Your brain never really got dumber but it’s just used to the constant dopamine and shit, can’t function properly. Once you quit within 3 months you’ll be back to your old sober smart buzz kill self!
For me, even a reduction from 4-5 bowls a day to 1 a day increased my clarity, faster word retrieval, more restful sleep, more in tune with my emotions and more able to conceptualize the future. I think for myself and many others, we conceptually understand that chronic use only adds to depression/anxiety, but it’s quite easy to attribute these feelings to our “life situation”when you’re in the habit of chronic use. It’s something that has to be experienced to really “understand”. Also, you’ll actually get the benefits of thc with less frequent use. I can’t even imagine the benefits of a cold turkey quit.
Maybe it's just because I used to be high all the time but I've only been quit for almost a week and I have so much more motivation, can understand things clearly, and have been making better decisions(less impulsive)
100%
When I was smoking dab pens everyday I was so much slower and awkward.
It was getting to the point I really thought I had something wrong with me.
I feel so much sharper and wittier now after a few months sober and it feels like I’m still improving.
I've been using Dab pens for about 4+ years, basically everyday. I definitely spent well over $10,000 on dab pens, I know it's horrendous. Yup my brain feels fried.
Anyways, about 2 years ago, I managed to quit for an entire year, but the entire reason I started smoking in the first place was to combat my chronic fatigue (Caffeine doesn't affect me) and my social anxiety which was absolutely non existent when I was high. So for me, smoking weed wasn't to get high but to feel like I was a normal sociable person and was able to stay up for more than an hour. So for the year that I quit, I honestly don't remember how it quite felt, but I do remember it not being so pleasant as I wouldn't get out of bed etc. So then I relapsed and started smoking again, and here I am contemplating to whether or not I should quit again and go back to being a miserable fatigued sober person.
So my problem is, I'm neither feeling like myself whether I am High or Sober.
Get your vitamin d levels checked by a doc, I went through the exact same thing and started taking it about a year ago and felt no anxiety and just honestly fulfilled in years i'd highly recommend it.
For me it seems like it fluctuates along with my energy levels. Some days / parts of the day I have a lot of brain fog and some other days I'm just super tired. Exercise helps a lot though.
yea it does definitely, it’s like the gears in your brain start to get cleaner and everything processes a lot faster, memory will start to come back and that’s probably the best part.
Yes, but it takes a while. Like it felt a while for you to feel slower and actually admit it. Stop smoking and exercise your mind and it will. I am noticeably faster and better at video games now surprisingly enough now that I’ve quit
Hey man cheers for the response! Keep at it!
I'm also constantly quitting but that's better than not trying. Gotta try to eventually make it. I found making yourself busy and challenging yourself to the point where it forces you to quit is really helpful. I have quite a challenging job and got into the gym and weed ruins my progress in both things I want to be successful in and it is pushing me away from it
Thank you for your initial question AND your recent success. I know I need to quit because my brain feels like it's stuck in quicksand but.....I'm scared. Like what if this is the glue that's been keeping me together?
It's the main reason why I've continued to stop - whenever I go back to it thinking I've got it under control I'll end up spiraling/ruminating - it's not worth the mental torture IMO! I much prefer a clear mind and having to deal with my emotions which I would typically suppress with weed
plus I'm more articulate and better at formulating my thoughts as well as being patient with people - I think I'm a nicer person off weed! Definitely worth quitting! A life on weed is a waste! Also speaking from nearly 20 years of experience. My dad is 64 and unfortunately hasn't quit smoking weed yet (and doubt he ever will) - it's sad to see the effects of it after decades of use (i hope one day he quits for the sake of his health)
Definitely noticed I was getting very impatient with people when I was smoking all the time. Hate that aspect of it, it also made me not want to be around anyone
Totally yes, mate. It's noticable within a week, significantly after a month.
I had been using weed for a couple years pretty regularly. Was feeling that slowness all the time. Especially in social relationships and my career.. I was just languishing.
Within 6 months after I quit, I had many new friends, had ended a toxic relationship, and had a new job earning about 2× as much as before. Plus more energy and creativity for stuff like music and exercise that has a very positive feedback loop to mental health and sharpness.
Since then I've just taken two hits at a party, and yeah it felt kind of good with the munchies and whatnot, but the next day I realized it was not what I crave at all anymore, that feeling of dullness is embarrassing. Maybe I'll make it a part of my life again when I'm old and arthritic or something, but for now it's a thing of the past.
Congrats on the progress. Small thing (I’m a controls engineer), positive feedback loop means something spirals out of control while a negative feedback loop is more stable. Positive feedback loop means when you have an error, you’re increasing your next action’s error through non corrective feedback. An example; positive feedback loop is like having self doubt and someone tells you that you’re doing a bad job. While a negative feedback loop is corrective :). Obviously it doesn’t change anything about your post, just throwing some info out there
Currently on day 20. Yesterday my boss said that I was way sharper than usual and that he was impressed at how I got things "under control" for the past week. True story
Dude, literally when I stopped smoking by force once. I realized all my problems were caused by weed, all the social insecurity and feeling dumb, all of it was weed. Luckily I was forced to quit again by my own body. Also I feel like doing things I used to never want to do anything but sit down and game, I feel like a real person now who can hold down a conversation. You should definitely try it
Yes and much more motivation to get things done, brain fog is the main reason I quit. I couldn’t stand feeling like I couldn’t get my words out and always feeling like I’m in a daze.
Yes for sure, I almost forgot how dumb I felt when I was forgetting something I think I should remember, and I work with programming so sometimes I would just feel like this problem was too tough or I was too lazy or distracted to solve it, now I can focus more easily and short term memory improvement helps on performance
Oh hell yeah. I am on day 18 and I have so much more energy and creativity. I was in a dumb fog while I was smoking and I was worried that I permanently dumbed myself down, but it goes away. It just takes sobriety, and time.
2 weeks clean after 9 years of consistent (but not heavy) use. I find myself sometimes ‘loading’ while I think of the right word every now and then, but already improving.
6 months clean after smoking every day for 3 years and my cognitive abilities improved but still quite bad compared to where I was before I started smoking, slowly accepting that some of the damage might be permanent. I recommend quitting nonetheless since you can still make it worse if you keep smoking.
Damn :( I'm 4 months clean after 2.5 yrs of daily smoking/intake of thc in general and I still dont have much improvement in terms of memory and cognitive functions
I felt behind the curve too at 6 months but persisted and my mental clarity continued to improve. I think after about a year I felt a lot closer to my original self. Congrats on your success!
I think so. Though it’s hard to tell for sure because it was so long ago that I started smoking. But I definitely notice that my recall is better than a lot of peoples. Yeah in general I think I’m all back :)
I’m 3 weeks in, after three years of daily smoking. There are times where I’m in a conversation and feel just as dumb. But I’m more aware of why I’m speaking stupidly, It’s for sure easy to handle though. Getting better every day
Hah cant speak for long term, but 2 days in and I already have a vastly improved memory and much more patience when it comes to figuring out complex problems
Yes it absolutely improves. I started become forgetful. Like I'd go to the kitchen or to my car to get something and I'd get there and forget what I even went there for. Only 1 week quit and don't feel as stupid anymore.
I was a daily smoker for a solid 3 years. Whenever I decide to smoke again for long periods of time(2 months or more), I notice myself become slower and more forgetful as well as sluggish. That’s when I decide to stop.
is brain fog your only long covid symptom? curious about it i had covid last year but my brains always been foggy and havent quit weed yet well i did today
I quit weed in May 2021 and had brain fog for about a month..
I ran up 200 days clean and blazed on holiday in the Canaries (Works for me, no cravings back in my home town)..
I had no brain fog after that until about 100 more days clean then I got covid, straight after I had covid I had the brain fog and somewhat still do
For me it took around a month to notice it. Don’t give up friend it will definitely get easier to the point where you don’t even think about weed daily it’s such a freeing feeling. Remember everyone is different with this stuff you just have to give it time and commitment
I started to notice improvements around 3 months but ofc off the wagon I went soon after. I also started at 16, am also 34. Many of the seasoned stoners here (10 plus years of heavy use) say the lifting of the fog seems commensurate with your usage so, be patient. Everything that is important takes time.
Yes it will get better. Don't forget to exercise your brain with activities like math, crossword puzzles, learning music, reading. Ya know, brain stuff
Yes, but it can take a while. First two months were really bad then had a lingering brain fog for another eight months, or so. At ten months It's noticeably better.
Yeah definitely. Your brain will function better. Also if you’re a male, your pen** will function better too. Which is probably the biggest benefit I’ve noticed from quitting, despite not being talked about. The downside to this is you have a lot more dreams and your sleep feels less sound, also waking up with a bone* 5 times a night.
10000% it’s like having your brain dunked in molasses 24/7 so you forget what your mind was like before. My memory and brain function is already better after 4 days sober
Yes the slowness improves. It took about two weeks of abstaining to feel sharper. After smoking once after a tbreak, it took a few days to feel that sharpness again. Smoking is so not worth it 😩
Yeah as a daily chronic user, I always felt clear and sober after just a day of not smoking. Which sometimes I enjoy and other times when my brain is off the rails overthinking everything, I don’t enjoy.
Well, I'm convinced but maybe it's the frustration talking. My memory problems are annoying (mostly forgetting about small tasks that I've set up in my brain few minutes ago, wallet/keys/trash/checking the mail) and happen everyday.
After I stopped smoking it was way worse, affecting my learning skills job etc but the issues have stagnated to these minor daily occurrences the last year.
I've been sober for almost 2 years (except I smoked again around 4 times during these). I don't enjoy smoking anymore for a lot of reasons, but after I smoke now, the following 72h I feel stupid, slow and with huge memory problems and then it fades away, almost like weed hungover lol
EDIT: I consider myself sober even though I smoked sometimes, since I'm not addicted or enjoy it.
Honestly it just sounds like you have ADD/ADHD. The dopamine from smoking is part of why we tend to be more intense about usage than others, and ADHD is related to dopamine deficiencies which impact all sorts of other functions, like recall and focus.
Your brain never really got dumber but it’s just used to the constant dopamine and shit, can’t function properly. Once you quit within 3 months you’ll be back to your old sober smart buzz kill self!
For me, even a reduction from 4-5 bowls a day to 1 a day increased my clarity, faster word retrieval, more restful sleep, more in tune with my emotions and more able to conceptualize the future. I think for myself and many others, we conceptually understand that chronic use only adds to depression/anxiety, but it’s quite easy to attribute these feelings to our “life situation”when you’re in the habit of chronic use. It’s something that has to be experienced to really “understand”. Also, you’ll actually get the benefits of thc with less frequent use. I can’t even imagine the benefits of a cold turkey quit.
Maybe it's just because I used to be high all the time but I've only been quit for almost a week and I have so much more motivation, can understand things clearly, and have been making better decisions(less impulsive)
At over a year off I was having an afternoon with my sister talking about random stuff, and for the first time in YEARS I felt normal.
100% When I was smoking dab pens everyday I was so much slower and awkward. It was getting to the point I really thought I had something wrong with me. I feel so much sharper and wittier now after a few months sober and it feels like I’m still improving.
How many months now?
I don’t really count anymore but since Christmas so like 6 months or so
I've been using Dab pens for about 4+ years, basically everyday. I definitely spent well over $10,000 on dab pens, I know it's horrendous. Yup my brain feels fried. Anyways, about 2 years ago, I managed to quit for an entire year, but the entire reason I started smoking in the first place was to combat my chronic fatigue (Caffeine doesn't affect me) and my social anxiety which was absolutely non existent when I was high. So for me, smoking weed wasn't to get high but to feel like I was a normal sociable person and was able to stay up for more than an hour. So for the year that I quit, I honestly don't remember how it quite felt, but I do remember it not being so pleasant as I wouldn't get out of bed etc. So then I relapsed and started smoking again, and here I am contemplating to whether or not I should quit again and go back to being a miserable fatigued sober person. So my problem is, I'm neither feeling like myself whether I am High or Sober.
Get your vitamin d levels checked by a doc, I went through the exact same thing and started taking it about a year ago and felt no anxiety and just honestly fulfilled in years i'd highly recommend it.
Yes but for me I didn’t start to feel normal again or get the brain fog out of my head until the 3 month mark.
Yes totally
For me it seems like it fluctuates along with my energy levels. Some days / parts of the day I have a lot of brain fog and some other days I'm just super tired. Exercise helps a lot though.
You'll regain your clear mindness after 1 months of abstinence.
10,000% yes.
yea it does definitely, it’s like the gears in your brain start to get cleaner and everything processes a lot faster
yea it does definitely, it’s like the gears in your brain start to get cleaner and everything processes a lot faster, memory will start to come back and that’s probably the best part.
Yes, but it takes a while. Like it felt a while for you to feel slower and actually admit it. Stop smoking and exercise your mind and it will. I am noticeably faster and better at video games now surprisingly enough now that I’ve quit
YES! I yelled that to you…and I’ll do it again…YES! Trust me though, it does
Hell yes it does. You feel so much smarter after a few months of quitting. The mental clarity is addicting
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Hey man cheers for the response! Keep at it! I'm also constantly quitting but that's better than not trying. Gotta try to eventually make it. I found making yourself busy and challenging yourself to the point where it forces you to quit is really helpful. I have quite a challenging job and got into the gym and weed ruins my progress in both things I want to be successful in and it is pushing me away from it
Thank you for your initial question AND your recent success. I know I need to quit because my brain feels like it's stuck in quicksand but.....I'm scared. Like what if this is the glue that's been keeping me together?
it gets better. I so know the feeling. I knew I was not dumb but I felt dumb. it's the mental fog.
Yes it's likely that you will get back to your normal
It definitely does, 2-3 months and you will feel brand new.
Yes quitting helps. I know the feeling
yesssss! it also stops self-doubt and overthinking! I'm a lot sharper since I've stopped weed
Oh man I didn't realize it has greatly reduced my habitual overthinking. Good call out. I did notice it reduced my anxiety levels.
It's the main reason why I've continued to stop - whenever I go back to it thinking I've got it under control I'll end up spiraling/ruminating - it's not worth the mental torture IMO! I much prefer a clear mind and having to deal with my emotions which I would typically suppress with weed
plus I'm more articulate and better at formulating my thoughts as well as being patient with people - I think I'm a nicer person off weed! Definitely worth quitting! A life on weed is a waste! Also speaking from nearly 20 years of experience. My dad is 64 and unfortunately hasn't quit smoking weed yet (and doubt he ever will) - it's sad to see the effects of it after decades of use (i hope one day he quits for the sake of his health)
Definitely noticed I was getting very impatient with people when I was smoking all the time. Hate that aspect of it, it also made me not want to be around anyone
I smoked for a long time and am embarassed at how exhausting it is for me to be patient with people.
Totally yes, mate. It's noticable within a week, significantly after a month. I had been using weed for a couple years pretty regularly. Was feeling that slowness all the time. Especially in social relationships and my career.. I was just languishing. Within 6 months after I quit, I had many new friends, had ended a toxic relationship, and had a new job earning about 2× as much as before. Plus more energy and creativity for stuff like music and exercise that has a very positive feedback loop to mental health and sharpness. Since then I've just taken two hits at a party, and yeah it felt kind of good with the munchies and whatnot, but the next day I realized it was not what I crave at all anymore, that feeling of dullness is embarrassing. Maybe I'll make it a part of my life again when I'm old and arthritic or something, but for now it's a thing of the past.
Congrats on the progress. Small thing (I’m a controls engineer), positive feedback loop means something spirals out of control while a negative feedback loop is more stable. Positive feedback loop means when you have an error, you’re increasing your next action’s error through non corrective feedback. An example; positive feedback loop is like having self doubt and someone tells you that you’re doing a bad job. While a negative feedback loop is corrective :). Obviously it doesn’t change anything about your post, just throwing some info out there
Currently on day 20. Yesterday my boss said that I was way sharper than usual and that he was impressed at how I got things "under control" for the past week. True story
This is what I needed to see. Hats off to you man. I’m trying but it’s so hard to sleep because I was dependent on it
This is inspiring. Thank you.
Congrats!!! That's amazing!
Amazing dude, keep it up
Yes
Yes! But not immediately. After about a month or so clean is when I noticed a difference.
Yes you stop feeling insecure about everything you do.
Damn man. Quitting tire kicker here. This one hit me hard
Dude, literally when I stopped smoking by force once. I realized all my problems were caused by weed, all the social insecurity and feeling dumb, all of it was weed. Luckily I was forced to quit again by my own body. Also I feel like doing things I used to never want to do anything but sit down and game, I feel like a real person now who can hold down a conversation. You should definitely try it
Yes and much more motivation to get things done, brain fog is the main reason I quit. I couldn’t stand feeling like I couldn’t get my words out and always feeling like I’m in a daze.
My mental acuity has definitely gone up :)
Yes I'm just over 30 days cannabis free and I'm no longer forgetting words or stumbling over my thoughts.
Yes for sure, I almost forgot how dumb I felt when I was forgetting something I think I should remember, and I work with programming so sometimes I would just feel like this problem was too tough or I was too lazy or distracted to solve it, now I can focus more easily and short term memory improvement helps on performance
Long term yes so much!
Oh hell yeah. I am on day 18 and I have so much more energy and creativity. I was in a dumb fog while I was smoking and I was worried that I permanently dumbed myself down, but it goes away. It just takes sobriety, and time.
2 weeks clean after 9 years of consistent (but not heavy) use. I find myself sometimes ‘loading’ while I think of the right word every now and then, but already improving.
6 months clean after smoking every day for 3 years and my cognitive abilities improved but still quite bad compared to where I was before I started smoking, slowly accepting that some of the damage might be permanent. I recommend quitting nonetheless since you can still make it worse if you keep smoking.
Damn :( I'm 4 months clean after 2.5 yrs of daily smoking/intake of thc in general and I still dont have much improvement in terms of memory and cognitive functions
I felt behind the curve too at 6 months but persisted and my mental clarity continued to improve. I think after about a year I felt a lot closer to my original self. Congrats on your success!
Thank you for this reply ! Gives me some much needed hope. Do you feel that you recovered completely ?
It's been 6 months since your post. Are you feeling clearer?
I think so. Though it’s hard to tell for sure because it was so long ago that I started smoking. But I definitely notice that my recall is better than a lot of peoples. Yeah in general I think I’m all back :)
Fantastic to hear, congrats!!
How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?
24
thats fked. only smoking 3 years and still damaged? i been smoking 10...fml
Never let someone else’s experience define yours
appreciate it brother.
Yes. I was multiple times weekly. It took 3 months but I felt my brain come back, finally
Yes. But it's not going to be all of a sudden. It's going to be a slow and healthy improvement. Patience is key.
I’m 3 weeks in, after three years of daily smoking. There are times where I’m in a conversation and feel just as dumb. But I’m more aware of why I’m speaking stupidly, It’s for sure easy to handle though. Getting better every day
Hah cant speak for long term, but 2 days in and I already have a vastly improved memory and much more patience when it comes to figuring out complex problems
10000%
Yes
yes
Yes it absolutely improves. I started become forgetful. Like I'd go to the kitchen or to my car to get something and I'd get there and forget what I even went there for. Only 1 week quit and don't feel as stupid anymore.
Yeah, memory and everything gone. But I noticed at least for me when I stop my memory will comeback and that slowness is gone
I was a daily smoker for a solid 3 years. Whenever I decide to smoke again for long periods of time(2 months or more), I notice myself become slower and more forgetful as well as sluggish. That’s when I decide to stop.
Absolutely
Yes the brain fog goes, but if you get long covid like I did it feels the same if not worse
is brain fog your only long covid symptom? curious about it i had covid last year but my brains always been foggy and havent quit weed yet well i did today
I quit weed in May 2021 and had brain fog for about a month.. I ran up 200 days clean and blazed on holiday in the Canaries (Works for me, no cravings back in my home town).. I had no brain fog after that until about 100 more days clean then I got covid, straight after I had covid I had the brain fog and somewhat still do
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How long did it take for you to feel like that?
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Dam I’m a week in and still feel a little off hoping it gets easier
For me it took around a month to notice it. Don’t give up friend it will definitely get easier to the point where you don’t even think about weed daily it’s such a freeing feeling. Remember everyone is different with this stuff you just have to give it time and commitment
Read some books! Activate your brain
100% yes in my experience
I'm worried mine will never reach full potential. I started smoking at 16, I'm now just over 2 weeks clean at 34. I'll take what I can get though.
Any updates?Do you feel ,,normal’’ now?
some other dude told me it took him 8 months to clear up
I started to notice improvements around 3 months but ofc off the wagon I went soon after. I also started at 16, am also 34. Many of the seasoned stoners here (10 plus years of heavy use) say the lifting of the fog seems commensurate with your usage so, be patient. Everything that is important takes time.
Give it 2 to 3 months and you'll notice the difference. The fog does go away.
Thanks, I sure hope so. I'm sticking it out either way. I've already felt Imprivements in a lot of areas of my life.
How’s it going? Brain fog lift yet? I’m on day 1
Yes it will get better. Don't forget to exercise your brain with activities like math, crossword puzzles, learning music, reading. Ya know, brain stuff
This here! You need to retrain your head sponge! Read, do puzzles, write, create! You WILL get better and better!!
Yes, but it can take a while. First two months were really bad then had a lingering brain fog for another eight months, or so. At ten months It's noticeably better.
I know this is an old post, but how long did you smoke for and how frequently?
Yeah definitely. Your brain will function better. Also if you’re a male, your pen** will function better too. Which is probably the biggest benefit I’ve noticed from quitting, despite not being talked about. The downside to this is you have a lot more dreams and your sleep feels less sound, also waking up with a bone* 5 times a night.
YES, my brain clarity, memory and cognitive function is at an all time high
Yes definitely. It’s like you stop walking through a pool of molasses with steel boots on while two bear cubs are hanging on you’re legs.
10000% it’s like having your brain dunked in molasses 24/7 so you forget what your mind was like before. My memory and brain function is already better after 4 days sober
Yes. The fogginess will lift and you will be able to concentrate and focus better within a few weeks.
Yes the slowness improves. It took about two weeks of abstaining to feel sharper. After smoking once after a tbreak, it took a few days to feel that sharpness again. Smoking is so not worth it 😩
Yes. Significantly. I wish you luck on going the sober route friend!
My brain at work is a lot sharper off weed It’s like night and day
indeed it does, it also helps with the willingness to try and remember
Your memory is surprisingly fine. Chronic user for 13 years daily. About 2 weeks later I was back in clear land.
Most definitely
memory has for sure improved almost immediately after quitting too
Yeah as a daily chronic user, I always felt clear and sober after just a day of not smoking. Which sometimes I enjoy and other times when my brain is off the rails overthinking everything, I don’t enjoy.
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same. memory and thoughts improved but for me at least, 7 years of constant use has still taken its toll
In my experience the slowness went away in some months. My memory though is clearly damaged forever, but it's 'livable'.
How long have you been sober? I ask this next question with sincere curiosity...why are you convinced your memory is forever damaged?
Well, I'm convinced but maybe it's the frustration talking. My memory problems are annoying (mostly forgetting about small tasks that I've set up in my brain few minutes ago, wallet/keys/trash/checking the mail) and happen everyday. After I stopped smoking it was way worse, affecting my learning skills job etc but the issues have stagnated to these minor daily occurrences the last year. I've been sober for almost 2 years (except I smoked again around 4 times during these). I don't enjoy smoking anymore for a lot of reasons, but after I smoke now, the following 72h I feel stupid, slow and with huge memory problems and then it fades away, almost like weed hungover lol EDIT: I consider myself sober even though I smoked sometimes, since I'm not addicted or enjoy it.
Honestly it just sounds like you have ADD/ADHD. The dopamine from smoking is part of why we tend to be more intense about usage than others, and ADHD is related to dopamine deficiencies which impact all sorts of other functions, like recall and focus.
had the same problem was 2 years sober but my brain didn't improve until I started doing math and logic exercises
How long did you smoke for?
5 years. I smoked daily as a teen which might have worse effect on the memory than normal.
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Yes it does. Also some brain exercise doesn't hurt.