PipsproutNo appetite after quitting weed
For years, food was the easy part. You smoked, you got hungry, you ate. Now you have stopped, and dinner looks like a chore. Your stomach feels tight, breakfast is out of the question, and you are wondering whether you will ever want a meal again without a joint first. You will. Here is what is happening and how to keep fed in the meantime.
The short version
- Decreased appetite is a recognised cannabis withdrawal symptom. It is expected, not a sign something is broken.
- It usually starts in the first few days, is worst in week one, and lifts over the second for most people.
- Eat by the clock, not by hunger. Small, plain, often.
- Repeated vomiting, not keeping fluids down, or weight still dropping after a month needs a doctor.
Why it happens
THC acts on the endocannabinoid system, which is one of the body's appetite controls. That is the munchies. Use it every day for long enough and your appetite gets used to being pushed. Take the push away and, for a while, hunger signals run quieter than normal while the system resets.
Withdrawal stacks other things on top. Poor sleep blunts appetite. Anxiety and irritability tighten the stomach. Some people get mild nausea or stomach cramps in the first days. And if eating was tied to being high, the routine has gone too: the snack after the evening smoke is simply not happening any more.
Your appetite has not disappeared. It has spent years being turned up from outside, and it is relearning to run on its own.
How long it lasts
Most cannabis withdrawal symptoms begin within the first few days, peak in the first week and ease over the following one or two. Appetite tends to follow that curve. Heavy daily users, especially of concentrates, sometimes take longer. Losing a little weight in the first fortnight is common; it usually comes back once you are eating normally.
How to eat when nothing appeals
Set alarms. Three small meals and two snacks at fixed times. Waiting for hunger is how you end up at 4pm having eaten nothing, shaky and short-tempered, which feeds the cravings.
Go small and plain. Toast, rice, eggs, bananas, yoghurt, soup, crackers with cheese. Half a plate you finish beats a full plate you push away.
Drink some of it. Milk, a smoothie, or a meal-replacement shake counts when chewing feels like too much. Sip water through the day too.
Start with breakfast you can manage. Mornings are often worst. A glass of milk or a banana is enough to begin; try something more an hour later.
Ginger for queasiness. Ginger tea or biscuits help some people with mild nausea. A pharmacist can advise if it is stopping you eating.
Move before meals. A short walk before lunch or dinner often brings a bit of appetite back, and helps sleep later.
Keep the evening routine, swap the contents. If the evening smoke used to lead to a snack, keep the snack at that time. It protects the meal and fills a gap the craving would otherwise use.
What to avoid
Living on coffee and energy drinks. They kill what appetite you have and make sleep worse.
Using alcohol to relax into a meal. It upsets the stomach and wrecks the sleep you need to recover.
"Just a bit to get hungry". A small smoke to eat dinner restarts the withdrawal clock. If you go back to it, decide beforehand whether it is a slip or a restart.
Treating it as a diet. If you have a history of an eating disorder, appetite loss can pull old patterns back. Tell someone, and tell your doctor early rather than late.
When to get help
- Repeated bouts of vomiting, particularly if hot showers or baths are the only thing that helps. That pattern can be cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, caused by heavy use, and it can take time to settle after stopping.
- You cannot keep fluids down for a day, feel dizzy on standing, or pass very little urine.
- Blood in vomit or black stools: urgent care, same day.
- Still not eating normally after a month, or weight dropping steadily.
- Low mood that is deepening rather than lifting with the quit.
Tell the doctor how much cannabis you used and when you stopped. It changes what they look for, and it is a conversation they have often.
Get through the flat first fortnight
Pipsprout logs each craving so you can watch them thin out, lets you set an if-then plan for the old evening slot, and gives you a 90-second urge surf for when it calls. Free on iPhone and in the browser.
General information for adults 18+, not medical advice. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if you cannot eat or keep fluids down, if you are losing weight, or if you use cannabis for nausea, pain, appetite or another diagnosed condition.