In any given month, more than 36 million Americans use marijuana. Many people believe the drug is either harmless or poses minimal health risks. However, you can get addicted to marijuana. How can you tell if you’re addicted? One of the key indicators is the onset of marijuana withdrawals if you try to quit or decrease your use. You may also experience a range of other addiction symptoms. If addiction occurs, recovery is possible with help from an effective marijuana treatment program.
What Is Withdrawal?
Withdrawal is a syndrome that can occur in people who have developed any form of substance dependence. Syndromes are collections of symptoms that tend to occur together. They’re similar to disorders or diseases but more loosely defined.
Why does withdrawal occur? When you’re dependent on a substance, your brain has an established need for it. This need is met as long as you maintain a specific expected level of use. However, you will fail to meet your brain’s expectations if you stop taking that substance or quickly cut back on it. Withdrawal is a signal from your brain telling you to return to your typical intake level.
What Symptoms Can Occur During Marijuana Withdrawals?
A variety of symptoms may occur while you’re withdrawing from marijuana. That includes such things as:
- Feelings of anger, irritability, or aggression
- Nightmares, insomnia, or other sleep-related issues
- Loss of your typical appetite or weight loss
- A down or depressed state of mind
- Unusual restlessness
- Physical issues such as chills, excessive sweating, headaches, fever, or abdominal pain
To be officially diagnosed, you must have three or more marijuana withdrawal symptoms. At least one of these symptoms must be physical in nature.
Not everyone who uses marijuana will experience withdrawal when they quit or cut back. Your risks are highest if you were previously a long-term heavy user of the drug. Marijuana withdrawal symptoms usually appear a week or so after your drug use ends or tapers off.
Experiencing Cravings During Marijuana Withdrawal
Intense cravings for that substance often accompany withdrawal from any substance. In effect, these powerful urges give you another incentive to return to your previous level of use. Cravings during marijuana withdrawal are another indicator of marijuana addiction. Additional addiction indicators include:
- Loss of control over your marijuana use
- Creation of a daily routine that prioritizes marijuana use
- Sticking to a pattern of marijuana use that you know causes you harm
- Developing increasing tolerance to the effects of marijuana
You may also find yourself forsaking once-favored activities, giving you more time to use the drug.
Effectively Coping With Marijuana Withdrawal
The unpleasant impact of marijuana withdrawals can potentially derail your attempts to quit the drug. How can you avoid this possibility? The surest path to effectively coping with marijuana withdrawal is seeking help in a detox program. Supervised detox from the drug revolves around supportive care. That’s the term for non-medication-based methods of keeping you safe, comfortable, and relaxed. Successful detox will leave you in an initial marijuana-free state.
Get More Information on Marijuana Withdrawals at Northpoint Colorado
Want to learn more about what can happen when you withdraw from marijuana? Talk to the rehab specialists at Northpoint Colorado. We’ll be happy to explain more about the potential symptoms of this form of withdrawal. We can also help you determine if you’re affected by other addiction symptoms.
Need to detox from marijuana? Northpoint features an onsite program that helps you complete marijuana withdrawal. We also feature a follow-up marijuana rehab program. To learn more about our available services, call us today at 888.231.1281. You can also reach us through our online message form.