How Long Does Weed Withdrawal Last? Honest Answer
Key Takeaways
- Most cannabis withdrawal symptoms resolve within two to four weeks, but sleep issues can persist up to 45 days
- There is no single moment when withdrawal "ends." It is a gradual process where symptoms fade at different rates
- Irritability and mood swings peak around days 3 to 7 and are usually gone by week 3
- Sleep disturbances are consistently the longest-lasting symptom, outlasting everything else by weeks
- Heavy, long-term users may experience post-acute withdrawal symptoms (PAWS) for several months, though these are mild compared to the acute phase
You searched this because you need a number. You need someone to tell you how many days until you feel normal again. The honest answer is that there is no single number, but there is a well-documented range, and the research is clear enough to give you a realistic picture of what to expect.
For most people, the worst of cannabis withdrawal is over within two to four weeks. Sleep problems can last up to 45 days. And for heavy, long-term users, milder symptoms like intermittent cravings or low motivation can come and go for a few months. That is the short answer. The rest of this article is the longer, more useful one.
Why There Is No Single Answer
If someone tells you withdrawal lasts exactly 14 days or exactly 30 days, they are oversimplifying. The actual duration depends on several variables that differ from person to person.
How much you used. Someone who smoked a joint every evening for six months is going to have a different experience than someone who used concentrates multiple times a day for five years. A 2004 study by Budney et al. published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that frequency and quantity of use were the strongest predictors of withdrawal severity and duration. More THC exposure means more receptor downregulation, which means more recovery time.
How long you used. Duration matters independently of quantity. Years of daily use create deeper neurological adaptation than months of the same habit. Your brain had more time to remodel itself around the presence of THC, so it takes more time to remodel back.
What you were using. Flower, concentrates, and edibles deliver different THC loads. Concentrates and high-potency edibles push cannabinoid receptor adaptation further than lower-potency flower, which generally means a longer withdrawal timeline.
Your individual biology. Genetics influence how quickly your body metabolizes THC and how your endocannabinoid system responds to disruption. Two people with identical usage patterns can have meaningfully different withdrawal experiences. A 2012 study by Allsop et al. in PLOS ONE confirmed significant individual variation in both symptom severity and duration, even among participants with similar use histories.
Your mental health baseline. If you were using cannabis to manage anxiety, depression, or insomnia, withdrawal can feel more intense because you are dealing with the original condition on top of the withdrawal itself. This does not mean you are withdrawing "worse." It means you have two things going on at once.
Symptom-by-Symptom Duration Breakdown
This is the part you probably came here for. Each symptom follows its own timeline. Understanding them individually prevents the mistake of thinking something is wrong because one symptom resolved while another has not.
Irritability and Mood Swings
Onset: Within 24 hours. Peak: Days 3 to 7. Resolution: Weeks 2 to 3.
This is the symptom most people notice first and complain about most. Your emotional thermostat was calibrated to include THC, and without it, everything runs hotter. Small annoyances feel like personal attacks. Sadness hits out of nowhere. You may snap at people and then feel terrible about it five minutes later.
Budney et al. (2004) documented irritability as the most common withdrawal symptom, reported by the majority of participants. The good news is that it also resolves relatively quickly. By week two, most people notice a significant reduction. By week three, it is usually gone or close to it.
Sleep Disturbances
Onset: Night 1 to 3. Peak: Week 1 to 2. Resolution: 30 to 45 days.
Sleep is the long game of cannabis withdrawal. It is the first symptom to appear and the last to leave. You may have trouble falling asleep, wake up multiple times per night, or sleep but wake up feeling like you did not rest at all.
The REM rebound effect is part of this. THC suppresses REM sleep, and when you quit, your brain floods your nights with vivid, emotionally intense dreams. A 2008 study published in the journal Sleep found that sleep disturbances can persist for 40 to 45 days after cessation. This is the symptom that causes the most relapses at the three-week mark, because people assume their sleep should have recovered by then. It has not. It takes longer. But it does recover.
Appetite Changes
Onset: Days 1 to 3. Peak: Week 1. Resolution: Week 2.
THC directly stimulates hunger through CB1 receptor activation. Without it, your appetite drops below baseline temporarily. Food may taste bland or unappealing. Some people lose a few pounds during the first two weeks.
This is one of the faster symptoms to resolve. Most people report appetite returning to normal by the end of week two. It may not snap back all at once. You might notice that you start getting hungry again but that the meals feel smaller or less satisfying for a few more days before fully normalizing.
Cravings
Onset: Day 1. Peak: Week 1. Resolution: Gradual over months.
Cravings peak early and then follow a slow, uneven decline. The first week is the most intense, with strong, frequent urges that can feel almost physical. By week two and three, they come less often. By month two, most people describe them as occasional thoughts rather than urgent needs.
But cravings are the one symptom that can pop up months later, triggered by situations, people, or emotions you associate with using. This does not mean you are "still in withdrawal." It means your brain formed strong associations between cannabis and certain contexts, and those associations take time to weaken. Allsop et al. (2012) found that cravings were among the most persistent symptoms, with some participants reporting occasional urges at the 90-day follow-up.
Brain Fog
Onset: Week 1. Peak: Week 1 to 2. Resolution: Week 3 to 4.
The cognitive cloudiness that makes you feel like you are thinking through cotton. Difficulty concentrating, slower processing, trouble finding words. This is your prefrontal cortex recalibrating. THC affects working memory and executive function, and it takes a few weeks for those systems to get back to full speed.
Most people describe a noticeable clearing around week three to four. A lot of people say they did not realize how foggy they had been until the fog lifted.
Vivid Dreams
Onset: Night 2 to 3. Peak: Week 1 to 3. Resolution: By day 45.
Covered in detail in the REM rebound article, vivid dreams are a subset of the sleep disruption but worth calling out separately because they are so distinctive. Dreams during withdrawal can be startlingly realistic, emotionally heavy, and sometimes disturbing. They peak in weeks one through three and taper gradually. By day 45, dream activity is typically back to normal for most people.
Dopamine and Anhedonia
Onset: Week 1. Peak: Week 2 to 4. Resolution: 4 to 12 weeks.
This is the "nothing feels good" feeling. THC artificially elevated your dopamine output, and your brain adapted by reducing its sensitivity to dopamine. When you quit, normal activities produce normal dopamine, but your desensitized receptors cannot fully register the signal. Music sounds flat. Hobbies feel pointless. Socializing feels like work.
This is the slowest symptom to resolve, because dopamine receptor upregulation takes time. PET imaging studies show that receptor density returns to normal within roughly 12 weeks for most users. The subjective experience of pleasure and motivation usually improves steadily starting around week four.
What Makes Withdrawal Longer or Shorter
Factors that tend to extend the timeline: daily use for multiple years, high-potency products (concentrates, dabs), co-occurring mental health conditions, poor sleep hygiene, and isolation during the process.
Factors that tend to shorten it: shorter duration of use, lower-potency products, regular exercise (which directly supports dopamine recovery), consistent sleep schedule, and social support. None of these are magic shortcuts. They shift the timeline by days to weeks, not months.
What "Done With Withdrawal" Actually Means
There is no finish line. There is no morning where you wake up and everything is suddenly normal. Withdrawal ends the way a bruise heals. You stop noticing it, and then one day you realize it has been gone for a while.
The symptoms do not all resolve at the same time. Appetite comes back while sleep is still disrupted. Mood stabilizes while cravings still show up. Brain fog lifts while dreams are still vivid. This staggered resolution is normal and expected. It does not mean something is wrong.
For heavy, long-term users, there is a phenomenon sometimes called post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS). This involves mild, intermittent symptoms like low motivation, occasional cravings, or brief mood dips that can surface for several months after the acute phase ends. PAWS is not well-studied specifically in cannabis (the term comes from alcohol research), but it is commonly reported in recovery communities. The symptoms are mild compared to the acute phase and decrease in both frequency and intensity over time.
When to Seek Professional Help
Most cannabis withdrawal is uncomfortable but not dangerous. However, you should talk to a healthcare provider if your symptoms include severe anxiety or panic attacks that are not improving after two weeks, depression that feels like it is getting worse rather than better, insomnia that persists beyond six weeks with no improvement, or thoughts of self-harm.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. It is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
A healthcare provider can help determine whether what you are experiencing is withdrawal, an underlying condition that cannabis was masking, or both. Getting that distinction right matters for knowing what to do next.
The Bottom Line
Two to four weeks for most symptoms. Up to 45 days for sleep. Possibly a few months of mild, intermittent aftereffects for heavy users. That is the honest timeline, based on the best available research.
You are not going to feel like this forever. The fact that you feel bad right now is evidence that your brain is actively repairing itself. Every day you are not using is a day your cannabinoid receptors are rebuilding and your neurochemistry is moving back toward baseline. You cannot feel the recovery happening while you are in it. But it is happening.