
Similarly, you can decrease the potential severity of withdrawal by gradually reducing your use rather than quitting abruptly or “cold turkey,” as withdrawal severity tends to correlate with how much you use. In The Weedless Guide, we explain how taking smart measures before you stop-whether that’s planning your timeline, or throwing out your marijuana related equipment-can minimize the mental and physical triggers that can activate cravings, exacerbate mood changes, and interfere with your daily routines. If you plan on quitting, the best way to minimize the symptoms of withdrawal are to optimize your environment, and to consider whether you may benefit from reducing your use before quitting entirely. While some medications have been investigated as potential treatments for cannabis use disorder or cannabis withdrawal syndrome, these are largely limited to reducing a specific symptom, like dulling your cravings, or enhancing sleep. Unfortunately, the short answer is that there is no guaranteed strategy or medication that will completely eliminate the symptoms of withdrawal. Many people will want to know if withdrawal is preventable. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-80 Most importantly, if you ever being to wonder whether life is worth living or begin to have thoughts of harming yourself or others, these are not feelings that you can or should deal with alone. Please do not hesitate to call your doctor if you feel like your mood is interfering with your ability to function in the world. If you are still feeling down, hopeless, and fatigued after one month, you may be experiencing something more serious. Similarly, though some continued mood changes are entirely normal, there is a huge difference between depressed mood secondary to withdrawal and clinical depression.

These may represent symptoms of another condition, as typical marijuana withdrawal symptoms should be self-limited, and not so severe. Importantly, persistent physical pain, nausea, vomiting or weight loss that interferes with your ability to function is concerning and should be brought to the attention of a healthcare provider. Other former users, especially those who have a history of heavy marijuana ingestion, may continue to struggle with memory and cognition, although they will have made substantial improvements from the acute withdrawal period ( Broyd, Biol Psychiatry, 2016). Some studies have noted that other symptoms, like fatigue, sneezing, or coughing can happen after a month ( Hesse, BMC Psychiatry, 2013). These include mood symptoms like depression, irritability, as well as continued difficulties with sleep, or vivid dreams. You’re finally on the road to the new, cleaner you, and there’s no reason to look back.įor some people, though, symptoms of withdrawal will drag on past this one-month mark. When a craving strikes, employ that method or healthy distraction you’ve practiced again and again. Perhaps you’ve started to wake up feeling more positive or even gotten more accustomed to seeing things in a positive light. Perhaps you’ve replaced some of your previous habits with health-promoting activities like exercise. The worst and darkest times are now behind you, and it might be around now that you are starting to see all the ways in which quitting marijuana use has already begun to alter your life for the better. We promise there is light at the end of the tunnel, so stick with it!Īfter one month of successful abstinence, you’ve essentially scaled the mountain of withdrawal, and the majority of withdrawal symptoms will have subsided by now. Even so, we want to emphasize that, after four weeks of abstinence, the worst is behind you. It may appear that there is no end in sight.


Sometimes, sleep disturbances and brain fog can persist for months. Cravings, will continue, and you should anticipate intense and sporadic cravings throughout this time.īy weeks three and four, the most pronounced symptoms are sleep disturbances, depression and anxiety, and mental clouding, or brain fog. You may begin to feel restlessness, boredom, and depression creeping in. In some people, decreased appetite may even result in significant weight loss.īy your second week, your symptoms should be must less intense than the first week, and any flu-like symptoms (changes in body temperature, headaches) will have dissipated by now. Even so, people may continue to struggle with sleep, lack of energy, or loss of appetite. By the end of your first week, most of the physical symptoms of withdrawal will have begun to show signs of improvement-for some, these will go away completely.
