Weed Withdrawal Tinnitus

[Holden]

I've had tinnitus for about 3 months and have stopped smoking weed for about 4. I live in Washington state, so recreational marijuana is legal here. I smoked once a day, but it was really potent stuff (20-30% THC).

I wish I knew the problems with quiting weed before starting. When I stopped smoking I had bad physical withdrawals, upset stomach, acid reflex, and muscle cramps. Later on, withdrawal manifested with anxiety and sleep problems (among other things).

One night I lay down for bed and noticed a high frequency ringing in my left ear. It hasnt stopped or reduced at all, but I'm still hopeful it will go away

I plan to be updating my progress here as it can take 6 months - year to feel better from weed withdrawals.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Champ]

I have quit for long stretches of time and never had withdrawal like that

The worst I've experienced is a bad mood/desire to smoke for a couple days which goes away and I'm back to normal.

What is your diet like? Some of those things sound pretty bad and unrelated to pot smoking.

 

[Tom Cnyc]

Marijuana smoked once a day does NOT cause withdrawals that last a year. I'm not sure who told you that but its simply not true. At worst there is a psychological addiction that may leave you with mild insomnia but your tinnitus is not caused by cessation of pot.

 

[LenDawg]

I have to agree with the original poster here.

I have been smoking marijuana heavily for about 2 years now. I always remember people saying that weed was not addicting. I'm currently feeling very depressed and having a ringing in my left ear, which is what brought me to this page. It's good to see that I am not the only one going through this symptom and I hope that it goes away soon. I have never had ringing in my ears before. But ever since quitting the marijuana it has been persistently in my left ear. Hopefully it will go away soon.

 

[linearb]

Cannabis withdrawal is real and fairly well documented. Temporary tinnitus or increases in tinnitus from acute use are also fairly well documented, and generally not very worrying clinically.

Anything that puts you under stress will make latent conditions worse, additionally cannabis interacts with serotonin which is often thought to be related to the network that maintains the tinnitus percept.

What is not documented or hinted at by current data is that cannabis withdrawal can cause these symptoms in a very long term or permanent way; it is certainly not "similar to benzo withdrawal", as the original posts say. It is its own withdrawal syndrome and it is real and generally unpleasant for some people, especially heavy users who cease use entirely with no taper down. On the scale of drug withdrawals, it's worse than caffeine by a lot, but nowhere near alcohol, benzos or opiates, in terms of the short term subjective discomfort, or the potential for really traumatic permanent changes.

Disclaimer: I like weed and I am biased but I am also pretty practical about such things, I've done benzo withdrawals twice after extended use, I have withdrawn from weed god knows how many times in the last 20 years; these things are very different.

 

[makeyourownluck]

Smoked weed everyday for almost 10 years. Quit cold turkey. No withdrawal.

However, the first and only time I ever experienced tinnitus before this constant onslaught, was after a bong of soft black.

 

[Joey72]

20 to 30 percent of THC doesn't seem like a lot to me. I usually go for the 75 percent.

 

[FlatDarkEarth]

I've had two tinnitus 'spikes' over the last year, one ongoing. Both came shortly after I stopped smoking weed after being a daily user.

The first time was inadvertent; I stopped smoking due to a trip I took. So, daily smoker down to zero for a few weeks. My tinnitus mostly returned to normal but not completely.

The second time was January of 2022, I a) had a very stressful event that caused depression, and because of that I b) stopped smoking cold turkey again.

It was not until afterwards I noticed the pattern here. This time, I stopped cold turkey for about two months and I wish I never, ever did that.

My tinnitus is the worst it has ever been. What's more, my anxiety is unrelenting and worse than it's ever been.

I started smoking small amounts each night in hope to get back to normal, which really hasn't helped. I also worry I was close to 'getting over the hump' and I ruined it by smoking again, but it's hard to tell. There's no clear path I can see.

I've had times of serious depression before and my tinnitus was never this bad, and I had NO anxiety like I do now. The only factor I can identify here is going from daily smoker to cold turkey.

I'd be all ears if anyone has similar experiences. I've posted in the Support forum over this to basically crickets.