My name is Mike and I'm 24 years old. I'm severely addicted to Marijuana, and the withdrawal symptoms of trying to quit are too much for me to handle. I need help. Advice. Something.
Let's go back in time for a little bit. As a child, teen, and young adult, I never once tried any drugs, and that includes alcohol and nicotine. I just never touched the stuff. I had no desire to. On my 21st birthday, however, my life changed completely. My friends and family took me to the bar for my first time. I started slow, just a beer. It tasted terrible. I think it ended up taking me an hour to finish it. After that, it was time for my birthday shot: the Three Wise Men; Jack, Jim, and Jose. That shot changed my whole night. The alcohol in my bloodstream felt so good. The rest of the night was spent bar hopping. Shot after shot. I got so drunk that I started stealing random drinks from the bar and tables. If people went to the bathroom or something, I drank their drink. Nobody got angry with me; it was my birthday, my first time, and I was plastered. Walking back to my house at the end of the night, I passed out face first in the middle of a road. I had to be carried inside. I spent the next 24 hours in the worst pain I had ever experience, puking my guts out every few minutes.
I likely had alcohol poisoning, but that didn't stop me. For the next two years I blew my checks at the bar every weekend. I have a wife and three children (two at the time, however). Rather than get them what they needed, I spent my time and money drinking on weekends. I never did drink during the week very often, and I rarely kept alcohol in the house.
Before long I became a violent drunk. For no reason at all I would get so drunk and start fights with people. I would come home bloody; sometimes it was mine, sometimes it was theirs. After two years my family and friends told me that they thought I was an alcoholic and I needed help. I didn't believe them. How can I be an alcoholic? I'm not dependent, I don't constantly think about drinking, I don't drink at home, and I only drink on weekends. Not long after I acknowledged that I was an alcohol abuser, but it wasn't an "aha!" moment. It took a truly terrible act of drunkeness for me to come to reality.
My mother began to fear my drinking and told me to never show up at her house drunk again. Well, I did, and she told me to get out. I snapped. I started smashing windows and throwing decorations at her head. I went outside and smashed her van windows out and punched her door in. I went on the run and was tackled by police a couple of hours later. After I sobered up the following day in jail, reality hit me. I started bawling at the horrors I had committed over the last couple of years, especially what I did to my mother. These days I rarely drink, and if I do, it's only a couple of beers or wine. I avoid liquor.
In March of this year, I picked up another drug: Marijuana. Wow, is this stuff awesome. Smoking Marijuana completely killed my desire for alcohol, even during those rare moments when drinking is an option for me. I just didn't want to. Alcohol makes me sick and angry; weed makes me feel good and happy. The first month of my smoking was completely innocent, for a lack of a better word. I only took a few hits a few days a week after work. About two weeks after that, I began to smoke everyday after work, and every weekend. At the two month mark I began to think about weed all day, every day at work. I couldn't wait to get off so I could go home and smoke. Those thoughts and desires led me to smoking at every break at work. Every. Single. Break. And that's how it has stayed. I only smoke what is called "dank", high quality, high THC weed. I smoked this stuff all day, every single day. GRAMS of weed a day. I was spending so, so much.
There was a time over the summer that I went "dry" for my first time. I ran out of weed and all of my guys were out too. It was like that for a couple of days, and those days were some of the worst I've ever had. I made sure that I never again ran out of weed. Those couple of days were spent depressed, anxious, sleepless, and irritable; I was nauseous and having diarrhea. I couldn't fall to sleep at all. I work with one of my drug dealers, so when he told me that he was "good" and he'd bring it in to work for me, I was so relieved. I went to work, grabbed my weed, went to my boss and said I was sick and needed to go home. I went home and smoked most of what o bought from him that day. Of course he brought in a lot more the next day.
Two weeks ago I quit my job because the MERE HOURS inbetween breaks was too much for me to handle. That was too long of a time period between smoking. I used the excuse that they were harassing me and treating me unfairly, and I just needed to get out of there. I spent my final check on weed, all of which I have smoked as of three days ago. I have no money, no job, and my family and I live with my mother-in-law. These three days have been the worst days of my life. I physically and emotionally hurt. I lay in bed shaking and crying while my wife rubs my back. I just so tired and I can't sleep. I'm so hungry and I can't eat. I've lost 10 pounds already. I can't even drink water without gagging. I spend the first 3-4 hours of my mornings with extreme nausea. It dissipates after awhile, but comes back periodically throughout the day. I have stomach cramps and aches, and diarrhea. I'm having suicidal thoughts because of severe depression that has set in. My days seem to be getting darker and darker. There is no light at the end of my tunnel. People say that you can't become addicted to weed and when you quit you don't experience withdrawal. Lies! I'm living proof! I never experienced any of this when people were calling me an alcoholic. This is horrible, and has ruined my life. I've even sold my of my possessions to buy weed because my checks just weren't enough to keep up. I don't know what to do. I can't live like this and need help.
Another thing that has happened to me is I've lost all desire for the things I used to like, such as hobbies, sports, etc. My only desire is buying, smelling, examining, grinding, packing, and smoking weed. That's all I desire to do, and I hate it.