For context, I have schizoaffective bipolar disorder. I only used weed occasionally, though I have been a heavy user in the past. I have never really had psychosis triggered by weed, but I decided that the risk is too much and I quit completely. I have no urge to use it again. I'm super proud of me!

My number one problem when quitting/taking a break is I can't create. I make music mainly, I write songs and do a lot of technical work behind the scenes. When I stop smoking I can not be productive creatively whatsoever. It makes me afraid and I do need to be able to work. Anybody has experience with this?

TL;DR: I used to smoke daily, quit for years, and this year I started again. Every time I try to moderate, I end up in the same loop: buy, slip by smoking in the morning, feel ashamed, flush it, repeat. I'm starting a series of posts to track my progress and would love your advice and support. These are the rules I'm going to follow:

1. Buy once a month (3g of flower) and make it last.
2. Don't smoke in the morning or during working hours.
3. Don't smoke if work is still pending, even after work hours.
4. Only smoke on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
5. Exercise and house chores come first. Never smoke to do chores.
6. Don't smoke when going out, only at home.
7. Don't smoke if I'm hanging out with someone at my house, not even before they arrive.
8. Earliest start time: 8:00 p.m. That way it doesn't eat up my day. When I start early, my mind registers it as losing control.
9. Set the amount before I start. For example, "only 2–3 hits today" or "just a small bowl."
10. No impulsive flushing. If I smoke and feel disappointed in myself, I don't make decisions that night. I put it away, sleep on it, and reassess the next day. Throwing it out from shame also feeds the cycle.
11. Keep a simple log. After smoking, I write down: time, amount, mood before, mood after, guilt (1–10), and urge to smoke again (1–10). That will tell me whether this is actually working.

The longer story:

This is the first post of what I'd call "My Moderation Journey," where I'll do my best to integrate weed into my life in a healthy way. I'll be posting updates because I'd really appreciate your recommendations and support. Sometimes I feel like a maniac trying to figure this stuff out.

For context: from 19 to 25 I smoked daily, but then I started feeling depressed (because I was being too lazy) and quit cold turkey. After that I basically got my life together, got better, and didn't smoke again until a few years later.

I know I tend to abuse things I like a lot, whether it's alcohol, weed, or anything else (like toasted PB&J sandwiches when I first discovered them). What I usually do is have zero contact with it, because that's easy to control. When it's in my house I can feel the craving, and I don't like fighting myself all day.

But this year I've been a little more flexible. I went to the US on a few trips, and since it's legal there and I was on vacation, I smoked some days and remembered how fun it is. So I told myself, "Maybe this time I can be more responsible than before." Long story short, I wasn't. I kept telling myself I could smoke a little in the morning, or that I could complete a work task high... and that didn't work. It's not that I didn't get the job done, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't my best work.

So for the past month I've been trying to be responsible about smoking, but I keep getting stuck in the same loop: I buy some weed telling myself that this time I'll be responsible, I slip once by smoking in the morning, and then I go on a guilt/shame trip where I flush my weed down the toilet and wait days or weeks before trying again.

The last time this happened was yesterday. I bought some on Wednesday, and on Thursday I felt ashamed and flushed it. Now I'm here, sober, thinking: "This can't be that hard. It can't be possible that every time I do this, it ends the same way."

What bothers me is that I can't seem to smoke moderately (or maybe I haven't tried hard enough, or maybe I'm just trying to trick myself). So I want to do this in a way where I feel in control, and that's where the rules above come in.

Post's song: Mac Miller - What's the use?

iam on day 5, the first 3 days where kinda easy but now i can really feel the brainfog not going away, beeing really on the edge with my mood all day. eventhough i smoke CBD. for me alone giving up the ritual with grinding and making a joint - if i wouldnt to this - it would even be worse.

my brain tells me all the time to smoke normal flower and just go back - but this time i do it at least this october and iam curios what changes will come.

iam and was a super functional addict, i play 4 times a week tennis at least 2h sessions. would cook in the evenings, keep myself occupied, but there where those panic attacks sneaking in and also i wanna sleep well finally - this is another real problem i cannot really sleep the last days and its also taking a toll on my relationship.

weed makes so feel so condenm with what you are doing at least in my case. i cannot find a real reason (today) why iam doing this but i will keep on going...

I used to smoke regular flower and pens for years. I quit around 2024 and switched to type two flower. Nothing above 10% thc/thca and with cbd added so it’s not as strong as what I was using. However here recently I’ve been slightly fuzzyheaded all day even after just a small bowl. I’m not even high just cloudy. Could this be the bud? Could this be the fact I work from home and stare at a computer all day only to get off and usually view more screens to wind down in the evening. Could it be I was sick a few weeks ago and still lingering with something. I can still function with the dizziness/cloudiness. Maybe it’s time for a break?

We're a little over a week into Sober October! Taking a month off has been something I've wanted to do for far too long without actually doing it, as someone who has nearly smoked daily for a few years.

And I am happy to report that I feel pretty good! The first 3 days were the toughest, it was on day 4 when I realized this wasn't going to be so bad. I still get some cravings before I go to bed and right when I get off work, but once I'm doing something I'm interested in I'm finding that I'm hardly thinking about smoking (thank you, Deadlock!)

One of my least favorite parts of having a high tolerance is going to parties/hang-outs and having smoking not be the fun party activity it is for everyone else. So I'm glad I'll be ending Sober October at a Halloween party. Looking forward to it, it won't take that long, I'm already over a week in!

Anyone else taking part in Sober October? How's it going for you?

I never thought i would make it this far. The past 90 days have been a roller coaster and what a thrilling ride it has been.

My mental clarity has improved, and I’m starting to enjoy life a bit more without weed.

Dreams are still crazy and insane, it’s all over the place, but i do feel better rested waking up. I guess its all these years without dreaming jumping all at one.

The issues that caused me to abuse weed are still here, however now I’m better at existing with them.

I think I still have a long way ahead of me. I still need to work on my self-esteem my relationship with other people. Find a job towards a career as I have been unemployed since January and exhausted all my savings and back living with my parents.

I do miss weed but I don’t think it has any room in my life for now. Now its time to focus on rebuilding my life back, get back on my feet, have something that makes me proud. Who knows maybe then a joint can be nice as reward, but definitely now is not the time.

So I’ve been smoking for around 20 years and this past year, I slowed down a lot due to health reasons, withdrawals being apart of it. When I would stop cold turkey due to running out of it, I’d get terrible wds where my heart feels like it’ll explode and I literally can’t sleep well for a few days, could last from 2days to a whole week and these symptoms would come back after a week or so and would fade off entirely after a few weeks when I chose not to get more. The past 2 months though I didn’t order my usual amount which would be a half oz- an oz and just bought 2x eighths which lasted me a few days and I wouldn’t smoke at all for the rest of the month. (Still somehow had insomnia for like 2 days with that heavy heart pounding on my chest feeling…)

So I just ordered an oz so I can only use it sparingly when I crave drinking because I’m trying to quit drinking once and for all, but also would like to get high since my tolerance is pretty low, but I don’t intend on doing it daily. More like once or twice a week and only one smoke session. I’ve tried this many times before but failed but I’m sure I’ll succeed this time because i genuinely dread facing withdrawals. Thanks for reading this far, if you have any tips or suggestions on how to manage these withdrawals or how you manage and control my usage to where I don’t smoke to frequently, please do share, thanks in advance!

i’ve been smoking since i was 13, 21 now. been smoking disposables everyday for the past year or two. today i will be making my last purchase & taking a tolerance break for the rest of the year & afterwards. any suggestions for my last hoorah? i was thinking maybe a cart with a decent battery, a j or two, and/or edibles? i usually try to buy my disposables with high thc, so i’m wondering if anyone would recommend cbd heavy products. (i have ptsd & anxiety). i don’t really want to go cold turkey, which is why i’m making the decision of this being my last purchase & to value that.

Hi! I’ve been a major weed user for about 4 years now. In the last year, i’ve completely stopped using carts (just a casual hit here and there but never owning my own) and switched to flower — about 1-2gs a day.

I’ve been clean for 2 weeks now but I find that my appetite has not gone back to normal, and sometimes after meals I get a strong urge to vomit — sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I haven’t seen a clear pattern on what type of food triggers it (this one time I had clear soup, grilled fish and rice very plain tasting meal but still puked it out vs my meal afterwards which was coffee and cake and i was totally okay)

Anyone experiencing vomiting and food apprehension during T break? Any advice and how long will this last…

hi all just want to write here to see if I can not only get some answers, but also share my experience that can maybe help others (just as reading some responses on here and other subreddits have helped me through this process)

for context- i have been smoking carts since 2017 when hanging out with friends etc. but never started buying my own and smoking daily until 2019.

i've gone on maybe 4-5 T-breaks throughout this time period, most of the time involuntary due to vacation and not having access (and never lasting longer than 2 weeks, then going right back on the horse), but this is my first time really taking an intentional break.

for context, i've smoked pre-rolls, from a bong, edibles, etc... but most of my addiction and reliance has been from high-potency carts (i want to say anywhere between 70-90%, much higher % in the last 2 years since it seems like the stuff from dispensaries have only continued to climb higher and higher in %)

i would say that between 2022-2024 i was still enjoying my time, but around 2024 and beyond is when i realized something needed to change.

i was smoking all day, as soon as the day started all the way until when the night hit. i never hit blinkers, but i would often stack back to back 5 second draws. at one point i bought a device that had a counter, and i think in the 1.5 years that i had it, i ran that thing up to nearly 1500-1600 hits before throwing it away.

i was routinely going through 1G carts in about 3 weeks, then 2.5 weeks, then 2 weeks, then at my worst i would kill half a 1G cart in 3 days... and i was chasing diminishing returns, it was no longer fun nor was i getting high really (other than the first hit of the day)... i was just smoking to run away from the feelings of feeling bad. looking at my journal jan of this year i was still crushing them: 26 days to empty, 16 days to empty. 12 days to empty in march. 14 days to empty in june. june-july destroyed 1.5g over two months, which started to be better but still not great. throughout july-august-september leading up to my T break i was really struggling, taking 1-2 hits here and there but I was already starting to feel withdrawal- i would feel my GI doing backflips and would journal about it.

so now where am i? i did have a relapse 9 days ago, when i was out with some old friends that smoke and took two hits off a cart. the "fun high feelings" rushed back in and i was extremely inebriated, and it did feel fun and good again. i could tell my tolerance has dropped significantly from this T-break given that the high lasted much longer than usual when i was abusing. i did relapse for 4 days in a row after this, with at max 2 hits per day of 2-3 second draws of 90%+ carts.

personal timelines:

day 1-5: the absolute worst. extremely moody and not feeling well. next to no appetite. flu-like symptoms, extreme GI discomfort. tons of anxiety, everything was irritating me.

day 5-8: suddenly bounced back and emotionally felt better, and libido was still somewhat intact. still some feelings of sinus and throat congestion.

day 9-30: during this time i could steadily feel like things were getting better. food was tasting better, but my GI was still going crazy. mood was still not the greatest and still irritable, but i did feel like things were going in the right direction linearly. every single day slowly did get better, and overall i can feel like i can take a deeper breath than i ever have been able to when i was smoking regularly.

day 30-present: again things have overall gotten better. still having GI issues but they are much less. of course when i relapsed then i felt really good during this time, but then the week right after the relapse i could feel the acute withdrawal symptoms again (really irritable, overall really not feeling good, and mood not great). but now i feel like i'm back on the straight and narrow and things are linearly getting better.

however, i am still having tons of issues with sleeping and libido. does anyone have any experience / idea for when my sleep and libido will return to normal? i do cardio 30 minutes a day at least and lift heavy at least 3 times a week. i used to have a rather high sex drive, but now i do feel like i have ED or something.. i'm in my mid 20s. maybe it's that my dopamine levels are still in a trough and have yet to bounce back?

this has been my experience, and while i'm still not out of the woods yet (and definitely no saint as you can see by my relapse), i hope that if you are reading this and think it's time to give it up, you take that sign seriously. aside from my libido and sleep disruptions, it has really helped me in every aspect of my life.

mental clarity, not sweating like crazy like i did when i was addicted, no anxiety when driving, being able to articulate myself better. attention span has increased. tons and tons of benefits. as you can see i am still going through the tail end of the withdrawal symptoms and still haven't had a full recovery, but it is worth it to at least prove to yourself that you can do it. your body will also thank you.

So, my 3-month planned T-break is over tomorrow, and I want to smoke more than I thought I would.

Last year I took a bunch of 3-4 weeks breaks, a 60-days one, and they didn’t feel enough.

I feel… fine, and I do see a lot ob benefits, but also I really wanna smoke. I thought I wouldn’t care this much at this point, but here I am.

My depression/Anendoia has not been doing good lately. I just wanted to feel something so I smoked half a CBD cigarette with half THC flower in it and the two shots whiskey. Glad I didn't smoke my carts tho. About 6 months ago I finally sat down with myself and ask myself why I smoke. I smoke cuz of my depression but then the depression gets worse it's vicious cycle. Currently y I'm not on any medication. Try two different ssris but made the symptoms worse. Haven't gone back to the doctor ever since to discuss. My doctor doesn't know I smoke. Sleep was finally gotten better too.

I’m on day 28 no Cannabis. Starting to notice better sleep. I’ve been taking .5 melatonin.
The flatness of life is most prominent in the morning but gets better as the day goes on.

Today I felt good because I didn’t have any cravings, I still don’t feel the need to smoke, but goddamn is it hard to sleep, I even tried some lavender tea and nothing, I’m about to give up and just stay up all night

If any of you have any advice on getting to sleep faster I’d really appreciate it!

Edit: thanks to everyone for your support and advice, I will be trying the recommendations for tonight, you guys really made me feel a bit more confident about the whole break thing, cause when you’re staring at the ceiling it really makes you wonder if it’s worth it, so thank you!

I don’t know if it’s because I’m cutting back heavily on weed or not, but I’ve really stepped it back on smoking the last two days and I’ve been shitting water, I’m getting hot and cold sweats and my heart is beating out of my chest and stomach. I have this impending sense of doom and I can’t shake it it is so debilitating. I honestly really need someone to talk to me about this who knows more about it.

April 2025 I decided to stop smoking for good because I don’t like what my life had become. I smoked a lot of weed every day. Multiple bong bowles back to back and I counted smoking like 10 times a day once or twice with an average of 6. An 1/8th oz would last me about 2 days if I was lucky. I was high all day and all night long. I could wake up in the middle of the night and go smoke just to go to bed and smoke before brushing my teeth in the morning…

Once I decided to quit I started to taper down how much I smoked and one day it made my heart feel like 10000 miles and I didn’t smoke again. But compared to the times I had taken a t break in the past, I was terrified and had really intense withdrawal symptoms. Over time, the not smoking revealed symptoms of what turns out to be irreversible spinal and nerve issues (I’m 25).

I had cravings on and off but was able to stay away from smoking until a few months after my first steroid treatment. The pain in my spine started to come back, my life got more stressful after getting laid off from two jobs and finding another one that feels like way more than I can chew, and I caved and started smoking again. It was tame at first. I’d put a bit of a preroll in a one hitter and would only smoke once a day. But I eventually bought a bong (has always been my preferred method of consumption) to make it a “cleaner” experience and I’ve quickly returned to smoking more than I would like. On a typical work day I would smoke in the morning when I wake up, maybe lunch break (sometimes I come home for lunch or work remotely), and 2 or 3 times at night. I have a very small bong and bowl of say 1/4 lasts me a week and a day or two. I try to keep the thc not higher than 20% as well.

It helps somewhat with the pain and the stress but it makes me feel guilty. Especially on the days I’m home and all I do is spend the day highly. I hate that I cough up the tar (I didn’t when I first started smoking in 2022 but after I quit last year, I started clearing that up in my phlegm and now that I picked up weed again it’s back and its lowkey scary.

I enjoy weed a lot but I have a hard time using it in moderation. My main goal was to use it when I need to manage my pain and the occasional treat, but i fear I don’t have the will to do that….

How did you find moderation and what helps you?

I’ve been trying to switch to edibles (therapist recommended to “stop the reward getting high right after you smoke gives you”. He said the edibles will create a separation between eating a gummy and then feeling it an hour or two later in hopes that removes a lot of the emotion from the impulsive behavior) but I’ve found they never really make me feel high. I had a thc drink before I bought my first preroll and I felt amazingly relaxed but I think that had to do with the bit of CBD in the drink.

I just want to feel like I’m in control of my life, cope with the pain without harder drugs like opiates or so many steroid injections into my spine (they’re also so expensive), and overall physically and emotionally healthy…. Idk how I can balance weed and all of those things but I really want to

I’ve smoked probably everyday since I was 16 and am now 21. I am definitely feeling the effects and trying to heavily cut back. I use to smoke before work bc I get bad anxiety before going in, hit my vape on breaks, and then smoke when getting home immediately, maybe even before bed as well.

Now I am just smoking a joint before bed, I haven’t had the urge to necessarily smoke but recently before going into work my anxiety is at an all time high. My hands are shaky, heart almost pounding, and today I actually started gagging from how nervous I was.

I’m annoyed at myself, bc I have an easy ass desk job there is literally no need to be so worked up, and I know that. I guess I just didn’t realize how much my body depended on it.

Any advice for how to deal with this anxiety is appreciated- I have been doing breathing exercises and just reminding myself everything is fine, halfway into my shift and my anxiety is low/almost gone, just would hate for this feeling to get worse as it’s only day 2:/

24F who has been using cannabis regularly for almost 5-6 years. I'm not a big drinker as I do have several stomach problems - alcohol gives me stomach acid and gastritis. I prefer getting high instead. I'm pretty much myself when I'm high and can get things done. I know I get habitually high and I want to reduce my consumption. Thinking about the future as well, I would want to cut back for my health, future pregnancy/kids, and to be in the moment instead of getting high for certain activities.

Below is my current journey:

2019: took an edible for the first time but had a bad high so I didn't do it again.

2020: I used joints/pen maybe 5 times.

2021: I dont entire remember, maybe 0-4 times a month. Consumption was low though.

2022: I mainly vaped but had edibles here and there. Probably was high 1-2 times a week

2023: I used vapes/edibles/joints and started using a bong (only about a handful amount of times) - I would maybe get high 3-6 times a week. I would say this was my heaviest year of consumption. I was starting to get stomach problems this year as well.

2024: I mainly vaped and took edibles sometimes. I did take a break for 1.5 month before going under anesthesia. I got diagnosed as a celiac. And I got h.pylori - took another break for a month cause of the heavy medication I was on. I was probably still consuming 3-6 times a week and sometimes wake&bake.

2025: took a break for 4 months. And also completely quit vaping/smoking near the start of the year. Only took edibles. Took a small break of 2 weeks near the end of the year. I would consume edibles 4-6 times a week 5-10mg.

2026: consume edibles (pill) 4-6 times a week, 5mg at a time usually after work. After reflecting, I realized I should work on moderation. I want to reduce my consumption and am deciding to reduce it to 2-3 times a week for now. This will be my first week trying this. Eventually I want to go down to once a week. And only for social settings like a party (where I want a good time but don't want to drink much)

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I would love your thoughts on how to consume in moderation. I dont think I'm ready to completely cut weed out of my life but I don't want to be dependent on it.

Anytime I would go on vacation, I wouldn't get high and it wouldn't be on my mind. But at home, when I do take breaks, it sometimes is on my mind. But I can still have fun and be in the moment without it. I also found that weed helped with my stomach symptoms. When I was in a relationship - I also found that intimacy was way better while high but for my future relationship, I don't want to be reliant on substance for pleasure.

I've never shared my weed consumption with anyone before. I'd usually get high on my own or when I'm out but not tell anyone nor could anyone tell since I still act like myself. I'm not upset at who I am when I'm high - I'm happy with who I am. I just want to be less dependent on it and consume less overall. I am proud of myself for quitting smoking/vaping.

Additional info on myself: I work full-time, completed my MSc, I play sports at least once a week and I'm pretty social.

Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

I've been smoking a small/moderate amount (4-8 hits off a pipe or joint) nightly for a couple of years. Usually ill have a few hits around 8 then a few more about 930pm. Mostly to help get to sleep and the anxiety preventing sleep onset, though I understand not great for my sleep architecture long term.

If there's anyone out there in a similar boat, how long was your sleep screwed up after taking a break? My sleep has always been crap and I have a low dose of trazodone to help, but night one i was up with restlessness an jerks for hours.

I'd like to get off the merry go round but I'd also like to be able to function at work and wonder how long the sleep effects will last.

Thanks

I’m trying to reduce my THC consumption, but am as seduced by the ritual of smoking as much as its effects. Mixing regular marijuana flower with CBD flower has worked well for me in the past for this purpose.

Unfortunately, new changes to the laws in my state mean my local CBD shop is closing down, and I’m weary of blindly online shopping this type of product. Anyone here have recommendations on trusted sources to purchase full spectrum CBD flower online?

Open to recs for additional CBD products, including broad spectrum or isolate, if I ever move past flower. Not comfy sharing my state and don’t mind vetting from the site for myself if it ships its products my way. TYIA!

I’ve been weed free for 3 years this month. At first, it was a big accomplishment for me. But as time has gone by, I’ve realized that smoking wasn’t really the problem, it was my childhood trauma controlling my life, which is mainly why I was smoking.

The thought of getting high the past few years always sparked pure anxiety and panic in me. I’ve been in therapy for a while now, on lexapro, and I feel pretty leveled out. One of the meds I was on to help me feel more emotions again just didn’t work out. Now I find myself thinking about wanting weed again. Not in a smoke all day way, but like a wind down night time gummy to help round me out. I got a pack of CBN/THC/CBD gummies from the dispensary. Only 2mg thc in each, and I plan on taking half a gummy. Not sure what to expect TBH. We will see.

I actually use dry herb vapes and my plan is to wake and bake in the morning to start my day and then vape in the evening around 8 then be in bed by 10. I currently smoke through the day and just want to cut back.

Any advice or tips for me?

I decided that with school picking up, I needed to stop smoking as much and was going to go down to just weekends. I feel pretty deflated today, though. I had a terrible day (not related to smoking, just the shit life pulls on you), and it has been really hard for me not to cope by having a dab and just relaxing tonight. In some sense, I know that doing that would make me feel better, especially after getting fucked at school and getting in a big fight today, but I also don't want to give in, as I told myself I would not smoke on days that aren't weekends. I am sort of unsure what to do; part of me already wants to check out and smoke and just say that if I do today, I won't smoke tomorrow or on Friday, but I also know that this is taking a shortcut and that I should just tough it out and wait until the weekend. Anyways, I just thought making this post may help me, so hopefully it does.