giving it up

LegacyUser

Finally after years of smoking marijuana iv decided to kick it, and call it a day with the stuff, for financial and personal reasons. so far im finding it very difficult, the boredom without it is unbearable:( Im onlyy youngish 22 to be straight currently unemployed and notin what so ever to do to fill the void of not smoking. Everyone of my friends are smokers so i cant really socialise with them atm because i,ll know i,ll get back on the stuff.which i DONT WANT. Its kinda my hearts telling me to stop but me minds going mad for a dubbie....:( its depressing to say the least.
I suppose what im trying to get at here, is a little bit of advice
has anyone ever been in the position i am in now? how did ya get through it...... and what was your alternatives to fill the void.
Joining clubs (football gaa rugby) or activity groups is out of the question.. where i come from anyone who has anything got to do or had anything got to do with anysort of drugs past/present are never really welcome to join football clubs here etc etc.
so anyone got any ideas??/ please...and thanks in advance

AnonMous

Hey Op,

I was in a similar situation about 5 years ago. In my case, I just wanted to give up cigarettes.

This might sound ridiculous but I took up juggling to help me give up. Got the idea from my older brother who did it to stop smoking as well. You'd be amazed at how quickly you forget about smoking when you have something like that to occupy your mind.

Juggling is hard to master so it takes time and after a while, you just get better.

Whatever you decide to do, hope it works out.

Take it easy!

pimbeche

Hi Op, i was in same situation, tried to kick the habit for years actually.

I find that the first two three weeks are the worst, constantly mssing it / being bored etc. But then after that its like a blanket is lifted and you dont want it as much and its gets much better. You dont really miss it then.
I hope thats helps, but trust me , the start is the hardest!

LegacyUser

Hey Op,

I agree with pimbeche, I was in a similar situation aswell and found the first few weeks were the worst... but then suddenly after a couple of weeks, I realised how much better things were without it - I mean you miss it cos it's the centre of your day mostly, but I just realised I got so much done with out it and it was worth it for that alone!

I filled my time with doing all the stuff I could never get up of my ass to do while I was smoking. This mostly involved getting back in touch with all the friends I hadn't seen in ages who didn't smoke. I was in college though so just got that back on track and it filled my time pretty well. Have you any interest in starting a course maybe? I know you're not working but try not to spend too much time watching tv or playing video games or whatever you used do while smoking, just for the beginning.

One thing I will say though, is that for the first year or so I had a lot of mind-blocks. They've pretty much gone now, though I do sometimes get small blanks that I didn't experience before. I only smoked for a few years, and only one heavily; so would recommend giving up as soon as possible to reduce the effects. That's just my experience.

Best of luck with it, it's really easy in the end you'll be wondering why you didn't do it sooner - and you'll have money to get out more

Bottle_of_Smoke

When I was your age I was convinced I was addicted. Then I went to college. It was in a different county, met new people and there was no dope scene. So glad I'm not obsessive over it anymore. Can even actually enjoy it very occasionally now rather just feel i need it.

I know what I did probably isn't an option. But I can tell you there was no withdrawal, i pretty much just forgot about it. Soon realised the addiction was completely psychological. Maybe you should meet some new friends. Or hang out with ones who don't smoke for a while.

Being under the thumb of that plant is an awful place to be, believe me its great when you realise you're no longer addicted. Best of luck

LegacyUser

I was in your position a few years ago and was so afraid of sitting in the park (my spliff sense is amazingly keen) and I had no idea how I'd watch an entire movie without a spliff. Turns out TV and movies weren't so difficult once I started doing something else while I watched them (solitaire on the PC, sudoku, sketching, anything that takes that little bit extra of your attention that would usually be skinning up). The park was a little more difficult. Like you, my circle of friends had shrunk to stoners and I didn't trust myself in the park alone. So, step 1, reconnect with old friends or meet new ones. Facebook/contact people you haven't seen for ages and if they're judged worthy, check out dublin free event guide for things you can do together (I'm unemployed like you and it's the only way I can afford to socialise). For new friends, I recommend using any of your interests or expanding them eg the boards drama group, fas courses, yoga/pilates classes and meetup.com has groups that meet to drink, photo, walking, cycling, comedy gig, drum circle. Finally, identify your "triggers". My main one was really surprising, it was when I was happy. Everyone's different though.

Acupuncture can speed up the metabolism of canabanoids. I got mine through an addiction service and it cost me €20 a session (but I'm told some are free) and it definitely made it easier/way quicker than the times I didn't use acupuncture.

If things are really difficult, checkout http://www.marijuana-anonymous.org/index.shtml. I don't think weed is addictive but I have experienced dependence on it and the online meetings (click on meetings-> online meetings and work out USA time to GMT) were very reassuring because I knew that I wasn't the only person affected that way.

Post here if things are difficult. Make sure you express yourself and you're honest about what's going on for you and how you feel.

legend365

Its tough but see it through.

You don't want to be that old shaggy smelly guy do you, with half a brain?

I gave it up years ago and im only 21. Some of my mates still smoke it, well half mates, and they went from bein witty straight forward people to the butt end of jokes.

girlyhappyface

The first couple of weeks are definitly the worst. I'm a heavy smoker, and go through stages of smoking. I gave up about five years ago, then two years later started smoking again. The last year has been really heavy, so myself and my boyfriend are gonna smoke what we have and stop after that- we have a few blissful days left!!!

I suffer with anger and depression in the immediate aftermath of giving up, so you've to be aware of how irrational your moods can be.

I started knitting, drawing, crafting etc. I found my trigger was chillling in front of the TV at night. My hands felt uneasy if they weren't busy rolling! After the first couple of weeks, you notice how your energy has increased and you don't mind getting up off the couch to do stuff.

Fair play to you for giving up- it's a huge step to take!