Hey folks,

I haven't really been around the nexus during the past year or so. I needed some time away so that I could gather my composure and sort my shit. This inevitably resulted in abstaining from almost all substances, including: medications, cannabis, alcohol, and psychedelics. For the first time in a long time, the mental fog was lifted.

Alcohol was the number one priority. I stopped drinking for an entire year and two days. I celebrated my one year (and two day) anniversary with a beer. The beer wasn't as fun as I had remembered it to be, but it did serve a purpose. The purpose was a reminder and a test. Did I remember? Did I pass the test? Well.... I don't remember what I was being tested over, so I decided I would go ahead and consider that a "pass." From daily six-packs, to total abstinence, and then the reminder: I remembered that I'd grown apathetic towards alcohol. It lost the spark that it once had. I was no longer interested and the buzz had lost its appeal.

Speaking of sparks, the other huge change was cannabis consumption. Daily use, multiple times a day, for ~15 years. HOLY HELL! I had never gone through such horrible withdrawals. When I stopped, it was worse than detoxing from any drug that I had ever taken. I don't like admitting this because many of us want cannabis to be the good-guy. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I had diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting for more than a week. I was in a constant state of vertigo. I was shocked at how difficult the withdrawals were. But, I made it through!

I gave it a few weeks and decided, "Oh, why not? I'll smoke a small bowl!" I didn't finish that bowl - I was only able to take about 4 puffs from it. And then the chaos began. I freaked out. It felt like an uncomfortable 15-20 mg vaped DMT trip that lasted for hours. I was experiencing open-eye visuals and frantic thoughts raced through my mind. I ended up covering my face with a blanket and forced myself to fall asleep. I woke up feeling pretty rough. What had happened?! Was that what being high was like? Had I been maintaining the constant buzz for the past 15 years without experiencing the contrast? I reckon.

The break from psychedelics wasn't really uncommon. I take breaks from them from time to time. I have yet to dive back in, but I'm sure it'll be on the agenda sometime soon. Maybe it won't. Some things have changed. Some haven't.

Either way, I decided that it may be a good time to become more active on the Nexus, again. I hope you all have been doing well.

ACY

Hi ACY, good to see you again.

Glad to hear you have kicked some habits and come back around. Alcohol and weed are easy traps to fall into, they've had me before too. I've only been back looking a couple of days on here too, nice to see a friendly face.

How's your trees man? I've planted a mob since we last spoke and mine are charging.

Hope all else is well brother and your career is flourishing.

ACY, happy to see you back!! I always enjoyed reading your posts. I totally feel you regarding cannabis withdrawal. I have been smoking bho daily for years. When I stop cold turkey it is exactly how you described. Who would have thought?!

A lot of respect for what you did Acy
Nice to see you again.

As far as addiction and dependence with cannabis/THC goes, the scientific literature is out there. It works in a very similar way to other habit-forming substances like nicotine, morphine and amphetamine. They all cause the overexpression of ΔFosB in an area of the brain referred to as the nucleus accumbens which triggers the development of drug seeking behavior and dependence.

Most drugs also have a rebound effect which are named different according to the type (e.g. comedown for stimulants or withdrawal for depressants) they're both the same IMO. This probably explains why you were experiencing a lot of dizziness and nausea during withdrawal since cannabis is a strong anti-emetic.

Welcome back to the main forum ACY, make more posts and take the damn cactus!

Hooray, ACY's back! Great to see you here!
Fiendish drug consumption is no prerequisite for presence on the forum, as I'm sure you appreciate.


Funnily enough, that's been exactly my thinking this evening - even though there's a crate of very good beer in the cellar here.

Your THC withdrawals sound like they were pretty hardcore (and not pretty). It certainly gives pause for thought.

Seconded, and maybe add a bit of THH to that.

2C-ACY update urgently required!

Your Cannabis withdrawals remind me of my cocaine ones about 10 years ago. It's not a pretty feeling or sight.

Right on for getting yourself straight though and warm welcome back.

I have found that now that I am engaging with DMT more, I partake in cannabis less. It's still daily, but I don't smoke during the day anymore, and more often than not I'm dabbing something that has more CBD than THC. It's nice.

Looking forward to seeing more of you around the forum.

One love

Thank you all for the warm welcome back.



Northerner, The trees are doing their thing and they are mostly on auto-pilot, these days. The chacrunas are filling out, caapi is coming back from the winter snooze, and confusa is fluffing up for the spring. In between career stuffs, again. The contract at the last job came to an end and I am trying to sort that portion out. Might have some leads, but I prefer to not be overly hopeful for something that isn't completely finalized. Likely going to be going to grad school - so that should present a whole new layer of chaos.

How have you been??


Hey Tony
Yeah - the cannabis withdrawal really threw me off. It was very unexpected. I think it will serve as a good reason to never let the use become habitual in the future. After the major freak-out, I have smoked since - but much, much, much smaller amounts. The smaller amounts have been enjoyable without the excessive chaos. Just normal chaos.


Thank you, Jees! Good to see you as well. We'll have to catch up in chat one day soon. <3


yeah yeah yeah.... I'm gonna get around to the cactus sooner than later... probably about the same time that your babies are ready for bio-assay.

Remind me tomorrow and I'll go pick a few to despine and toss in a pot. It's far over-due and I could go for a mild mescaline dose - which means that I'll take a small dose and get blasted beyond the known realms of the universe.


It's good to see you, too! Fiendish drug use sure does spice it up a bit, though.


You know what they say about great minds and how they think, right?? Probably something about how they shouldn't leave good beer sitting in the cellar for 'too' long. But, they also might say that it will sit as long as it needs to sit.


It really caught me off guard. I'd always imagined the withdrawals being more mental than physical, but they were most certainly both. The physical worsened the mental, and the mental worsened the physical. It was a loop that felt difficult to break.


Heheheh, KT has been reminding me about the cactus dosing ever since I mentioned a few weeks back. Of all the plants and fungi that we dose, that is the one that has been calling me the most. I do have some harmalas that are waiting for a good reason - maybe I will add a bit.

2C-ACY is still TBD and in the works.... one day.... one day...



Voidmatrix - Thanks for the welcoming back! CBD/CBG Herb certainly helped during the first few days of the THC detox. It dulled the sharp, jagged portions off the edge of the withdrawal blade that was being repetitively jammed in and pulled out.





Thanks to everyone for welcoming me back. I am going to try to get into the routine of making at least one forum post in the evenings. Gotta keep the mind sharp and the posts hot!

ACY

I love you man.