Who Has Recovered From Weed PAWS?

Hi MJM,
The 2-year average recovery period I think is just about to be right. I've been clean for 2 years and 2 months. Since month 13 life has been generally normal. I have been able to sleep like a baby again since month 16, which I believe is a clean sign of the recovery of your nervous system. I'd say I'm 99% recovered now...the remaining 1% is odd sensations that could or could not be paws-related. But hey, show me a non-weeder who goes through life with absolutely no issues!

Thank you so much for this!! Very very helpful.

I would like to post encouragement because when I was in the depths of despair and feeling like I was going to die and wondering if it would ever get better I needed encouragement so much just to go on. I am 10 months clean from medical marijuana and 23 months since I had any alcohol- I was drinking every day from morning until I passed out at the end of my drinking. So, I have been going through alcohol and weed PAWS at the same time. I am so much better now. 8 months off weed seemed to be a major turning point. 9 months was even better and it is when I stopped feeling like I was going to pass out if I was just trying to engage in a conversation with someone. Anxiety and depression are much, much better now. Physical symptoms are improving a lot, too. I’m not 100% back to normal, but I am getting there. This has been the most difficult thing I have ever done. It has been beyond brutal at times.

I definitely think the 2 year timeline for recovery is very reasonable. Everyone says this but: keep going, hang in there, don’t use mind-altering substances. This will end and you will feel so much better. And always remember, no matter how bad your day could be right now, you are feeling so much better than you were in the beginning of your quit. That’s very important to remember on the bad days. Everyone is so different- some people are fine right away after quitting, and some take longer.

Meditation (and I’m new to it) really helped me with the anxiety, and it still does help. Severely limiting caffeine also helped anxiety a lot. Eating healthy foods and exercising also helps a lot. Some of us can’t tolerate sugar or caffeine right now, so be aware of that.

Be encouraged and of good cheer- this will end as long as you don’t use any cannabis. It seems that if you use any at all, you start all over again in the recovery process. On my really bad days I spent a lot of time reading posts here just looking for others who were experiencing the same thing, so thank you to everyone who has contributed here. I hope I can help someone who is struggling by posting this.

I forgot to address the brain fog- it was absolutely debilitating and it began to clear around 8 months also.

I've been checking in here lately.

I'm more or less recovered. My remaining symptoms are so minor that they aren't really worth dwelling on anymore. I know it will take time for them to continually wind down. I'm about 26 months along. Even if they don't completely dissapear, I'm completely able to live my life. For example. I wake up and go to work everyday, I often go biking, I'm strength training again, I take a dance class once a week, and I socialized 1-3 times a week. I drink the occasional glass of wine, I eat what I want. I sleep 8 hours a night and I have good libido. I'd say on paper I'm quite recovered. My head feels a bit fuzzy, and I have some mild morning symptoms, and some days that gets me down, but on the whole, my life is running just fine.

I don't feel perfect yet, but thats ok. Even people without PAWS / Anxiety Disorders have their aches and pains, etc. This will get better, just keep living life as much as you can, be kind to yourself, and push out. Don't let the fear get the better of you.

Also one of the reasons, people who are recovered don't post in forums, is because one of the best cures for anxiety is to stay away from them. Dr. Google can frighten your body into staying in the anxiety state. Stay away if you can. I poke my head in but generally I don't spend much more than 5 - 10 minutes in a forum like this. Cheers!