Smoking weed is a pleasant pastime for some people and a regular habit for others, but for both groups there may come a time when quitting marijuana completely is on the agenda. Whether that decision is based on financial, social or health concerns it’s not always easy to simply stop without any negative consequences.
The fear of withdrawal symptoms means some people who would like to stop smoking weed put off actually doing it, and that’s entirely understandable. After all, there are plenty of stories shared around the Internet describing the possible bad stuff ahead for the first few weeks or months, but does it always have to be like that?
Going cold turkey and suffering indefinitely may feel like the only way to quit weed, but it is entirely possible to do it without so much pain, angst and drama. If you are looking to stop smoking weed this year and want to bypass as many withdrawal symptoms as possible this handy guide on how to do just that could be invaluable.
Set a realistic timescale
Some people get carried away by a surge of fierce determination, set a quit date for the very near future, then feel stressed and panicky as unpleasant an unexpected symptoms hit them hard. Yet there’s a simple way to reduce this risk. Although every single person who smokes weed and then quits will react differently, the accepted rule of thumb is that the unpleasant outcomes of detoxing from weed are connected directly to how much you used, and how often you used it. It’s important to understand that you need to slowly stop smoking weed in order to do it successfully.
Long term and/or heavy users generally have more severe symptoms; with around three quarters forced to deal with one or more of the following: a disturbed sleep pattern, heightened anxiety, boredom and irritability. Perhaps obviously, the chance of a relapse in such cases is quite high. Counter this by building enough time into your plan to allow for a slow but significant reduction in the amount and frequency smoked. This will make the final step much easier.
It’s also worth creating a strategic plan for the first month. It can take up to a week after the last smoke for marijuana withdrawal symptoms to appear, so a solid plan for the first four weeks is essential, especially if the first week seems very easy.
The strategy in brief
- Smoke less often, and use less weed each time
- Stop smoking before bed to start recovering normal sleep patterns
- Exercise to speed up your metabolism, which in turn rids your body of the THC
- Drink more water too, for the same kind of effect as exercise.
- Expect to have appetite changes – it’s not the end of the world if you don’t eat ‘properly’ for a few weeks, though it’s wise to avoid post-weed trigger foods.
- Eliminate or create management strategies for any pockets of anxiety in your life.