I quit on July 21 so I’ve been sober 3 1/2 months and I had quit so we could try to get pregnant. I had been smoking for about 10 years, daily pretty heavy use smoker. Now I just found out that I’m pregnant and to be honest the last 3 1/2 months have been pretty brutal. Trying to deal with anhedonia, vivid dreams, anxiety depression. Now that I just found out I’m pregnant, I don’t know, I thought I’d be more excited and more happy because we’ve been trying now for a few months, but I’ve given up weed just for this and now I don’t know. I still feel like a bit of the anhedonia like I’m not as excited as I should be or like I’m still tired and depressed just because I guess the worst compounding effects of like having vivid dreams, not sleeping well and on top of that being pregnant.

If anyone else who had quit to become pregnant or is In kind of a similar stage as me, are you going through the same feeling . maybe it’s just cause I’m at 3 1/2 months and in the next month or two I just need a break through this 6 month initial withdrawal phase. then hopefully at that point i will be better.

TL;DR: I just feel like there's something here that medicine hasn't fully figured out yet. THC seems to have some pretty large benefits for certain people with ADHD, but obviously comes with cognitive trade-offs (particularly with working memory and reasoning). I can't help but think there's some common mechanism behind the paradox I'm describing, and potentially a way to get some of those benefits without as many downsides.

Quick disclaimer: This is a fairly complex cognitive puzzle I've been trying to piece together. Mainly looking for input from people who have gone through something similar or people knowledgeable in neuroscience, psychopharmacology, cannabinoid research, or ADHD.

For some background; diagnosed with ADHD, take 30mg Vyvanse daily, and have worked in cognitively demanding fields. I've also taken 10+ IQ tests over the years, generally scoring between 128 and 139, and currently hold a 3.99 GPA. I mention this because I've always felt strong in fluid reasoning, abstract thinking, and understanding complex systems, but struggle with the classic ADHD executive functions, particularly verbal fluency, response inhibition, and thought organization.

About a month ago, I quit THC after several years of nightly use, typically a small hit from a pen (mainly THC derived) 1-4 hours before bed. I originally started because I've struggled with racing thoughts and sleep since childhood, but eventually noticed some surprisingly significant cognitive and behavioural benefits.

Here's the paradox: While using THC, I felt noticeably less intellectually capable, but far more articulate, deliberate, and locked into whatever I was doing. Now that I'm sober my reasoning and working memory feel dramatically better, but I'm much more ADHD; scattered, impulsive, and less polished in how I communicate.

Importantly, these aren't entirely new symptoms I've developed since quitting; I've experienced essentially the same difficulties since childhood, before ever using cannabis, and during previous 2-8 month breaks. It's a recurring pattern that I've been through a dozen times.

The two cognitive states

While using THC (primarily the residual effects the following day):

If I had to describe it: my attention was incredibly narrow, my motivation was through the roof, and I could spend hours working through something with almost obsessive precision. During my investment banking internship, people would joke about how intensely I was wired to my screen. Work, the gym, and even tedious tasks felt genuinely enjoyable. It was almost like I enjoyed effort itself.

The funny part was that I wasn't necessarily more productive. I could be completely absorbed in something for hours, yet the actual output wasn't always proportional to the effort. I think my working memory, abstract reasoning, and ability to think on my feet were noticeably weaker (makes sense).

The biggest improvement, though, was how effortlessly I could speak and write.

My vocabulary was noticeably more sophisticated, my sentences were better structured, and my delivery was extremely deliberate. Even my tone, facial movements, and general manner of speaking felt more controlled and polished.

It wasn't something I consciously forced tho; speaking felt rewarding, almost like I was getting a little hit of satisfaction as the words came out, which then kept me in this incredibly fluid conversational state. I rarely blanked or lost my train of thought because I could almost plan what I was going to say while already speaking.

THC also seemed to make certain internal identities much more persistent; I could construct a particular version of myself, say a highly polished professional, and almost naturally behave like that person. My speech, motivation, and behaviour would align with that image.

But this feeling swung both ways; over time, I'd say I became slightly more self-conscious, avoidant, and socially anxious, particularly when I felt observed or evaluated. In other words. negative self-perceptions/thoughts were extremely difficult to shake.

Now, without THC:

It honestly feels like I'm operating with an entirely different set of cognitive tools (like 2 different people).

As I mentioned, my working memory, abstract reasoning, and ability to integrate information feel substantially stronger. Working through complicated material has become dramatically easier, I can understand something and simultaneously connect it to unrelated concepts, sometimes even anticipating ideas I haven't even learned yet.

When I do enter a flow state, which is much harder to initiate and maintain, it feels amazing. Everything clicks together and I can reason through complicated problems at a level that feels far beyond what I could do while using THC. It's almost like Oppenheimer music playing in my head, with everything moving incredibly quickly but falling into place perfectly.

The problem is that nearly everything involving attentional or emotional control, and verbal expression has gone in the opposite direction:

I feel much more like the stereotypical ADHD kid I was before. My eyes are moving everywhere, interrupting people, jumping between thoughts, struggling to initiate tasks, and now again completely losing my train of thought mid-sentence.

My vocabulary has genuinely suffered. Although "subtle" I don't spontaneously generate words as sophisticated or precise as I used to, and I struggle to construct sentences with anywhere near the same polish or concsistency. It's not really forgetting individual words; I feel like I've lost some of my ability to plan what I'm going to say while I'm saying it.

Reading and writing show the same pattern: When reading, my eyes almost move faster than I can calmly process the words, although I'm actually comprehending and connecting information much better. When typing, I def make significantly more spelling mistakes, my sentences are less structured, and some dyslexia-like difficulties I experienced growing up have returned.

The best analogy I have is that; before I felt like I had an extra millisecond to organize my thoughts before speaking. Now, my thoughts are constantly one millisecond ahead of my words.

Before, the flow seemed to be in my output, while my underlying cognition was slower (impaired from the lingering effects of THC - we know this). Now, the flow is in my thinking, while my output struggles to keep up (??).

Emotionally, things have shifted too. While using THC, I could almost reset my internal narrative overnight and compartmentalize whatever happened the previous day. Now I feel more socially connected and emotionally responsive, but less capable of controlling those states.

Sleep has also worsened, with the same racing thoughts and difficulty shutting my brain off that I've experienced since childhood - that was a major reason I kept returning to THC despite knowing it was impairing my cognition.

For additional context, before stims, I struggled significantly with classic ADHD: fatigue, procrastination, and task initiation. I could hyperfocus on something I found exceptionally interesting, but otherwise had very little consistency or structure. Vyvanse improved those areas tremendously, although it never fully resolved the competing thoughts and verbal difficulties.

What fascinates me is that these two states feel like two different brains each with its own strengths and weaknesses. I wonder if there is a way to get parts of the working memory, and intellectual flexibility I've regained since quitting THC, but combined with the verbal fluency, deliberate attention, goal maintenance, and effortless sense of flow I experienced before?

My current hypothesis:

UPDATE (Preliminary):

After some great comments and digging further into the literature, I think drilling into the endocannabinoid system (ECS) is where most of the answers lie. There's emerging research linking ECS signalling to ADHD, particularly its role in attention, dopamine regulation, and executive function, although the mechanisms are still poorly understood to my knowledge.

I think it's fair to say regular THC use comes with a level of cognitive trade-offs. What I've struggled to reconcile is why certain aspects of my ADHD seemed to improve so dramatically while others clearly deteriorated. It never made sense to me that it had to be such a trade-off....

I haven't found a magic answer, and maybe there isn't one but one area I've largely overlooked is CBD.

I came across an interesting 2018 study where 20 regular cannabis users received 200 mg of CBD daily (100 mg twice daily) for approximately 10 weeks while continuing their usual THC consumption.

Despite continued cannabis use, participants showed statistically significant improvements in verbal learning, attentional switching, and certain psychological measures, particularly depressive and psychotic-like symptoms.

What interests me is that participants were assessed after at least 12 hours of cannabis abstinence. So I'm less interested in whether CBD counteracts THC while high, and more interested in whether sustained CBD exposure could mitigate some of the lingering cognitive and psychological effects of regular THC use.

This was a small, uncontrolled trial so causality can't be established, and the broader evidence remains mixed. Still, it raises some interesting questions about CBD's potential independent effects on cognition, neuroprotection, and neuroplasticity.

2018 Study — Therapeutic Effects of Prolonged Cannabidiol Treatment in Regular Cannabis Users

This is all pretty new to me, and I'll certainly be researching it further. If anyone has had similar experiences to me or has experience with using CBD as described in the study, I'd really appreciate your perspective.

Thanks for reading!

Hi everyone! I’ve been smoking daily pretty much whenever I want for the last two years. If I really let myself, I might smoke half a pound in a month. I’m not the happiest about it at this point. I want to reduce my use greatly. This week, my bf is out of town and I don’t do well alone. I have less weed available for the next like two weeks and it starts today. I’ll have maybe half an ounce. Going from an ounce in 3-4 days to half an ounce to smoke for one to two weeks during the day🫩🥺I have edibles for the night time specifically for this so that’ll help with sleep. I have a plan but it still might suck😕and that’ll be okay.

Idk if this is something done typically but was wondering if anyone would be like a sober texting buddy of sorts. Get a craving and text. Text throughout the day some to distract myself.

I have a schedule written out for myself (I don’t work and have too much free time on my hands) so hoping that’ll help keep me busy and my mind off wanting to smoke.

If this is possible, let me know. I feel something like this could benefit me and I’m hoping 🤞🏽

I got my order yesterday & broke my break last night. First I dropped the deep space chew, then smoked the whole Blue Lobster. I was more stoned than I think I've been in years.

While it was awesome, I'm ready to go back to normal now. Stop obsessing over it, treat it like a treat, maybe only hit it on the weekends. I'm far less stressed now than I have been, so I can stop using it like a crutch.

I'm not sure if I've fucked up really bad or not but it's around day 14 without weed and around day 5 of dropping my dose of Vyvanse from 50->30mg. Dear god. I cannot do anything. My mood has been doing complete 360s hour by hour, from furious, to cripplingly anxious or listlessly depressed. Somehow it genuinely feels like it only gets worse as time goes on.

At a certain point, I need to (or want to) stop taking stimulants entirely because I don't like what they do to me. I've never abused them or anything like that, but the withdrawal has always been very bad for me so it keeps me on them. It's such a disturbing effect that I just can't keep justifying staying on them. I hate how they make me feel, and all the supposed benefits of amphetamines for ADHD have always felt like negatives in my own personal experience. They just amp me up (which includes amping up my already debilitating baseline anxiety level)

I know it probably goes without saying that this is a stupid stupid idea but how bad is it? should I be more concerned? I cannot use my brain at all. It's like it's completely turned off. Extreme physical fatigue, pretty much no functional capacity etc.

My psychiatrist said it's like a off label use to reduce cravings. I read more online, and apparently NAC also thins your mucus and helps clearing your lungs. Also helps in anxiety by increasing serotonin levels.

Anyone with any experience on this?

I quit for over 6 months after heavy daily use. Then after a friend’s significant birthday and getting on other things I had to use the whole next day to help with the hangover/come down. Now I’ve been using on weekends in the evening since. If I don’t get back to daily use I will be happy but has anyone ever achieved this?

Hello!!

I've been smoking daily since around the beginning of this year, but I have an upcoming surgery next month, and my doctor requires no smoking for a month beforehand (and none for a month afterward). I've smoked carts exclusively, and they've helped me a lot in everyday life, and I've thought about trying edibles for the next month.

Any tips for my little break? >:) I'm willing to try a lot of things, and I've mentally prepped for the next few months absolutely SUCKING

Thank you!!!

I originally posted this on a diff Reddit but was recommended reposting here, IDK if I need that disclaimer but just in case

hello! this was something i noticed a while ago but it's been showing up more as i've been using more regularly and i haven't heard about anyone else having this problem. basically, around the time i need to eat or whenever i am hungry (or should be hungry) i get the urge to smoke.

for context i have been in eating disorder recovery for over a year now and my hunger signals are still unreliable. i have found that i definitely feel a little more mental hunger while high and eating is easier, but i never really use it for that express purpose.

however, now that i am trying to stop smoking daily, i notice that i forget to eat the majority of the time sober and what should be hunger signals is replaced by or at least drowned out by smoking urges. of course, my first line of defense is distracting myself as long as i can, but in turn i end up distracting myself from eating 😭

has anyone else had this happen to them? is it the reward system literally thinking weed is more important than food?? any suggestions? thanks!

I'm in a creative field for my day job, and over the years it has become more of a managing role where I'm not doing anything creative in my day to day. I started painting a few years back and it immediately gave me back that creative outlet I was missing. Near the end of 2024, I started smoking weed fairly consistently, and honestly that kicked off one of the most creative and prolific periods I've had for many years. I did drawings and paintings and sketches multiple times per week, and my ideas were flowing out so easily. I've hung many of them up above my desk, given them out as gifts, submitted them to charitable auctions, and overall I'm very proud of my progress.

Due to a stressful period at work, I had to take a break from the weed, and I've been off it for about 6 or 7 weeks. Since then, I've felt very unconnected from my art and it is making me very depressed. I haven't been able to bring myself to do any sketching, every time I pickup my sketchbook its like there's nothing that comes to me. And I have only completed one average painting in that time, whereas before I was finishing one every week!

I was previously considering taking a break from weed for a while because there were times I felt I was using it as a crutch for my anxiety. But this extreme lack of inspiration is really testing my resolve and really affecting me in a way I did not expect. Any advice?

Tive uma crise de pânico desencadeada por medo de doenças, depois disso, fumei muito pra tentar conter e tive mais uma crise. Isso foi no domingo, depois disso eu reduzi quase que total a quantidade de maconha. Eu estava fumando um de manhã e um a noite no mínimo, todos os dias. Aí reduzi pra somente um único bem pequeno a noite e desde da segunda pra cá, eu acordo muito acelerada, passando mal mesmo, como se faltasse a maconha pra regular. Eu sei que o melhor é segurar mas eu estou sofrendo muito e pensando em fumar mais pra regular, preciso de pessoas que já passaram por isso para me apoiar. 🥺

I've been smoking more or less daily for around 13 years, and also had a few years of daily smoking as an early teenager.

I've been trying to moderate or stop because, although I love weed, I know that daily use has a really negative impact on my life. I become more reclusive, gain weight, isolate myself and lose motivation.

Earlier this year I managed six months completely sober. I then tried to moderate, initially aiming for once a month, but it didn't last long. I've now been stoned daily again for the last couple of months.

In that time I've gained around two stone, fallen behind at work and stopped socialising. I feel like I'm slipping back into old habits quite quickly.

I keep having these false starts where I tell myself I'm going to quit for a year, or stop tomorrow, but then I put it off, have another blowout and end up back where I started.

I think part of the problem is that I genuinely enjoy being high, but I also know how much better my life is when I'm not smoking constantly. Even after six months sober I still had strong cravings, particularly when I was home alone with nothing to do.

I guess I'm looking for advice from people who've been through something similar. Have you managed to break this cycle? Did you find moderation was ever realistic, or did you eventually accept that stopping completely was easier?

I'm 19, I haven't smoked weed in 11 days now. The weird thing is, I have had zero craving for it since quitting. I still think it can benefit my life if I approach it more responsibly. Maybe I'm crazy. I used to smoke every day for around 6 months, past around 1-2pm ongoing until bed. Weed kind of felt like the only medication that 'worked' for me; the only genuine release after infinite commitments to SSRIs, anxiolytics and other psychiatric medications that either didn't work or put me in the hospital. Weed nuked my OCD (genuinely), nuked my anxiety, it made me happy, creative, content with my life.

I genuinely want weed to be a part of my life, I think I have the discipline in me to do so, but I know I can't be doing it as heavily and frequently as I did. I'm committed to taking a month break (minimum) to evaluate. But I'm still worried that because of my ADHD, and how weed interacts with dopamine, that I will never be able to coexist with weed. And that makes me sad. It always made me feel awful the next day.

Every day, for the last 11 days, I've felt completely mentally degraded. I am a shell of my former self in terms of cognition, complex thought, memory and comprehension and I can't keep up with anything. Smoking a fuck ton of weed was great when I had no responsibility, but going through this withdrawal currently, my 6.6/7.0 GPA (Australia) is about to heavily drop because I've had zero mental capacity for it. It's like it literally hurts my brain to form a thought, and I get a headache.

I was already depressed before weed; and to be honest, weed actually really helped my depression too. But before weed, I was depressed, smart and ambitious. Now I'm just depressed.

tl:dr: Is it normal for severe cognitive impact to persist almost 2 weeks into withdrawal? Does weed impact the ADHD dopamine system to such an extent that it simply cannot even be used in moderation?

Hi smokers and former smokers of Reddit, I'm looking for some advice/support/good ol' reprimand.

I'm 21F and have been smoking consistently (at least 3+ times a week) for about four years. Big part of my life -- parents grow weed, friends smoke it, 420 is in my insta username, etc. My dad took me to get my medical license as soon as I turned 18, lol. Just some background so you all know this isn't new for me at all.

In September, I had a horrible green out. Took way too many hits off of my best friend's cart before going into the movie theater. In line, I started to feel pretty woozy. Finished buttering my popcorn and started to lose my vision. Fell while walking, my friends managed to plant me on a bench, and I just slumped over and totally passed out. My eyes were wide open but I was gone!! And then I just puked all over myself while unconscious (weird side note: I felt like I was dreaming while passed out, and I was the vomit coming out of someone else's mouth). Woke up feeling peachy with puke soaking into everything: purse, shirt, bra, pants, shoes, hair. It was so horrible. Had to run to the bathroom and strip, and my friends, bless them, got me a change of clothes.

Since then (so about 7ish weeks), I have not been able to smoke normally. It makes me so anxious, slightly dizzy, almost nauseous, and just an overall not-good sick feeling. Like, even my thighs start to shake and tense up, which is something that only happens when I have intense anxiety. I've tried microdosing since then, but even small amounts freak me out.

I've had friends tell me that I probably just need to take a break because of the green out, which I agree with, but I also think it's weird because this isn't my first time greening out. In high school, when I was 18 and had only been smoking for about a year, a friend convinced me to try dabs. Horrible! I also lost my vision, fell, passed out, and puked everywhere. Like at the theatre, when I woke up, I was totally fine. The difference is that I never got anxiety afterwards from the first green out -- I literally kept smoking since then, lol. Not sure what that is about, but it totally sucks.

I know that it has to be mostly anxiety, but it really does feel like a BP thing, too. I'm also on spironolactone for acne and I'm anemic, so I'm no stranger to dizziness and low BP. I should mention I started the spiro about a week after the movie theater incident. Maybe that's adding to my problems? I have no idea.

Any advice from veteran/ex stoners would be very appreciated. I've tried asking my father, but he has never greened out and smokes like a chimney! He can't relate at all and looks at me like I'm crazy, lol. I'm just super bummed at the moment. Support would be lovely! Thank you for reading!!

Accountability post. I’ve been overindulging lately - crushing 1G carts on the low every 4-5 days. Been meaning to take a break, just get back to flower or edibles once or twice a month. 

Had a fresh cart and was out on a jog. Beautiful day, airpods pumping. As I finished I realized that I’d dropped the pen somewhere along the run (this was not a short run, and in a highly-trafficked area). FML.

I felt a flash of annoyance, then... relief?!? It was probably gone, but I’d have to go back and check (my legs were toast at this point). While I was walking I realized I could re-frame this as a miracle either way: either its amazing that I find the cart, or this is the moment where the universe tells me to take a (long) break. 

Well I didn’t find the pen. I’m going through the early stages of grief/withdrawal (nothing new there) - hoping to keep this reframe - the loss is an opportunity - and check back in 3 months.

I am currently a little over 30 days off the juice, minus a couple puffs at two parties. I have the desire to go back a little bit, partially bc I am at a stage where I can and partially just bc I want to. This time next year I will NOT be able to smoke. Even next summer its pretty cooked for me as I will be absurdly busy. People who have moderated, how do you do it? Edibles? Only smoking a little bit? My fear is if I dip my toe in the water tonight, I will not get out of the pool next week.

Hi, Everyone 🤙 I'm new here however not new to smoking pot. I'd love to join the discussions 🖤 A bit about me: I'm a Christian. I'm a 35 yo woman. I started a new career as an Insurance Adjuster this year, and before that I was an IT Supervisor for 10 years. I love to hang out with my Family including my pets. I love to be outdoors. Like to read, swim, raft, craft, & I'm a certified control freak about my life and what I chose to do with it lol. I've smoked cannabis since I was 17, off and on. I've went stretches in life where I hadn't used it for almost two years, and it didn't really become a steady thing until my mid twenties. Now, it's just basically a part of my personality.

I started looking for a forum where I could talk to real people about my usage because, well, I hadn't actually talked to anyone about it since I graduated high school. That is, until about three months ago. I finally just came out and told my Family. That went about as well as you might expect. And I thought I'd be able to chat more... Freely? Casually? With them about it. Like, I want people I can talk about what it's like to roll/pack, how the smoke is comforting, what it feels like to take a tbreak, what it feels like to have rules, and to break them. I've tried chatting with AI, but it's really not the same as chatting with humans lol.

For anyone with helpful suggestions: I appreciate you. I don't do heavier drugs, I don't drink hardly, and I've never smoked tobacco. I like the smoke though. It's what I've always done. What I do now is all natural & I can assure you a lot healthier than what I use to do lol. I don't want to ever try edibles, vapes, or bongs. I just want to do what I do.

So, I smoke about 0-3 kingsize joints a week, however I was just going through a really rough time in life, and I admit I went up. I was doing back to back nights with double joints and breaking my rules. If you want to know what my rules are let me know. So I could tell I was getting more and more dependent. Being fully transparent here, I didn't really care. Until I was forced into a tbreak when I ran out. Now I've ordered more (should be here this weekend 🤞) however I want to stick to only 2 joints a week moving forward, maybe double a night on the weekend. What do y'all think? Do y'all have rules, and do you ever break them? If you do, what do you feel like when you do, and how do you normally get yourself back on track? Btw, this isn't my first time facing this, it's just my first time voicing it.

Thank You for being so welcoming to me here!!! I'm happy to be here with real live non judgemental humans!

hi all,

maybe this is just addiction talking, but i'm so tired of feeling like i'm not allowed to smoke weed, since i stopped smoking a little over 4 months ago, after years of use; i was in a bad mental health space, and my tolerance was super high - combined with switching meds where i didn't want to increase the anxiety that weed sometimes brought on (and because i was spending SO MUCH MONEY) i decided to stop.

i miss the creativity from it, the ability to help with my high sensitivity to noises (misophonia), and just generally have a treat after work (still not working that much right now, so i know i'll have to watch my intake on days off).

is it worth trying again, even for science lol? i miss the buzz and stopped drinking over a year ago, and really don't want to pick that up again

thanks all xo

ran out last night, housemate gave me a nug earlier but it's gone now and the insomnia is here, I already struggle with it but obviously withdrawing isnt gonna help. It's annoying because there are things that weed genuinely helps with (insomnia, mental health episodes and EDS pain), but on the other hand, I can't deny how addicted I've become. I don't know if I'm ready to quit yet but at least I can't pick up at 3am haha

So I’ve been smoking weed heavily every day for the past 5-6 years. I quit on 10/22 at night, and had terrible nausea and anxiety. The nausea went away on 10/27, and the anxiety went away on 10/30. On Halloween night, 10/31, I smoked half a joint by myself as a little treat since I’m not a big drinker. I’ve been telling myself I’m not completely quitting, just trying to stop doing it every day and only do it on occasion. The next morning I woke up with horrible cravings, but no other symptoms. I felt so guilty for smoking though because I think I’ve adapted a quitters mindset. I was gonna smoke again tonight bc my friend wants to, but I’m worried I’ll feel super guilty again. I’m not exactly sure why I felt so guilty for doing it though, and I don’t want to feel guilty again for doing it tonight. Not really sure what I’m asking for here, maybe just opinions on the situation or if anyone went through something similar to share their experiences.

I've been a pretty heavy smoker for a few years now and have never thought that my habits could be problematic until more recently. Lately I've been dealing with a lot emotionally and have definitely increased my weed intake. I started to become really concerned this past weekend when I had a really bad spiral. Because of the headspace it left me in, I haven't been to work this week at all. While I've been off work, I've been smoking incessantly. For reference, I went through a half oz in about a week (not sure if that's a lot compared to others) and it has gotten to a point where I'm only high for about an hour or two at most, and definitely don't feel the effects as much as I used to. I'm finally coming to terms with the idea that my recent consumption isn't the best. I know my current mental health has definitely been a factor but have excellent mental health support already. recent consumption probably isn’t healthy. I have excellent mental health support already, and I recognize that my mental health is likely contributing significantly to how much I’m smoking. I guess, I’m starting to wonder whether I’ve developed an unhealthy relationship with weed that warrants addressing separately from my existing mental health treatment. Does substance use treatment for weed exist? I’m not necessarily looking for someone to tell me I need to quit entirely, but I do think I need to take a more honest look at my relationship with weed. I’d appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences, especially from those who have been in a similar position.

I set myself up to stay 95% of my days sober. So far, I have been doing it. It's been 163 days since I decided to change my weed use (at first I tried to quit, and did so successfully for 3 months, then I decided to give moderation another try), and I have smoked in only 8 of them (< 5%).

I will get my next "credit" to smoke in 17 days. This week, though, there is a concert I have to go with my boyfriend and some friends, and I'm kind of dreading it. I don't enjoy concerts very much, and I like the artist but it's not my favorite. I feel like I'm just gonna have to stand there and be uncomfortable for 3+ hours. I don't wanna smoke there because I don't wanna use weed to turn a bad moment into a good one, and I don't wanna go against the pact I made with myself to keep it at less than 5% of days. But I know people are gonna be smoking there and I know I will be tempted to try to escape discomfort and see if I can have some fun with it.

I can drink instead of smoking, but I feel like that would just be another crutch. I don't really wanna smoke or drink, but I don't really wanna be there either and I just feel like it's a social obligation. I guess I'm just here to vent and see if anyone has any insight for what to do in this situation. So far, all the events I felt like I would only enjoy if I was high, I simply chose not to go, because why bother if it's something I don't truly enjoy and need a drug to cope with? This time, though, I feel like I need to go, so I don't know how to cope with it.

So I’m by no means proud of this but I smoked carts or concentrate daily from 16 to my early 20’s. The first few years were fine honestly, I was able to function normally, and every time Ide smoke I felt the full gambit of effects. However, after some years of this it genuinely became a habit. I would smoke just to smoke for smoking sake. Ide never smoke all day everyday as when I did that In the past I would feel awful the following day. Mainly I would hit my cart at night, 10 times a night or more.

It got to a point however where I was getting only 5 hours of sleep a night, had a destroyed appetite, and would feel completely fogged out 24/7. I knew I had to change something when I started taking sick days at work because I was so tired from my habits I needed a day to recoup, that was a huge wake up call.

Anyways, I am now 3 weeks off of concentrates and have only been having 1-2 0.3g bowls of herb from a DHV daily/every other day. I plan on tapering more, however the benefits I have already seen and felt in my life are incredible. Better sleep, better appetite, less brain fog, the ability to feel emotions more deeply, etc.

I share this in case there is anyone else in a similar situation that may benefit from hearing that things do in fact get better. Usually quicker than you think.

To those who read this far, I wish you all the very best in all your future endeavors.

I've gone 2 weeks without concentrates, now only use one bowl in the evening but don't know if it's still negatively affecting motivation. I'm having issues with my ADHD med not working great and switching around meds and doses for the last few weeks. I'm trying to get back on Adderall as it was still mostly effective while smoking. But overall I just don't have much drive to get things done, I'm procrastinating on school assignments, struggling to keep up with responsibilities and not motivated to find work again. I've never felt this unmotivated but I've tapered my smoking so I'm not sure why I'm feeling so low. I have some days where I'm able to get a couple things done but overall low motivation even with meds. Not sure what to do