How To Quit Weed Without Withdrawals Or Sleepless Nights
Plus: Natural Marijuana Detox At Home
The length of marijuana withdrawal largely depends on how long you've used pot and how much you smoke. If you use cannabis more frequently or at higher volumes, you'll experience a longer and more severe withdrawal. And if you're naturally less tolerant of emotional and physical distress, you may also find the withdrawals more difficult.
The symptoms of withdrawal typically start within 24 hours of your last use and peak after two to three days. Although the majority of symptoms last about two weeks, some chronic users have reported having insomnia, night sweats and unbalanced emotions for several months.
Common Mental Effects of Withdrawal
- Anger: Because many marijuana users smoke as a means of escaping from difficult emotions, they don’t know how to regulate those emotions naturally. The anger you experience during withdrawal can range from a steady, mild stream of rage to a sudden and volatile outburst. These can stem from feelings of anxiety and a general lack of emotional control during the first few days of withdrawing, which results in swaying back and forth between anger and euphoria. However, these unbalanced emotions often regulate themselves naturally within three months.
- Insomnia: One of the most commonly reported symptoms associated with marijuana withdrawal is insomnia. This can range from a handful of consecutive sleepless nights to occasional sleepless nights over the course of several months.
- Nightmares: Nightmares and other forms of vivid dreams are also common in the later stages of withdrawal. They typically start about a week after last use and last anywhere from a week to a month.
Common Physical Effects of Withdrawal
- Headaches: This is usually the most common physical symptom associated with marijuana withdrawal. Headaches during the first few days can be particularly severe, but then taper down to being more mild. These dull headaches can least anywhere from two weeks to two months.
- Night Sweats: Sweating is one of the natural ways that the body flushes out toxins, but night sweats during withdrawal can be so severe that you might have to change clothes or sheets. Extra baths or showers may also be required during this time. Night sweats usually last for a few weeks, but may not completely subside for up to six months.
- Eating issues: Many marijuana users report having a loss of appetite during withdrawal. Other stomach-related symptoms can include nausea, cramps or digestion issues after eating.
- Other Symptoms: Marijuana users in withdrawal have also reported experiencing dizziness and shaking. Far less common symptoms include chronic fatigue and kidney pains.
Alleviating Withdrawal Symptoms
Luckily, there are plenty of easy over-the-counter or at-home remedies that you can use to lessen the symptoms of marijuana withdrawal. These include:
- Regular exercise to help alleviate symptoms of depression and anger
- Hot baths or showers to help decompress during moments of anxiety
- Eating bananas and leafy green vegetables to replace the potassium that the body has depleted during periods of night sweats.
- Eliminating caffeine intake until withdrawal-induced insomnia is no longer an issue. Drinking a glass of warm milk before bed can also help with falling asleep.
- Cutting out fat from your diet during moments of difficulty with digestion.
Although marijuana withdrawal is unpleasant, the process is pretty mild compared to kicking "harder" drugs like meth or heroin. With a proper treatment plan and strong support network, you can stop smoking pot and regain control of your life.
from the National Institutes of Health, “addiction (to opiates and other drugs) is recognized as a chronic, relapsing brain disease with a wide range of serious medical consequences.” It stands to reason, therefore, that the needs of individuals who are withdrawing from drugs are just as individual as each human brain.
A Unique Process
Withdrawal from drugs or alcohol has a number of different variables. Those include the type of drug, the amount used, frequency/duration of abuse and the metabolism of each individual user.
In general, withdrawal from drugs takes anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. The physical symptoms of withdrawal generally disappear faster than emotional symptoms like craving.
When Does Withdrawal Begin?
Withdrawal symptoms will begin within a few hours of last taking the drug. Your metabolism will play a factor, as will your unique tolerance levels.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines tolerance as the point at which the person no longer responds to a drug in the way he or she initially responded. In other words, tolerance means you have to take a higher dose of the drug in order to achieve the same intense high you initially received upon starting it.
A Few Specifics
Marijuana: When it comes to marijuana,the active ingredient – Tetrahydrocannabinol or delta-9-THC or simply THC – hits the bloodstream quickly after it is smoked. However, if you ingest pot, its effects develop much slower.
THC breaks down quickly in the blood. It metabolizes into more than 80 unique and individual metabolites that are stored in body fat and gradually eliminated through a body’s natural functions. Therefore, the effects and detectable presence of THC fade quickly.
Heroin: For those who use heroin, the initial crash from an opiate high varies. Generally speaking, the “come-down” from heroin is experienced six to 12 hours after last use.
When the drug is no longer supplied, the detox process begins. Withdrawal symptoms peak within one to three days after the last dose and they usually subside 5 to 7 days later.
Dealing with PAWS
Some users experience what’s known as post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS). Symptoms are generally seen among those who are recovering from addiction to benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax, and Ativan), barbiturates, alcohol, opiates (heroin, Vicodin, and OxyContin) and sometimes antidepressants.
PAWS symptoms occur over long periods of time and usually involve complications like mood swings, depression, anxiety and panic attacks, extreme drug craving and obsession and severe sleep disturbances.
Things to Remember
So what’s the bottom line? Simply put; your withdrawal process will not be the same as someone else’s. Some drugs produce significant physical withdrawal symptoms; others produce limited physical issues and severe emotional symptoms.
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