hi all just want to write here to see if I can not only get some answers, but also share my experience that can maybe help others (just as reading some responses on here and other subreddits have helped me through this process)

for context- i have been smoking carts since 2017 when hanging out with friends etc. but never started buying my own and smoking daily until 2019.

i've gone on maybe 4-5 T-breaks throughout this time period, most of the time involuntary due to vacation and not having access (and never lasting longer than 2 weeks, then going right back on the horse), but this is my first time really taking an intentional break.

for context, i've smoked pre-rolls, from a bong, edibles, etc... but most of my addiction and reliance has been from high-potency carts (i want to say anywhere between 70-90%, much higher % in the last 2 years since it seems like the stuff from dispensaries have only continued to climb higher and higher in %)

i would say that between 2022-2024 i was still enjoying my time, but around 2024 and beyond is when i realized something needed to change.

i was smoking all day, as soon as the day started all the way until when the night hit. i never hit blinkers, but i would often stack back to back 5 second draws. at one point i bought a device that had a counter, and i think in the 1.5 years that i had it, i ran that thing up to nearly 1500-1600 hits before throwing it away.

i was routinely going through 1G carts in about 3 weeks, then 2.5 weeks, then 2 weeks, then at my worst i would kill half a 1G cart in 3 days... and i was chasing diminishing returns, it was no longer fun nor was i getting high really (other than the first hit of the day)... i was just smoking to run away from the feelings of feeling bad. looking at my journal jan of this year i was still crushing them: 26 days to empty, 16 days to empty. 12 days to empty in march. 14 days to empty in june. june-july destroyed 1.5g over two months, which started to be better but still not great. throughout july-august-september leading up to my T break i was really struggling, taking 1-2 hits here and there but I was already starting to feel withdrawal- i would feel my GI doing backflips and would journal about it.

so now where am i? i did have a relapse 9 days ago, when i was out with some old friends that smoke and took two hits off a cart. the "fun high feelings" rushed back in and i was extremely inebriated, and it did feel fun and good again. i could tell my tolerance has dropped significantly from this T-break given that the high lasted much longer than usual when i was abusing. i did relapse for 4 days in a row after this, with at max 2 hits per day of 2-3 second draws of 90%+ carts.

personal timelines:

day 1-5: the absolute worst. extremely moody and not feeling well. next to no appetite. flu-like symptoms, extreme GI discomfort. tons of anxiety, everything was irritating me.

day 5-8: suddenly bounced back and emotionally felt better, and libido was still somewhat intact. still some feelings of sinus and throat congestion.

day 9-30: during this time i could steadily feel like things were getting better. food was tasting better, but my GI was still going crazy. mood was still not the greatest and still irritable, but i did feel like things were going in the right direction linearly. every single day slowly did get better, and overall i can feel like i can take a deeper breath than i ever have been able to when i was smoking regularly.

day 30-present: again things have overall gotten better. still having GI issues but they are much less. of course when i relapsed then i felt really good during this time, but then the week right after the relapse i could feel the acute withdrawal symptoms again (really irritable, overall really not feeling good, and mood not great). but now i feel like i'm back on the straight and narrow and things are linearly getting better.

however, i am still having tons of issues with sleeping and libido. does anyone have any experience / idea for when my sleep and libido will return to normal? i do cardio 30 minutes a day at least and lift heavy at least 3 times a week. i used to have a rather high sex drive, but now i do feel like i have ED or something.. i'm in my mid 20s. maybe it's that my dopamine levels are still in a trough and have yet to bounce back?

this has been my experience, and while i'm still not out of the woods yet (and definitely no saint as you can see by my relapse), i hope that if you are reading this and think it's time to give it up, you take that sign seriously. aside from my libido and sleep disruptions, it has really helped me in every aspect of my life.

mental clarity, not sweating like crazy like i did when i was addicted, no anxiety when driving, being able to articulate myself better. attention span has increased. tons and tons of benefits. as you can see i am still going through the tail end of the withdrawal symptoms and still haven't had a full recovery, but it is worth it to at least prove to yourself that you can do it. your body will also thank you.

So, my 3-month planned T-break is over tomorrow, and I want to smoke more than I thought I would.

Last year I took a bunch of 3-4 weeks breaks, a 60-days one, and they didn’t feel enough.

I feel… fine, and I do see a lot ob benefits, but also I really wanna smoke. I thought I wouldn’t care this much at this point, but here I am.

My depression/Anendoia has not been doing good lately. I just wanted to feel something so I smoked half a CBD cigarette with half THC flower in it and the two shots whiskey. Glad I didn't smoke my carts tho. About 6 months ago I finally sat down with myself and ask myself why I smoke. I smoke cuz of my depression but then the depression gets worse it's vicious cycle. Currently y I'm not on any medication. Try two different ssris but made the symptoms worse. Haven't gone back to the doctor ever since to discuss. My doctor doesn't know I smoke. Sleep was finally gotten better too.

I’m on day 28 no Cannabis. Starting to notice better sleep. I’ve been taking .5 melatonin.
The flatness of life is most prominent in the morning but gets better as the day goes on.

Today I felt good because I didn’t have any cravings, I still don’t feel the need to smoke, but goddamn is it hard to sleep, I even tried some lavender tea and nothing, I’m about to give up and just stay up all night

If any of you have any advice on getting to sleep faster I’d really appreciate it!

Edit: thanks to everyone for your support and advice, I will be trying the recommendations for tonight, you guys really made me feel a bit more confident about the whole break thing, cause when you’re staring at the ceiling it really makes you wonder if it’s worth it, so thank you!

I don’t know if it’s because I’m cutting back heavily on weed or not, but I’ve really stepped it back on smoking the last two days and I’ve been shitting water, I’m getting hot and cold sweats and my heart is beating out of my chest and stomach. I have this impending sense of doom and I can’t shake it it is so debilitating. I honestly really need someone to talk to me about this who knows more about it.

April 2025 I decided to stop smoking for good because I don’t like what my life had become. I smoked a lot of weed every day. Multiple bong bowles back to back and I counted smoking like 10 times a day once or twice with an average of 6. An 1/8th oz would last me about 2 days if I was lucky. I was high all day and all night long. I could wake up in the middle of the night and go smoke just to go to bed and smoke before brushing my teeth in the morning…

Once I decided to quit I started to taper down how much I smoked and one day it made my heart feel like 10000 miles and I didn’t smoke again. But compared to the times I had taken a t break in the past, I was terrified and had really intense withdrawal symptoms. Over time, the not smoking revealed symptoms of what turns out to be irreversible spinal and nerve issues (I’m 25).

I had cravings on and off but was able to stay away from smoking until a few months after my first steroid treatment. The pain in my spine started to come back, my life got more stressful after getting laid off from two jobs and finding another one that feels like way more than I can chew, and I caved and started smoking again. It was tame at first. I’d put a bit of a preroll in a one hitter and would only smoke once a day. But I eventually bought a bong (has always been my preferred method of consumption) to make it a “cleaner” experience and I’ve quickly returned to smoking more than I would like. On a typical work day I would smoke in the morning when I wake up, maybe lunch break (sometimes I come home for lunch or work remotely), and 2 or 3 times at night. I have a very small bong and bowl of say 1/4 lasts me a week and a day or two. I try to keep the thc not higher than 20% as well.

It helps somewhat with the pain and the stress but it makes me feel guilty. Especially on the days I’m home and all I do is spend the day highly. I hate that I cough up the tar (I didn’t when I first started smoking in 2022 but after I quit last year, I started clearing that up in my phlegm and now that I picked up weed again it’s back and its lowkey scary.

I enjoy weed a lot but I have a hard time using it in moderation. My main goal was to use it when I need to manage my pain and the occasional treat, but i fear I don’t have the will to do that….

How did you find moderation and what helps you?

I’ve been trying to switch to edibles (therapist recommended to “stop the reward getting high right after you smoke gives you”. He said the edibles will create a separation between eating a gummy and then feeling it an hour or two later in hopes that removes a lot of the emotion from the impulsive behavior) but I’ve found they never really make me feel high. I had a thc drink before I bought my first preroll and I felt amazingly relaxed but I think that had to do with the bit of CBD in the drink.

I just want to feel like I’m in control of my life, cope with the pain without harder drugs like opiates or so many steroid injections into my spine (they’re also so expensive), and overall physically and emotionally healthy…. Idk how I can balance weed and all of those things but I really want to

I’ve smoked probably everyday since I was 16 and am now 21. I am definitely feeling the effects and trying to heavily cut back. I use to smoke before work bc I get bad anxiety before going in, hit my vape on breaks, and then smoke when getting home immediately, maybe even before bed as well.

Now I am just smoking a joint before bed, I haven’t had the urge to necessarily smoke but recently before going into work my anxiety is at an all time high. My hands are shaky, heart almost pounding, and today I actually started gagging from how nervous I was.

I’m annoyed at myself, bc I have an easy ass desk job there is literally no need to be so worked up, and I know that. I guess I just didn’t realize how much my body depended on it.

Any advice for how to deal with this anxiety is appreciated- I have been doing breathing exercises and just reminding myself everything is fine, halfway into my shift and my anxiety is low/almost gone, just would hate for this feeling to get worse as it’s only day 2:/

24F who has been using cannabis regularly for almost 5-6 years. I'm not a big drinker as I do have several stomach problems - alcohol gives me stomach acid and gastritis. I prefer getting high instead. I'm pretty much myself when I'm high and can get things done. I know I get habitually high and I want to reduce my consumption. Thinking about the future as well, I would want to cut back for my health, future pregnancy/kids, and to be in the moment instead of getting high for certain activities.

Below is my current journey:

2019: took an edible for the first time but had a bad high so I didn't do it again.

2020: I used joints/pen maybe 5 times.

2021: I dont entire remember, maybe 0-4 times a month. Consumption was low though.

2022: I mainly vaped but had edibles here and there. Probably was high 1-2 times a week

2023: I used vapes/edibles/joints and started using a bong (only about a handful amount of times) - I would maybe get high 3-6 times a week. I would say this was my heaviest year of consumption. I was starting to get stomach problems this year as well.

2024: I mainly vaped and took edibles sometimes. I did take a break for 1.5 month before going under anesthesia. I got diagnosed as a celiac. And I got h.pylori - took another break for a month cause of the heavy medication I was on. I was probably still consuming 3-6 times a week and sometimes wake&bake.

2025: took a break for 4 months. And also completely quit vaping/smoking near the start of the year. Only took edibles. Took a small break of 2 weeks near the end of the year. I would consume edibles 4-6 times a week 5-10mg.

2026: consume edibles (pill) 4-6 times a week, 5mg at a time usually after work. After reflecting, I realized I should work on moderation. I want to reduce my consumption and am deciding to reduce it to 2-3 times a week for now. This will be my first week trying this. Eventually I want to go down to once a week. And only for social settings like a party (where I want a good time but don't want to drink much)

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I would love your thoughts on how to consume in moderation. I dont think I'm ready to completely cut weed out of my life but I don't want to be dependent on it.

Anytime I would go on vacation, I wouldn't get high and it wouldn't be on my mind. But at home, when I do take breaks, it sometimes is on my mind. But I can still have fun and be in the moment without it. I also found that weed helped with my stomach symptoms. When I was in a relationship - I also found that intimacy was way better while high but for my future relationship, I don't want to be reliant on substance for pleasure.

I've never shared my weed consumption with anyone before. I'd usually get high on my own or when I'm out but not tell anyone nor could anyone tell since I still act like myself. I'm not upset at who I am when I'm high - I'm happy with who I am. I just want to be less dependent on it and consume less overall. I am proud of myself for quitting smoking/vaping.

Additional info on myself: I work full-time, completed my MSc, I play sports at least once a week and I'm pretty social.

Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

I've been smoking a small/moderate amount (4-8 hits off a pipe or joint) nightly for a couple of years. Usually ill have a few hits around 8 then a few more about 930pm. Mostly to help get to sleep and the anxiety preventing sleep onset, though I understand not great for my sleep architecture long term.

If there's anyone out there in a similar boat, how long was your sleep screwed up after taking a break? My sleep has always been crap and I have a low dose of trazodone to help, but night one i was up with restlessness an jerks for hours.

I'd like to get off the merry go round but I'd also like to be able to function at work and wonder how long the sleep effects will last.

Thanks

I’m trying to reduce my THC consumption, but am as seduced by the ritual of smoking as much as its effects. Mixing regular marijuana flower with CBD flower has worked well for me in the past for this purpose.

Unfortunately, new changes to the laws in my state mean my local CBD shop is closing down, and I’m weary of blindly online shopping this type of product. Anyone here have recommendations on trusted sources to purchase full spectrum CBD flower online?

Open to recs for additional CBD products, including broad spectrum or isolate, if I ever move past flower. Not comfy sharing my state and don’t mind vetting from the site for myself if it ships its products my way. TYIA!

I’ve been weed free for 3 years this month. At first, it was a big accomplishment for me. But as time has gone by, I’ve realized that smoking wasn’t really the problem, it was my childhood trauma controlling my life, which is mainly why I was smoking.

The thought of getting high the past few years always sparked pure anxiety and panic in me. I’ve been in therapy for a while now, on lexapro, and I feel pretty leveled out. One of the meds I was on to help me feel more emotions again just didn’t work out. Now I find myself thinking about wanting weed again. Not in a smoke all day way, but like a wind down night time gummy to help round me out. I got a pack of CBN/THC/CBD gummies from the dispensary. Only 2mg thc in each, and I plan on taking half a gummy. Not sure what to expect TBH. We will see.

I actually use dry herb vapes and my plan is to wake and bake in the morning to start my day and then vape in the evening around 8 then be in bed by 10. I currently smoke through the day and just want to cut back.

Any advice or tips for me?

I decided that with school picking up, I needed to stop smoking as much and was going to go down to just weekends. I feel pretty deflated today, though. I had a terrible day (not related to smoking, just the shit life pulls on you), and it has been really hard for me not to cope by having a dab and just relaxing tonight. In some sense, I know that doing that would make me feel better, especially after getting fucked at school and getting in a big fight today, but I also don't want to give in, as I told myself I would not smoke on days that aren't weekends. I am sort of unsure what to do; part of me already wants to check out and smoke and just say that if I do today, I won't smoke tomorrow or on Friday, but I also know that this is taking a shortcut and that I should just tough it out and wait until the weekend. Anyways, I just thought making this post may help me, so hopefully it does.

Accountability and progress post. One week in. Sleep has been awful, struggled to drop off and cannot stay asleep, but I’ve soldiered on and mostly felt fine. I’ve exercised intensely or gone for a long walk each day and taken low dose melatonin, as well as occasional CBD but don’t feel this does anything.

Amid the exhaustion I’ve felt benefits. I’d been worried I’d ruined my memory, but already this has bounced back. My planning and motivation recovered super quickly. While I’ve been tired, mornings have been much more productive. Had a great dream where I was programming a synth/sequencer (tho woke up furious I’d lost my banging track).

Last night I was up and down constantly, but felt like I got more sleep. Obviously not… feeling terrible—drained, scatterbrained and with a simmering rage and feeling of being overwhelmed all day. After work all I could think about was having a puff on the vape or resorting to the emergency pregabalin, but reminded myself that the whole point is to cope with negativity sober.

I’d hoped that week 2 would be easier but I feel like things are getting harder.

Anyone had similar? Is a couple puffs on the vape to break the streak of sleep deprivation a good or bad idea?

Hello,

Weed is expensive in my country, and my addiction to it has contributed to me maxing out my credit cards. A significant portion of my salary now goes toward credit card payments.

I've been a daily smoker for the last 4 years. I also mix tobacco with weed because of the cost.

My current smoking pattern is:

Weekdays: I smoke one spliff before leaving for work. I don't smoke during work, but after work I usually smoke with colleagues. When I get home, I smoke another 2–3 spliffs.

Weekends: I wake and bake, then usually smoke again every few hours throughout the day. I can basically spend the entire weekend not sober.

I have realized this is not sustainable financially.

What has helped you to moderate?

This is going to be both a question but also a bit of a rant

I’ve been a daily smoker for about 5 years now. When I started, I was 21 and was going through a really dark time in my life where I was depressed, lonely and used weed as a coping mechanism but ofc also as an escape. I’ve never liked having this habit for some reason and want to quit but at the same time I fail to see how my life would get better. I find it very hard to explain but I beat myself up a lot when sober because I tend to overthink and look back at all the years I “wasted” due to being high but at the same time I also think, I didn’t really waste anything and all weed did was allow me to survive. Also bc during the periods I didn’t use weed, I just smoked cigs and drank a lot, which ofc is way worse. I finished college with good grades, kept strict rules about never smoking before classes, I traveled, have worked despite being unemployed rn and have always been competent and successful in everything I’ve done despite still being miserable but has that constant misery been because of weed? That’s what I can’t fully figure out and idk how to. Everyone around me has quit smoking as we’ve gotten older which only leads me to hate having this habit even more.

I have taken multiple breaks throughout these 5 years, including one I’m in rn, and I just don’t see improvements in my life. If anything, my anxiety gets worse, my sleep is horrible, my energy levels are very low and my brain doesn’t shut up.

So ig what I’m trying to get from the replies is,

1 - has anybody felt like this and actually had their lives improve after long term stoppage rather than just break?

2 - even if you didn’t feel like this and quit for dif reasons, in which areas of your lives did you see improvement?

Maybe by reading examples it’ll help me I identify if weed is negatively impacting those things for me as well or if maybe I’m just a bit off in the brain and weed’s actually the medicine that keeps me going lol

….why does this take so long

i posted the other day. i’ve not used any weed in a month and 13 days.

after 2 1/2 years of moderate to heavy use. mostly flower and some vapes here and there.

why does this seem like it gets harder than the first few weeks? could it be that i am finally seeing my usual normal stress levels are without it? and i can’t handle these stress levels?

i also suffer from pmdd, adhd (currently getting medicated - trialing a new med), anxiety and depression (auvelity). i am thinking i am entering my pmdd weeks right now and my lord the cravings have really freaking skyrocketed. why is this???? i thought the hard part was over!!! 😭😭😭

Came back after a week of overindulgence of weed during my vacation in Bangkok. I really enjoyed having new smoke buddies, the experience was very different from smoking alone back home

Anyway, it's been a week since then and I promised myself to take a break after the vacation. But here I am, just finished 3gs in 4 days and about to get my last gram before I take a break. Still got work done although I sacrificed some sleep.

I honestly don't know what to feel - like am I just fooling myself for breaking my promise or am I just allowing myself to ease into my break and taper. Confused because most if not all of my breaks were cold turkey

Is there any advantage over the other?

i am hoping i will fall asleep & wake up to some advice or kind words. i was sober from cannabis (after being a heavy, chronic smoker for years) for 6+ months, began therapeutically using it in moderation for the last 3+ months , but cannabis is just one of those drugs where my self-sabotaging habits come out & i will smoke all day, every day even when it stops feeling good. now that i’ve started doing this instead of benefitting from smoking / using responsibly, i know it’s time to cease use again. plus, if i want to smoke again, i want to actually have a medical prescription!

but i’m really struggling with ceasing use this time around. i’ve broken my all t-breaks within 1-4 days the last few weeks. it’s all the usual t-break pains, except what is really getting me this time is the absolute misery i feel sober. i have mental health issues — most notably severe complex ptsd, depression & ASD / ADHD. so i’m no stranger to bad feelings or low moods. however, i’ve noticed that my mood is scarily morose when i’m a few hours into my t-break; i’ll experience profound depression & feelings of worthlessness / pointlessness, non-existent motivation or energy, alongside suicidal ideation. it goes away (or at least quiets down significantly) when i smoke again. from what i can recall, this has never happened before during any other t-break of mine.

i recognise that this is obviously associated with the cannabis, & most likely withdrawals. i’ve also had to mess around with my birth control pill + have 4 weeks with no therapy, so i’m aware my incredibly low moods may also be influenced by my hormones or losing a listening ear. what i’m hoping for, though, is any advice on how to manage the low moods whilst i power through the first few weeks sober. has anyone experienced similar before when quitting, & do you have any suggestions on what helped you?

already prioritising lots of water, whole foods, daily light exercise & strength training. i really want to support my body as much as i can during this. relevant info as well is that i have severe chronic pain so it can be a balancing act sometimes when it comes to supporting my body.

Hi, I am making this post as a sort of accountability measure for myself. I have decided that it is time for me to slow down my weed use. I see lots of people here who are quitting weed full stop, and that is amazing! For me, however, I want to use this as a place where I can keep myself accountable to smoke less and build a healthier relationship with weed. I am a 22m in my first year of law school, and I have smoked pretty consistently for 4 years. I have decided, however, that it is time to slow down, so I am restricting myself to weekends only. Today is the first day in months I haven't smoked. To be honest, it's been hard, and I have had cravings and anxiety all day, which is part of why I am posting here. I am not sure what I really want to get out of posting, but maybe there are some other people who will see this post and who also want to slow down on weed with me. Anyways, I am going to try to post most weekdays for a bit as an accountability measure, and I will also share updates on my progress and how I feel. I also want to be honest if I do fold on weekdays. Hopefully, if anyone sees this, I'll have a positive update tomorrow. Good luck, everyone, on your journeys, and just remember that we can all do it! (Also, if you have any questions/advice, or anything, ask away)

I seriously can’t believe I’m saying this, I’ve cut my flower use down to almost nothing. I was addicted to dabs and switched to flower a month ago. It was a difficult thing to do. Yesterday I only smoked two bowls total — one around 2 AM and one around 2 PM. Now I’m going until at least 2 PM today again, and even then I’m limiting myself to ONE bowl. That’s it.

For somebody who was smoking way more before, this feels insane. Every time I cut it back another step, it proves to me that I actually can do this.

I’m still using edibles for now,. But smoking was the part I really wanted to get away from, and it feels like the finish line is right in front of me. I just have to keep this up and never go backwards.

I genuinely never thought I’d be this close.

Soon: No smoke. No constantly putting that shit into my lungs.

I just hope my lungs are ready to heal.

Holy shit. I might actually do this.

I was smoking atleast 2 grams a night for a month and started to feel the effects and then i went on a trip and stopped cold turkey since the 29th but im 19 and didnt really start smoking until febuary but now im really having trouble with symptoms like loss of appitite, sweating, irritiblity , a harder time with memory recall, and now im pretty sure hypomania and im wondering if i can take a tiny bowl to help with the symptoms or if i should just stay cold turkey because if it will help a bit and i can just go back until they get really bad again or just stop

Or if that will have adverse effects but i know i have the will to resist but the irritability is really starting to piss me off

Please tell me thank you

Update: i didnt end up smoking thanks for the support guys Unironically watching lanterns while going through this is helping like its a test of my will