Quick Tips

Before you begin

• Get clear on why, and hold onto that reason for week one.
• Pick a stop date; a fixed date beats "soon."
• Clear out all of it: the stash and the kit (grinder, papers, bong).
• Mute the contact you buy from. Friction is your friend.
• Tell one person. Saying it out loud makes it real.

Getting through the first week

• The worst is front-loaded into days 2–4, then it eases. It's temporary.
• Warn people you'll be scratchy for a few days. It takes the pressure off.
• Move your body: a walk or a workout burns off the restlessness.
• Eat light and regularly even without appetite; it comes back.
• Day three is the bargaining trap: "just one" is withdrawal talking, not you.

Beating a craving

• A craving is a wave: it peaks within minutes and passes. Ride it out.
• Delay ten minutes and distract: hands or feet busy. It usually passes inside the wait.
• Check HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired? Meet that need instead.
• Replace the ritual, not the substance: fill the evening slot with something else.
• Plan for your danger time: decide in advance what you'll do at 9pm on the sofa.

Surviving the sleep patch

• The vivid dreams are your brain recovering: a good sign, not a bad one.
• Don't fight a sleepless night in bed. Instead, get up, do something dull, and try again.
• It's the slowest thing to settle, usually over two to four weeks. It does settle.

Staying stopped

• Expect a flat patch a few weeks in: it's the reward system resetting, and it lifts.
• A single slip is not a relapse unless you decide it is. Pick it back up.
• Shift from "I'm quitting" to "I don't use". Identity is easier than willpower.

Taking a T-break instead?

• A T-break is a planned pause, not a full stop. But the first fortnight feels the same, so all of the above applies.
• Pick a fixed length and put the end date in your calendar.
• When you go back, come back low: your tolerance has reset, so a fraction now does the job. Reach for your old amount and you waste the whole break.