any potheads tryin to quit? i need help...

[zoltan]

I have just very recently been diagnosed with ADD. I'm a 29 year old college student who's dropped out of university 3 times and just wants to get a stupid piece of paper. This diagnosis has finally illuminated the path to the light at the end of the tunnel (make sense?). However, I find myself very addicted to weed. I have been a daily smoker for 3 years now, and I can't go a few waking hours before hitting the bong. Anyone else stuck in this hazy rut? Any tips for cutting down that work for ADD'ers?

And has anyone come across an ADD forum local to Toronto/Ontario residents? I want to see what kinds of hobbies local ADD'ers are into....

Thanks for any responses and thanks for such an excellent site!

[Tara]

Have you talked to your Dr about smoking? Have you started taking any meds since you have been DXed?

[joanrdtobe]

I think 12-step programs are wonderful, personally. Have you looked into Narcotics Anonymous?

[healthwiz]

Weed is self medication. Used to do it myself. The addiction for me was the relief from feeling stressed and down, but eventually even the weed didn't do that for me. In fact, it did the opposite eventually. I'd say the same as above, see psychiatrist/psychologist and ask for help with it. I have been under the impression that pot is specifically not a good thing for ADDers ... but I could be wrong on that . its more of the rumor mill kind of info. (If anyone has more information on that, please tell).

As for seeing the light, I can certainly understand that. I was 36 when I found out. By the way, I went to college 3 times to get my piece of paper. The last time was so easy, because I actually had medication and proper diagnosis, and school became so much easier. Until then, school was like climbing the highest mountain all the time. After meds, undergraduate school was comparitively like going roller blading down hill. Thats how much of a difference diagnosis, treatment and medication meant for me. I took a few courses in grad school, and they were a bit harder, but they say grad school is much harder so that makes sense.

Welcome here!

J

[zoltan]

I have talked to my doctor about it, but he just says "you should quit". well duh...*that* much I know. He put me on Effexor XR 7 months ago for stress and anxiety (I started getting panic attacks for the first time ever) which I'm coming off of very slowly as we speak. I'm interested to see how I'll feel once I'm off all meds...I started smoking cigs more since I got on them, maybe I'll want to smoke less once I'm off. .... I feel like I'm rambling.

Healthwiz....what meds did you take and what did it feel like? What does it do to you that makes school suddenly easier? My diagnosis for ADD involved some hefty IQ and performance tests, and I am (supposedly) in the top 99.6th percentile over-all...city college should not be this hard, if you know what i mean heh.

[healthwiz]

First of all I was misdiagnosed for years. Then I saw a neurologist, and was diagnosed with sleep apnea, quite correctly. I was treated for the sleep apnea, and it was a major wake up for me! Pun intended but true! And then I was taken off the wrong medications since the treatment for sleep apnea made it obvious I did not have another misdiagnosed disorder. Then I was diagnosed for ADD and put on Welbutrin and Adderall. Life got much better - I went and finished my BA and grad "Cum Distincion" out of a class of over 2000 graduating students. this was a big day for me!

I suggest you might get more details by searching my former posts and find those related to diagnosis and sleep apnea, and add diagnosis...etc. I have written a lot of detailed posts on this topic.

I also spotted the problem in my daughter in 2nd grade, and she was treated for both sleep apnea and ADD - and now is a straight A's top achiever in school. We are a smart family, with specific learning diswabilities, Sleep apnea, and ADD. When treated we do very well.

Good luck and I hope that helps

Jonathan

[Tara]

Originally posted by zoltan
I have talked to my doctor about it, but he just says "you should quit". well duh...*that* much I know.

.

Don't you just love the DRs. It's like the ones who tell me I should lose weight...They just don't get it.

[healthwiz]

Tara! Zoltan!

I asked a doctor how I could get my sleep schedule on track to be consistent after I explained how inconsistent it was. He was a Director in charge of the sleep studies department at a hospital, and he laughed and said wake up at the same time every day, and he had no other advice. He said any other advice was useless and untrue.

I have found that other info he gave me was pretty weak too, and it has been challenged by other better doctors. There are good docs and bad docs, like everything in life.

J

[Gregster]

As a current pothead, I understand how hard it is to quit - I've quit a bunch of times! I had one Psychiatrist who told me not to worry about it, that pot was not that bad, but of course I already had gone through University, so I didn't have to study.
Most substance abuse is related to low self-esteem, so I would say that to quit, you also have to do something about your self-esteem or the quiting won't stick (I'm asuming here, but a lot of ADDers have self-esteem issues). See about talking to a psychiatrist - it may help you in other areas as well (I know mine did). Meds may help you. You also might want to ask your doctor about Wellbutrin (a.k.a. Zyban). It's often used for ADHD, but it has the advantage of helping with quiting bad habits. Mostly it's used to help people quit smoking tobacco, but I think it might also help smoking pot (?).
Also, try to make it as diffucult as possible for yourself to "connect" - throw away the phone number(s) of your supplier, and try not to purchase any grass. I know with myself, if I have it, I will smoke it - so if you can cut yourself off, it's much easier.
You may have resources available at school to help with substance abuse - ask at the health office.
Personally, I'd use the resources at school first, before going to your family doctor - the reason? Your request for help will go in your medical records and if anyone ever needs to see your file (like an insurance company, or certain types of employers, etc.) the substance abuse might look bad. I had this happen to me and I really wish I had not gone to my family doctor first. Also some doctors may not give you stimulants if they think you are prone to substance abuse.
Good luck,
Greg

[joanrdtobe]

I don't think there's anything wrong with a physician saying "you should quit"....It's that they don't offer any ideas as to HOW which is what I have trouble with.....i.e. resources, etc.

Substance abuse is a very very difficult thing....to deal with....physically and mentally.....One thing is probably true...Chances are whatever route you take -- you likely cannot do it alone......

[aforceforgood]

Some thoughts that may help you;

Even for a genius, I act stupid enough sometimes, so I don't really need any chemical help with that.

If you have a bad day, then that seems like a good excuse to smoke, and if you have a good day, then that seems like a good excuse to smoke, and if the day is just average or boring (and ADDers are easily bored) then that seems like a good excuse to smoke. So you need to see that smoking will get you nowhere you can't get using your own brain without it, and probably a lot more efficiently and healthier in the long term.

It's also helpful to (and I mean no offense by this, it's kind of a tough-love thing) look at people who do smoke and see where they are in life. I once looked over at the guy in the car next to me who was blaring 20-year old music out of his twenty year old camaro (replete with primered fenders), and his twenty year old mullet hairstyle, who thought he was just so cool. And he was well over 30. I just thought to myself, good god, please don't let that happen to me.

Now don't get me wrong, he may have been a really nice guy, but he obviously was just squeaking by in life, and maybe I'm making an assumption here, but I'd be willing to bet it was because he refused to grow up, stop smoking pot or whatever.

I really, really hope you don't have a mullet, because I probably just offended the heck out of you. If so, please take this as constructive advice rather than as an attack, like when a friend told me I should cut my nose hairs. He's now my best friend.

And as for quitting, I'd suggest that psychologically, it's setting the bar kind of high to say, I quit forever, this is the last day I will EVER smoke. You see what I'm saying here? I finally got myself off cigarettes, by just not smoking TODAY, and not worrying about whether I had the strength and willpower to not smoke again EVER again, for my entire life. Just when you get the urge to smoke, go do something else. As an ADDer, you'll probably get all engrossed in that and completely forget about smoking. Heck, all those things you've meant to fix and "haven't found time for" will probably suddenly get fixed.

Since you're so into it that you need it every 2-3 hours, maybe try just extending that to 6 hours at first, just to get yourself started. Notice how much easier things are when your buzz wears off. Then go for longer and longer until you can have one whole day sober. Do something cool that day that you can't do buzzed. Or go somewhere you can't go when you're buzzed.

You'll also need some straight friends to hang out with, since ADDers are notoriously impulsive, and having it available to you will basically gaurantee you can't quit. Meet some new people and develop those relationships. They'll be very exciting because there will be a depth to those friendships that doesn't revolve around pot. As it stands right now, you have friendships that are kind of one-note, which compared to relationships outside of pot will be more like a symphony. Again, no offense intended, and that's a vast oversimplification, but I hope you see my point.

Once you're off pot for about 2-3 weeks, you will notice how much clearer everything is, how much sharper you are. And I will bet you'll like that feeling, having your brain back, being able to use your brilliant mind, talk to people, make positive steps forward.

[healthwiz]

A forcefor good

Good Advice. I quit and found out my friendships were "single note" in depth. While they may have at one time been based upon mutually liking each others company, later they became to be first and formost based upon our unspoken agreement to smoke pot together. My relationships with these friends really seemed boring and juevenile and undeveloped when the pot was taken out of the picture. I was hurt to find out that all the friends I had, were no longer really friends, not entirely because they didn't want me as a friend, but also because without the pot in my brain I could see what they were doing to themselves, and a friendship was no longer viable, because it wasn't fun to see what they were doing, and it wasn't fun for them either, being reminded by my non-toking presence that what they were doing to themselves was entirely voluntary. I could see my path was diverging at the fork in the road, my presumed friends would keep smoking pot incessently and do as little with their lives as possible, and I would abstain and choose to make my life interesting in reality, not in fantasy. I hoped that pursuing a truly interesting life based in reality (if there really is such a thing) would turn out better than having a drug induced fantasy; eventually the fantasy has to wear thin and get old and then where does the happiness get derived from?

This happened at the ripe age of 15! I was a pot head throughout 9th grade, intensely so, and smoked incessently, due to the people I hung around with. It was not entirely my fault who I hung with, I was at a boarding school, rich kids, and they all had tremendous access to drugs! Unvelievable access! And they were my roommates and my dorm buddies - smoking the pot and the hashish on a regular basis was the norm that year. The next year I opted not to return there due to the high usage of drugs and a frightening drug hallucination. I kept toking though, until the end of 10th grade. Then I went on an adventure that summer, OUTWARD BOUND for 26 days, and did not smoke reefer for that time period, and when I returned from the woods, I did not return to the ritualistic habit. Life was too sweet, too good, the air too fresh, my brain working finally and clear of the influence of the hoocheemama. When I came back and declined offers to get high with my buddies, it was soon apparent we had little in common, thats how important the hoochee was to these "friends".

Friendships are deeper than that, real ones are.

Good luck with quitting, and take it from me, I do not regret quitting, it put me ahead by light years. I discovered I can get high anytime I want, on life, in meditation, through my family, through activities, even through hang-gliding and horse back riding, or just being with my kids. Getting high is all relative, it doesn't require the hoocheemama, but you have to quit to discover that.

The wonderful thing is, you can do anything you put your mind to!

Jonathan

[aforceforgood]

zoltan, please keep us appraised of your progress here, it'll help motivate you, and also I bet you'll be shocked at how long you spend doing certain things, I know I was when I did the same thing...

We'll be praying for you buddy! You can do it!

[GuelahPapyrus]

Originally posted by healthwiz
...We are a smart family, with specific learning diswabilities...

and speech impwediments? j/k

Anyways, I got diagnosed in college and I found that adderall somehow gave me motivation to not smoke anymore because i realized i could do the work and do it well. It has that effect on cigarettes, i find that my cravings go away and cigs dont do anything for me when I take adderall.

[GuelahPapyrus]

oh i realized i forgot to say a response to your post:

anywho, go with the "i wont smoke today" plan, little by little. just once? in the beginning of the first smeester of college (last sept) i smoked pot everyday, several times a day, did ****ty in school, couldnt stop smoking becuase i loved it too much and it was just fun. it was the only break at the end of the day of studying and i just wanted it. however after stoppping for just one day, i the routine got dismantled and it wasnt such a big deal. now i just smoke once a week or something, nothing regular, just whenever. if u want to keep smoking, i suggest no more than 2-3 times a week, apparently (according to my psychiatrist at college) thats the average amount of times one needs to smoke for the thc to accumulate-->pothead. so if u keep it at once or twice a week, it wont be bad, and wont make u a pothead.