to fail in which would certainly be more emotionally unpleasant should you do.

 

@smokum withdrawal is more than just psychological although it is not physically painful like opiates you do change your brain chemistry while on cannabis and it will take an adjustment period to return to your pre-cannabis self.

I agree with all suggestions made above. A couple of things i would add:

Regarding the exercise, make sure you put in some aerobic exercise and intense exercise since that will help you release endorphins and produce endocannabinoids, your body own cannabis compounds.

I would also add that proper sleep is a great help especially in the beginning.

Keep yourself occupied in activities where you usually don't vape. And in the first few days avoid the activities, places and people where you vape and who you vape with.

Meditation will also be a great way to balance your mind and your emotions.

Regarding the tapering off vs cold turkey, it is more a matter of what works best for you. To me, tappering off is easy but it is better if the tappering is not too long otherwise i would be at risk of increasing my tolerance again.

Good food is essential, and get some omega 3 supplements like cod liver oil or hemp oil or flax seed oil.

Try to cut on simple sugars, and increase your protein and fat intake. A multi-vitamin wouldn't harm you either. And a melathonin suplement will help you with the insomnia in the first few days.

 

One thing I have to do when I want to stop,
is to plan on a sleepless night. After that it's all good.

 

I hate those lonely, seedless nights!!!!

Edit: Oh wait, you said "sleepless"... OOPS!

 

i find cold turkey to work much better, few sleepless nights but after that i don't think about it.

I suggest either method (tapering or cold turkey) after you are down to 0, just get rid of the remaining stash of buds. Give it to a friend (happy to provide you my address :-)))) or just put it in a place which is not easily accessible. I normally freeze it

 

I pride myself on my psychological warfare (sorry vaped right now), anyways what helps me is to focus on all the hard courses I have taken and how far I have come. I use negative and positive motivation (admittedly more negative motivation), where I picture how failure will look like then I picture how great it would be to do well. This doesnt just apply to vaping though, this is general advice based on how I prepare for exams and make sure im focused. It works for me. I havent taken my exam but it is also in the medical field so I can relate.

Go check out studentdoctor network for great advise for doing well on the mcat. Good luck.

 

Definitely very true. Thanks for all the advice! I just need to focus on the fact that doing well on this test is going to provide happiness for the entirety of my life, and is worth it for some discomfort for the next few months.

Also, anyone have any opinions or know any doctors who vape? Obviously not when they are at work lol, but just at home when not on call.

 

Im sure they are out there lol, kind of a shame that he/she could lose their job over it; but could have drank the night before work.

Also sure you know this but just in case, keep everything on the DL when in med school. I was reading a story about a student who had red eyes, another student notified the hospital that they thought he had been smoking. Well he immediately was forced to take a drug test. Luckily he wasnt a smoker and just had red eyes due to studying late. I believe he turned it around on them since he was black and felt they werent being fair. Could have turned out badly even if he was being responsible and had not vaped before going to the hospital, if he vaped occasionally on the weekends or whatever.