While sleeping, the brain is quite active – dreaming. Our dreams can be scary, realistic, or even fantastical. Sometimes, we wake up and have no idea that we’ve dreamed, while other times, we can recall our dreams because they were so intense. These dreams are known as vivid dreams.
Why do vivid dreams occur after you quit weed?
When quitting weed after prolonged use, many former users report vivid and intense dreams. Some users report dreaming all night. To understand the reasons why, we need to understand sleep cycles first.
During sleep, you go through four or five sleep cycles, each lasting for about 90 minutes. Among these cycles, one is known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep whereas the others are known as non-REM sleep. Approximately 80% of dreams happen during REM sleep.
Studies have shown that acute exposure to marijuana suppresses REM sleep whereas it increases slow-wave or non-REM sleep. REM sleep is suppressed upon activation of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) (Lovinger DM, Front Mol Neurosci., 2020). Because of this, many regular weed smokers don’t remember their dreams.
When chronic marijuana users quit, their dreams can become more intense because of REM rebound. REM rebound is characterized by an increase in REM sleep after periods of little REM sleep. Increased REM sleep can result in longer and more intense dreams.
How common are vivid dreams in former heavy users? How long do they last?
Sleep difficulty is reported by about half of former marijuana who often report insomnia, vivid dreams, and night sweats. Vivid dreams typically begin a week after quitting and can last for a month before tapering off. However, some former users report having vivid dreams for a year or more (Livine, Drug Alc Depend, 2019).
Sleep studies of people in the first week of marijuana withdrawal have shown changes in almost every phase of sleep, including longer time to fall asleep, decreased total sleep time, poorer sleep efficiency, and, as mentioned, increased time in REM sleep (Gates, Subst Abus, 2016; Garcia, Am J Addict, 2015).
Most heavy marijuana users experience at least one withdrawal symptom after quitting weed and many experience more than one symptom. The number of symptoms is significantly associated with the frequency and duration of marijuana use prior to quitting.
There is light at the end of the tunnel!
Vivid dreams can be unpleasant and may impact sleep quality, leaving you feeling drained even after a full night of sleep. Take comfort in knowing that withdrawal symptoms from marijuana are challenging but do not last forever. If you find yourself still struggling with poor quality sleep weeks to months after you’ve stopped using marijuana, just find comfort in the fact that this is still normal, and part of the process.
Rachid Akiki, M.D., M.B.A.
Contributing Author
Entrepreneur with a background in medicine, mental health, and cutting edge communications. Attended Boston University School of Medicine.
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I recently decided to quit smoking weed after over 10 years of daily use. It has only been a month but every night I have vivid/disturbing dreams/nightmares. It has gotten to the point where I don’t want to go to sleep because I don’t know what I’m going to experience in my dreams/nightmares each night. I was hoping to find natural alternatives to assist in my sleeping or understanding how long they will last/when they will stop. The thought that it could last for months scares me, I may take up yoga or a work out routine to see if it helps because I do not want to take another drug for sleep assistance.
Enjoy the visualisations they are just dreams … I think they are just our fears and worries that are presented to us in a surreal way that we stopped thinking about when we started to smoke weed in the first place … some of my dreams are beautiful and I see old relationships and people I’d let go of in the past … now I am older I see how naive I was at the time and actually miss the life with those people and think about how I left them and that life that I couldn’t handle for good and bad behind … live the rest of your life with embracement … the past has gone and now we move on to better experiences in a more mature way …
totally understand and I agree the past relationship ones are tough!
totally true I had dreams off past friends who have died , and daily encounters that manifest in r.e.m after 6 weeks it’s getting less nightmarish the devils baggage mustn’t win , it does get better than at the beginning im glad I quit now I feel more alert more energetic and more focused in life im glad and ill never touch again its still round me (weed ) but I don’t gt an impulse to want it any more
me too my dreams are about the people I lost but loved and sme times are very vivid and sometimes my dreams are frustrating
Enjoy seeing the people I love dead? Or being gruesomely violated/abused? You should count yourself lucky your dreams are beautiful. Every person’s experience is not the same. I personally, have had nothing but horrifying dreams since I quit smoking cannabis a month ago after close to 20 years of everyday use. I’ve experienced being chased by murderers in my home, being mind controlled, and even stomping a person’s face in (after weeks I can stick hear the bones cracking as they caved in). These aren’t things a normal person can “enjoy”.
You can try Melatonin. 30 minutes before your bedtime, take a tablet, or gummy, or strip of melatonin. Start with the lowest dose, i.e. 0.3 mg and slowly increase if it doesn’t help. You shouldn’t need more than 3 mg per night.
Take it for around 7-10 days, until you feel you’re back to your regular circadian rhythm, and enjoy restful and sound sleep!
It’s been 9 days but the dreams are so vivid I don’t want to sleep anymore
I stopped smoking a month ago after around 8 years of daily use(abuse) dreams are super vivid I find a good way to let go of them is to keep a diary once i finish writing it i like to imagine it has left my head now, yoga+ gym are a great way to help with wothdrawl symptoms as well as prayer 🙏🏼 i hope this helps someone lets make this world a better place❤️
Also guys if you want to use something to help you sleep a glass of warm milk or just a cup of herbal tea to calm your system down is so much better then tablets like melatonin which have some bad side effects themselves we can get through this all you need is you
I feel you. This is my 5th time stopping weed after prolonged use. I’m currently on day 9 myself. The dreams are picking up which I feel I can handle quit well. What happens though (for me) after about a month of being clean I start to experience sleep paralysis. Now I’m not sure if that’s what it is, but I know I am in my room and there is a presence there. Somthing that is so scary I want to wake up. I believe I am able to say my partner’s name is an attempt to get them to wake me up but they claim to not hear me. It can be so scary, scarier than any vivid dream with unusual visuals. Yet there is usually nothing seen, it’s more of a feeling, and of course being present in my room which makes it all that much more bizarre.
The longest I have done without weed in my 25 years of use is 8 months. (Twice) what I noticed is these very scary traumatized dreams decrease. But the paralysis experience persisted, taking place about once a month before I started to use again.
You got this, just don’t give up. It took a lot to get to this point, it will take a lot to get out of it. But it will be worth it.
I had the sleep paralysis too, but this was before I started weed. I was drinking heavily and having a lot of caffeine during that time. I would wake up but couldn’t move and saw men all dark blue , upside down torso out emerging from a pool of black on a corner in the ceiling. Also tried to call my partners name but couldn’t move my mouth. Now when I’ve quit weed, it’s mostly vivid horrifying nightmares.
Just my personal beliefs, but I believe the dream state is like the wake state and is just another reality with its own laws/rules like the reality we occupy during the day. For me, this is just another dimension, many people consider it like a movie you can only watch, I believe you can become awake during your dreams(Lucid dreaming) And do things in that dimension as well.
Just another area we don’t understand that needs to be explored.
Sort of sounds to me like you have figured out how to become awake during your dream, but you might have possible limiting beliefs, which limit your abilities.
Our mind is an incredibly powerful thing. It is very much capable of keeping us boxed into a reality that we make up. Since we can only do what we believe that we can do, nothing we believe we can’t. “ If you believe you can or believe you can’t, you are right” manifestation is a byproduct of our beliefs.
I wonder if you have some supporting beliefs, That keep you from moving or speaking there in that reality.
I wonder if you truly believed that you could do anything you wanted in that reality as well, maybe it becomes possible
Just embrace it and let it go through the whole course, you quit weed for a reason so don’t be so quick to replace it with something else because then are you really better off at all? Take a week or 2 off work so you don’t take frustration out on people you care about but at the end of the day just let your body do what it needs to, to get through it.. you will be better off in the long run, sooner you go through all of this, the sooner it will be over
For a second i thought I must have written that I have the exact problem I’m so worried to go to sleep it’s getting better each day I look forward to when I can have a normal sleep without feeling worried although one dream wasn’t to bad got to make love to Sonya blade from mortal kombat I quite enjoyed that dream but the rest I wouldn’t want my worse enemy to even have the vivid dreams I’ve experienced they are so scary and terrifying I really hope you’re able to sleep comfortably now it’s been 21 days since I stopped I was smoking for ten + years surprisingly the craving’s stopped after a few days just the vivid nightmares for me every night I feel physical pain from my dreams it’s so weird and I can remember every detail of my dreams
I think the work out routine is a great idea. I’ve been active since my youth and while my experience with quitting is quite the same I believe it’s less intense if you give the brain and body physical rebuilding work, as a pose to just emotional or mental work. Which we both know marijuana hinders significantly. Keep it up, you got this
it gets easier
I recently read an article saying cannabis doesn’t actually interrupt REM sleep but rather slow wave sleep. We just can’t remember and they’re closely linked
It is actually the opposite. Cannabis supresses REM sleep, and induces more slow wave sleep. This means cannabis users don’t dream or remember their dreams as much and they have more shallow sleep.
I would read that article again just to fact check. It is on this very forum.
That article is based on a study that used 0.3% THC cannabis as a placebo and 3% THC cannabis for the test group. Considering most cannabis is well over 20% THC, this study is not reliable.
I’ve smoked weed multiple times a day (5-6 times per day) for over 15 years. I deal with high amounts of PTSD due to my job as a Firefighter/EMT and the dead bodies I see on a regular basis. I had to quit using weed to keep the bad thoughts away for 2 weeks because it’s against the rules for work etc. I treat it kind of like alcohol where I won’t get baked before work (don’t want to get someone killed) and do it responsibly at home on my own time (because it suppresses the traumatic ptsd moments I have regularly). It’s been 2 weeks since I quit and, Boy can I tell you, my dreams have turned into nothing but nightmares of kill or be killed scenarios, watching family members die horrific deaths, screaming in my sleep, night terrors, waking up in a pool of sweat (once I thought it was blood from dying in the dream). It’s weird because I pass out every time my head hits a pillow during the day but at night it’s really difficult to finally fall asleep. Just tonight I woke up 4 times now in 3 hours dreaming of my cat being invincible like wolverine and watching my brother get crushed by a trash truck and one about my kid being born looking like the alien from alien. I’m really freaked out and really want to use again just to make it all stop and to get real sleep. I’m considering seeing a shrink about it but I remember the last time I quit (for a job interview) and it didn’t help at all. They just keep trying to give me other medications that I wasn’t allowed to take because of regulations at my job. It sucks.
Hi , can I ask how long it took you to experience these dreams/nightmares as I’m on day 6 of no weed and haven’t had one bad dream still don’t remember my dreams when I wake up I was a heavy smoker 6 dons a day
I’m exactly where you were when you made this post… have the dreams started flowing yet? How long did it take?
Mine started about a week and a half after quitting
These are basics peeps. This is just how it goes for heavy users. Those studied most people site are pretty flawed and far off the mark. What DOES happen is you have disrupted some of the MOST important chemicals (endogenous) that your brain has = serotonin & dopamine. Messing up those chemicals balance is essentially what we have done. So ANYTHING beneficial that brings those back into harmony is what people should be seeking. The Yoga, NON-SYNTHETIC melatonin, pranayama (a key component of yoga), and PERHAPS cbd (I need more research on this last claim) seem to be proper areas to scrutinize for answers.
Yes, SOMETIMES it is a great reflection of where you are at…also how brave. I mean who else would be hardcore enough to go through all this as you abstain>? When you have GREAT vivid dreams that are enjoyable you like em 🙂 yet of coarse there are also the nightmare varieties. Remember when you used to pay money at the theatre to go see scary movies? Well this can TOP any of those for sure! Yet IMO there should be a balance at least…or perhaps 2/3 towards the pleasant dreams would be more conducive.
SO THIS is where all these researchers should be putting their attention. Instead so many of them just have commercial/financial interests we get these silly studies that many of the people on this thread has cited. Some of them DO provide a little insight, yet they have to do better with their funding. Anyhews, I just passed day 3-4 here after VERY heavy use…and of coarse just like regular the INTENSE dreams have started…this time combined with MAJOR night sweats…uncomfortable, yet detoxing I am sure.
I wish you all well, I hope to read the rest of this thread, and also revisit in case I come up with anything extra that could benefit! Peace out all!
two week mark is when they started for me. they are so vivid and detailed and disturbing and drain me. I wake up a couple times a night from them and when I fall back to sleep they pick right back up where they left off. In the morning, I feel awful – headachy, drained, like I’ve been hit by a truck. It’s hard to stop thinking about the dream during the day because they are so vivid and usually involve people and situations that I am familiar with (unlike ‘normal’ dreaming that seems much more random)
My vivid dreaming started around the 2 week mark.
This is the best comment in these threads, i also smoked for years multiple times a day. the way they describe the dream is correct, I’ve stopped for a month and they are getting worse.
Worst ones for me is when a seemingly normal dream starts out fine then turns sinister with feelings of being watched by “something”,
I hope they let up soon.
That must be awful … and you have an heroic job it’s a shame these traumatic events come back in your dreams and thoughts whilst you sleep … just think though of all those people that benefit from your chosen profession … your help towards others has not been in vain how little or how great … your memories of the traumas is just a buy product / we are human and we see but don’t forget / your actions in your chosen profession and all of your work mates far outshine any past memory that may have been suppressed by smoking weed … I’m sure all the people that have passed or present thank you and your efforts … I’m sure they will wish you luck in life now …
I’m 33 and been regularly smoking multiple times per day since I was 18. I recently stopped due to a change in diet and preference not to wake up hungry in the middle of the night. The only withdrawal symptoms I have are fluctuating body temperature, and SEVERE disturbing dreams at the end of my night of sleep. I have dreams that someone is sleeping with my wife while my house is being robbed while I’m searching for my gun panicking. I then wake up in my bed in a pool of sweat shaking realizing I’m STILL in a dream within a dream. THEN i finally wake myself up shaking, sweating, and confused. I would love for there to be a medication to prevent these dreams. Like a previous comment in this thread, I choose not to go back to sleep knowing I’ll access and continue the exact dreams….I’m a little over a week into my hiatus. The last time I did this, the dreams lasted one month before I decided I had to start smoking again simply to stop the dreams. Brutal….
Update: It’s been about 3 weeks since I quit and 9 days since my blog post above. I feel more energy in the day, but the nightmares and intense dreams have yet to slow down. I find myself dreaming nearly all night. Sometimes one hour of sleep feels like I crammed a months worth of intense and sometimes recurring dreams into such a short time causing me to feel beyond exhausted all morning. Sometimes a quick hour powernap mid day helps and sometimes I still dream during a quick mid day nap. I’ve almost made it a month so I can’t cave just yet. Trying to ride this out until the dreams slow down but this could be a long process reprogramming my brain after 15 years of basically daily smoking…. If anyone has advice on medication to slow dreaming I’d love to hear. Occasionally I have more lucid dreams if i’m not having nightmares which is pretty cool.
Hey mike. I’m on day 7 and I just woke up to a dream of getting stabbed so many times. All alone. I want to continue this journey, but it was awful. How long do these last. I am 34 years old and also smoked weed for the last 15 years all day. When do the nightmares go away
How are you doing today you still having trouble sleeping and vivid dreams ?
Thank. You everybody for the comments,they let me know I am not alone, I stopped weed a month ago after 50 years of two joints a day, think of how many houses I could have bought. I started when I was an 18 yo Marine in Vietnam, I stopped a month ago after moving to Florida, because I don’t want hassle from cops over a joint, also for those 50 years,I got my weed from the same guy, I don’t trust other dealers, I moved out of or should I say forced out of San Francisco where I was born and stayed till. I was 60, The Marines thought me, you will adapt to your environment, or die. I moved to Scotland 5 years ago, in the mountains in a small cottage with no person around me for thirty miles, America got to crazy for me, my friend sent me the weed quarter pound every 4 months, I would smoke a joint in the morning before starting my 10 mile walk through the forest, the weed enhanced my observations, Scotland is extremely beautiful with unbelievable amount of wild life, it was a real dreamland., until covid exposed the Scottish govt to be A bunch of power ,control facist communist assholes, just like America, I had no choice but to escape, or be forced to take a vaccine wear a mask not be allowed outside etc. Florida looked like the only place, I made the trip via Iceland, Greenland, Canada by small private plane then buy ground to Florida, the nightmares from stopping the weed is incredible .but please. Never. Try. Ambien, never believe Doctors the pandemic or China attack, has proven them untrustworthy, now we are back to scarring young people with nonexistence nuclear weapons when you see America is Disneyland, unreal bullshit for money, I said I stopped weed it’s easier than quitting, so now at 68 my old friend will send me 2 pounds of weed to Florida. I ‘ll pack up my truck and head for the forest of Alaska, as A MARINE. I can’t give up the pursuit of Freedom eventhoug it’s an illusion, I’ll stick to my two joints rather than the effin nightmares,, thanks again to all, Sergeant Corns 2753213 USMC.
I smoked on and off for 65 years. The last 3 years every night, in my apt. in the evening only. I am now one week off weed. Everynight I do have vivd dreams that seem to wake me always around 3:30 am. At that time I take 3 mg melatonin and fall back to sleep, and do not experince the vivid dreams. I am 83, the lack of quality of sleep really puts me on edge during the day. Sometime I take 1 mg of atavan which does help. But I am not going back to weed, because I believe after all the years of usage and the increase of thc I have become allergic to weed. Extereme itching, mainly in center of back. Also extreme nausea in morning. Since stopping for one week, itching is 50% better and nausea has gone completly. Hope this is helpfull.
I hope this is helpful to someone!
I feel more in control of my life, without weed!
After quitting cannabis after many years, I too am in ‘The World of Dreams’ as I call it.
A world in which anything can happen from anywhere and does, in full colour and audio.
I compare it to the brain being like a computer that, due to cannabis, has been off-line for many months, or even years.
Now, after quitting, it’s like going back on-line and finding that there are many, many updates ready to be instaled.
Keep them coming. Sooner or later you’ll have the latest, and best, version of your brain.
Well said. I 100% agree. Addiction is painful to you and those around you. How selfish would it be to believe that letting go of the addiction won’t be equally as painful.
Smoked weed for 53 years stopped because visited another country sleep is still easy for me but dreams are remembered now. I don’t feel like I have any withdrawal symptons after 3 weeks without. Life goes on just a little more bored with it. Everything’s better with a bag of weed. : )
Some people stop smoking weed because of more genuine reasons. Interesting you find yourself here. I guess life must be that boring for you? Heck well you know what you gotta do, right?
I am 28 years old, a smoker of 12 years. I used recreationally multiple times a day (all day, basically) and also medically to help nausea. I stopped smoking the first week of July, as I was experiencing some medical issues and noticed it was really triggering my anxiety. The first couple weeks were ROUGH. I could fall asleep easily, but as many have stated above, did not want to ever do so because of the fear of my nightmares. I basically had nightmares for two straight weeks, intense insomnia where I could only sleep about 3-4 hours a night, and sweating/shaking symptoms. At about a month out, I can say that I am finally getting through the night and sleeping ~7 or 8 hrs a night, no sweating or shaking.. But I do occasionally still have nightmares, and I feel like I dream nonstop through the night. If its not a nightmare specifically, it’s a stress dream or a very obscure lucid dream with themes I don’t necessarily wish to think about (people I’d rather not see, places I don’t enjoy going, etc). During the day, I don’t even think about weed any more, which helps while I’m awake.. But night is still admittedly hard on me. I hope to see a lessening, soon.
I have stopped to smoke after 22 years heavy smoking. Although I am very active like 10k running twice a week, playing football 1-2 times per week, going to gym the rest of the days leaving 1-2 day for rest. I have noticed that when I am stressed due to quitting job and try to settle in new job makes dreams more vivid, although I am not more tired than I was smokimg 6-8 joints per day. After 6 weeks of no smoke, I am more energetic, but the dreams are still vivid and sometime I woke up not knowing for few second if it was dream or not. Strange enough, had no sweating in the first 4 weeks, but now it is more common. I have noticed that if I sleep at open window, I am less likely to sweat. Also, drinking alcohol reduces the vicid dreams, but it is not sustainable to drink. Now I will try CBD oil to see if that helps. I dont feel too much stressed about it, some dreams are better and many times, I am laughing after the dreams, but it is so vivid.
My name Stephen.. I’m 23… I been smoking weed for 6 year and i decided to quit 9 days ago.. I had this vivid dream last night a guy I knew who hated for people to pass through his backyard as a shortcut.. this dude got in his car and chased me so vivid I woke up immediately.. I had this gang chase me and my friend to a restaurant so bad I grab a knife to fight people with guns lol woke up immediately.. I smoke weed because. I’m creative, that I start to scam people.. I had ideas that I really would ask myself wtf.. honestly. I just need someone to talk to and know I’m not alone..this is my email Thomaswills023@gmail.com
I’m relieved to see I’m not alone in this. Exactly a week after I stopped, the dreaming started again. Not good dreams, disturbing lengthy ones like stories. Sometimes 2 in a row. Its 3 weeks now. Hopefully they taper off soon. It’s not fun.
I have smoked a joint a night for 48 years. It’s now 21 days of not smoking. I have no appetite, I can’t sleep, my dreams are more like nightmares. Scary, angry dreams. I get night sweats.. I started smoking weed at 13. I an now 61. How long will this last? Is it that severe that I need to seek help? I don’t want too take any drugs to help in this situation. I would like to ride it out and quit forever. I am so tempted in lighting up a joint right now but I don’t want to give in. What can I do? How long will these symptoms last?
Dealing with very similar symptoms and all I can say is stay strong. We’re all quitting for a reason and their is a light at the end of the tunnel…. Never thought my dreams/sleep would be the hard part… but it is…. I’m 2 weeks in and just going too hope that only a couple more weeks of this dreaming and I’ll be rewired. Also watching positive movies from my childhood helps, just putting it out there. God bless
I took medical THC oil 1.5 ml (red number 1) every night for 4 months for arthritis pain. I’m 75. I stopped a month ago because I felt I was dumbing down. Now I’m having 1 or 2 incredible dreams every night at around 3 am. They’re colourful, detailed and very interesting. I seem to have total recall of them when I wake. Unlike yours, my dreams are not unpleasant. Just so you know.
Quit smoking marijuana under a Cardiologist recommendation, as I have afib. I used to toke it periodically all day, 7 days a week. I too had vivid dreams, and some were really wierd. One was from a book I was reading about the French Revolution, and I had a dream where I was with a crowd of people watching executions on a guillotine. It was so realistic and amazing. I woke up and was like “what the hell”? Its nice to be able to remember dreams again, keep them coming as far as I’m concerned. Knowing that it was withdrawals from weed, it just gave me the incentive to continue quitting. :Used to laugh and tell my friends what will I dream about tonight. Other than an occasional craving I did fine. Our bodies are amazing, how we can heal ourselves. Some of us take longer than others we are all so different, but it is great to know that you are not alone in this and that, made me feel a LOT better.
i have smoked for about 20 years on and off. for the last 2 years have had 1 spliff at night to help me sleep. stopped smoking completely 8 weeks ago and the nightmares began. very vivid. sometimes so scary that i cant/dont want to go back to sleep. im shouting in my sleep and waking my daughter up. getting to sleep ok but waking up an hour later and tossing and turning. constant headaches although they feel like muscular/tension – could be because im tense in my dreams. i thought the bad dreams would only last a week! nice to know im not the only one but wish it would stop. not missed the habit but so tempted to have a smoke to stop these nightmares!! good luck to anyone trying to quit because its definitely not easy
Been smoking for 16 years(alot a day , everyday)and recently quit as well due to weed just giving me anxiety like it all switched one day and instead of it helping me it was making me feel worse…. Sometimes I would have to walk outside barefoot to just ground myself to the earth as weird as that sounds…. It would work every time…. But I’m about 10 days in and the dreams are unreal… scary , lucid, helpless , you name it, it’s happening ( the worst are the Erie feeling dreams like you know bad things are about to happen and you can’t get out of them , real Steven king stuff …. I’ll wake up around 530 am after going to bed around midnight and have to process my dream for a min before talking myself into going to bed again. All your stories really helped me tonight as I needed to hear that I’m not alone as well…. We are all
Looking for somthing more from ourselves and I’m just proud of everyone of us doing what it takes to make the change…. I’ve been watching positive movies from my childhood some nights it helps a lot , also i try a couple shots of tequila witch does the trick , but we’re gona dream I now know from all your stories, it’s now part of our healing process….We Will Make It Happen We JUst Have To Stay Strong
I was an all day smoker. From eyes open until close. I am experiencing the crazy dreams , some scary and some just super weird and vivid. I thought my sweats were from peri menopause, but I see NO. When I wake up I have to get myself together because I feel like I am still in a dream. I stopped smoking 7 weeks ago, and they are getting less but super extreme. Now I even try to wake myself up knowing that it is a dream I feel better seeing that others are going through this. I do not want to smoke ever again. This gives me reason to never do it again. I can do this!
I smoked for 45 years, last 15 pretty much daily, since I was 17. About a year and a half ago quit for 5.5 months. Vivid dreams first hour and a half of sleep. Dreams lasted about 2.5 weeks. Started smoking weed again. One hitters every hour or so about 1/2 gram a day~. Quit again after syncope and afib events. Been off now for just about 60 days. Dreams are every night for first hour and half of sleep. About every other night i’ll dream a second time after waking up from the first dream. My dreams aren’t scary, just about all are centered around loss of control i.e. driving a vehicle moderate speed but can’t steer it or stop it, some are about lack of control of people i.e like a customer from a service postion perspective. None are really scary unless you would be a control freak like me haha. Very vivid and often include people I know from family or co workers at previous jobs (i’m retired 66 yrs old). As I noted above last time dream period lasted about 2.5 weeks, this time been going on much longer but after about a month they stopped for a couple weeks, then started up again (sigh…..). I take lots of heart issue meds, stomach acid meds, cholessterol and prostate meds. I really don’t like taking all the medicines but docs say I need to. Hope the dreams taper way off soon. I’ll try to report back. Thanks for everyone being here and contributing. Tonight I thought maybe I was losing it. Peace from Maryland!
Good to see we aren’t alone and that helps, each person has different withdrawal symptoms and some have all that are possible.. I am 23 and have smoked at least 2 grams through a bong every single day since 15 years old.. i am going through crazy dreams and nightmares, sweats and frustration and can’t regulate body temperature but the thing that is helping me is just knowing that it will be so worth it in the long run. I have taken 3 weeks off work to help so I don’t take frustration out on anybody, I don’t know how long this will last as I quit about a week ago but the dreams are kind of exciting in a way, I haven’t dreamt like this since I was a kid (they were never quite like this tho)
Literally as soon as you close your eyes, you are back in some wild dream, they feel so real when you are asleep but as soon as you wake up and come to, look back at your dreams, they are trying to tell you something and can be quite beautiful. I have met celebrities and seen family members and friends that I have lost over the years..
I have also dealt with this situation. Regular user for many, many years. When I stop after about a week the dreams start (or remembering them does.) I hate it. However after a few weeks, maybe 5 weeks? they stop. I stopped for 90 days recently and once they stopped, all was good.
After the 90 days I started smoking, only about 2 weeks of it. Stopped again and after a week the dream problems have started again.
I’ve done this a few times and the roughly 5 weeks is what it takes. I’m surprised that after only 2 weeks of smoking that it’s happened again, but I’m hopeful that it will take less than 5 weeks this time as the binge wasn’t for very long.
I FOUND the answer, OR at least a HUGE COMPONENT of it. I will keep this brief and short 🙂
HUMAN GIVENS THERAPY…has been known to be TWICE as effective as the current gold standard for non-drug treatment in depressed people (CBT = cognitive behavioral therapy). This therapy is tied to this concept. natural HUMAN NEEDS being met, worry, dreams, etc. I just stumbled on this today while I was looking for answers to face what I KNOW is coming this month for me (super vivid dreams). So I wanted to find a way to PROGRAM my dreams, and yes of coarse, guess what? This is being done by many many on the face of the earth today. So that was good news, which I suspected and so searched for it. So combine these two concepts, the fact that there is something called HUMAN GIVENS therapy and that it holds MANY of the keys to freedom in this area, and also the fact that LUCID DREAM PROGRAMMING/TRAINING is an actual thing which works. So now I am quite sure that people here, as well as myself, can have PROPER answers to all of these questions that we have been seeking for so long. I also put a few other RESPONSES on this thread to comments, I hope they make it up on the board. Yet this one here is really the B ALL and END ALL of the story IMO…I hope for good relief for us all 🙂
remember you can hire people to teach you all this stuff (counselors) or you can study completely for free with all the information up on the net.
I’ve stopped smoking afters years of non stop use. The first week was okay dream wise, just a bit weird. It started with the classics, teeth falling out, glasses break, naked on the beach/shopping street for no reason. Now after 3 weeks, in the fourth week, they’re becoming creepy, like the flight attendant warning me for the person behind me is evil. Abuela’s warning me and looking at me scary (I’m not Spanish but they are old Spanish ladies like encanto Abuela’s) I don’t have any issues falling asleep(15min) and I’m old(35) and rational enough to not be scared before or after bed, it’s just the hanging feeling of the dream for an hour or 2 after waking. I go to bed between 10 and 11. Wake up after only 6 hours of sleep. Luckily it’s summer so the sun comes out not to much later and that helps I think. These feel like the dreams I had as a scared 8yo. Just without any remaining fear during the day. This week I’m trying an hour of walking and running a day to see if tiredness will help more with sleep.
Not important, I bought a half and would go through it in a week for 4 years, then started to make it last for 2 weeks, I’ve quit for a week like all of you *mostly , and I see the nightmares to. But mine started like a day after I quit. It’s really scary seeing how I never remember my dreams. I’m 22 and smoked for 6 years my dreams are horror it seems like everyone else is pretty old when stopped by comments. Tonight was different for me though I think all the withdrawals hit me at once .I’m scared , to young for this , I want to quit , but the nightmares man they’re terrible. At this point I don’t know if it’s worth it to quit
hi, i’m 19 and have smoked for 5 years, have you got an update on your story ? i hope you’re doing well. i want to quit badly and reading these comments have scared me, as someone close to my age i wanted to hear your personal experience. idk wether this is way too late or ill even get a response lol. i hope your okay.
man I was a 24/7 smoker for 25yrs today is my 90th day of quitting ( 3 months ) bad uncomfortable dreams still going honestly I’ve had it I don’t know if I can continue I really don’t wanna go back to smoking but waking up 2 to 3 times a night of bad dreams takes its toll on your mind and body at 1st I was able to live with it telling my self it’s just a dream but now I just want to have a good night sleep .. no matter what I do it doesn’t help even though i didnt have withdrawal symptoms sleepless nights whats really making my life not enjoyable….. I hope I don’t relapse fingers crossed
Apparently, I’m an anomaly. I have extremely vivid and detailed dreams, but nothing that I would call nightmares. I actually look forward to going to sleep at night simply to have more dreams. My dreams seem to revolve around, escaping from someone or trying to find someone, but nothing I would term a nightmare, often I wake up having to go to the restroom and when I go back to sleep my dreams continue where I left off.
The exact thing is happening to me. Vivid weird nightmares waking up 3-7 times a night. Not wanting to go back to sleep
I am now 11 days into quitting weed after over 30 years of using. and of course the weird and vivid dreams have hit, and hard. a friend of mine told me about a thing called lucid dreaming, in simple terms it means you are able to allow your conscious mind to intervene when the dreams get too intense and scary and wake you almost up. with writing my dreams down when I get up in the morning, and some meditation before sleep I have been able to ‘train’ my mind to bring me close enough to awake to stop the dreaming but still asleep enough to drift back into deep sleep, and to realise they are just dreams, which you usually don’t when they are happening. it doesn’t stop the vivid dreams and sometimes the dreams are just so far out and unusual that i come fully awake,but mostly it has really helped me to cope with them and see them for what they are, a side effect of quitting and ultimately something I have to go through if I want to quit .
I’m 59. Basically been a heavy user since I was 18.
I did quit a few times (for travel & when my kids were starting to be old enough to suds it out). Unfortunately I took it up again due to depression after my marriage breakdown. This time I’ve begun to slur my words and the initial anxiety pot gives me – I’m just over it. I’m 21 days sober. My wit and articulation is so much sharper. Yes I dream like billio like everyone here on this site. Mostly ok but a few nightmares and one case of sleep paralysis where I was trying to call for my dog to come and lay with me. I heard whispers seemingly from behind my bed like I wasn’t alone. Anyway I think this journey is well worth it., I don’t want to be an old addict. I’ve confessed & opened up to my children who are all teens now. They knew and aren’t stupid. That confession of vulnerability has helped me a lot psychologically. Whatever manifestations occur from now on in. – I accept. I’ll know longer be held captive to that or any other substance. The years of self justification are over.
Good luck all with your personal journeys. ❤️
Thanks
Thank you
I’m 51 and have been a daily smoker for a few decades. I’ve stopped smoking for travel reasons several times, and the only effect from not smoking weed is the dreams. Each time, they start at about 7 days after I stop smoking. The first ones are the worst… I wake up crying and scared. Sometimes, I wake up and I’m hyperventilating, which is a very strange way to wake up in the middle of the night. I remember them , usually in a lot of detail. When I smoke weed normally, I either don’t have dreams or don’t remember them if I do.
I don’t have any other effects from quitting weed (sleep or otherwise). The only thing that’s different are the intense, crazy dreams.
I’m thinking about stopping weed for good, because I doubt that suppression of dreams (when I smoke weed) is a good thing for my brain.