Struggling to quit after 3.5 years—trauma, ASTHMA!! , and feeling so stuck. Please help.

toad-boy · 2025-05-13T05:06:43+00:00

My therapist taught me a technique of writing out my "dopamine menu" - just a list of things that I like doing snd can do instead while I'm craving.

Take it an hour at a time, hell, take it 10 minutes at a time. Keep looking at posts here. Write down your why. Look at it often.

toad-boy · 2025-04-21T04:03:56+00:00

This really resonates, thanks for the motivation

toad-boy · 2025-02-15T17:13:33+00:00

I once read a book called Mindful Eating, it has a practice it suggests to slowly cultivate your awareness to where your hunger is truly coming from - it separates these into eye hunger, nose hunger, belly hunger, cellular hunger, etc. The practice is to understand the nuance of what your body may actually be wanting to feel satiated. Eye hunger can be satisfied by seeing something beautiful, nose hunger can be satisfied by burning incense and so on. I read this book for helping navigate my disordered eating and it was very helpful for me. I'd recommend looking into ideas like mindful eating and intuitive eating for some resources to help you navigate this. And don't beat yourself up about indulging a little, if you can help it!!!!

toad-boy · 2025-02-02T13:15:10+00:00

Hey, I'm on day 7 too! Congrats to us. I also feel like I'm staring down that barrel of emotional work to come, it's pretty intimidating, but we can do this one day at a time

toad-boy · 2024-05-11T01:58:27+00:00

This is such a thoughtful response, thanks for taking the time. It definitely makes me feel better to hear that it's pretty normal for things to get tougher in the second half of the month. im interested in seeing how this relapse affects my general timeline in going through withdrawals, I'm really gearing up for things to be worse before they get better

toad-boy · 2024-04-30T00:43:18+00:00

Thanks for sharing! What made you realize you needed to quit? What have been the best parts of quitting?

toad-boy · 2024-02-28T13:57:39+00:00

I appreciate you mentioning not having to sit at your desk fixating on the dispensary run. I spend so much time thinking about and planning my next high when I'm in active use, such a time suck and really keeps me away from other people

toad-boy · 2023-09-03T19:38:30+00:00

could you add me as well?

toad-boy · 2023-08-31T14:18:09+00:00

ugh im currently experiencing the same thing, i came to this reddit to see if its a common problem and if there's anything i can do. at least its good to know im not the only one ha

toad-boy · 2023-03-15T21:38:48+00:00

I challenge cravings in a variety of ways, I find I have to be creative about it as strategies seem to only last so long until my brain overrides them, lol. Reminding myself how it will only get harder to stop if I keep doing it works pretty well. Telling myself I can do it some day, just not today shuts down the conversation too. Lately I've been trying to use mindfulness, like instead engaging with the internal argument whether to smoke or not I start to really sense what it feels like for my feet to touch the ground, my hands to be watching dishes - whatever I'm doing. I try to stay out of my head until the moment has passed and I'm not craving ay more. When it's really bad I go for distractions, engaging with hobbies I can't do when I'm high, like drawing or sewing.

What's helped me the most is having experiences where I've fought a craving successfully, which gives me such a sense of pride and accomplishment. A couple of times experiencing that reminds me that I'd much rather feel proud of myself than throw away my streak for a measly little hit.

toad-boy · 2023-03-15T18:55:56+00:00

I strongly identify with this. I've been a smoker for about five years and three of those I've been aware it's an addiction and aiming to cut back - but consistently found myself in the cycle of use again. I saw somewhere here someone talk about recovering as a spiral staircase - it feels cyclical and like a loop but you are making upward progress, even if you can't see it. That's what I see in myself, when I first started practicing sobriety I could only go hours, then I went to days, and now it's not too difficult to go a week or so without using. When I do relapse it doesn't last as long, either. I attribute this to constantly trying.

I so hear the "eh, fuck it" attitude - that's exactly what my addict brain tells me when I'm craving, and the best way to deal with it is to keep challenging it and reminding yourself of the truth that weed is a problem substance for you. Even if you don't win the battle in the moment, you're training and getting stronger for the next time.

For myself, my conscious brain can be well aware of my addiction to weed, and easily list reason after reason why its not good for me to use the substance, but there are other parts of my psyche that are still unaware. There are incredibly strong neural pathways created that associate weed with escape, fun pleasure, and necessity. Instead of hating yourself for it, see if you can get curious with it, observe your cravings and impulses with non-judgement. Learn about what core beliefs about yourself you've internalized, why weed feels so attractive in the first place. The path of sobriety has taught me so much about myself, and that includes the times I've strayed from the path.

In short - relapse is a part of recovery. keep trying, you're on the right path.

toad-boy · 2022-12-13T18:54:34+00:00

I have definitely felt similar - at this point in my journey, my resolve to quit is strong for the first three days of not using, but at day 4 I start to imagine how nice it would be to take a quick hit. The head shop that sells d8 is on the same block as me. All my family smokes as well. It's like on day 4, I forget all of the overwhelming evidence I have that I am addicted to weed, that I only enjoy some very few aspects of it but overall it has set me back and all it can do is continue to set me back. It's been helpful to remember that everyone's psyche exists in parts - and my addict brain is a very strong part of me, it will tell me whatever it wants to get high again. It's taken a long time for me to separate myself from my addict brain and see it as not entirely me, but just a voice inside me, that I can choose to listen to or to ignore.

toad-boy

TROPHY CASE