I’ve been a daily smoker for the last 4 years, I had to take some time off for a job and it’s shocked me how my dreams have come back. I’m not planning on quitting but I’m probably going to try to stop daily usage. I’m curious how others feel about where they are with their weed usage and how it impacts them. I genuinely forgot what real powerful dreams were like and I ran a sleep study as a part of my university thesis and got to see firsthand how it impacts my REM sleep.
I usually take a week off THC every few months and the vivid dreams are almost too much for me because of how real they feel, but, for me, it’s worth it.
I’m an ex-daily-smoker (had the habit for the better part of 12 years) and I’ve certainly learned some things about how my body reacts to smoking every day and how it reacts when I quit.
Just relating my experience - I don’t want to disparage anyone currently smoking, because for periods of my life it was definitely very enjoyable to smoke a bowl and play some music or video games. But… after a while, it began to get worse and worse.
For starters, it slowly reduced my appetite, eventually down to the point where I couldn’t eat a meal without smoking, and food didn’t bring me joy anymore like it would while sober. It almost felt like I just had to cram it down so I wouldn’t starve.
I had to smoke just to feel normal. I wasn’t able to sleep through the night, often waking up at around 4am feeling gross, taking a small bong rip, and heading back to bed. My digestion was all out of whack, lots of diarrhea and constipation. No dreams, of course. No motivation to do anything that was not immediately gratifying. Drinking alcohol made me feel sick, even if it was just a couple beers. I had more social anxiety, often turning down invitations to go out just so I could stay at home, smoke weed, and play video games. All in all not a good time, but I was stuck in it.
Quitting was a huge pain for me. What little appetite I did have was replaced with nausea, my anxiety went through the roof, and my sleep was awful for a while. But after a few weeks, I’m basically back to normal. Better than normal, actually. Even if some dreams can be wacky or scary, I realized I missed them! It was like I forgot who sober me even was when I was a daily smoker. I’m doing more every day, I’m back into all my hobbies and projects, and life is good again!
My theory is this: our bodies produce cannabinoids naturally, for various purposes, including regulating appetite, sleep, and anxiety (this part is actually proven.) When you go giving your body tons of it on the regular, it stops producing it as much. It throws your body’s homeostasis out of whack, leading to the aforementioned issues. It can take a bit for your body to figure out how to regulate it again after you quit, but it does get there eventually.
Anyways, open to discuss any of this with y’all. I’m sure not everybody’s experience is the same, but I know there’s got to be people out there in the same boat I was.
That’s really interesting, I can see how I might have gotten to a similar level. I had never smoked before university, I was always busy with sports/ school. I only started seriously smoking around COVID and I definitely got attached to it. I found it messed with my appetite and would make me anxious when I was high sometimes. I would smoke probably 4-5 bowls a day. The last 3 probably did nothing most of the time. When I was home from school I’d smoke joints more and at a more controlled rate. I found it more pleasant once I’d get used to a lower intake. Recently I’ve had to pass a drug test and I’m taking a month and a half break to ensure I pass. It’s been nice to see that I can very easily stop cold turkey. Outside of when I’m drunk I really don’t crave it.
Sounds like you’ve got a good handle on it, glad to hear that. I think smoking joints is probably the best way to do it, it avoids getting massive quantities into yourself like a bong can. Plus, its more of a social thing usually.
Thanks for sharing. I had an easier time of it (maybe only a year of daily use), but never regretted cutting back.
It always concerned me a bit to see people glorifying daily use so much back on /r/trees. In retrospect, I don’t have many fond memories of that time, and I think it made it harder to address the root mental health issues.
Yeah I was probably at about an ounce every 2 weeks at the worst. And I totally agree, weed culture makes it too easy to ignore any negative aspects of smoking it all the time.
I use maybe once a week and track my sleep with a Garmin watch. On nights that I use my deep sleep is almost non-existent. On the following nights my deep sleep comes back and then some.
Can see this being the reason why many don’t experience dreams on weed and why memory suffers after prolonged use, since deep sleep is necessary for both of these.
From my sleep study I saw the same results, my REM sleep periods would only start later in the night when the weed wore off. I’m also starting to feel like my memory is suffering. There is also just the problem of tolerance, I want to land on a sustainable approach to smoking.
