PipsproutSweating and night sweats after quitting weed
You stopped smoking or vaping weed and now you wake up soaked. It is a known part of cannabis withdrawal, it is temporary, and there are practical ways to get through it.
The short version
- Sweating, chills and a feeling of being hot or cold are recognised cannabis withdrawal symptoms, mainly in people who used heavily or daily.
- They tend to start within a day or two of stopping, peak in the first week, and ease over about two weeks.
- Night sweats are common because sleep is also disturbed at this stage.
- Fever, drenching sweats that continue for weeks, or sweats with weight loss are not explained by quitting weed. See a doctor.
Why it happens
With regular use your brain adapts to having cannabinoids around. When they stop, the system is briefly out of balance and the body regulates itself poorly, including temperature, sleep and mood. Sweating, chills, shakiness and stomach upset sit in the standard list of cannabis withdrawal symptoms alongside irritability, anxiety, low appetite and sleep trouble.
It is not universal. Many people who use occasionally notice nothing. The heavier and longer the use, and the more potent the product, the more likely it is. If you are also quitting nicotine at the same time, some of the sweating and restlessness may be from that too.
What it feels like
- Waking in the night damp or drenched, sometimes with vivid dreams. See sleep and vivid dreams.
- Sudden waves of heat in the day, then cold hands and chills.
- Clammy palms when anxious or craving.
How long it lasts
Withdrawal symptoms generally begin within one to three days, are strongest around the first week, and mostly fade by two to three weeks. Sleep problems can trail longer than the sweats. Timelines differ from person to person, so treat these as ranges, not promises.
What helps
- Keep the bedroom cool. A fan, light cotton bedding, and a spare T-shirt by the bed so a sweat does not mean a fully wrecked night.
- Hydrate. You are losing fluid, so drink water through the day. Add salty food if you are sweating a lot.
- Limit caffeine and alcohol, especially late in the day. Both make sweats and sleep worse.
- Shower or rinse before bed, lukewarm rather than hot.
- Move daily, but not hard exercise within two hours of bedtime.
- Treat the craving separately. Sweating and craving spike together. Ride the urge for a few minutes with slow breathing: in for four, out for six.
There is no approved medicine for cannabis withdrawal. A doctor can help with severe sleep or anxiety symptoms, but the usual approach is supportive: sleep, food, fluids and time.
Should you taper?
Some people find cutting down over a week or two gentler than stopping dead. That is a legitimate option, but set the end date in advance, because open-ended cutting down tends to drift. See taper vs cold turkey for the trade-offs, which apply to weed too.
A plan for the first week
Before day one, wash the bedding and set up the room: fan, a glass of water, spare T-shirt, a towel on the pillow. Decide in advance that the first two nights will be rough, so a bad night is expected rather than a reason to cave. Eat regular meals even if appetite is low; small and frequent is fine. Weed suppresses appetite on the way back, so see our guide to appetite after quitting weed.
Keep your evenings low stimulation. A warm, not hot, shower, then screens off, and something dull to read. If you wake in a sweat, change your top, drink some water, and avoid checking the time or your phone. The aim is to get back to sleep, not to solve the night.
Tell one person what is going on. Cannabis withdrawal is easy to dismiss as nothing, and it helps to have someone who knows the sweaty, irritable week is a symptom and not you being difficult. Most people notice a clear improvement by the end of the second week, and that is the point to mark in your calendar.
When to see a doctor
- A fever, or sweats that carry on for more than three to four weeks.
- Sweats with unplanned weight loss, a persistent cough or swollen glands.
- A racing or irregular heartbeat, chest pain or fainting.
- Repeated vomiting or being unable to keep fluids down. Heavy long-term users can get severe cannabis-related vomiting, and this needs medical care.
- You also drink heavily or take other substances. Stopping those suddenly can be dangerous.
- Low mood that becomes severe, or any thoughts of harming yourself.
The sweats are an unpleasant but temporary sign that your body is recalibrating, not a sign the quit is failing.
Get through the sweaty, sleepless first weeks
Pipsprout gives you a 90-second guided urge surf for the moment a craving lands, a slip log that keeps your score instead of resetting it, and a recovery timeline for your body. Free on iPhone and in the browser.
General information for adults 18+, not medical advice. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.