Was a daily smoker almost uninterrupted for like 7-8 years (only ever 2-3 days off at most while travelling), had an epiphany last weekend and decided it wasn't helping make life any better (also, $$$) and simply stopped. On average I was probably smoking 1-2g per day.

It's been about 9 days and I only smoke in my newly more-vivid dreams (!) and also I've been outright weepy for major chunks of the day, which is unlike me. Is this normal? (I'm also turning 40 in a few weeks and have some feelings about that so it's kinda tough to tell what's motivating what.)

Anyway, was wondering if anyone else had quit and what it was like for them.

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[–] 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Yes. I've quit multiple times, in other words, I decided that I wasn't enjoying being high at all. This has ended up in me quitting for about six months until I decide I want to try again, at which point I immediately become addicted again.

I've quit cold turkey twice. Honestly, it was far easier than I expected. I soon came to love how much more free time I felt like I had. When I get high, that's just dead time, I can't do anything that feels important. I got to work towards my creative and physical goals in my spare time.

The cravings were strange. I didn't particularly want to get high, I wanted the routine of coming home from work and getting high. The first few days, I wanted to smoke just because that's what I had been doing for the past few months. After that, I tried to find something better to do with my time. I remembered I have hobbies and friends. The cravings appeared every now and then, sometimes for about a week.

The way I got through my cravings was exercise. Its insane how good exercise can feel. I always, 100% of the time, leave the gym feeling great. The only times anything is lacking is when I feel I could have done more, but that means that my capacity is increasing. The other day, I was showering after hitting a PB on the treadmill, and realised I hadn't felt this good in years. Exercise is a phenomenal way to manipulate the chemicals in your brain, and so much healthier than weed. Healthy eating also works a treat, though I find that much harder.

In terms of dreams, first of all, I also started to have much more vivid dreams after quitting. I can't remember a single dream I had when I was using. For some reason, a lot of my dreams revolve around smoking cigarettes? Which is really weird, because I hate cigarettes.

As for being weepy, your body probably has no idea what chemicals to produce. For me, whenever I go off my sertraline for a few days I get very weepy and easily upset, much more so than before I ever started them. I think its just the body reacting weirdly to not having the chemicals it expects.

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  • The way I got through my cravings was exercise. Its insane how good exercise can feel. I always, 100% of the time, leave the gym feeling great. The only times anything is lacking is when I feel I could have done more, but that means that my capacity is increasing. The other day, I was showering after hitting a PB on the treadmill, and realised I hadn't felt this good in years. Exercise is a phenomenal way to manipulate the chemicals in your brain, and so much healthier than weed. Healthy eating also works a treat, though I find that much harder.

    i have no concept of this. i was an endurance athlete for many years and it was mostly just boring and being sore and the only time i ever felt anything was a big scenic nature moment that didn't actually have anything to do with the physical exertion.

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