Hi all, I haven't posted in months but I just want to post this to give hope to anybody struggling.
In a few weeks time I will have been off the weed for 1 year. This was after having been chronically addicted (smoking morning, noon and night!) for 15+ years. I cannot believe that I am where I am today.
The first few months were absolutely awful but it really did get better, I never thought that I would feel 'normal' again or that the awful 'empty' feeling of quitting would go but it has. I will admit that I have had bad days and still have the odd craving but generally I feel absolutely free of the stuff.
I quit through sheer willpower and determination and did not attend NA or see a counsellor. I did it completely on my own and feel so proud and amazed that I did it. I got myself into that mess and I was determined to get myself out of it.
I am not smug, I am at risk of re-offending (!) every single day of my life but today I have been clean for nearly a year.
Good luck to you all, such a difficult addiction to quit. It can be done, you can survive, you can learn to enjoy life and to look forward without it. Best wishes to all.
Ruby
ruby, thanks so much for posting and telling of your success. That's awesome. I've been smoking chronically, but off and on for 30 years, your words are in inspiration to me to do the right thing for myself and not take a smoke. luckily, lady jane is not the harshest goddess, and for me its' not to hard to stay clean for a while, but first i have to get to the point where i take the first day or too off, and that can be very hard. keep going!
Hey Ruby, Good on ya and a big Congratulations on 1 year clean. That's great, you should feel proud. I have quit for a few weeks at a time but haven't stuck to it. I tried "rational recovery" which is alot like the "slapping yourself across the face" method. Just don't do it.There's always something that keeps me smoking, we had our house on the market, D left me to live in town, etc. But I always come back to wanting to quit. You are an inspiration! The only good news from me - my headaches are a bit better after seeing a new pain specialist. I continue to lose weight at WW, 18kg now, 12 to go. So glad you posted and let us know how well you're doing. Lots of love and best wishes.
Hi Rachael, So nice to hear from you. Fab news that your headaches have got better, you seem to have had troubles in other aspects of life and I hope that things improve.
I will let you into a secret - the main reason that I have been able to stay clean is that I moved from London and down to the west country. This meant that I was well away from my dealer and smoking friends and this has helped enormously. I think that if I found out that my new next door neighbours were smokers I would be around there begging for a bag!
So in the meantime I am clean, am certainly not going to look for the stuff and just hope that I can continue this. I love being in the country and living near to the sea. There have been so many positive aspects of being clean - having a clear mind, no more paranoia, no more worries about it damaging my health, no more worries about being done for drug driving, no more worries about being caught smoking by straight neighbours who thought I was a pillar of society!! .........I could go on.
Thanks also to Hardcharger for posting. I have lurked on these boards for a couple of years now and I am well aware of your wish to give up the weed, Good luck to you all, it certainly isn't easy. How I wish I could turn back the clock to when I was a teenager when my boyfriend at the time told me that it wasn't addictive!!
Best wishes to you all.
Ruby x
I will let you into a secret - the main reason that I have been able to stay clean is that I moved from London and down to the west country. This meant that I was well away from my dealer and smoking friends and this has helped enormously. I think that if I found out that my new next door neighbours were smokers I would be around there begging for a bag!
So in the meantime I am clean, am certainly not going to look for the stuff and just hope that I can continue this. I love being in the country and living near to the sea. There have been so many positive aspects of being clean - having a clear mind, no more paranoia, no more worries about it damaging my health, no more worries about being done for drug driving, no more worries about being caught smoking by straight neighbours who thought I was a pillar of society!! .........I could go on.
Thanks also to Hardcharger for posting. I have lurked on these boards for a couple of years now and I am well aware of your wish to give up the weed, Good luck to you all, it certainly isn't easy. How I wish I could turn back the clock to when I was a teenager when my boyfriend at the time told me that it wasn't addictive!!
Best wishes to you all.
Ruby x
hi ruby- that is amazing news. i haven't checked in here for awhile, very disillusioned with the whole process .... you just gave me big hope.
congrats to you!!!
thanks for the post:)
jojo
congrats to you!!!
thanks for the post:)
jojo
Ruby,
I love reading your posts. You are truly inspiring. When i quit cigarette smoking three years ago, i would cry when i saw other people smoked, I would cry cuz i was so mad i couldn't smoke. Then one day i read a saying. MIND OVER BODY and when you talk of willpower it reminds me of that saying.
By now, it must be a year and a half that you have quit. Please come and tell us how you are doing.
I love reading your posts. You are truly inspiring. When i quit cigarette smoking three years ago, i would cry when i saw other people smoked, I would cry cuz i was so mad i couldn't smoke. Then one day i read a saying. MIND OVER BODY and when you talk of willpower it reminds me of that saying.
By now, it must be a year and a half that you have quit. Please come and tell us how you are doing.
Hi Ruby, yes Fleur Ruby is very inspiring and I like how you said you were not smug ! I feel thats where I let myself down. You are so right in all of your advice and yes I so wish I hadn't listerned to the advice it's not addictive. Take care tommorrow I start again straight and hopefully I will make it. Best wishes your way and good on you for sharing. Thank you
Hi Fleur and Tania and all.
Ooohhh, I was just having a little lurk and noticed your comments, thanks for asking after me.
I have read a few of your posts and really sympathise with what you are trying to achieve.
Yes, I have been clean for a year and a half now, I last smoked in July 2007 (apart from a small blip, will explain shortly!) I cannot quite believe that I am typing that after so many years on the weed - I say 15+ years but the truth is it was 17 years, the entire of my adult life so far.
If you read some of my other posts you will have seen that I moved from London to the West country about half way into my recovery which helped enormously as I have no idea where I could score these days even if I wanted to. (and I don't like cider so my biggest tempation down these parts is scones and clotted cream!)
Life is good these days. My head is clear, no more paranoia, worrying about where my next score will come from, worrying about straight neighbours/family 'finding out my secret', having more money to spend, being more sociable, not having that 'fog' in my head............I could go on.
I STILL crave the stuff from time to time but these cravings are so tiny and short lasting compaired to when I first quit. I no longer obsess about it like I did when I first quit.
Now for my blip...... about 6 weeks ago I went back to where I used to live to stay with some friends for the weekend. I knew that temptation would be in my path and I thought what the hell, I will share a joint with my friend. And do you know what? I ABSOLUTELY HATED IT!!! I hated the feeling and couldn't wait to 'straighten up' and declined it for the rest of the weekend. I am finished with the stuff!
I wish you all well on your journeys and hope that 2009 is a good year for all. The only piece of advice I can give is that the awful discomfort and feelings in the early days are worth bearing with because they do get so much easier and the long term benefits are huge.
Ruby x
Ooohhh, I was just having a little lurk and noticed your comments, thanks for asking after me.
I have read a few of your posts and really sympathise with what you are trying to achieve.
Yes, I have been clean for a year and a half now, I last smoked in July 2007 (apart from a small blip, will explain shortly!) I cannot quite believe that I am typing that after so many years on the weed - I say 15+ years but the truth is it was 17 years, the entire of my adult life so far.
If you read some of my other posts you will have seen that I moved from London to the West country about half way into my recovery which helped enormously as I have no idea where I could score these days even if I wanted to. (and I don't like cider so my biggest tempation down these parts is scones and clotted cream!)
Life is good these days. My head is clear, no more paranoia, worrying about where my next score will come from, worrying about straight neighbours/family 'finding out my secret', having more money to spend, being more sociable, not having that 'fog' in my head............I could go on.
I STILL crave the stuff from time to time but these cravings are so tiny and short lasting compaired to when I first quit. I no longer obsess about it like I did when I first quit.
Now for my blip...... about 6 weeks ago I went back to where I used to live to stay with some friends for the weekend. I knew that temptation would be in my path and I thought what the hell, I will share a joint with my friend. And do you know what? I ABSOLUTELY HATED IT!!! I hated the feeling and couldn't wait to 'straighten up' and declined it for the rest of the weekend. I am finished with the stuff!
I wish you all well on your journeys and hope that 2009 is a good year for all. The only piece of advice I can give is that the awful discomfort and feelings in the early days are worth bearing with because they do get so much easier and the long term benefits are huge.
Ruby x
I am so glad Ruby came here to let us know she is super duper doing fine.
I wish i could say as much. I am starting my fourth day off pot, and it doesn't seem like it is getting any easier. I haven't eaten a meal in four days except for a bit of soup and jello. I've had terrible headaches and this morning got up with one again that just makes me sick to my stomach. I keep telling myself it's only pot i'm trying to quit not heroin for goodness sake and yet i feel like that is what i am going thru!!!!
I am so proud of you Ruby! You had a lot of strength to stick to your decision to quit smoking pot. Congratulations. Please come back and post sometimes. I've read alot of your former posts and you are an inspiration to me.
Tania, where are you?
I wish i could say as much. I am starting my fourth day off pot, and it doesn't seem like it is getting any easier. I haven't eaten a meal in four days except for a bit of soup and jello. I've had terrible headaches and this morning got up with one again that just makes me sick to my stomach. I keep telling myself it's only pot i'm trying to quit not heroin for goodness sake and yet i feel like that is what i am going thru!!!!
I am so proud of you Ruby! You had a lot of strength to stick to your decision to quit smoking pot. Congratulations. Please come back and post sometimes. I've read alot of your former posts and you are an inspiration to me.
Tania, where are you?
Hey Ruby,
I found your experience really interesting. Well done on getting some clean time.
I did the opposit to you, I went to NA and took on their sugestions. I didn't have to move anywhere to get away from it. I learnt a lot about me and addiction. I don't have cravings any more. the mental obsession has gone. I live a life happy joyous and free of all drugs and alcohol. Today I have no desire to use at all. I can be around people using it and I can decline it when offered to me (which was unthinkable before) I've been clean for coming up to 6 months.
What NA promised me when I went is that i would never have to use drugs or alcohol ever again. The reason they were able to make that promise was because it has taught me to live a fufilling life and actualy deal with my illness of addiction in which smoking skunk was just a symptom.
Well done on getting 6 weeks again. What NA teaches me is not how to stop smoking skunk, but how to STAY stopped.
I found your experience really interesting. Well done on getting some clean time.
I did the opposit to you, I went to NA and took on their sugestions. I didn't have to move anywhere to get away from it. I learnt a lot about me and addiction. I don't have cravings any more. the mental obsession has gone. I live a life happy joyous and free of all drugs and alcohol. Today I have no desire to use at all. I can be around people using it and I can decline it when offered to me (which was unthinkable before) I've been clean for coming up to 6 months.
What NA promised me when I went is that i would never have to use drugs or alcohol ever again. The reason they were able to make that promise was because it has taught me to live a fufilling life and actualy deal with my illness of addiction in which smoking skunk was just a symptom.
Well done on getting 6 weeks again. What NA teaches me is not how to stop smoking skunk, but how to STAY stopped.
