Marijuana and insomnia

Insomnia is one of several withdrawal symptoms experienced by long term marijuana users. If you have smoked marijuana since your teens, consume heavy doses or ingest strong versions such as skunk then you become an insomniac.

Insomnia

This is usually thought of as an inability to sleep but it encompasses a whole range of sleep disturbances which include:

• Difficulty in falling asleep
• Difficulty in remaining asleep
• Poor quality sleep
• Difficulty in going back to sleep after waking in the middle of the night.
• Difficulty in returning to sleep after waking too early in the morning.

There are a variety of reasons why someone is unable to sleep or has a poor night’s sleep which include depression, pain, stress and caffeine.

Drugs such as nicotine, cocaine and amphetamines cause insomnia as do certain medications.

The withdrawal symptoms are essentially a detox which means that the body is attempting to rid itself of the effects of marijuana such as tetrahydrocannabinols (THC’s).

Insomnia is more common in the first few days of withdrawal. Basically, it is an opposite reaction to what you normally experience with marijuana. So, if smoking marijuana causes you to feel sleepy and relaxed then stopping will cause the opposite such as being wide awake and anxious.

If you persist with the withdrawal then your sleep patterns should return to normal but can take up to a month to do so.