21 days clean.

[Gunner817]

I'm still not back to the old me, the paws I guess is real. Sleep is still an issue but I've been smoking a little weed this past 5 days. I know some of yall will say weed today is bad but I find it helps a lot (except sleep). Anyone have anything interesting to say or help out.

[Frogger76]

It definitely gets easier as time goes by, every so often that darn craving will pop up outta nowhere but never give in, I relapsed a couple times and thought I could just pick up where I left off, big mistake!!! Made me so sick, I was an addict for 5 years @ 50 pills a day more if I could get them but never less cuz I'd start to withdraw but I am now 8 years clean and it's still a battle although now I don't think about it on a daily basis like in the beginning.

[DavidW11]

Ditto on the 3 to 5 days and its over is crap statement.  I relapsed too many times to count at 10 to 14 days because then it would be fine to get more since I was no longer hooked.  Gotta shut out the thoughts that aren't real or healthy anyhow and realize that the longer you go the easier it'll get.

[Frogger76]

I agree with you on the whole 3-5 days & it's over crap.  I was still in full physical withdrawal for about a month after stopping, then still felt like crap physically for at least a couple months after that,  then comes the mental withdrawals,full force. They are, at least to me, in a way worse than the physical withdrawals cuz they last a lot longer.  I still, 8 years later,  have an occasional craving but I try and remember the hell I went thru to get off the crap, it's just like its a never ending battle.

[NeverAgain127]

Congrats, buddy.  I'm on day 39 and have yet to sleep a full night.   I didn't have a high daily intake when I jumped (10 mgs) but I took 40 mgs (sometimes a bit more) for 8 years, so my brain is not wired correctly yet.  I can FEEL that I'm not normal.   I don't think it is PAWS...I think it is still just withdrawal.  

The whole "3-5 days and its over" crap is just that:  CRAP.   I find those kind of things written by people who relapse over and over again.  They are only horrible dope-sick for 5 days, then they feel a tiny bit better so they use again.   In reality, I believe physical recovery takes more than a few months, and the mental, emotional, and spiritual part is a life-long process.

People with long term sobriety in AA are coolest, most patient, Zen-type folk I've ever met.   I hope I can get there. Right now I just want to sleep a full six hours without having insane nightmares.

[Frogger76]

Congrats!!! I know how hard it is I was an addict for 5years and quit cold turkey from a 50 pill a day habit.  It totally sucked for about three months but I made it and you will to.

[bama88]

I  agree with motye your possibly still detoxing.  Remember your thru acute withdrawls but your body is still recovering, your resetting your brain chemicals back to what they were before drugs.  This takes time.  The first 30 days can be tough as nails.  Depending on what your coming off of.

I'm not gonna start a war about the weed. But I think it has its benefits and its negatives.  I also think it's YOUR body and YOUR EXPERIENCE .

I do agree it's a drug and it's a mind altering substance and if can be argued that your not really clean.  But that's neither here nor there.

When I got clean my main focus was to get off the drugs I was abusing.  I smoked here and there to take that edge off.  But weed was not nor will ever be my true drug of choice.  But it does help some.  It helped me.

I didn't consider weed my problem.  Still don't cause it doesn't control me like the oxy did.

And I didn't have any cravings for the weed.  Not like opiods.

I find that there are two thinkings when it comes to sobriety.  Some say your not clean until your completely off all mind altering substances and some people say they are sober from their drug of choice.

I say recovery is a process, a journey and its a step by step one for me.
Recovery is like religion, we all have our own thoughts.

And then there's the whole legal issue.

I'm glad your recovering.  If recovery would be such an easy thing then there wouldn't be relapses or even better yet there wouldn't be an addiction.

The main thing I focus on is healthy and natural living.  And, also getting to the roots of why I abused drugs.  Why and what am I running from.  What are you running from?

And, are you in aftercare?  Without aftercare it's almost a 100 probabable one will relapse.  Aftercare teaches us the skills we need to learn how to live life on life's terms.  How to deal with stress, how to live again.

Your not gonna quit your doc and after 5 to ten days magically be 100% well.  You didn't get addicted in 5 to 10 days did you? No.  So it's the same concept getting well.

Just be careful with the weed, I've seen be a slippery slope and you don't want to slide down again.

[Gunner817]

I went 5 years clean off weed I quit when I was 18 and I was a huge pothead in high school

[JayFive]

What are you getting clean from? Congrats on the 3 weeks. The worst if surely behind you. Try not to think about the PAWS and all the mumbo jumbo about reoccurring withdrawal symptoms months or years down the road. Hear me out, if you have to travel to phoenix from LA in the middle of the summer and your A/C in your car breaks what would you do to make it a more comfortable ride? Maybe roll down the windows, drink cool water, who knows. Essentially i'm saying you would focus on the solution and not the problem. If you were to dread how terrible it all is, then it would make the trip that much worse. I'm not saying that is what you are doing, but just know that the worst is behind you and you have only good days ahead!

As far as the weed goes. You will just enjoy life better without it. I've never ever known someone to quit weed and say six months later, "Oh damn, I really wish I had been smoking pot this entire time"

just in my experience.

[motye51]

Hey.....I'm not quite sure what your detoxing off of but I know that more than likely it's not PAWS your having, it still just detoxing.  That **** can last a long time in our systems and sometimes, when they say 4/5 days....i want to vomit because mine took like 30 days....and then even still, that just meant I could get out of bed, bathe, maybe wash a dish or two....my brain still felt like putty!  Just be patient, as it will get better with time.  
And yes, I'm sure weed does take the edge off a bit, but sometimes that "edge" is necessary, you know what I mean?
Good luck to you....Here's to only moving forward and getting better!