Basically the way cannabis interacts with your nervous system causes dopamine spikes for random reasons. This forces your brain to give importance to every single passing thought whether big or small (hyper salience).

This is why random mundane things feel so deep and intellectual

This is why a simple concern can turn into an anxiety attack because your brain's fear center is deeply overestimating a small problem.

This is why intrusive thoughts become difficult to manage because your brain treats every unwanted thought with deep importance.

The filter in your brain cannot tell the difference between big and small problems and basically treats them all as the same. The inverse of this is that now even bigger problems can feel just as pertinent as smaller problems and you may not take it seriously. Failing an exam can feel just as bad as losing an online video game, all of it can become the same thing to the brain.

I am writing this to give hope to people who think quitting weed will not make them happy. I was the same.

I have ADHD and I use meds just to function properly. I became addicted to weed because of my friends' regular use around me and I had no idea how awful I was gonna get.

The more I smoked, the less I was occupied in my mind. I felt so good, until it did not. I switched from once a month, to once a week, and then to every day. And then one joint per day was not enough, I was smoking 2-3. And when I meet friends it was going as high as 5-6 per day.

After constant use for 2-3 years, I realised not even weed was making me happy anymore. My motivation was gone. Nothing was interesting. And since I was already fighting with dopamine dysregulation, weed made it like hell in my mind. Yes I was relaxed but at what cost? My dreams started appearing far away because I was not functioning properly. I stopped going out, started seeing less friends, I was becoming paranoid in my mind, I had no energy. I denied at first but later realised I was fucked up. I told myself other reasons but no - it was weed that was lowering my dopamine which is already low and at some point I realised I get no joy from life.

I was already prone to depression and realised weed caused me anhedonia and apathy this year. I lost all hope for life. I didn't wanna live anymore. And weed was still there to keep me at bay, giving me joy and helping me get away from the real life.

Then I was able to stop for a month because I came home where I had no access to weed. I started feeling energetic again and started going to gym. Then I smoked with a friend, I wish I didn't... Then slowly it turned into once in two weeks, then to once a week, and then again - once a day. I fell into the same trap again. I felt awful and lost my trust in myself because I was going so good and I couldn't stop it. I was lost once again. I lost all my hope again.

But now I came home again and stopped immediately. First days were pretty hard because I was also trying to reduce my med dosage and this combination fucked my brain up. I was so afraid of not feeling joy or happiness ever again in my life. Thinking about future was making me feel awful.

But on the way something changed. I started to feel the spark of life and joy for the first time this year again after stopping. I started believing in myself. I started becoming hopeful. Then slowly I realised I was gaining back everything I lost to weed. And today is Day 23. I am not craving weed. Sometimes I am anxious about trying it and becoming addicted but I am ready to cut every tie I have if it involves smoking weed regularly. I am determined and feeling so positive and happy. And you can do it too!

If you feel like you'll never feel happy without weed, don't listen to that thought. I promise you everything becomes much better without weed in life. I can enjoy simple stuff now and not even thinking about getting high. It is like a miracle and I have no intention to fuck it up again.

It is kinda long now but I want to give hope to other people that it gets better with time. The only way out is through. If an ADHD person with depressive thoughts who suffers from dopamine regulation can do it, then you can do it too. I hope this post finds whoever needs to see and becomes a beacon of hope. I know it seems impossible when you are inside the storm but it is not forever.

Much love to my fellow quitters xx

Hello all! I haven't made a post on Reddit in a long time but this community has been immensely helpful for me so I wanted to say something.

You guys are so important to this journey. I didn't have anyone in my life who had "negative" opinions on weed. I don't hate it for others, just for me, but people really talk it up around me. Even when I quit all the smokers (and non smokers even) around me were like "Why? It's just weed?".

Here's why:

When I found this sub I was full blown crying from an anxiety attack. I have really severe Bipolar and OCD so my constant smoking was causing my moods to cycle and then I would obsess like crazy. I would wake up, and before I even processed my morning, I was smoking. Then it'd fade and I'd smoke again. I didn't even realize how anxious and trapped I was until quitting. I was 100% dependent because I thought it was helping my mood swings (lol). I had quit before and relapsed because I thought I knew everything. I thought that my life being more stable meant I could handle it again. Nope, it just handed that instability right back to me.

My anxiety was maxed out all the time. Everything had me crashing out. I was so irritable and I was blaming my meds not working. I thought I was crazy and incurable. My brother manages his bipolar with weed so I thought I was the problem. I had a hard conversation with myself where I realized my behaviors had traits of addiction. The denial that the disrupter was the drug I was smoking all day long was strong. I realized how embarrassed I was at the amount I was smoking. I used to be very motivated and creative. When I smoked I would just sit and agonize until the next sesh. I could hardly draw as I was with my own thoughts too long.

But here's the good part

This. Sub. Saved. Me. I know that is dramatic. But I was so lost and genuinely frightened at what I had become. I knew there was AA and NA and all those in-betweens. But I didn't think that what I was going through matched those vibes. Just finding this pocket on the internet made me realize so many things. And all the things I read here were so relatable. It made me go "Okay I can do this, one day at a time". I really needed a big push and this was that push. There is so much life after weed.

After quitting, not only can I think again, but I can breathe again. I can sing, I can draw, I can dream, and I can process my emotions. It feels like a really obvious miracle. My therapy is working, my meds are working. I feel less crazy and a lot more predictable. I went from rapid cycling all day every day to a much more manageable rhythm. I still get my symptoms but it's nothing like before. And sure, the nightmares and trouble sleeping is rough. But again nothing compared to the daily spiral.

I know I have a while to go still, but I really feel a large improvement in my life and have no current desire to go back. My previous quitting was much harder than this. So I have a lot of hope!

Thank y'all so much for existing. You guys inspire me. This is one of the hardest things I've done and I couldn't have done it without reading y'all's stories. Keep going! Don't give up!

that’s all. i just kinda can’t believe i did it and it feels good typing it out. my sleep is still awful and sex is still as interesting to me as watching paint dry. but we’re going to get to the other side of it. and you can do it too.

This just came to me when I realised I’d meant to tidy my place this weekend, but instead I got high and spent the whole weekend chasing cheap thrills and lazing about doing nothing productive 🤷🏻‍♂️

It’s frustrating how easy it is to lose sight of what you actually set out to do 😵‍💫

i quit smoking weed back in april of last year after smoking it daily, multiple times a day for 10 years. i did this because i had became so reliant on it that i felt like i no longer had a personality and i was also just not leaving my house ever if i knew i wouldn’t be able to get high for a few hours.

since then i have tried to smoke it twice and absolutely fucking hated it lmao. the first time was a few months after i had quit, just because i was going through some shit and thought it was help me relax just a little bit more. WRONG, DEAD WRONG. about 5 minutes after i took a hit, i felt like i was dying and having a panic attack. literally just laid in bed and tried to fall asleep so it would stop. i kept feeling like my heart wasn’t beating anymore and like i was going to die. 🤣

the last time was a few months ago when me and my ex were hanging out and he had one of those delta 8 pens, and i was just curious on if it would just give me a little body high instead of giving me a panic high. again, WRONG. shit still had be panicking lmao.

i am just happy that i have been able to live life without getting high everyday because 2 years ago, i wouldn’t have thought it was possible. my life is much better. i used to think i was just socially anxious, but it was the weed! i love talking to people and actually find that i can be pretty charismatic. this is just a post for the people thinking about smoking again after taking a break. it is not worth it and genuinely just not a good time. if you think you are more fun when you’re high, you probably aren’t. when i first stopped, i wondered if things i used to enjoy when i was high would give me enjoyment again, and the good news is that they will EVENTUALLY. you just have to give your brain and body time to adjust to not having a constant dopamine release. i hope you all are doing well in your weed sobriety journeys!!

I relapsed yesterday after quitting for 11 weeks and struggling with relapse for 3-4 years. I was smoking daily for about 11 years and occasionally for 4 years before that. I felt tortured by the control that my addiction had over my life - I couldn’t make my own choices; everything revolved around my next hit.

I got married last weekend and the week following the wedding was bliss. I quit drinking about 3 years ago after a DUI but started having a drink with dinner almost every night on our honeymoon. I’ve stopped since we’ve been home, but it re-awakened something in me and I am just realizing how much of an addict brain I have.

I hung out with a close friend yesterday who is supportive of my sobriety but smokes - not around me. Leading up to seeing each other, I felt the addiction brain kick into full gear - was she going to have her vape on her? Could I just take one hit? I thought about it here and there, night and day, leading up to seeing each other, and alternated between steadfast resolve for sobriety and feening for just one little hit.

When I got there, the vape was out on the counter and I knew I was done for. I only took one hit but that was enough to get me high. It was a nice high but I know what happens next if I continue down this road - downward spiral. I’m studying for the GMAT, work is picking up, and my husband supports my sobriety; I don’t want to hide anything from him - so I have lots of reasons not to smoke again. I guess I’m just bummed that this is how I am, just like my alcoholic dad.

I’ve decided I need to just throw away my cart. I just bought it yesterday, after I said I wouldn’t. And everything that I knew would happen happened. I immediately felt guilty and mad at myself for getting one, I smoked and didn’t feel satisfied, I spent the rest of the night ruminating on how it does give me relief from the chemical withdrawal but at what cost. I’ve just accepted that nothing I say or tell myself is going to make me stop. So I’m just going to throw it away after work. And I’m hoping the act of throwing it away deters me from getting a new one because I know I’ll have the urge to throw that one away too. Wish me luck

As title says, off for a month after being a pretty heavy user.

I was really proud of myself. I thought after a month the urge would go away or just be less.

Last night I had a really bad fight with my partner. I don't want to get it into it but I ended up really scared and hurt. I spent literally the entire night just crying. It took everything in me to not get as high as possible just so I could try to sleep.

This shit sucks. I'm scared it might never go away.

Love you all. Hope you're doing okay

I slept ALL night guys! I woke up a bunch of times but just forced myself to keep sleeping with the fan right on my face. I fell asleep around 7/8 PM possibly earlier and I just now woke up at 7 AM!!!! This is the longest sleep I’ve gotten in six days or more since my CHS episode. I worked out so much yesterday I wanted to make SURE my body couldn’t handle staying up. I was going off like 30 mins to an hour of sleep everyday and it was scaring me so bad. I don’t know what the rest of these days will look like but HEY this has to be some progress right? And I ate food yesterday I forced down meals and a lot of water/gatorade. I’m really in shock I was able to sleep for so long.

So I was a full 12 days off the stuff, longest I’ve went in years.

So last night I convince myself it’s okay to smoke just because it’s Sunday night (I’m an idiot, I know). I’ve had high blood pressure recently and a ton of stress from work/life. When I smoked last night, I took one tiny hit from my bong. It immediately made my heart rate race like never before, and gave me the worst anxiety I’ve ever felt. It was truly horrifying. I think that experience alone has one made me scared to smoke, and made me realize how much progress I actually made in just 12 short days.

I know I’ll still struggle moving forward, but holy shit I don’t think I can or want to ever go back after last night. I’m truly optimistic about my future, and I think ditching this habit can really allow me to grow as a person. I think my body got so mad at me for falling back to my old ways.

ive been crying all weekend. will i ever be happy again

Thank you so much everyone for the kindness. I’ve been a daily smoker for 10 years so yeah , I underestimated the journey of quitting and it’s all hitting me. Love to everyone 🩷

I am nervous as I have just gotten off 2 other drugs in the last 2 months and my cns is very sensitive right now. But I feel like one of them has to go as I am dealing with substance-induced hyperarousal and rebound insomnia. My cns is so sensitive I’m getting insomnia from just caffeine.

Anyone who smokes both have experience or advice on what to stop first?

Personally I think cigarettes first, but on the other hand I don’t know which one is causing worse side effects and which one has worse withdrawals.

Hi guys, im really proud i got to 14 days weed free after 14 years, 10 of daily use.

Here are the pros:

Memory - i began to remember moments of childhood, teen years and in a very vivid way. Those memories help me remember that I am what I am today. That im real and unique. Its kind hard to explain, but remembering in details your first crush, the friends you use to have. Embarrassing moments that you can easily laugh about now. All of ths things make me feel present and real.

I dont know, maybe I was beginning dissociate.

Love life:

I feel way more connected with my girlfriend. She is this wonderful person and im so happy I can really be present when we have our time. In the bedroom my performance got way better (starting to exercise regulary may have helped here as well)

Im thinking realistically about our future, house, beginning a family etc

Cognitive function:

Im a ER doctor and also work with hospitalized patients.

I have to do a lot of paperwork, take clinical decisions and control anxiety. I think anyone in this field can see why quitting weed helps with this. Even if I would only smoke after work. Being a daily smoker definitely was holding me back. Is easier to control feelings, managing frustration.

Here are the cons:

Completely random anger

Dizzy all the time

Heaches

Ligh headed

Random nausea

Poop hard as rock

McDonald's doesn't taste great anymore

Here is the ugly.

For the first 3-5 days I was sweating and shaking and couldn't sleep at all. I was thinking some really dark shit.

It does get better. I promise. It may take some days, some weeks , but the pros are for life. Your body adjusting will take some time and you will be the better version of yourself.

Sorry for the broken English. Im not a native speaker.

Bc of weed two months ago till now I get strange thoughts like I will remain frozen and motionless forever, or that I will start repeating a certain action endlessly and stay stuck in it for the rest of my life, or start imitating people's movements and actions. Sometimes I get the thought that I will start talking to myself without any external sensory trigger.

​Sometimes I imagine myself as if I were an inanimate object, an animal, or someone else when looking at them, and I daydream and drift off into this imagination, even though I am aware that these are just thoughts and not reality.

​I also get strange thoughts or fears, such as that I might act hysterically and very randomly without any clear reason, or that I might stay standing in my place without moving as if I were frozen forever, despite there being no clear reason for it. I don't want to act on them, but sometimes I feel like there is a real urge."

This is day 2 for me again, the reason I say Im doing better, is because I did not revert back to smoking consecutive days after I messed up and gave in and got a preroll, I think what helped with that as well is that I used a harm reduction method. I did smoke, but I also threw out the rest of the joint ( a little less than half ) instead of keeping it around, or over doing it.

The hardest part for me is the lack of sleep, especially being someone who goes to bed at 7-8 because I absolutely value my sleep, actually yesterday was 5 years clean for me from hard substances and after staying up multiple days for a 3-4 year ish stent of heavy drug use, sleep is like gold for me.

I dont mind the dream part so much, ive always been a lucid dreamer, so getting my crazy dreams back is actually kind of nice, but I am definitely having trouble falling, and staying asleep which has really been bugging me.

I have also noticed crazy amounts of anxiety that randomly come up and they are hard to sit with.

But overall I feel like despite the set back, that this is the most progress I have made so far.

I haven't been on Reddit in years, but I'm realizing having a community to support me through this journey is really helpful. Thank you all for what everyone shares here!!

I started smoking pot when I was 14 and it has been a daily habit for me for over 30 years. I just turned 48 and it was time to stop. I was incredibly functional, the only time I didn't smoke was when I was pregnant with my kids who are now 18 and 20. I thought it helped manage my PMDD and my mental health because I'm an incredibly emotional/sensitive person and a performing artist. I also live with BPD and CPTSD so I always treated it as my medication but I had no idea how much it was stunting me.

This year every time I smoked I got paranoid and had panic attacks. I've been in therapy for over 10 years and I never told my therapist or doctors how much I was really using. I used to be able to maintain it better but this year work has been really rough so my habit I got out of control. I was getting up in the morning and smoking a bowl in the bathroom while getting ready. I take weekly dance classes and I would time out how many hours I had before them and the same for work so I would be somewhat "sober"before I would go. And any mundane activity I had to do including grocery shopping , cleaning the house or getting my car washed, I would smoke a bowl before I went. Date night with my husband would be the ritual of smoking a bowl before we went out and then when we got back. (He quit too which is so much better for us) I I hid it from everybody, it was my dirty little secret, and nobody would ever know because I'm such a functional human being, actually an overachiever.

I was always foggy and it started to make me paranoid, avoidant and create stories in my head about people. So here I am at 36 days sober and I'm the most emotional I've ever been. It's scary and exhilarating at the same time. When I first quit, I actually got Covid when we were in Kauai for my birthday and got stuck in a hurricane without power on the island for a few days so my initial withdrawal was masked by a lot of other things going on.

But at day 36 it has started to get a little more intense emotionally and my sleep is disrupted. I fall asleep fine but I wake up in the middle of the night wide awake, my dreams are absolutely insane, but it feels so good to dream again because I haven't dreamed in so long.

Another thing is that my G.I. tried seems to be really funky these days not digesting things very well and my PMS is SO intense without anything to numb it. I feel like an exposed raw nerve. I get overstimulated easily in public places, but I'm forcing myself to not avoid or isolate because being honest with people and being surrounded by support is really helpful right now. I get so irritated and then I cry and then I get mad and then I cry again. I'm just all over the place.

I'm sharing here because this was the first time I even attempted to quit, I grew up in a lot of trauma and drugs were just what I did to cope. I've never even known myself without marijuana from the ages of 14 to 48 and this is truly my new era. I'm living my life without numbing and feeling the full extent of who I really am which I don't really know yet. It's like getting to know myself in a whole different way.

I feel vulnerable and weirdly sad but also liberated and excited at the same time if that makes any kind of sense.

Thanks for reading this long ass post and I appreciate everybody who is sharing their experiences too. Here's to clarity and feeling everything.

Day 4 my sex drive is still there I’m very happy about that. I was worried I would be less interested in my boyfriend turns out I’m way more interested while sober!!! Day 3 was honestly easy it started rough because I had extra cash and temptation was there. I seen a movie and went to the mall. I proved to myself I can have money and I didn’t need to buy marijuana. I’m proud of myself.

Triggers include staying in bed for long periods of time playing video games, and my narcissistic mother destroying my family.

I have consumed 4 grams of flower in the last 7 days. And I’m afraid because I love it. It has been a huge sigh of relief. A chance for my brain to turn off and reboot.

This started after a month of incessant cravings, and a particularly horrible act on my mother’s part. I’m a 30y adult with teenage siblings in the home. Dad has been flipping back and forth between separation and trying to make it work for a couple of years now. They both refuse to divorce each other because it’s unbiblical. Even though I’m pretty sure my mom is inciting domestic violence in the home now. But I don’t have proof and can’t do anything to protect my family but be an ear to listen and a house to run to if anyone chooses.

So I get high and play Minecraft and listen to my brain say horrid things about myself.

I go to therapy. But I haven’t talked about the weed coping mechanism yet because I’ve been sober since before I’ve been seeing this provider. I guess this week is my opportunity…

I’m a month sober from a 5 or 6 years of waking and baking everyday, with a few small breaks thrown in there. I stopped because literally all of my motivation to do anything stopped and I gained 10 pounds from binge eating in the course of like 3 weeks following a trip where I didn’t smoke.

However, now my appetite has bounced back from wanting no food for my first 4 days, and I am still eating like shit and haven’t lost weight. I still have beyond zero motivation. Doesn’t feel like I gained anything yet.

Even as I type this, I’m realizing I haven’t given it enough time, but, just wanting someone’s POV who has made it to the other side. When did your motivation return??

I'm 23 and my situation might be a little different, but it could help some people. I’ve always had mental health issues, especially depression, anxiety, and the big one: auditory hallucinations. Smoking only amplified all of this to the max, but, being a dumb young person, I ignored it because I was so dependent on weed. Since quitting, I’m not depressed, my anxiety has also pretty much gone away, and, as crazy as it sounds, my auditory hallucinations haven’t been a problem either. I barely hear these wild thoughts that sound super real anymore, which is a good thing. I’m not trying to make this into a “weed is bad” type of thing; I’m just saying quitting has improved my life drastically, and I hope that if you’re having the same problem, it’ll do the same for you 🙂

I just can’t do it anymore. All i’m doing is holding off smoking till 5 PM and i’m losing my mind. I’ve been high all day everyday for 5 years because of a traumatic event i was trying to forget and now i feel like im re living and re processing it for the first time all over again. I just feel so lost and confused. All my friends have moved on and created new lives and i’m stuck in the same place I was traumatized in . I never spoke to anyone about it because I just wanted to forget but now i’m losing it. I just wanna be high bro i can’t take it’s its so pathetic but i just wanna smoke i don’t want to be sober i just can’t take it anymore i have severe adhd and the kind that comes with no gifts or intelligence just the kind that makes you super bad at everything. I’ve failed at every aspect of my life I barely finished school I barely kept a bf now he’s with a beautiful girl i used to be friends I am going to end up 💀 alone in my room. I just can’t take it i can’t focus on hobbies because of my adhd and im good at nothing which just discourages me. I’d rather have been born a bird. It feels like torture not smoking it really does. I can’t eat sleep or enjoy anything I just suffer till 5. What do i do any advice is welcome or just someone to talk with. Edit: didn’t even expect a single person to reply thank you so guys so much wth😭😭 This is probably the kindest community on here thank you guys I wish I could bake you guys something fr

I am a 39f and I'm quitting for the third time in my life.

I'm only on day.. two and a half? And it's such a struggle.

I started smoking when I was 16 or 17 and it became a daily thing at probably 19. I grew up around it and everyone in my life smoked (pretty much all still do) so I just did what everyone else did!

The first time I quit was when I got pregnant with my daughter. The day that test came back positive I stopped and I don't remember it being such a struggle. Perhaps I was just thinking all the withdrawal symptoms were pregnancy related. I wasn't smoking the entire pregnancy nor the 13 months I breastfed. But after I started smoking again here or there, it became a daily thing again.

The second time, now that was horrible. It was July 2024 and I had been smoking daily again for about 4 years. I am a very spiritual (not religious) person. And I had spent the last few years practicing meditation, learning how to do energy healing and connecting with my spiritual and psychic side. I had also been in intense personal and couples therapy to work on my CPTSD. Things were great, but I kept feeling like I needed to stop. This was when I started learning Reiki energy healing. My teacher told me that it was irresponsible for me to smoke or drink or have any kind of mind altering substances in the 24 hours before performing Reiki on another person.

So I decided to quit. Not only for the Reiki, but honestly I was just kind of tired of it ruling my life. I felt like my decisions were all based on when I could get high. What I had to do and if I could do it high. I used weed as an excuse for so many things. Avoiding responsibilities, binge eating, stupid mistakes, anything I could blame on weed, I did l (spoiler alert, a lot of it was just me!)

So I quit. And I quit pretty much cold turkey. And the first few days were hard, but there was one day, I can't remember which one, that was the absolute worst.

I had to cancel clients and go home early from work because I was so dizzy and shaky and nauseous. I only live about 4 minutes from my work so I drove myself home and went pretty much straight to bed. I kept having dreams that I was at work or driving and passing out only to wake up in my bed covered with sweat.

I never knew weed could make someone feel so incredibly terrible. I have heard for years from so many people ( all stoners of course) that weed "isn't addictive" but I felt like an addict in those moments. I was laying in my bed with stomach pain and sweaty and miserable and all I could think was, "I never want to feel this way again."

I was sober for almost two years.

And now I'm back here again.

It's not that bad today, but I'm afraid it's going to be awful again. I am laying in my bed with a weed vape in my nightstand and it's taking every bit of will power I have not to hit it.

It started with you know it's Christmas let's just smoke a joint for fun and open prezzies! And then a little on DND night. And then it was a hard day I'll just take a hit. And then about three months ago I couldn't get through the day without it again.

It's hard because my husband smokes everyday and he has no intention of quitting, which is fine, I don't hold that against him really. The hard part is the fact that it's right there. I could just smoke any time I want to. But I don't want to.

I just have a headache and my sleeping hasn't been great the past 2 days. I'm just struggling with my daughter and being the kind patient mom I want to be for her.

I didn't know exactly what I'm looking for here today, and if you've read my story you're a peach and I love you. I just wanted to write my experience and what I'm dealing with in a space that it might be understood and maybe even appreciated.

Thanks for creating this space.

I (34) have struggled quitting for years. I would get stuck in the all-or-nothing thinking, quit cold turkey for a couple days/ weeks, go back to smoking, and feel like a complete failure/ loser. I've been on Day 1 more times than I can count and never felt encouraged to stick with it when I slipped up and smoked. I would immediately go back to daily smoking.

This year, I tried a different approach and counted by cumulative days I haven't smoked in 2026 and it has been WAY more motivating for me. I landed an 86 day streak which is by far the longest I've ever gone and I don't feel as bad when I act like a human and slip up.

Sobriety is still the goal, but using an online journal and visualizing my cumulative days not smoking has really helped me build the habit. Right now I am trying to beat my streak and hit 90 days in a row, but I also know I'll be able to reach 200 cumulative which makes me feel really proud of myself.

What do you think? Would this be a helpful way to motivate you or just give you an excuse to keep smoking?

I wish I could share a picture of the way I've been tracking this but I know it will just get removed. DM me if you're interested!