Disturbing dreams, Giving up weed

Question

I quit smoking weed over 7 weeks ago and though most of the withdrawal symptoms are gone now my sleep is still really screwed up. I have a lot of trouble falling asleep and when I do get to sleep my sleep is really light and restless and I have these disturbing and very realistic dreams that wake me up and leave me feeling unsettled. I am maybe having a bit of an improvement in sleep over the last couple of weeks or so but from everything I read on the internet marijuana withdrawal symptoms are only supposed to last for a week or so. When can I expect my sleep to get back to normal?

Jill Edwards · Accepted Answer

So sorry, I did not get back earlier. Congratulations on getting through the first 7 weeks, well 9 to 10 now. There is evidence that weed stays in the system for at least a month, so I am not surprised that you are still experiencing sleep problems. It does sound to me that these dream states are following after weed use, but you would know for yourself if the dream states related to traumatic or disturbing events in your life. If this is the case then you would need to do some work to re-integrate these experiences.

All the drugs that calm you down tend to affect sleep patterns. It is worth knowing that not everyone sleeps 8 hours a night and that variations will not do you any harm. People often underestimate the effort needed to re-construct a life after using substances. I would suggest that you get busy living, focusing on an active life, with plenty of exercise, a fairly regular pattern of getting to bed and getting up (that means not going to sleep in the day if you have not slept at night). If there are underlying emotional distresses, which predated using weed then you will need to address these.

You say there is already improvement and you can expect that improvement to continue. As I said it will help to focus on getting on with living rather than the slow improvement of the sleeping patterns. Best of luck.

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