Understanding Cannabis Tolerance Breaks

[GrouchyOldMan]

For the first time in my long and passionate relationship with cannabis I recently realized I needed a "Tolerance Break!"

As it turns out I have more high potency cannabis (7 flavors & counting), in more forms (flower, hashish, tincture & edibles) and more spare time (retired) than ever before and every day seemed to require a new “experiment” with the various consumption options in a quest for the tailored epicurean buzz.

I credit this happy outcome to careful study of and adherence to the great cannabis Forums like OG. So, yay for that and no complaints, but I still need to balance it with my need to function at a high level for at least part of every day and recently I’ve been wandering around in a zombie fog a result of unprecedented dosage levels from the available supplies. I was also very aware of a creeping increase in the amount of herb that it takes for the same effect.

I’ve already cut back on my “experiments” and did a two-day complete T-break, so full function has been restored through moderation (before the Saintly Spouse even noticed!). Absolutely zero withdrawal effects, for the record.

But it was time for me to learn about cannabis tolerance breaks and I stumbled onto a few resources that I found helpful and want to share with you. The links in the articles cited are live and have more specific topical information.

I’d also like to invite comments from OG veterans about their experiences, the “T-break” schedules they found effective and any other info they think a Tolerance Break Novice should know. My hope is to pack up this thread with enough info to be useful to anyone considering a Tolerance Break.

The InterWeb offers a lengthy menu of T-Break websites but most can be divided into three classes: actual medical advice, Stoner Bro-science, and touchy-feely support guides. They all have a role I suppose and below you’ll find a sample from each.

First, some specific suggestions for managing a cannabis Tolerance Break with a Hat tip to NaturalHealthservices.ca for their fact-based approach to the subject.

https://naturalhealthservices.ca/cannabis-tolerance-and-tips-to-naturally-reset-your-bodys-endocannabinoid-system/

"1. Microdose
Microdosing, or consuming a minimal amount of cannabis on a regular basis, is a popular method of use for medical purposes. In this way, you can get the benefits of THC without developing a tolerance to its effects. By microdosing, you can be medicated all day without overwhelming your CB1 receptors with larger doses.

2. Switch to CBD-rich strains
Both psychoactive THC and non-impairing CBD engage the endocannabinoid system. However, these two compounds work in fundamentally different ways. We know that CBD works on many receptors, and not just on our CB receptors. For this reason, it is much harder to become tolerant to the effects of CBD. Opting for a high-CBD strain may be helpful to those looking to decrease their tolerance to THC, but who still require the relaxation and pain relief cannabis offers.

3. Mix things up
Rotate strains or try using new consumption methods such as vaporizing, oils, or making edibles. Change up your routine. For example, skipping consumption in the morning may encourage the onset of stronger effects during evening use.

4. Try a fast partial resensitization
Used to drop the amount of cannabis needed to achieve desired medical effects, this method only requires a few days’ break. Use no cannabis at all for two full days. On the third day, take one puff and then wait for five minutes. If you feel any effect of the cannabis at all, put down your cannabis and do not use anymore that day. If you don’t, however, feel anything in the five minutes of after first puff, then take one more puff and wait another five minutes. Continue this process until even the smallest effect is felt.

Once you hit that point, stop for the day. Continue this process of one puff, waiting, and ceasing as soon as you feel any effect, for the next three days. On the fourth day, resume your regular use and timing. You should find that your body requires much less, even up to only one-half, of the cannabis that you previously needed to achieve the same medical effects.

5. Do a complete tolerance break.
This method has a double effect of both increasing the amount of added receptors and restoring your baseline receptors to normal function. It requires stopping all cannabis use for at least two days and up to four weeks. CB1 downregulation begins to reverse surprisingly rapidly upon termination or decrease of cannabis use. Studies show that tolerance can start to change within two days of abstaining from using cannabis.

Enjoy your tolerance break by staying active as much as possible, and make sure to hydrate often. Engaging in rewarding physical activities will help make resetting your endocannabinoid system more effective. Eating well and focusing on proper nutrition will also give more positive results. Try going for a run, cooking a healthy meal, or taking on a hobby that will offer some positive reward or self-satisfaction.

Cannabis has an interesting and noble effects, it provides comfort, care, and treatment for genuine needs, at the level the user needs. As such, many see it as a spiritual plant and have great respect for its varied effects and how it communicates within our bodies to help bring things back to balance. Take this time to focus on the benefits of cannabis and make an effort to be mindful and thankful for what this plant has to offer.

Keep in mind that a tolerance break means your dosage will change when you start your treatment again. When re-starting your medical cannabis, start with a lower dose than you were using previously. Keep doses low until you get an idea of how it will affect you with your new lower levels of tolerance."

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Next up, guidelines for the length of a Complete Tolerance Break needed based on your current daily usage. I wonder if anyone who has done a complete tolerance break would agree with these? I am also impressed with their top end daily dosages. Five grams of 20% herb delivers about 1000 milligrams of THC! That would leave me staring at the ceiling and babbling weakly. Sheesh

https://420expertadviser.com/guide/cannabis-tolerance-break-7-essential-steps-and-after-effects/

“Perfect Length of a Cannabis Tolerance Break
4.1 to 5+ grams 16 weeks
2.1 to 4 grams 12 weeks
1.1 to 2 grams 8 weeks
0.6 to 1.0 grams 4 weeks
0.4 to 0.5 grams 3 weeks
0.2 to 0.3 grams 2 weeks
0 to 0.1 grams No T-break needed
[Proper cannabis tolerance break (T-Break) required in response to the use of daily average cannabis dosage before the break, based on the observations of experienced stoners’ anecdotes.]”

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To Wrap this up, I found a more psychological/spiritual step-by-step guide to a complete T-Break This small book focusses on the emotional difficulties of following through on a complete break through careful planning and emotional support. It is formatted in a booklet layout suitable for printing. Call me goofy, but I’m intending to print one of these out and do the exercises even tho I’m no longer abstaining. Sort of like an atheist going to Mass just for the spectacle of it. LoL.

https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Center-for-Health-Wellbeing-at-UVM/t-break/T-Break_Guide_-v3-_Booklet.pdf
T-Break Guide By Tom Fontana

"I created this guide because people would tell me that when they set out to take a T-Break, they only lasted a few days. Sometimes they felt ashamed because it was harder than they thought. There is no need to feel bad.
This guide has daily practices. Each week has a different theme:

• Week 1 - physical
• Week 2 - emotional
• Week 3 - spiritual / existential

It may be useful to read a few a days at once because there are practical things about sleep and appetite that may be helpful right away. There is a calendar in the back that you can use to check-off the days. Plus, there are blank pages for your thoughts, drawings, etc. Care has been put into the content and order, but you know what works for you. Feel free to make this is a choose-your-own adventure guide. "

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There are dozens of other T-Break websites but these seem to be representative examples. I welcome additions that folks have found helpful, or comments on the ones mentioned above.

So, noble stoner buddies, if you are toking it more and enjoying it less, take notes, make a plan and Hie thee hence!

[Gpaw]

Thanks for posting on this subject.

I’ve been ‘fooling around’ with breaks, usually one day off every few days… …I see I’m doing it wrong

I found even a day off makes a significant reset. Time to ‘up that’ to several days…

Cheers
G

[Motaco]

I definitely agree. When you first start out smoking it is mostly a few times a week or on weekends. Eventually it can be habit forming, and you really need to examine why you are using it and how often you are using it.

If it was beer for instance. Would you want to say that you wake up with a beer, have another with lunch, and then really start to hammer them down after work? Everyday?

[GrouchyOldMan]

@Motaco, that’s the deal exact, isn’t it. You end up taking a hit every hour but you don’t really even get high!

Seriously, take two full days off entire and savor that first deep hit when its over. It’s like a Remembrance of Things Past… Jus Sayin.

[Rogue]

Microdosing + meditation & visualization + knowing every thought creates =

[CapnCannabis]

When you come down on a T break and add a multivitamin and some folic acid and you will have a dream almost every night to the point they will become almost lucid.When I smoke I don’t really have dreams when I stop they flood in.

[GrouchyOldMan]

Ya know, I’d never connected the dots before, but I think I get that too.

We had a place in Puerto Rico, little surf town, where I went on a mandatory t-beak every winter. And during that time I had vivid dreams, lined up night after night.

Dunno, but it’s a sweetness when you get back to that first, post-Tbreak toke. Worth the pain IMHO.

[CapnCannabis]

Don’t you know it brother.

[Shadey]

I stay away from it as long as possible every day, depending on my pain levels. I refuse to use it before 2pm, usually it’s around 7pm on a good day, if I have done to much then it could be a 3-4 pm start.

I use about 0.2 of a gram in my vape tbrough the evening, and have a weed browine about 9pm which is probably equivalent to 0.2 or 3 rounding it up to a total of about half a gram I guess.

I don’t tolerance break, I test how bad my pain levels get after about a week of no weed, to check if the nerve damage is getting worse.

I don’t usually get further than 4-5 days before the wife threatens to kill me if I don’t go and use some, to stop my moaning and groaning and being grumpy as fuck anytime I try and do something

Some evening’s if my pain is low I forget about having a toke altogether.

Weed reduces the production of melatonin, which is needed for proper sleep function, Rem sleep in particular. You go straight into the deeper levels of Ceta and Theta.

I occasionally remember dreams in the morning later stages of the sleep period. Possibly as the weed affect is wearing off by then I would think.

[Qtip]

Great information here, thanks for posting @GrouchyOldMan. I am a very heavy user and take infrequent tolerance breaks that usually occur while traveling. Since the pandemic hit I don’t think I’ve missed a day of dabs…probably due for a break to get the tolerance down a bit.

[LennyB]

I didn’t realize others did this and it had a name. Every now and again I just quit for a week or two. First for the tolerance reset as mentioned in this thread. Second, the head can get foggy, and it clears that out. And third, I remind myself how easy it is. It really is, i get slightly irritable but otherwise no issues.

[OGBohab]

I need a break pretty bad, but don’t think I can do it now with all the product in various forms I have right now.

I get irritated easily and snap at people, but I can work on that. For me it’s loss of appetite and hard to go to sleep. I’m naturally a night person so it’s always hard to get sleep, high or sober.

[GrouchyOldMan]

Greetings @OGBohab,

When I started this topic I was hoping a few folks who were considering the need for a tolerance reset would join in. That’s exactly where I was at. It wasn’t really a problem here, but I didn’t want it to become one.

I don’t know you enough to advise, but I will anyways so pls don’t take offense…

I’d say do a two day T-Break even if you have to grit your teeth doin it. I bet you’ll find it was worth the effort.

Read the first few pages of that T-Break Guide By Tom Fontana for some good suggestions on making a plan then just do it.

In my case at least, the payoff was immediate and rewarding. On the morning of day three I vaped a couple of hits of my favorite GG#4 and was smiling till noon. Two hits!

And that encouraged me to keep my intake lower the following days too. Biggest payoff was that I felt more in control again and I wanted to stay in that mode.

Grouchy old men like me don’t bare their souls as a rule, but that two day break delivered a lasting benefit.

-Grouchy
(now, if only I could cut back on the Cabernet Sauvignon!)

[Blu-Tri]

You mean to tell me that stopping smoking for a day or 2 is good for me. I can’t stop smoking for 2 hour…. 2 days…. Shid… not me. <<< i hear that all the time when i try to talk my friends into lowering their tolerance. They don’t want to hear it because all they want to do it smoke. People tell me all the time, they don’t care if it gets them high or not because they only want to smoke. With a dumbfounded look on my face, it hard to understand people that smoke bud as if it was cigarettes. I have heard time and time again… I have even seen it. The stuff they would be smoking wouldn’t even give me a buzz, so I’m thinking who would be smoking this junk. But I tell them that I understand why they have to smoke all day. But they tell me, they smoke all day, because they want to. They don’t want to smoke bud strong enough to cause them to stop smoking.
So brother, I agree with you hold heartedly. I keep my tolerance down so I don’t have to so smoke so often. I still like super potent bud, but I’m good and satisfied after a hit or 2. Many smoker have never had that experience so it doesn’t seem real to them. What i have found, If they want to smoke until their lungs turn black, the best thing to do is let them. Peace brother and great write up. I smoke a lesser amount less often, and stil get fux’d up.

[PilgrimProgress]

Like you I have many varieties which enables me to dance around tolerance a bit. I’m also retired but I’ve had a lot of responsibilities lately with grand children care in the morning and early afternoon which requires sober thought. I’m also working on my house afterwards. In other words, I often have to abstain until later in the afternoon. But, at the same time, I’ve found several varieties very helpful to invigorate me halfway through the day once my granddaughter leaves at 2. I used to take a week off every now and then but not lately. I suppose it’s time again to take a week off. Usually I’m more concerned about alcohol use. I was drinking often during Covid at home time. I’d had three surgeries but I felt recovered enough to put away a lot of booze. I’ve since then cut off the hard liquor like vodka, Irish whiskey, and tequila and now it’s just one or two beers several times a week and a glass of wine with dinner. I appreciate the reminder. I’m just finishing up a major home project and I credit my herb for getting me through it. I put on good music and happily work into the evening with occasional breaks for healthy foods. I’m looking forward to some free time so I can get out and about, do some walking, hiking, and some bike riding before the snow.

[Shadey]

Those are some of the reasons I also try and avoid smoking during the day. Working on the house and wanting clear thought processes so I don’t mess anything up.

I have almost cut out alcohol completely as well, I maybe have a glass a wine or a couple of beers on a Friday night but not every week, just whenever I feel a need. Same with food now as well, intermittent fasting only eat between 4pm and 7 pm and no carbs to get off the carb addiction and a 6 or 7 day fast once a month food tolerance break lol.

@Blu-Tri

People tell me all the time, they don’t care if it gets them high or not because they only want to smoke.

That’s interesting, smoking CBD would be good for those people.

[catapult]

I’m gonna jump on this train, thanx for the nudge @GrouchyOldMan! Not my first TB, won’t be my last, but I’m certainly due for one now. It’s been a couple years, since my last real break. Covid was a mindf—k in a lot of ways. Picked up some less than ideal habits. Been trying to get them back in check, if recent. Got the alcohol under control for a couple months now, to the point where I no longer crave it on the regular. Haven’t had a cig in at least 4-5months (that feels great!) Coffee and ganja are the two hardest to cut out for me. Been off of the multi-cup a joe a day routine that I had gotten to, and just having the occasional pick me up coffee, now. Been working on that for the last two-three weeks. This morning I feel up to the task of cutting out the cannabis for a little. I’m hoping to make it to Friday, give myself the work week off entirely. Sleep and appetite will be the big hurdles. I want my dreams back, which a TB does do for me, but typically it means I can hardly sleep for more than 3-4hours at a time. Anywho, thanks for this post, it’s nice to feel a sense of companionship w others facing similar hurdles.

-Cheers and stay lifted my friends, w and w/o the help of our sacred plant ally!

[CapnCannabis]

I had a habit of always smoking a cigarette with my coffee and after every joint.This year I quit smoking cigarettes and it is very hard not to want a cigarette after smoking or with a cup of coffee in the morning yet alone with nicotine’s cravings.The cravings went away over time the urge to still smoke after smoking and a cup of coffee still lingers around.

[catapult]

@CapnCannabis

The cravings went away over time the urge to still smoke after smoking and a cup of coffee still lingers around.

I feel that too. For me and cigs, it was getting out of the habit of every time that I got in my car, I wanted a smoke. It’s interesting how easily habitual associations become ingrained behaviors and how challenging it can be to break the habits. It can be done though, good on you @CapnCannabis, keep it up!

[GrouchyOldMan]

@Shadey
@catapult
@CapnCannabis

Go for it guys, welcome back the vivid dreams and feeling of being in control.