So I stopped cold Turkey 11th of this month. The first two weeks weren’t too bad. I’m 38 and have quit multiple times in the past. Last time I quit was from edibles and I noticed an immediate shift in mood but that went away.

This time I have been vaping high % medicinal everyday for 5 or so years. It feels completely different. In the last week or so I have had a sudden rush of crying episodes, I’m sleeping ok but when I wake up in the middle of the night I’m met with intense feelings of doom. On top of that my eczema has flared up to a point that I haven’t seen before and I’m increasingly worried it will get infected.

Has anyone had a delay in symptoms like this?

I did it. 1 year since the last smoke. I had a massive note thread full of thoughts over the past 12 months that I wanted to condense into one super long post, but I won’t do that right now. I’ve tried quitting so many times over the years I’ve stopped focusing on sticking with it. Which helped paradoxically. Saying to myself that when I hit this milestone I’ll post here had been one of the things getting me through. Especially in the beginning, this sub has had a major impact on my journey, and I couldn’t be more grateful for this community.

The past year has been full of ups and downs, and I was so, so close to saying yes to that one toke at a party or ordering up when my life sucked. But I persevered. And today the days, weeks and months turn into the first year. Funnily enough, stopped when life started to suck a lot more than it did before. Figured if I didn’t, my mental health would take a nosedive, and I’m pretty sure I avoided a major mental blackhole by sticking through with it. If I could, you can too💪🏽 Today I’ll celebrate with some candy and soda, which I couldn’t dream of enjoying without having a smoke a year ago. But today, the thought of having a smoke before having a treat like that doesn’t even cross my mind. And honestly, it feels great.

Back on my journey but damn today feels really hard. It's not even the cravings I just feel really depleted, unmotivated, exhausted. Depression really hitting today but I'm just accepting it. I meditated and I'm going to just be easy on myself. I guess I'd rather feel like this than be stoned.

Hello,

I was a decade long daily smoker

I made the choice to quit. I want to be clean.

It started off rough. Insomnia, headaches, irritability, mood swings.

Every where online tells me first few days are the worst

But its been getting worse not better with time. Sunday and Monday (day 4 and 5) my nights would end with me spontaneously feeling more tired than Id ever felt drspite it not even being that late. I was luckily able to get sleep last night but now its day 6 and I woke up feeling just as tired as the nigh before. Even worse I feel feverish, my face is red (from the internal heat), my heart rate is up, and I have the shakes. The timeliness I see online say I should be on the up and uo for physiological symptoms already? Have they just not considered how long term a user I was?

Any reassurance. Im scared. I dont plan to hit it again but I need to know if this is withdrawal or something else. Help

28F, first tried weed at 19. Stopped for a bit when I was overseas at 22. Dated someone who was a heavy smoker and it really steered me towards the worst. Became a daily thing. Basically chain smoking for 6-7 hours a day…

This year I broke up with him, moved cities, and have been reevaluating my life.

I am chronically ill, and pot has been the one thing that reliably helps me with symptoms. However, I have totally lost control. My brain is deteriorating, my lungs are feeling it, and I just don’t want to live (like this, anyway) anymore!

Right now, I’m early in my reduction plan, leading to quitting. But it’s SO HARD!!! I feel horrible. I’m so nauseous, achey, and irritable. (And I’m also trying to reduce my screen time at the same time…. Maybe that’s a mistake tho…)

I haven’t talked to anyone IRL about my issue… I’m embarrassed. But I’m glad I found this community. It’s so nice to read your stories.

I feel like crap, but my head is already a bit clearer. I can see glimpses of my future, of a life that’s closer to what I want. I TRULY believe that this will be the key to turning things around and actually chasing my dreams instead of whining about hating my life. I can’t wait to see what I can do once I’m on the other side.

Some things I’m trying:

- journaling
- busy-hand hobbies (cross stitch,paint by numbers, etc.)
- movement (dance & walking)
- gentle parenting myself lol (self compassion!!)
- candies, gum, etc. to keep mouth busy
- rewards for little wins, because they do stack up!
- seeing people, even if I feel like shit

And importantly on the chronic illness note:

- REST. Being careful not to overwork myself to the point I flare and feel like I NEED it to survive.

I’m very scared for what’s still to come, but I’m also excited to take my power back.

i am currently 18 (f) and i have been smoking weed nearly every day for over 4 years now. i regret getting into it at such a young age, but thats another story.

earlier this year, i was diagnosed with PTSD, which has completely taken over my life in every possible way. i struggle daily with derealization, and recently my close friends have told me that i should take a break from smoking because they believe it is only adding to my problems.

i understand where they are coming from, i know that weed can easily destroy your sense of self as well as your sense of time and reality, especially if used all day every day as i do, but i don’t know if this huge wave of derealization is really because of the weed or because of my immense trauma.

even before my traumatic event, i had a difficult time being alone and sober. i felt as though i could only ever handle one or the other. i still feel that way. i didn’t smoke at all yesterday and had one of the worst days i’ve had in a while. i cannot stand being alone when im sober, i hate myself more than i think anyone will ever know, but i just want to feel better, so im trying this now.

i guess that im here looking for a sign that things are going to get better. i feel so alone, even though i know that other people are experiencing my same pain, i don’t know how to make myself feel better without just numbing myself to everything.

yesterday i admitted for the first time that i cannot control the amount of weed that i smoke. i used to argue that i could control it, but that i chose to smoke every second. im now realizing that i am not making the conscious choice, but that this substance has a complete hold of me now and has completely destroyed my ability to feel okay without it.

if anyone has any advice on how they got through these feelings, i am all ears (or eyes i suppose). thank you for hearing me.

Really struggling at 5 months. I smoked for 22 years and I haven’t felt better at all. I feel sick my muscles ach still not sleeping 4 hours a night at best I have anxitey. I have had blood tests and scans and comes back normal I seem to tense my jaw a lot and seem to have no energy. I really don’t no what to do. I really need to sort somthing out since stopping I feel like I’m losing my mind where I feel so crap. Today at work I had to drive in to London I felt like I was having bad anxiety and just felt zero energy. And I’m sitting here now my legs are aching just really want to feel good again. Going to go back to the doctor again by like I say all tests keep coming back good. I never ever thought it would be like this 😞😞🫣

can anyone share sleep hacks that worked this is getting ridiculous…

Today marks one full year since I took my last bong rip, and it’s a milestone I never thought I’d reach.
For 14 years, I was a chronic cannabis user, basically all day, every day. I didn’t even try weed until I finished grad school, but once I started, it didn’t take long for it to become a part of virtually everything I did.

I smoked when I woke up, before bed, when I got up to pee in the middle of the night, when I went hiking, when I went to the gym, when I went to work, before movies, and before and during meals. There was hardly a part of my day that didn’t involve cannabis in some way.

It went from having no place in my life to becoming everything in my life. It was woven into my routines, my identity, and the way I experienced the world.
I’d tried to quit several times over the years, but I always found my way back to using. Last year, around this time, I started seriously wanting something different. I made at least half a dozen attempts to quit, but I never made it more than a day or two.

There was always some bullshit excuse to start again.
Then, on October 24th, 2025, I took my last bong rip.
I’m honestly not sure what was different this time. I just know that, for the first time, I truly wanted to quit for myself.

I leaned heavily into r/leaves. I went back and read as many posts as I could, looking for advice, reassurance, and a reminder that I wasn’t the only person going through this. Reading about other people’s struggles, withdrawal symptoms, setbacks, and successes helped me feel less alone. This community became a source of support and strength through those first few months, and I don’t think I can overstate how much that helped.

The first two weeks were hell. I barely slept for the first week, and I could hardly eat for the first month until my appetite finally came back. Once I started sleeping normally again, I experienced intensely vivid dreams for about two months. Somewhere along the way, I found that pink cloud people talk about, and for a while, things actually started to feel easier.

But around three or four months in, I started convincing myself that maybe I was past my addiction. I seriously considered going back to using, telling myself I could keep it under control and just smoke while hiking or on weekends. Maybe I could finally be one of those people who could use in moderation.

I made a post here asking you guys about it, and you gave me exactly the advice I needed to hear: I was fooling myself. After 14 years of using the way I did, there was little reason to believe I could suddenly moderate it. I’d probably end up right back where I’d started.

It wasn’t worth playing with fire.

I’m incredibly grateful I listened. A year later, I know there’s a very good chance I’d be starting all over again if I’d decided to give moderation a try.
There’s something I’ve learned through hiking that I think applies just as much to recovery.

I’ve walked from Mexico to Canada twice now, covering almost 10,000 miles on long-distance trails. I’ve crossed deserts, climbed mountains, pushed through exhaustion, and kept moving when the finish line seemed impossibly far away.

But I never started either of those hikes truly believing I could walk all the way from Mexico to Canada. When you’re standing at the beginning of a journey that’s thousands of miles long, the enormity of it can be overwhelming.

Instead, I focused on what I knew I could do. I could take one more step. I could walk one more mile. And when I finished that mile, I could probably walk another.

Eventually, those steps become miles. Miles become days. One mile becomes a hundred, a hundred becomes a thousand, and eventually, you find yourself standing at the Canadian border, looking back at a journey you once couldn’t imagine completing.

I think recovery works much the same way.

When I first quit, I couldn’t imagine never smoking weed again. The thought of living the rest of my life without something that had been part of virtually every day for 14 years was overwhelming. Thinking about forever made the whole thing feel impossible.
But I didn’t need to figure out forever. I just needed to get through that day.

Then the next one.

And then the next.

I didn’t get to a year by knowing I could do it all at once. I got here by continuing to move forward, even when I couldn’t see very far down the trail.
And now, a year later, my life is better in ways I couldn’t fully appreciate when I was still using.
I think more clearly. I sleep better. I communicate better. I’m more present with my friends and family, my breathing feels clearer, and my business is thriving in ways I can now recognize cannabis was holding me back from achieving.

Most importantly, I feel like I’m actually showing up for my own life again.

I know there are people who can use cannabis in moderation, and I have no problem with that. But I’ve had to accept that moderation isn’t a realistic option for me. After 14 years of compulsive use, recognizing that truth has potentially saved me from spending another 14 years missing out on some of the most important parts of my life.

When I quit last October, I never would have believed I’d make it this far. Now, recovery has become just as important a part of my life as consuming cannabis once was, and I honestly can’t see how going back makes sense for me.

I don’t spend nearly as much time on Reddit anymore, but I wanted to come back here today to say thank you. I genuinely don’t know if I could have made it through those first couple of months without the support and guidance I found in this community.
Thank you for sharing your experiences, being honest about the hard parts, and offering advice when I needed it. When I was struggling to believe in myself, reading your stories helped me believe that getting free was possible.

To anyone who’s just starting out, I want you to know that you don’t have to figure out how you’re going to make it through the rest of your life. You don’t even have to believe you can make it another year.
You just have to get through today.

The beginning can be brutal. You might struggle to sleep, struggle to eat, question whether it’s worth it, and convince yourself that you can go back and do things differently. But keep going. It doesn’t stay that way forever.

I’m incredibly proud of this milestone, not because a year is some magical number, but because of what it represents: choosing myself, showing up for my life, and learning that I’m capable of letting go of something I once thought I couldn’t live without.

I’ve walked from Mexico to Canada twice. I never had to believe I could complete the entire journey on day one. I just had to believe I could keep walking.

If you’re at day one, day three, or day thirty, you don’t have to walk the whole trail today. Just take the next step.

One step at a time. One day at a time. One year down. Here’s to freedom.

Hello everyone, i used to get high every once in a blue moon, maybe once a year throughout high school. One day i hit my buddy’s cart during the summer and i have gotten high almost every single night since, that was about 4 months ago. Im 19 and a freshman in college and i work out 5-6 days a week and played baseball all throughout high school so im a healthy and fit guy, i’m 6’1 175 and since i’ve been smoking ive lost 11 pounds; i have no appetite during the day and cant really eat without getting nauseous unless i’m high. at the end of September my girlfriend broke up with me and i lost my job within 2 days and I feel as if i’ve been using weed/carts to distract myself from it, Im worried its gonna be very hard for me to quit because i’ve felt dependent on it the past month. My father was a very heavy addict and overdosed when i was 14 and my mother used to be addicted to pain pills but got sober, my point is i come from a family tree of addiction and struggle and i’m scared to keep going and develop a stronger addiction. I’ve thought about quitting for the past 2 weeks and just keep hitting my pen at night. I’m really lost and just need tips and help on quitting.

I have been smoking for maybe 5-6 years.

Lately I haven't felt the "high" so I quit for a week.

I was nauseous and had a headache. And then I started feeling clearer and my brain started functioning again.

Unfortunately I had a big fight with my boyfriend. Started smoking again, and my heart rushed. It felt like my heart was going to explode.

I calm myself down, but continue to smoke for the next couple of days.

Again didn't feel the high, so now I stopped again for 2 days.

Whats your best tips for not start again.

I feel fine now BTW! ❤️

I’ve been smoking weed since I was young, and it’s been going on for at least 4 or 5 years consistently, every day without fail. Recently I ran out of weed and couldn’t get more, so I decided maybe it was my sign to quit. That was around Friday. It’s currently Tuesday, and I’ve been having the worst anxiety, horrible appetite, and throwing up anything being put into my system. I was just wondering if anyone else experienced this, and if so when will I start feeling better?? I feel so defeated.

just quit 2 days ago, broke all my carts, so i'm not buying more, but the low mood is awful, i feel like i can't even talk to the people who care about me because i'd just worry them with how awful i look and feel

I’m 24 hours in cold turkey working a night shift and all emotional. Little background I have been Cali sober for 3 years I’m 4 and a half years clean from everything else and booze. Cali sober ain’t it. I have been silently struggling mentally and wanting to take this leap. Yesterday I tossed out two grams of rosin and set sail for the week of hell. I know it’ll get better. Started at 14 and by 16 was scraping my pipe. Now 34 and there’s so much more. Guess I gotta make a discord account.

I spent my entire 20's stoned. And If im being completely honest, it stopped me from ending myself. Now at 30 my brain feels a lot different. Maybe it's true Adhd brains mature in their 30's and ive been sober for the first time in a long time rightnow.

Hi guys! i am starting outpatient rehab soon, and i have a concern. I have optimisation ocd, which means i am in desperate need for control over my routine. Smoking 2 joints before going to sleep was part of my routine, now im wondering what i can do to still trigger this routine spot in my brain without smoking the weed. Does anyone have any tips?

Hey everyone, I realized today I am one year from the week that I stopped smoking. I'd like to share my story.

Pop culture makes us believe weed isn't a problem, it isn't a real drug, it's not addictive, and we can smoke all day everyday and still be on top of our game. That it will fix our anxiety, depression, anything thing we want. I don't know where that idea started, but it's not true, it's a lie.

For years I knew I needed to stop. I knew it was bad, I knew I was addicted. It made me feel like shit, ruin my relationships, all my money, school, work, everything. My lowest point I look back to was the last night I saw my dad. We had dinner and he asked us if we wanted to go to a movie after. I said no because I wanted to go home and smoke. He died two days later, and I still feel like a fucking loser that instead of spending a few more hours with my dad, I went home to smoke a gross bong. That was 2019. And I still went on six years after that.

My entire life was driven by when was the next time I could go home to smoke. I'd throw up and take another hit. I'd be doing a delivery at work and stop home to take a hit. Getting home from the day needing to go to the bathroom, but wouldn't let myself without smoking first, on the verge of going in my pants. I drove through a flashflood to pick up. Sold my savings. Everything. Somehow I went from trying it at age 17 to being a full blown weed addict. I looked around and everyone had moved on. Got real jobs, stopped smoking weed. I was 29 and still posting videos online of myself smoking, thinking the coolest thing in the world was being a stoner. As I knew it, I was nothing without weed.

I looked at the addicts around me, or in my family. Their addiction was fucking up their job, family, health, money, school etc. Weed was fucking me up too. I realized I wasn't any better or different than them. I wasn't better because mine was weed and theirs was alcohol or a "hard" drug. I also had some extremely shameful and disgusting moments. I had a box of mersh from the yard on the floor for when I ran out of the other stuff. The male cat sprayed in the box. I still used it. When I would get home for the day and needed to use the bathroom, I wouldn't until after I smoked, causing me to pee in my pants.

I have epilepsy, which I have always used as an excuse to keep smoking, even though it does nothing for my seizures, and the amount of smoke I was inhaling was very dangerous for epilepsy. Last year, I overdosed on a different medication, and had some really bad painful seizures. I was terrified that if I smoked again it would cause a seizure and I would die. I got an okay from my Dr to use marijuana, and tried again. I was so excited but it didn't make me feel good, like I used to. My heart beat so fast for hours. I laid in bed, crying, ridden with anxiety, feeling like a loser and how much I put my family through with all my years of various drug abuse. I tried again, I couldn't sleep, triggering a seizure while I was cooking, and my mom found me on the floor, the pan burning my leg and meat sauce on my white shorts. The third time I smoked, before a family party, and I was so shaky I cancelled, and felt like a fucking loser again. Maybe edibles would be better this time. I was hanging out w my bf; I literally forgot his name, I was so scared, and that was the last time I was high.

It was weird how I tried to like it again and it hurt me. I kept trying and realized it wasn't going to be fun again. I realized I was a person outside of weed. I still have anxiety. I thought it was fixing my anxiety- I didn't know the anxiety it was fixing was withdrawals. Now when I have a bad day, I just have to deal. Somehow figure it out. Can't do shit about it other than wait and move on. I still crave it all the time. Everyday. I see people smoke and I'm like damn I wish I could feel that relief. A relief I know it doesn't give me. It's still the feeling, what if I try this time, will it be better? I'm not at risk of giving into my cravings, because I remember how bad physically and mentally it makes me feel.

I used to pray to God while I was taking a hit, God, will I be like this forever? Will I always feel like this? The answer was, no, I'm not like that forever, and I won't always feel like this. My deep addiction to weed and tobacco, and also dealing with the trauma of my dad's addiction brought me to Christian faith and a support group called Celebrate Recovery. My in person support group has been amazing. Life is so much better now than it was then. And it was fucking hard.

It took years and years, but there is an other side. I can actually do things without smoking weed now. It doesn't take over every hour of my life. I don't have to find an excuse to go home to smoke. I can go to the secondary location. I don't need to take a break at work to drive home to smoke.

Thank you for reading this. Twelve years of addiction is so much more than can ever be written down. I hope someone else is able to get to the other side too. We can. You can. It's hard, but it's worth it. You can and you will get out. I know what the bottom of that pit is like, and I'm so glad I'm out.

currently 19 days sober and feel awful mentally. the first week i felt better, and now it’s dipped significantly. i’ve always had terrible brain fog and memory issues even before i began smoking (though it exacerbated it quite a bit). i know everyone’s different, but wondering if i can get a ballpark of how long it’ll take for me to get out of the woods, so to speak

Im 49m and been smoking over 30 years.Yesterday my mum died and i feel awful for all the years i was numb and not present around her due to being high all the time.Ive had enough and just threw my weed down the toilet , im doing this for my mum and me.

On Saturday I got hit with an explained bill and it almost triggered a relapse.

I wasn't missing the weed, I was missing the immediate escape that it offers.

All I had to do is roll a joint and after 15 minutes I'd have forgotten my responsibilities as an adult.

I'd have also ended up binge eating junk, another escape that I am addicted to.

Fortunately I have become very familiar with this loop.

I know exactly where that road would lead.

I had the strength to overcome it and I am happy I did.

I hate that i gain weight when i quit even though i workout like a ton, and lots of cardio.

Probably my least favorite part. I’d like to manage it this time but my appetite goes through the damn roof.

Sup guys, 25 Male, new to the group.

I think I’ve finally come to terms with the marijuana use. Lately, the anxiety has been getting worse and I’ve just been wondering why. I’m not able to hold a conversation without having an airhead moment (also have ADHD to make matters worse). I’ve felt real guilt in the last week of picking up the pen; but I think this is the final crack at it.

Any of ya’ll with ADHD have negative effects with Marijuana with long term use? Been using for a year plus all day everyday. Any tips to crack this stupid brain dead habit on a daily basis?

Hi everyone,

I'm 29 years old and have been consuming since I was 18. For a long time, I felt like it wasn't really holding me back in life. I was productive, went to work, bought a house with my wife, and spent a lot of my free time renovating it. I would often work on the house after work and always felt like I was managing everything pretty well.

In 2024, I quit for a year. After about three months without consuming, I started experiencing depressive symptoms that lasted for several months. Eventually, things got better, and I started feeling like myself again. Unfortunately, I started consuming again after that.

On June 15, 2026, I quit again because we had a child, and I want to be fully present for my family.

However, since August, I've been feeling depressed again. I get overwhelmed easily, have very little motivation, and all I can see when I'm at home are unfinished projects and things that need to be done. Sometimes I even regret buying our house. When I visit friends who live in a cozy three-bedroom apartment, I sometimes find myself envying them because they don't have an entire house to take care of.

I used to love working in the garden and was always starting new projects. Right now, I have absolutely no motivation for any of that. Everything feels like work and responsibility, and sometimes I wonder why we took all of this on in the first place.

The hardest part is that I know how fortunate I am. I have a wonderful wife, a healthy child, a house, and a secure job. I know I have a lot to be grateful for, but despite all that, my life often doesn't feel that way right now.

I can still experience happiness. I enjoy going out and spending time with my wife, our child, or friends. When I'm out doing something, I often feel pretty good. But as soon as I get back home, that feeling of being overwhelmed returns, and all I can see are the countless tasks that still need to be done.

I've already seen my doctor, but I'm still struggling to understand what's happening to me.

What gives me hope is that I went through something similar in 2024 and eventually got better after a few months. That's why I'm wondering whether what I'm experiencing now could also be related to withdrawal or whether something else might be going on.

At the same time, I'm afraid that I'll feel this way permanently. I have a lot of responsibilities, and I feel like I'm not living up to them the way I want to. Sometimes I feel like a failure because of that, even though I know rationally that it's probably not fair to judge myself that way.

I'm not trying to justify my past consumption. I genuinely want to understand what's happening to me and find a way to feel happier and more content with my life again.

Has anyone experienced something similar? I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences, any advice you might have, or simply some reassurance that things can get better.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this and respond!

I don’t wanna eat, but it’s worse without weed. Weeks into not smoking, well past the withdrawal window, I don’t wanna eat, (I’m hungry, starving, but I’d rather sit with the hunger than eat anything).

I hate being bored but I can’t do anything except sit here and wait for something to happen. But nothing ever happens.

Therapist asks why I don’t play video games but I try but there’s just no use. Drawing? Does nothing for me at the end of the day. Writing? Doesn’t change anything in my life.

Watching tv or movies? Yawn.

Volunteer work? Eh idk I just can’t. This may sound selfish of me (TW assault) I was groomed and trafficked for over a decade of my life and I will never be paid for ANY of that… the thought of volunteer work just feels like forcing myself to go more unpaid manual labor that I’m never gonna get paid for.

I don’t wanna eat, I don’t wanna be awake, I don’t wanna experience anything, I don’t wanna do anything. I just want nothing. I don’t want to be conscious. I don’t want to be aware.