Gave Up Cannabis After 10 Years - Emotionless Zombie (even After 6 Months)
Oct 18, 2012
I was 17 when I started smoking cannabis daily and smoked quite a lot a day, I'm now 27 I never missed a day in that 10 years that I didn't smoke... I gave up smoking it 6 months ago and I still can't remember what happens the day before and am always having fights with my girlfriend cause I'm always not bothered about anything and seem to have a massive lack of emotion. I don't want to be like this and was the main reason I gave up, I was never like this before I smoked and thought that it was just the fact I was smoking that made me like it, now I've quit for 6 months and don't feel any different, I still feel light headed at times have blurred vision and can't concentrate on anything longer than 5 mins and forget important things all the time, I really feel like I have screwed my brain up and I'm scared I will never get back to normal, i so wish I never smoked in the first place... I was like everyone else and thought the entire time that cannabis was harmless and that I'm just lazy and emotionless because I was still smoking and that if I stopped it would all go back to normal, well It hasn't so far!!! About 3 months ago I found out my sister had breast cancer my parents and everyone were shocked and scared for her, I didn't feel anything and knew this isn't right and it scared me, I love my sister but I just can't seem to feel any emotions... So I guess what I'm asking is has anyone ever gone through this and eventually it does all go back to normal or have I screwed my life up and now i'm an emotionless zombie?
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4 days ago my friends told me to try weed and so I did but only 2 small hits, after that I felt what every person trying weed for the first time felt. The next day we tried another one, but my friends made me do 3 hits, once again small hits and felt the same thing as the day before. The next day I woke up and still felt 'high' felt like a zombie walking doin tv. Stuff I didn't remember doing, 4 days have passed since the first time I tried it and I still feel 'high' And i feel almost in an unreal state of mind. like i'm not all there. I try to deal with it, but i really want to feel normal again. It wasn't laced because no one else felt weird but me. i have no idea what's going on. Whenever I walk around or do stuff, I feel like a zombie and don't remember doing the stuff sometimes. I guess what I'm trying to ask is how long will this effect last? And if I need to go get medical attention what do I say because I'm only 18 will the doctor call police or something?
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I am 25 and have been smoking cannabis almost every day for the past 10 years. The last 8 years this has been entirely skunk, and it's normal for me to spend anywhere between £50 and £70 a week on it. I do smoke it with tobacco but have managed to give up cigarettes a year ago.
Despite this I have passed college and got myself a degree - and I now have a well paid respectable job.
However, I have noticed that my memory is pretty lousy and its really affecting my work. I also get chest tightness and pains which is why I really want to give up (as well as the money). I am pretty unmotivated hence I rarely cook meals or exercise. My social skills are also poor and can only strike up a conversation with somebody if I've had a few drinks. When I am stoned, I find it difficult to hold a conversation - simply cos I don't want to - and most evenings consist of staring at the TV all evening not even noticing what I am watching.
2 years ago i split up with my fiance (and baby) as she could no longer put up with my smoking and mood swings (which can be really bad for no apparent reason). (i chose weed over them as I didn't see why I should change - however we were no longer in love so I suppose it was inevitable)
I gave up for about 10 days a few months back - the first 3 days were really hard (lack of sleep, agitation)and I vowed not to go back to it. However, I live in a small town and ALL my friends smoke weed (including my brother who I live with)so was soon back into the swing of things. Almost all my friends and brothers friends do the usual Crack, Coke Pills MDMA Base etc on a regular basis but I've always been able to control my use of these. I'm up to my eyeballs in debt (mainly from drink and drugs) so cannot afford to move to a flat of my own. I feel I can't get away from it despite remembering how much better I felt when i gave up.
I agree there should be more help, but I still don't think its necessarily a bad thing. I know some people who can take it or leave it so why should it be illegal just because some people take it too far. I think a large risk at the moment is highly pollutes "soap bar" and skunk pumped full of chemicals, glass filings (to increase weight), and flavourings. If it were legal to grow for your own use, I'm sure many people would have less of a problem with it.
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I am a 28 year old male that as smoked cannabis on an of for pretty much 13/14 years the last 6 bein skunk and every single day am on day 4 and have not smoked a single bit last night I had a really good sleep for the first time in 3 nights I feel so much more alert and like I can take anything on and conquer it was before I was worried about my next bong I can honestly say I will never smoke again it ruined my life and cost me thousands and thousands of pounds of my wages over the years av also just woke up and realised i'm hungry haha anybody now how long till i'm fully clean please with being a heavy smoker am prob 6ft3 and just under 13.
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I am a 42 year old man. I smoked cannabis almost continuously for 18 years until 18 days ago (scope the symmetry!). For about three quarters of that period I knew it was messing me up badly: gone were the giggles and the intellectual intensity, replaced by paranoia, reclusiveness, depression, mania and aggression, associated police trouble, self-harm, chest pains, erectile disfunction, etc etc et cetera. Although fully aware of all this more than substantial downside, nevertheless towards the end, I was spending £50pw on toxic-grade skunk, and it was driving me completely crazy.
Three or four weeks ago, I decided I was going to quit at the end of the world cup. And I did. I've been 18 days clean so far, and my life has changed dramatically. I've replaced talking with mad levels of exercise: going to the gym 3 days a week, swimming, walking everywhere, 2 hours of 5-a-side football once a week with a bunch of 25 yr olds. I've become a confident and witty social animal. I'm enjoying my phd studies. I've even acquired a lover, the delicate problem alluded to above being already a thing of the past!
There is life after weed; a damn sight better than the one I lived during weed.
Two caveats: I'm not sleeping well, tho' that may be due in part to the heatwave. And I'm drinking a little bit more. Previously my drinking was slightly below HMG's recommended limit; now it's probably slightly above - something I should keep an eye on, especially given that it's a symptom of my newfound enjoyment of life. Hopefully it'll settle down again quite quickly.
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I have been smoking cannabis for the past 35 years. I have spent most of that time resisting the idea that cannabis is addictive, even though I have tried giving up and cutting down many many times, always without success. I have found it much easier to resist tobacco addiction - and wouldn't smoke tobacco at all if it wasn't for needing it to roll a joint. I am more addicted to cannabis than any of my friends, even though many of them have also smoked cannabis, some for many years. Most drug addiction services are aimed at people with heroin, crack cocaine or alcohol addictions and, by comparison, cannabis addiction is seen as `soft' and not-terribly-problematic. But neither do NHS smoking cessation services include cannabis cessation. So it is not easy to access support for tackling this addiction. My ideal outcome would be for me to be able to smoke cannabis in a controlled way, on an occasional basis. But my reluctance to give up this ideal has meant that I have, in fact, remained addicted to regular,heavy use. Increasingly, I have been able to give up for a month at a time, but I am always sucked back in, especially in response to stress at work. So I have reluctantly come to recognise that there is only one answer - giving it up for the rest of my life. I have found that acupuncture (as practiced by SMART UK - normally used for the treatment of heroin addiction) has recently helped me to give up for weeks at a time. And I am going to go back for another boost in my slow journey towards saying good-bye forever to what has been a very good friend. But one with whom I have developed a very unhealthy obsession and dependence. I believe that Dr. Susan Blackmore has recently said that cannabis use has enabled her to think more creatively and, as an academic myself, I have also found that my thinking is better synthesised and I am able to see solutions to academic problems more easily when my brain has absorbed a dose of
cannabis. If cannabis wasn't such a mentally stimulating experience (hence all the chatting and laughing amongst a group of stoned friends), it would be so EASY to give up!
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I'm 17. This has been on my mind for a long time now but I'm too scared to speak to anyone face to face at the moment because I think they might think I'm being dramatic. I think I'm depressed and I don't know whether to go and see my GP. I have felt this way since I was about 14/15 and can't remember feeling any different since then. I just feel hollow and almost empty, I don't even feel sad anymore just emotionless. At times it is worse for example when I get into arguments with my parents but apart from that I just feel the same every single day and it is so tiring. I feel mentally exhausted from doing nothing, if that's possible? I also feel so so tired all the time and feel as if I have absolutely no energy whatsoever. I'm currently studying for my A levels and this means that I have quite a lot of free periods. I spent these at home sleeping if I can. All I want to do is sleep. I also have quite bad skin and this makes me feel disgusting and not want to even get out of bed, brush my teeth, wash my hair and go to school. When I am in school and around my friends I feel slightly better than when I am at home, I can get along with them and try not to be moody. At home I hardly speak and when I do it's either being moody towards my mum and being unintentionally mean to my sister. This all makes me feel very guilty. I also have a boyfriend of 2 years and I don't feel as excited/happy when I go to see him anymore, I have completely lost interest in having sex and I feel this may also be due to be feeling very fat and ugly. I always question why he is with me or why he likes me when I am so ugly. I don't know what to do. I have so much more to say but I've said the main things that are causing me problems. This is interfering with my life, I have an ambition to become a psychologist but that means going to uni and that means getting good grades. Good grades need motivation, energy and a good frame of mind yet I'm completely lacking in these things.
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well at the end of December 2011, i entered a psychosis that came from my cannabis use. before the psychosis i wasn't the brightest kid or even the most social or happiest, but i knew how to keep myself busy.
So anyway, i was taken into a mental ward for my psychosis and i remained there for 11 weeks. during thins time i was put on the medication risperdal and oxazepam. my psychosis lasted for about 2 months and after i was just left with emptiness. needless to say this was the start of my emotions going blank. in this type of place there a quite an amount of people and it just seems to be polite to talk to one another. However i never felt the need to converse and i was emotionless. i could never find the right words to respond to someone and even now i'm having trouble finding words to type.
after the almost three months in the ward, i was finally released home. shortly after i began see a psychiatrist for medication and status checkups. he took me off oxazepam but kept me on risperdal he informed me that i would have to take the medication for about two years.
anyway, my real reason for being here is i wanted to know if my emotions will ever return after i am taken off the medication. i did some research and some say the emptiness stems from negative symptoms of psychosis, and some say its the effect of the medication. Furthermore i read that some who were taken off the risperdal have yet to return to how they once were. this is very frustrating. I just feel a lack of pleasure and even things that are supposed to bring pleasure, such as smoking cigarettes, are currently doing nothing for me. i don't even get lightheaded from smoking them anymore. i also have no sexual cravings or do i get pleasure from sexual intercourse anymore. i would also like to know how many others are in a similar situation.
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I having been a cannabis smoker since the age of 15, I feel compelled to write my comments here and hope someone learns a little if not a lot! I am now 31 and stopped smoking cannabis 7 weeks ago - I have been an habitual smoker for 16 years. I always thought (in my ignorance) that the drug helped to 'calm' me that it gave me a more 'peaceful' life when in actual fact it stopped me from relating to others, helped me to disconnect and run away from myself. As a teenager (late teens) even my parents used to say that it stopped me from being so 'fiery'! But as the years have rolled on and the cannabis became a bigger part of my life it became the one thing for me to rely on, my friend and it would never fail to be there for me. From the age of 17 I was smoking it everyday and would struggle to have a day without it. In the mornings I would always still be 'stoned' from the night before and was rolling a 'joint' for breakfast which would turn into to up to 10 or so 'joints' per day. As I reached my early 20's (looking back now I understand - I didn't at the time) cannabis was the biggest part of my life and was ruining every part of me. Being a successful human being was not part of my agenda, getting 'stoned' was the most important thing. At the age of 18 i started going to 'raves' and started taking ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines and various others, but never heroin....that frightened me! Drugs were a bigger part of my life than anything else, I have always managed to hold down a job and had good jobs, often managerial positions and I worked hard. Life went on like this until I hit 26 and felt that life had finally caught up with me - I felt suicidal and very depressed (obviously wasn't blaming the drugs!) life was all too much for me and I didn't know which way to turn. My relationship with my parents had deteriorated so badly and they didn't understand, so I went to the doctors to ask for help. I was prescribed the antidepressants that she had been trying to prescribe to me for the past 2 years and I didn't want to take them, but felt that I had no option. I guess they did help to numb me and to stop the deep depressive states, but now I was on prescribed drugs and still smoking enormous amounts of 'pot'. Six months later I was not in any better space and my father's comment of 'you need professional help' got me thinking maybe he was right. I found a private psychotherapist that advertised in my doctor's surgery and have now been in therapy for nearly five years and it was the best thing I have ever done for myself. She has helped me to understand the 'why's' that I never could have found for myself - I have just finished a two year college course and will be starting another one in September - I am a 'drug addict' and always will be.....after 7 weeks of not smoking 'pot' I have clarity in my life again. I don't feel paranoid, edgy, vacant, detached or different.....it has been hard and yes, I have smoked through my college course and I feel sure that it would have come easier to me had I not smoked. I also now understand that I smoked it to escape unhappy memories of my childhood - therapy has helped me to discuss, deal with and understand that unhappy little girl that turned to drugs because she was lost and sad - I have spent nearly £10,000 pounds (which has been hard money to find, but I have done it on my own) on my therapy and finally I can see a light at the end of the tunnel - I feel good about myself, I have great relationships with my friends and in the last 7 weeks life is not so scary and I don't feel the need to get 'stoned' to be able to cope. I am sure I still have a journey to travel and some days I have felt a little low and had the urge to get 'stoned' but know that there is so much to embrace about life that I don't want to keep squashing myself - I no longer want to be insignificant, I have so much to give to the world! I guess that sounds a little 'cheesy' but I am embracing life with both hands and trying hard to hold on - it's hard but very empowering. In my opinion cannabis use is so very harmful....its so misunderstood and I believe it is as harmful as alcohol....I do mean taken on a daily basis to excess. I am currently watching one of my closest friends go through a 'hell' of a time - she too has been smoking since we were in school and she smokes 'weed/grass' only. She suffers with serious paranoia, recently lost her job and is generally detached from the world - she sadly will not go into therapy and also takes a high dosage of anti depressants, I cannot help her, she can only help herself and she is well aware that the cannabis holds her back, clouds her life, stops her relating and generally makes her life a misery - I love her and can do nothing to help her she has to want to help herself. I am fortunate for being able to embrace my deepest and innermost fears, anxieties and what made me turn to drugs for escapism. When I look around me, anyone I know that smokes cannabis doesn't have a great life, they don't live life to their fullest potential, they don't relate to friends, family and society in general as others that do not smoke do. This is a powerful drug and believe me when I say it is addictive, because I struggle (a little less every day) daily...... I now want a drug free life, that is so important to me, for all the years I have held myself back I now want to soar - I'm scared of being successful which is why I smoked 'pot' but I will go back to college in september and I will pass my next course and I will become successful in my chosen career and cannabis will not be a part of that.
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I wa with my gf for the first time last night. I'm 27 and I have been smoking weed for about 11 years (i quit as a new year resolution, 8 months ago) and I couldn't keep an erection and I am now incredibly worried that this problem might be permanent. I feel bad for my gf, because she was turning me on in a big way but i just couldn't stay erec. What can I do?
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Doctors are way too expensive here in portugal and they all wants to sell their product and i think they don't really care us...I've been smoking joints for about 10 years. I´ve once had panic attacks followed by a depression and went medicated and all as passed. I continued to smoking and now passed 10 years i began to feeling that again. I can't explain but when i'm on a relation i feel really anxious and start to became crazy and insecure and that develops my anxiety...i went on meds again and after a year i decided to quit and i've notice that i was completely addicted to them and was hard to left but i left. At that time that i was quitting i didn't not smoke anything because i was afraid and too much scared about being addicted to pills. It has passed 7 months without smoking and taking pills and now when i´m working it´s ok but in my days off i wake up feeling very anxiety and can´t enjoy life feeling like this...
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i've been constipated for nearly 2 months,I read a lot in google, Nothing helps and it gives me anxiety, can someone help me please ! Im 17 years old male. And this is my first time of having constipation.
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I've been having spotting for the past three months instead of period. I've had a sore lower back while spotting. I am 44 years old
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I gave up smoking on 20th January after hypnosis. Thought by now I would be feeling fine. I just don't feel well. I have had panic attacks feel more breathless than I did before I stopped. Wish my doctors did an after care service but nobody wants to know. What are your experiences.
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I am 30 years old and have been dealing with anxiety most of my life..in the past 3 years it has gotten so bad that I don't want to go anywhere, I am afraid to make phone calls or see my friends and family because im afraid I will have a panic attack...I have taken xanax in the past and valium but didn't like the zombie like way it made me feel. I cannot live like this any longer...
im too embarassed to talk to my friends about my concerns and my husband and mom don't understand
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I recently went on a lads holiday to Spain. On the 2nd night we ended up in a strip club where I had a private dance. During this dance the stripper took all her clothes off and pushed her vagina against my lips, she kept on doing so and I stuck my tongue out for a split second (stupidly doing it from being drunk).
I am now worried to death that I could have contracted HIV. The next day I regretted this so much and wish I had never done it and started to panic. The same day we went out for a meal that night where I noticed that I felt like I had popcorn stuck in my throat. I went back to the hotel early that night and noticed white spots on my tonsils, the same night I went to bed and woke up in a hot sweat (not sure if this was from me panicking). I then found a rash on my feet the next morning where the lads said it looked like prickly heat from sunburn.
I returned home after this and went to the doctors about my throat as it was white at the back. He prescribed me penicillin and said it was just an infection. On the 6th day I started to feel dizzy and have stomach and kidney pains and felt my lymph nodes in my neck were sore. My stomach pains got so bad by the 9th day that I went to the hospital. Here they did tests and found I may have a water infection or it may have been a reaction to the penicillin. The doc also said it may have been due to excessive drinking as this was non stop on holiday and I also had heartburn whilst I was there possibly from this. I was given antibiotics and acid tablets. This cleared everything up.
However this is the 18th day now from that night and I still feel as if my nodes in my neck are sore. Im now also feeling my armpits all the time too and checking and maybe making them feel sore from doing this. I am usually a healthy person and feel kinda healthy too, just worried. I don't know if iv got anxiety or stressed from all of this or due to constantly checking them.
I have read and read and read hundreds of posts on here and many come to the conclusion that I never had a risk. All I want to know is this really the case? Am I causing myself to worry that much that I am starting to find symptoms that are all just in my head?
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Not thinking yesterday I gave my dog a flea bath using shampoo containing pyrethins .15% and piperonyl butoxide 1.5%. I'm nervous of the effect this may have on my pregnancy and brain development especially at this time. I'm reading these chemicals can cause autism. I washed my hands repeatedly after I realized this was a stupid thing to do. But I also had a small cut so I'm more worried about the chemicals absorbing in my skin and blood. Do you think I caused permanent damage? I'm a nervous wreck.
I gave her a bath today with regular shampoo and used a glove. However I reached my hand into the rise water to pull the drain, would that be a second exposure if flea shampoo was in the water? I washed my hands again repeatedly.
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Started on the above 10 days ago. First capsule i took i was asleep not long after, woke up feeling in a daze, doctor advised me to have one a day for few days. I have been taking two a day for 8 days. In this time, i have fell downstairs twice, developed a rash, past two days have had an intense pain above my right eye, not as bad as a migraine, but definitely more than a headache, im not due to see Dr until another two weeks.. Hopefully the side effects will go as time goes on. I am also taking sertaline with these, i must admit i feel more like a zombie than alive lol.
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I went to see my GP only five days ago for clinical depression and I was taken off mirtazapine 30mg that I had been on for roughly six months and put onto sertraline 50mg. I was advised by my GP to reduce the mirtazapine down to 15mg immediately. My question is this.... Is it just me or has Sertraline made anyone else feel worse? As of day one I've felt like what I can only describe as a 'zombie'.
It feels like I'm constantly wading through thick mud, I now feel constantly anxious, I have no appetite whatsoever, I wake up at 3-4am and can't get back to sleep because all these thoughts keep whizzing around in my head, when it is time to get up I feel utterly shattered. I don't want to go out and everything I used to find enjoyable I cannot now face. I have a 7 y/o son whom I love and adore but feel like I can't even look after myself at the moment let alone him, the guilt of this is now exacerbating my feelings.
The thought of facing another day feeling like this is terrifying me, let alone moving forward with life. I've restarted with my private councillor and am avoiding alcohol etc as my GP advised, but just feel terrible.
I'm not expecting miracles overnight or anything but I think I'm just searching for some reassurance I guess?
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After months of suffering...I am JUST NOW finding out that all my agony MIGHT be chalked up to the debilitating menace that is anxiety and his partner in crime DEPRESSION. So, I have a lot of questions. Please share what you can relate to or have understanding about. I deeply thank you!
Before all my REALLY bad symptoms came about...I was feeling fatigued 24/7 and just overall a little glum. Things weren't terrible, but I just didn't have the UMPH! that ya want. I felt worn out constantly all day long. All the while struggling with LOTS of stress...after persistent stress and no answers from doctors even after multiple tests...I began to have even more debilitating symptoms. I was certain I had some sort of rare disease.Because this has manifested itself So physically. I never thought the source could be emotional and psychological.
1. I am so tired, brain FOGGED, and SUPER spaced out 24/7 with a miserable memory...literally my drive has vanished along with a chunk of my confidence. Can you relate?
2. I have never had a panic attack. THANK GOODNESS. But all this could still be anxiety? I rarely FEEL anxious...this is why I've never suspected anxiety.
3. I often forget what day it is..and other things of that nature. I feel as though the last few months have been a blur...There is no solid boundary between days or months or seasons...they all just mush together into one glob of nonsensical foggy memories. And I forget things that happen throughout my day WAY more than I ever have before. I make silly mistakes. Can you relate?
4. I don't have bouts...it's ever-present. ALL the time. No relief. sure, when I'm with a friend and we are in a conversation...I'm not entirely focused on the fact that I am in zombie-mode...but it's just always there anyway. can you relate?
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My tubes have been tied almost 5 years. I have had a ectopic pregnancy in the past. Now I am experiencing pregnancy symptoms before my period I took a home test it was negative.but should I be alarmed? I also experimented with the bleach & urine and it gave a positive result.
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