Regarding t breaks

[NewToVaping]

Hey, so I generally toke every day (a few times a day) and now I'm taking a small break. Starting yesterday I felt nauseous so I took a hit, and today again naseous and now insomnia. I know these are common withdrawal symptoms but I'm trying to sleep. I took a sleeping pill but nothing. Should I try to go through the night or smoke a little just to get to bed?

 

[DDave]

Cold turkey can be rough in the beginning, if you medicate daily.

Try for a week (or two) cutting out medicating during the day, and only have one session before bed, so you can sleep.

That way you will cut down your body's expectation that the meds flow in whenever you are awake and you will still be able to sleep. Sleeping's important for what you're trying to do.

Then when things stabalize, you can cut out the before bed sessions.

 

[NewToVaping]

Nothing to vape/smoke out of, took a sleeping pill, and still can't sleep. Now I can't even drive to get papers or something since I'm a bit drowsy (but not enough to sleep). FML

 

[KidFated.]

One thing that helps me sleep without medicine, is exercise. Wear yourself out and then having about an hour to relax really knocks me out. Also, turn the lights and tv off, turn the cell phone off. Needless distractions can really mess up someone's sleep schedule

 

[NewToVaping]

Yea I'm just constantly nauseous, can't eat whatsoever, and can't sleep. In the past 2 1/2 days I've lost nearly 10 pounds (im already kind of skinny as is) and had my first anxiety/panic attack ever so I smoked yesterday to help me sleep. Today I'm gonna try to not smoke at all (or only right before bed if I can't sleep) and force myself to excercise even though I have no energy.

 

[OnCloud8]

Try ginger tea. It helps with nausea, is relaxing, and has anti inflammatory properties. When I'm stressed and can't vape for whatever reason, it's my go-to natural remedy for stress & nausea. Try it with some high quality local honey too, really brings out the flavor and makes it a satisfying experience.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Yea I'm just constantly nauseous, can't eat whatsoever, and can't sleep. In the past 2 1/2 days I've lost nearly 10 pounds (im already kind of skinny as is) and had my first anxiety/panic attack ever so I smoked yesterday to help me sleep. Today I'm gonna try to not smoke at all (or only right before bed if I can't sleep) and force myself to excercise even though I have no energy.

That's water weight. No way you can lose 10 real lbs of bodyfat/muscle in under a week, and that would be with extreme throwing up, working out, and illness. Odds are, even without eating anything at all, your body can only burn <1lb a day unless you are huge and ripped. A pound is 3500cal. The avg person's body burns 1800-2500 per day depending on age, size, and whether you are male or female.

 

[NewToVaping]

Yea I figured it was water weight. How long does the nausea and loss of appetite generally last (days? weeks?). I definitely feel better today than I did the past two days, but I did smoke (only a few hits) at 4am so I could actually sleep.

 

[NewToVaping]

Update: I've been getting anxious throughout the day for no reason. Should I stick to cold turkey or smoke significantly less than I normally have been (from 3-4 seshes a day to just 1-3 hits just once a day)?

 

[rabblerouser]

i'll second ginger for nausea, can get gingin's ginger chews or something maybe.

And for the sleep, I take benadryl (diphenhydramine) aka unisom aka zzquil to help sleep semi-regularly, 2 of the regular pills will knock me out fairly reliably, takes about an hour to get drowsy. 3 makes me feel restless legless-y. "non habit forming" but you can definitely get into a routine of taking it.

And don't be surprised if you have particularly vivid dreams on a break.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Yea I figured it was water weight. How long does the nausea and loss of appetite generally last (days? weeks?). I definitely feel better today than I did the past two days, but I did smoke (only a few hits) at 4am so I could actually sleep.

What is your t-break goal. To use less weed? To test if you can stop? To lower tolerance?

If it's just to lower your tolerance, you can cut back to only vaping at night, and keep it to .1g and you should notice a tolerance decrease pretty quickly. The first couple days might not get you as high as usual, but your body catches up.

 

[NewToVaping]

Well, to be honest, I started this t-break because on my 7 hour drive home, I had to pull over and smoke a bowl to help my nausea. I found that pathetic and realized I'm heavily dependent. These past 4 days or so I've been feeling pretty bad (today just fatigue wih minor nausea and anxiety, but mainly fatigue) and we'll see how I feel after. I've had 0 craving to get high, maybe smoke to alleviate these symptoms, but that's it. Maybe I'm done, maybe I'll start again, but I doubt I'll be smoking as much as I have been.

 

[Chill Dude]

What is your t-break goal. To use less weed? To test if you can stop? To lower tolerance?

If it's just to lower your tolerance, you can cut back to only vaping at night, and keep it to .1g and you should notice a tolerance decrease pretty quickly. The first couple days might not get you as high as usual, but your body catches up.

The only symptoms I notice during a tolerance break are a bit of insomnia and mild irritability. What I've found effective is medication substitution. If, for example, I'm taking a 10 day T break, I will use either Klonopin or Xanax in the late evening about an hour before bed. It works like a charm, I get quality sleep and feel fresh in the morning. I've tried Ambien, Lunesta, trazodone and Benadryl for sleep in the past, but all of those meds made me feel groggy and basically blah the next morning.

I know a lot of people on this forum are anti pharmaceutal, but for the short run, Benzos like Klonopin or Xanax can treat symptoms quite effectively. And...yes they can be addictive, therefore, I would Not use them daily for more than three or four weeks or so. Just my experience YMMV.

Edit: I failed do read the fact that nausea was also an issue for the OP. In that regard I don't believe Benzos would help all that much.....just for insomnia,anxiety and irritability.

 

[Chill Dude]

Don't scoff at this unless you have tried it. Whenever I have suffered agitation or discomfort from a temporary break I simply take ibuprofen at a little higher dose. It works wonders on these discomforts and in fact make t-breaks quite easy. Ibuprofen is a secret hiding plain sight.

I don't scoff at the use of ibuprofen to treat symptoms. The thing is a lot of people can't tolerate the stomach discomfort(including me) of theraputic doses of anti inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen. If you can tolerate the side effects, then it's worth a try for pain relief and minor discomfort. However, it most likely it will not help with Insomnia all that much.

 

[Chill Dude]

If you have issues with ibuprofen DO NOT USE IT. It works for me. I hope you can find a solution to ease your discomfort. Good-luck.

That's great Stema, I'm glad it works for you! And... I have found a solution for my t break issues detailed in my post on this page. My main point is that there's no right or wrong. It's just a matter of each individual finding a solution that works for them as everyone's body chemistry is so different.

 

[Twiddlebug]

That's rough. I went through some bad breaks years ago. There are some good suggestions here. You really do not need to go cold turkey though. If you can take a day or two off for starters, that is great. Regardless, continue your usual regimen but cut your usual weighed amount in half for a week or two. Be precise with your dosage and timing if you can. You'll be surprised pretty soon how much you will begin to feel the effects again. And when you are ready, cut your dosage down again and keep at it for another week or two. If you continue to do this, you may eventually get super high from very small amounts of flower, and experience no withdrawal at all when you stop. You won't feel the need to get high anymore as your body's receptors will be so sensitive that your own natural highs feel awesome. You will get high because you want to, not because you have to. I use to have this problem for years...so much wasted time trying to get high using too much flower - until I got disciplined. Feel free to ask me anything if you have questions.

 

[basement farmer]

Even a couple of days will let me let me recalibrate the neurons.

Marijuana is kind of amazing to me because I can benefit from it without necessarily using it constantly. Skipping a day or two here and there is a good practice.

As for insomia, for me it's probably mostly a matter of pain. Less discomfort = better night of sleep.

 

[Wahiker]

Here's one more suggestion that worked well for me, if you don't mind spreading it out over time. Break the t-break into phases:

• The gradual reduction phase, where you continue to medicate but gradually reduce over a period of about 2 weeks to the smallest amount that avoids most side effects. For me, this was about 0.1 gram per day before bed. I originally thought I could go from "minimal" to zero without waiting, but once I went to zero was when the withdrawal effects kicked in.
  
• Remain at this level for another 1-2 weeks (2 weeks being the approximate time it takes most people to fully adjust)
• Then, go for a one to two week break before resuming. Don't be surprised if you still have some insomnia, but it won't be nearly as bad or last as long. But if it is too much for you, switch to every-other-day for a week or two, and then break completely.
  
• When you do resume, if you want to avoid going through all this again (this was a big motivator for me), avoid daily use. For me, every other day keeps me from becoming dependent, plus my lungs (even vapor affects lungs) felt better, I got off better and with less herb, and it saved me $!

 

[Jman5280]

Update: I've been getting anxious throughout the day for no reason. Should I stick to cold turkey or smoke significantly less than I normally have been (from 3-4 seshes a day to just 1-3 hits just once a day)?

Try edibles at night. It's a different tolerance, and you can still get down without giving up.

 

[Chill Dude]

Try edibles at night. It's a different tolerance, and you can still get down without giving up.

That's interesting.. What is the difference between edible tolerance as opposed to vaping or smoking. Have you found that after using edibles exclusively for a period of time that it lowers your vaping tolerance when you start up again. I have very little experience with edibles, but if you have experienced lowered tolerance by switching to edibles for a short time this is good news! I don't think using edibles to lower tolerance has been discussed in detail on this forum. Tell us more Jman.....

 

[Jman5280]

That's interesting.. What is the difference between edible tolerance as opposed to vaping or smoking. Have you found that after using edibles exclusively for a period of time that it lowers your vaping tolerance when you start up again. I have very little experience with edibles, but if you have experienced lowered tolerance by switching to edibles for a short time this is good news! I don't think using edibles to lower tolerance has been discussed in detail on this forum. Tell us more Jman.....

Well I can't speak for everyone, but it works this way for me. I'm a heavy user and whenever I take a break from the vape, I will eat edibles for a week and I get super high. Once I go back to the vapelife, my tolerance is low and I can reach my goals. I just recently took a short week vape break and was eating about 80-100mg a day, and it worked fantastic.

I was talking to someone who mentioned that the way you ingest edibles effects the brain differently than the way vaping/smoking does. Something about triggering different things that make you high. I never looked into this much because I agree completely, the two tolerances are different (atleast for me).

*However, I have found some people don't like edibles, so this may not work for you.

**save your ABV and take a break, switching on and off, or just mix it up more.

 

[drfe3]

chamomile,lavender, and sage tea is very relaxing and tasty (try one or a combination of the three)! just make sure you go to a loose leaf tea shop and get the real stuff (tea bags are low quality and will likely not have a high concentration of the herbal compounds you want). you can also try vaping/smoking these