What Happens When You Stop Using Weed?
By: Dr. Denise Renye
Marijuana use is widespread and legal in some states and countries, but it’s still a substance that some people may find they have a complicated relationship with. I don’t have an opinion either way if the jibbah is for you but the question is, what happens if you do engage with it and choose to stop? Just like with other drugs, there’s a withdrawal period, which can last anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months. Withdrawal symptoms vary but could include vivid dreams, diminished appetite, mood changes, irritability, cravings, depression, and more.
Oftentimes the worst part of withdrawal is in the early days, meaning if you can make it to the three-day mark, ceasing marijuana use will become easier and easier. It’s also important to be aware that it is very likely you’ll feel anxious or depressed in the first 24 to 72 hours after you quit. Set yourself up for success! I suggest practicing relaxation exercises like alternate nostril breathing, letting go of tension with the breath, yoga, meditation, warm baths or journaling to help with those feelings. Having another session with your therapist may also be helpful to process what is coming up. It could be a fruitful time to explore deeper.
There will also be cravings, first on the physical level as your body adjusts to a lack of THC, but then on a mental level. Cravings often arise in response to a stimulus, whether that’s stress or an intense emotion so again, a coping strategy like yoga, meditation, journaling, or EFT (tapping) will be helpful. Letting trusted and individuated friends know you are taking a break or saying “goodbye” to marijuana may also be helpful.
Also, if you were using weed to suppress a certain phenomenon (anxiety, poor sleep, etc.), when you stop using it, whatever you were trying to suppress will come back stronger, which is called the “rebound effect.” This applies to not only known effects, but also effects unknown to you, such as dreaming.
Neurologist and sleep expert Dr. Hans Hamburger found smoking weed suppresses REM sleep, which is where you relive the things you have experienced and come to terms with them. “Processing all kinds of psychological influences is something you do in REM sleep,” he said in an interview with Vice. “You also anticipate the things that will happen the next day or the days after that. While you're sleeping, you already consider those and make decisions in advance."
That means once you stop, your dreams will become more vivid (aka, the rebound effect) and that’s a good thing because dreams help us connect with ourselves. But don’t worry – your dreams will settle down again. "It is a temporary attempt to catch up on all the dreaming you missed when you were smoking weed,” Hamburger said. “It usually goes away after two to three weeks. Your body will know when it's all caught up and ready to go back to business as usual." However, when you are trying to renegotiate your relationship with something like marijuana, two or three weeks can feel very long. But, please remember, this is temporary.
In the meantime, be prepared for fatigue – you’ll likely feel tired from insomnia or the strange dreams, and that also translates into irritability. (It’s not the right time to throw a party, for instance.) However, once you make it through the withdrawal period, within a month, your memory could improve. A small study found a month-long break from marijuana banished memory fog from young people’s minds.
Study participants took drug, attention, and memory tests during the study period and researchers found pot didn’t seem to affect participants’ ability to focus, but it did affect their memory. After just one week, those who stopped using weed performed moderately better on memory tests than they had at the beginning of the study. The effect was even more pronounced after a month.
Other positive benefits of stopping marijuana use, especially if you’ve been smoking it, is healing your lungs. Pot contains many of the same toxins, irritants, and carcinogens as tobacco smoke so, yes, it also damages your lungs, although not as badly. The length of time it takes for your lungs to heal depends on how long you were smoking weed prior.
It’s not easy to give up any substance or habit, but knowing what to expect will help you succeed, if that’s the path you choose.
Addiction recovery meditation can be found here.
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References
Sanders, Laura. “Young people’s memory improves after stopping marijuana use.” Science News for Students. November 28, 2018. https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/young-peoples-memory-improves-after-stopping-marijuana-use
Stoffels, Twan. “Why Your Dreams Are Suddenly So Intense After You Stop Smoking Weed.” Vice. March 4, 2015. https://www.vice.com/en/article/7b7gn4/why-are-your-dreams-suddenly-so-intense-when-you-stop-smoking-weed-876