<h1>How Do I stop smoking weed?</h1>

I slipped up again and smoked last night.   This was the first relapse in a long time —-more than 3 weeks.  Over the last week I had been drinking more than I normally do – well more than normal when I was smoking pot multiple times per day.     I ended up having about 5 beers last night, then smoking a bowl.

I knew I didn’t *want* to smoke weed, but I decided to follow everyone out.  I knew I didn’t want to smoke, but I joined the circle.  I knew I didn’t want to smoke weed, but I lit up and took a puff, and held that smoke down for what felt like an eternity.   The act of smoking was so a release, almost like peeing after holding it too long.    For a few brief moments, I enjoyed myself.

Reality hit pretty hard, I had just broken a great sober streak, and now I felt like shit.   I was stoned, paranoid, and depressed, so I went home and sat alone and stared at the wall for about an hour.   When I tried to stop smoking weed in the past, every time  I slipped up, I felt like it was the end of the world, sunk into a depression, and got ridiculously stoned for weeks.   When I hit rock bottom, I would try to quit again.

I am always learning and learned a lot from my previous attempts to kick the habit.  Somewhere in my mind, at some point, last night, I made a decision to smoke pot.   I am still thinking heavily on this to see if I can find the exact point, so that I can identify and avoid it in the future.   Did I get drunk to have an excuse to smoke, did I drink because I couldn’t smoke.   Did I go out with friends, with the knowledge that weed would be around, and I might stumble upon it?    I am still on the bandwagon, and my resolve has not changed.   Last night may have made it even stronger.  The guilt I felt from smoking completely ruined the experience, and I don’t want to go through all the negative feelings I get when I smoke weed.

How do I quit smoking weed?    One step at a time.   I had some clarity last night (amazing despite the beer and weed), it made me realize that this is a major process to undertake - and will take time.   I can’t just quit smoking weed, I have to change my entire lifestyle to be substance free if I really want to succeed.

Another busy and productive day today, with a good sleep last night. Last night was the first night that I had vivid dreams after quitting marijuana. The majority of the weed addicts that I know don’t recall their dreams, or have fewer dreams than non smokers. I have heard that it is pretty common to have ‘end of the world’ nightmares when quitting weed. In my previous attempts to quit, I have had some crazy nightmares.

This dream was definitely strange – and I got stoned in my dream…This doesn’t count as relapse right . The Dream: So I was outside on the main drag of a town with my colleagues, and a bunch of them were up ahead in a circle. One woman came up to me and said something along the lines of “I smoke, but don’t tell anyone”, and joined the circle. I followed behind her, and next thing I new, I was passed a joint. This was the end of the dream as I remember it. Shitty description, but dreams are hard to describe.

One of the reasons that I wanted to quit is because I didn’t want colleagues to find out about my marijuana habit. I am sure some of them know and don’t say anything to me. Weed made me paranoid so I always wondered if they DID know.

‘Til Tomorrow – which will be double digits sober! Wooohooo!

Another day without smoking pot. Today was a better day. I was extremely busy today, and did not experience any intense cannabis withdrawal symptoms. The anxiety and dread that I was feeling is definitely in recession. I know that I am only 8 days in, but I feel like the worst part of the psychological detox is past me. Now I will need to deal with sobriety on a daily basis. The physical detox will take up to 3 months for all of the fat-soluble thc to be free from my system. Only after 3 months will I consider myself ‘clean’ from weed. Clean is not the same thing as recovered!

Sleep was also better last night – I got 7 hours and only woke up once. When smoking weed, I seemed to wake up a lot more during the night. Sometimes I would even awake, smoke a roach, then head straight back to bed. It appears that marijuana makes sleep come easy, but the quality of sleep is worse than a sober sleep would be. Anyone find the same thing happening to them.

Bucking Faked requested the ability to blog on their progress. I will be configuring and opening a Marijuana Addiction Support Forum this weekend. I don’t know if it will be on this site, or on another domain…I still need to work out the logistics.

When I woke up today, I felt great.  After quitting marijuana for 6 days,   my morning energy and mindset is improving.  My mind is much clearer than a week ago!  I used to smoke weed primarily at night, and it is almost a guarantee that I would fall asleep stoned or burnt out…..That seems to carry over into a mediocre sleep and a tough wakeup in the morning.   My marijuana hangovers rob me of energy and a positive attitude in the morning.  Sometimes my eyes looked stony, even if it had been hours.

When I take in a full breath, the top of my lungs hurt a little bit, I don’t know if that is from quitting pot, being more aware of my body, or from the exercise I have been doing in the past couple of days.   Maybe they are being cleaned out.

Starting a couple of days ago, I was experiencing significant anxiety and nervousness…This hasn’t happened to me before when trying to end my marijuana addiction.   I have had a very stressed out 2 weeks, so I think the marijuana withdrawal played a small role in this overall mental state.

I haven’t had any major cravings yet.  In my case, those don’t start for a little while.   I have stayed away from the pubs and thus the party.  It is a lot easier to quit when you aren’t surrounded by it.

It’s been a weird couple of days. I have had all sorts of nervous energy and anxiety…I don’t want to call them panic attacks, but rather feelings of intense dread for no reason. Sometimes my mind races. It kind of feels like a ball of energy heating up at my center and moving up the top of my body. I think this nervous energy is the cause of my insomnia as well.

I notice that I have been ‘holding’ my breath a lot and have been tense or fidgety for no reason. I have been doing some of the stress relaxation techniques and deep breathing drills which are actually working ! I haven’t experienced the marijuana withdrawal anxiety before to this severity.  Usually it was only mental, but the physical withdrawal symptoms from cannabis are discomforting. I need to bleed off more stress during this beginning transition phase.  With the right stress management program, the stress and anxiety from marijuana withdrawal can be minimized.

Quitting Marijuana can cause anxiety in some people, but I don’t know how long it is supposed to last, and what to expect. Needless to say, the last couple of days have NOT been fun. I got about 6 hours of solid sleep. Normally I wake up a lot during the night, but this was a nice uninterrupted rest.

Only one dream of note so far, all I remember is being hit in the liver by something, then someone I knew (don’t know who) hitting me in the same spot.