I am a 46 year old guy from India and I wanted to share my experience with Marijuana deaddiction and subsequent PAWS. I had been an occasional weed smoker since the last 20 years. My initial foray was very limited until I started smoking everyday 7 years ago. Then I suffered a radial bone fracture and then a tibia fracture in a span of 18 months. This made me give up smoking and I took to ingesting high quality hashish. I was o much in to it that I was consuming 10 gms in a month or even 3 weeks.
Then I had to take a trip abroad and couldn't get my daily dose for a couple of weeks. When I returned I had terrible insomnia and head pressure. I hadn't realized that it was because of withdrawal that had begun to set in. Then on day 7 after my return it hit me real hard and I ended up at the ER of a local hospital. With a few checkups I was discharged and asked to consult a psychiatrist as I was having a full blown panic attack. My heart rate was up to 130 bpm and it would subside occasionally but come back hard in a couple of hours. Over the course of next few weeks I ended up visiting at least 3 different doctors. On one occasion my blood pressure was up to 130 /100 which was very unlike me as I have always been healthy and athletic.
It was then that I started googling and came across this website. Experiences shared on this forum made me realize that I was going through terrible withdrawal. Below are the timeline of my symptoms
Week 1 to 3
Terrible anxiety with heart rate touching 130 bpm in my case. Extreme nausea and loss of bowel control but surprisingly I never had any appetite loss. Defecation was with less anal sphincter control. I guess its the compromised nervous system. I consulted a psychiatrist who prescribed me mirtazapine. I took it for 7 days and it helped me a bit. But the side effect was numbing of the mind and sensations. I eventually decided to fight it alone without any anti depressants and stopped the medication. I never consulted any doctor again.
Week 3 to Month 3
Terrible soul crushing fatigue. No energy or libido whatsoever. Extreme insomnia with barely 2 to 3 hours of daily sleep for months. I tried melatonin but to no avail. Exercise (Running & walking), Meditation, incense sticks and soothing music offered me the best relief. Every week brought in a minute difference. A difference so small that it was barely noticeable week on week but after a couple of months there was a reduction in anxiety levels and fatigue. I took supplements like Omega 3, multivitamins but with very less benefits.
Months 3 to 6
One medication that helped me get some sleep was doxylamine. I took half a tablet every night before sleep for a month and could get some 5 hours of sleep. Then somewhere around 4th month one day after a morning jog, I faced severe depression. The world seemed like a video game and I a victim of circumstances. Somehow I managed to make myself understand that this was just a phase and would pass. The forums here helped me keep my mind in place. My insomnia continued through month 6 but my sleep time gradually increased to 5 hours without doxylamine. There were spells of sunshine where everything seemed normal. No matter how short-lived these spells were, it made me realize that one day things would become normal once again.
Months 6 to 8
I read on a few forum threads on how stomach and bowel health induced anxiety and how collagen could help. I ordered a couple of boxes of bovine collagen and believe it or not, I could feel a difference on day 3 as my anxiety went down considerably. However collagen is not easy to digest and soon I had terrible nausea and flatulence which made me stop the collagen. Another thing that has helped me with bowel condition in probiotics. I started taking Phybiotics capsule (available on Amazon) - one a day - and this reduced my anxiety to a great extent. I crossed the 8 month milestone on Feb 25th and am in my 9th month of PAWS. I think I am at the 80% mark on my road to recovery. I am sure that in the next 2 months I would have left PAWS behind.
There is only one thing I can say. The only healer is time and your mental toughness. I would strongly advise against any anti depressants as they would solve one problem but lead to another. Your mind and inner strength is your best friend. I strongly recommend collagen (1 teaspoon a day mixed with milk) and curcumin tablets (twice a day). I am also on a natural sleep supplement Sleep Sure (available on Amazon India website) which has worked miracles for me. Yesterday was the first night I slept straight for 9 hours. And yes I have started to dream again. I wish all of you who are trying to kick this habit all the very best. Happy sobriety!!
