hi im 18, I have been smoking pot for years untill one day I snaped now for the past month I have been goin through some serious anxiety attacks all i keep thinkin about is will i be able to smoke again, but nobody has given me the answer im lookin for. I've don acid, extacy, coke but nothin I like to do more than smoke, nothin is makin any since to me I would love to live a happy drug free life but pot is my stress reliver and now the stress is even stronger with out it.
Honestly folks, I can relate with all of you on one level or another. I've been smoking off/on for approximately 6 years now. I've experienced anxiety symptoms like a mother. I've been through the denial. I've been through frustration from not being able to quit cold turkey. I've been scared that I would never amount to anything, and that my world of shiz would be indefinite. Its scary guys thats the truth. But I've got good news. Your growing up, and figuring this stuff out. Give yourself some time to heal. Eat right. Exercise. Be truthful with yourselves and with others, and most importantly quit the pot! Don't panic because TIME HEALS!!! And to the originator of this post, I lost my last GF who thought all the same things about me except when I was on my binges. We're now broken up. It ended terribly. Don't make him fear you to the point where he'll lie to you, but don't put up with his BS either. He's mentally sick, and needs to grow out of it or get help doing so if he can't on his own. But he's not going to quit until HE really wants to. What kind of crowd do you guys hang out with? What kind of crowd does he in particular hang out with? I've heard before, while experience has proven this true to me, that you will blend with your environment. Very rarely do you see a rose in a field of poppies. Know what I mean? At any rate, this shiz we're talking about here is life. It's a journey. Anyone who discredits someone else's cry for help has obviously not walked a mile in anyone's shoes but their own.
I've got my own anxiety I'm trying to deal with. Thank God our bodies let us know when we are doing something wrong to them.
I've got my own anxiety I'm trying to deal with. Thank God our bodies let us know when we are doing something wrong to them.
I have smoked for 25 years. I have lost most of my friends and suffer from severe depression. Pot is damaging.
I only wish I would have known 25 years ago.....
I only wish I would have known 25 years ago.....
Hey, i've now been smokin weed for 5 years now. first couple of years weren't so bad, smokin every 2/3 days. Now its every day, i want to quit but don't want to quit at the same time. I enjoy a nice smoke when i finish work to finish the day with. I never go to work stoned and probably never will but as soon as i finish, back to mine and on to the buckets. the thing is, the past year or so i've been sitting down to have a smoke and about 2/3 hours later i start to tremble in the arms and face. this happens occasionally, not all the time but i'm starting to worry. Does anyone else have this problem?? Does anyone think this could be permenant. I hope not..
I used yo smoke weed daily, i had experiences just like all of you guys. I fought a mental war for a few months, thinking i'm never going to smoke again. Today i won the battle, and the war. Keep your heads up fellow smokers who think they can't. Use your mind, you can do amazing things. Don't think about the anxiety... at all
daman wrote:
I hope one day you contract this and you will feel what its like. people like me are suffering from this horrendous temporary condition and you find it funny? this is the worst suffering i have ever experienced (not knowing if im in reality or in a coma in the hospital dreaming) it is very horrible as many sufferers might agree, it doesnt make us freaks. I prey for everyone on here to overcome this and live a normal life.
feel free to contact me at **** as i need help too but can also give you information as to whats happening. Believe me YOUR REAL and your anxiety is just your body healing itself, it might take a while but it wont ruin your life, just try your best to ignore it and it will lessen and eventually go away. I just dont know why they dont use DR or DP for commercials to cut back on drug use, other than that "girl watches friend drown" BS. I to contracted this from Marijuana and reget smoking and have completely quit the stuff, the anxiety is probally just withdraw symptoms or just your body getting rid of the THC or whatever else was in it.
God bless, Jerry
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you people are freak nits. I have panic attacks when i smoke weed or think deeply" Oh come on! Your probably having panic attacks because the weed is making you see the world for what it really is. F$#@ up!
I hope one day you contract this and you will feel what its like. people like me are suffering from this horrendous temporary condition and you find it funny? this is the worst suffering i have ever experienced (not knowing if im in reality or in a coma in the hospital dreaming) it is very horrible as many sufferers might agree, it doesnt make us freaks. I prey for everyone on here to overcome this and live a normal life.
feel free to contact me at **** as i need help too but can also give you information as to whats happening. Believe me YOUR REAL and your anxiety is just your body healing itself, it might take a while but it wont ruin your life, just try your best to ignore it and it will lessen and eventually go away. I just dont know why they dont use DR or DP for commercials to cut back on drug use, other than that "girl watches friend drown" BS. I to contracted this from Marijuana and reget smoking and have completely quit the stuff, the anxiety is probally just withdraw symptoms or just your body getting rid of the THC or whatever else was in it.
God bless, Jerry
**edited by moderator**
I have had the exact same issue, I feel so wierd and don't know what to do, it happened to me after one night of smoking and having a panic attack. I just pray that it goes away. It is hard for me to go to work and just make it through the day. Well good luck guys because I don't know how much longer I can take this. Jason
Ah, I'm glad I have found this forum as I have some words of advice. I smoked weed all day, every day (atleast 2 grams a day) for 3 years and quit 4 months ago. I was freaked out as ****when I first quit too. You will soon come to understand this. You have been medicating your body for however many months/years, giving yourself a false illusions of happiness and bliss. While I LOVED smoking every minute of those years, I have realized that it only makes you think your happy. I have suffered with and still am suffering, to a much lesser degree as I'm seeing progress, with the consequences of smoking for the time since I quit. I have been going through the dp/dr and anxiety for the past months, thinking I have "fried" my brain and that I will never return to what I was. I will tell you that things do get better. I have been noticing progress recently. It may plague you for a while, and it definetely feels like there is no way out. I will tell you, though, that you will come to a conclusion that these feelings are harmless. you need to know that thoughts and emotions are harmless, they are simply thoughts. reality has not changed. Although your perception may be screwed up for a while, it will get better, the feelings will subside, and you will carry on. Just be strong, do not be afraid of what cannot harm you and know that things will get better. I had thoughts of it being too rough and felt like giving up, but it is finally getting better. Its a tough choice to quit smoking pot, It took me countless tries of deciding I was going to quit. But I did it, cold turkey after years of smoking, with the support of my family. Even those that think smoking is the answer to life, everyone comes to a point in their life when they no longer need the weed. It becomes pointless. So don't think the only way out is to smoke. educate yourself if your feeling hopeless and feel glad. You have made a good decisions, and many more are to come. - Matt
This thread is such a relief to me because I'm going through the same thing. 4 months ago in late December, I smoked pot for the first time. I felt a small bout of what I'm going through now (DR) but thought nothing of it and for the next 2 days, I was stoned beyond all belief. As a result of my stupid actions, I have a very severe case of anxiety and DR, which is also accompanied by something known as HPPD (Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder). It makes my DR even worse and it's just terrible.
From what I understand and from the months my thoughts have been racing, I've figured out that it all depends on who you are and how your brain/body treats substances. That is why we, the ones that have DR/DP with HPPD and a few other problems go through what we do. That's also why many don't understand what we're talking about until it finally happens to them. I'm now such a deep thinker because of this whole entire issue that my own thoughts scare me. A few of these would be questioning why we exist and then reasoning how and why.
This thread inspires me and I'm going to try and ignore my symptoms. I'm sure they'll go away eventually, but this whole entire time I've been dwelling on them and "checking on my status" to the point where I'm driving myself mad. Don't feel alone guys. The world is real. We're real, we're all here reading these posts. Just know that you're not the only one. This thread is such a great thing for me to read. I wish you all good luck. I'll come back here very often to see if anyone posts. :-)
From what I understand and from the months my thoughts have been racing, I've figured out that it all depends on who you are and how your brain/body treats substances. That is why we, the ones that have DR/DP with HPPD and a few other problems go through what we do. That's also why many don't understand what we're talking about until it finally happens to them. I'm now such a deep thinker because of this whole entire issue that my own thoughts scare me. A few of these would be questioning why we exist and then reasoning how and why.
This thread inspires me and I'm going to try and ignore my symptoms. I'm sure they'll go away eventually, but this whole entire time I've been dwelling on them and "checking on my status" to the point where I'm driving myself mad. Don't feel alone guys. The world is real. We're real, we're all here reading these posts. Just know that you're not the only one. This thread is such a great thing for me to read. I wish you all good luck. I'll come back here very often to see if anyone posts. :-)
i used to be a big smoker, then one time when i smoked i got extremely paranoid. it was like i was aware of my consciousness and i could almost see how my life was gonna play out. i started thinking weird things like "i'm not really living life, i'm living a memory". like how a week from now, where i'm at right now will seem insignificant, or how you can never really be in the present because as soon as you think about the exact present moment (like this exact second), that moment has already passed and become the past. it felt hella weird. then i smoke one more time a week after and the same thing happened. then i quit for a year, smoke this recent 4/20, hoping those two times a year ago were just a phase and i'd be able to smoke weed again. but the feeling came back yet again.
the first time, the feeling and thoughts of consciousness went away after about 3 days, same was the second time. this recent 4/20 it went away after about 2 hours.
just let some time pass, if you've quit for a month and you still have them, then i feel bad for you cause i know how bad it sucks and how it's very hard to describe the feeling. just let time pass and it should go away.
the first time, the feeling and thoughts of consciousness went away after about 3 days, same was the second time. this recent 4/20 it went away after about 2 hours.
just let some time pass, if you've quit for a month and you still have them, then i feel bad for you cause i know how bad it sucks and how it's very hard to describe the feeling. just let time pass and it should go away.
Firstly I want to say I am so relieved to find other people with a similar struggle with pot. I searched google for "How to reverse permanent pot damage" and was led to this page.
I feel this is extremely helpful, sharing personal insights and struggles with marijuana, and as such, I am compelled to share my story.
so here we go...
Pot affects people differently, some can smoke their entire lives and live a healthy productive life. This, I've come to realize, is not me.
I have been smoking marijuana since I was 16 and now I am 23. I consider myself an artist and at the time I started smoking it was great, it helped me creatively, A stress reliever, made video games, music, movies more engaging... over time it grew into a much more menacing presence in my life. It encouraged self loathing, self doubt, made me feel dumber, over analyzing things, ruined promising relationships, paranoia, isolation. I became a heavy recluse, it affected my work, my education, my skills as an artist. Nowadays I don't do much, if any, artwork. And this makes me feel useless. Thats a big one in general, typically I feel like without purpose and feel severely useless. My passions in life feel like they are mere shadows of what they used to be. Confronting these feelings is nothing new. I'd say since 2004/05 I have quit and come back full circle atleast 3-4 times (memory not so good). Every time i'd stop, I'd make sure i'd exercise, practice zen spirituality, socialize more and in general make the best of my life, heck at some point I got a tattoo on my arm reading "Love your Life", and life would be GREAT (temporarily), I'd become the incredibly positive and inspired person, and then I'd crash again due to some variant of heavy stress, I'd cave in, and like an alcoholic, I'd succumb to my vice and start smoking again. And all the progress I'd make would dissolve to nothing. In the beginning it made me feel better. Relieved stress. Then it'd snowball into a full blown dependency. Adding salt on the wound of pre-existing problems that I'd keep putting off.
This pattern, makes me feel like I'm bi-polar, I'd be a depressed wreck for a few months, and then I'd be a self-help positive minded person for another few months, then repeat. Like I said, I quit 2 days ago, and this time more than ever, I don't want to repeat my errors. I already feel enough guilty for wasting years of my youth and potential. I suppose its a blessing to build yourself up again than to remain torn on the ground.
I'm taking advice from a few posts, and am going to find supporting figures to aide me, I'm even considering Narcotics Anonymous or a psychologist to talk to (generally very against psychologists, but I think having someone to talk to without feeling guilt or shame is crucial). Simply writing this post has been incredibly helpful in itself.
I heavily resonate with (most) all your thoughts expressed in this thread. They help flesh out the root of my own problems, thus aiding my personal rehabilitation. We are each others support group. Atleast thats how I felt when I read your posts... supported. Thank you, and please, keep updating your current position in your battle and add new insights in this thread.
Thank you all again.
I feel this is extremely helpful, sharing personal insights and struggles with marijuana, and as such, I am compelled to share my story.
so here we go...
Pot affects people differently, some can smoke their entire lives and live a healthy productive life. This, I've come to realize, is not me.
I have been smoking marijuana since I was 16 and now I am 23. I consider myself an artist and at the time I started smoking it was great, it helped me creatively, A stress reliever, made video games, music, movies more engaging... over time it grew into a much more menacing presence in my life. It encouraged self loathing, self doubt, made me feel dumber, over analyzing things, ruined promising relationships, paranoia, isolation. I became a heavy recluse, it affected my work, my education, my skills as an artist. Nowadays I don't do much, if any, artwork. And this makes me feel useless. Thats a big one in general, typically I feel like without purpose and feel severely useless. My passions in life feel like they are mere shadows of what they used to be. Confronting these feelings is nothing new. I'd say since 2004/05 I have quit and come back full circle atleast 3-4 times (memory not so good). Every time i'd stop, I'd make sure i'd exercise, practice zen spirituality, socialize more and in general make the best of my life, heck at some point I got a tattoo on my arm reading "Love your Life", and life would be GREAT (temporarily), I'd become the incredibly positive and inspired person, and then I'd crash again due to some variant of heavy stress, I'd cave in, and like an alcoholic, I'd succumb to my vice and start smoking again. And all the progress I'd make would dissolve to nothing. In the beginning it made me feel better. Relieved stress. Then it'd snowball into a full blown dependency. Adding salt on the wound of pre-existing problems that I'd keep putting off.
This pattern, makes me feel like I'm bi-polar, I'd be a depressed wreck for a few months, and then I'd be a self-help positive minded person for another few months, then repeat. Like I said, I quit 2 days ago, and this time more than ever, I don't want to repeat my errors. I already feel enough guilty for wasting years of my youth and potential. I suppose its a blessing to build yourself up again than to remain torn on the ground.
I'm taking advice from a few posts, and am going to find supporting figures to aide me, I'm even considering Narcotics Anonymous or a psychologist to talk to (generally very against psychologists, but I think having someone to talk to without feeling guilt or shame is crucial). Simply writing this post has been incredibly helpful in itself.
I heavily resonate with (most) all your thoughts expressed in this thread. They help flesh out the root of my own problems, thus aiding my personal rehabilitation. We are each others support group. Atleast thats how I felt when I read your posts... supported. Thank you, and please, keep updating your current position in your battle and add new insights in this thread.
Thank you all again.
..wow... first off let me say that it was the biggest relief ever to find this page... basically ive been going through the same thing that everyone in this page is going through the terrible scary nightmare of dp/dr. it sucks sh!t and i know it from personal experience. ive been smoking herb on and off since i was in 7th grade and i am now 21. however, i have only been smoking everyday 7-8 blunts a day for maybe about 2 years...and i have had depressio and anxiety but i just smoked it away.. and ive also had 2-3 panic attacks that put me in the E.R.... recently i tried extacy and had the WORST come down ever putting me into the E.R. then RIGHT after i got the stomach flu which made it even worse. so for about 7 days i quit smoking weed because i was so scared of the naseau and the feeling of being " lost " in the " dream-like " state. Then on the 8th day i was with my buddies and decided to try smoking again. i smoked a small joint for the next 2-3 days... then suddenly i felt like i was losing my sense of reality while i was on an extreme high. i felt a severe headache and when i looked at myself in the mirror i felt myself loose it, felt like it was a dream. Now, this scared the c**p outta me and the next day when i was driving i felt like i was high again but i wasnt!. i felt like i was staring out in a dream and that everything was so unreal. this really scared me and i started to have a panic attack and felt like i was " going crazy " or loosing my mind. I eventually contact a pysc. and he told me that it was because of the depression and anxiety that i was feeling what i was feeling. i am now quitting cold turkey and reading everyone's posts really gave me hope of being "normal" again and i cant wait!. i believe that its just the withdrawl symptoms and i hope that with proper medication i will not have these panic attacks and these terrible depersonalization and derealization... thanks to everyone who was bold and willing to share their experiences!
I just stumbled upon this message board. Let me tell you, i started smoking since i was 13 and never had a problem with it, i stopped for a year through ages 16-17 and i smoked it again, had a severe panic attack and bad high. After that i had strong anxiety, panic attacks, and depersonalization. My vocabulary decreased substantially. Memory was lacking. I was fighting it for a month and then i decided i was just going to change the way i live. For one, i started to exercise more often. Eat more fruits and vegetables. And Stay away from caffeine and strictly drink water. I had still had some anxiety, but it was easier to fight off. Now its totally gone. It gave me a bad number of months, but i came out becoming a healthier and happier person after that struggle.
I'm glad to have found this board but I'm sorry to hear what is happening to everyones state of mind. I am and have been in full blown anxiety/dp/dr, you name it, which started about ten years ago and has gotten really bad over the past 4 years. I started smoking in 1977 and smoked just about everyday until last year. I smoked after work on weekdays but I burned all night and all weekend. I'm also a record producer and musician and cooked up tons of bangin' tracks while stoned.
When I was coming up you just didn't hear much about people getting anxious smoking weed. If you did it was momentary and when they came down they were no longer anxious. I know lots of people who quit because it made them paranoid but the anxiety didn't last into the next day.
I think weed has gotten a lot stronger in the last 15 years and is probably being treated with some sh*t (possibly by the government, who'd love to keep us in constant fear, because you can control someone in fear). But what I believe is happening is that weed has opened our eyes to how sick our world is, how scary the future is, how corrupt things are and how part of the reason we started smoking weed was to escape from the pain and rebel against all the egotistical, financial, aggressive, political sh*t we deep down don't believe in or want to be part of OUR lives or our world! But since the day we were born we've all been domesticated by our parents, society and the media to believe what we've been programmed to believe. When we smoke weed our brain wants to reject all that programming, but the programming says "no, I'm the truth", our stoned brain then answers back "no your not", and a deep, if the not the deepest inner conflict is born. Panic sets in; and won't dissolve even once you stop smoking. Why?
Because you are in a sick, hipocritical, violent world that you know is sick and and you want peace but you can't find it anywhere, so you're in a state of panic. The weed peaced you out, you put your gaurd down and the truth hit you like a brick or a bomb. Then, you are so panicked, you think your life is over, you'll never feel like you used to, you think you ruined your own life and you get more panicked, depressed and hopeless, which further ruins your life. To be panicked in today's world is actually probably the most sane reaction you can have. I know exactly how you feel and I can't believe so many people are suffering from this as I am. Because you are sensitive you're feeling the panic first, but it's gonna hit the whole society, it's already infiltrating every mind. Some are running into all kinds of addictions and others just won't admit they're panicked yet, so they act out with greed, violence, ego, the usual. But they will realize it -when it hits like a tidal wave. When they pull the plug on the economy, when homes get repossessed, when jobs evaporate, when big brother wants more of your freedom. You and I are already used to living in anxious hell, most of the population is trying to hold back the floodgates.
I think the only way out may come from transcending this by acknowledging that we really do have a lot to be anxious about and then deciding how we are going to individually and collectively change this fearful world so that those that follow in our footsteps can't even conceive of this kind of dread anxiety whether stoned or not. Look, I wish Xanax worked, I wish paxil, prozac, klonopin, lexapro and every other corporate drug worked, but in the end they don't. Give yourself a pat on the back for being someone who is deep and truly gives a damn about love, this planet and the future. You are the new breed that will break through the illussion, not be destroyed by it as you fear. Fear is putting this sh*t right in front of your face and fear won't let you ignore it. The only way out is through. Your suffering will force you to change yourself, your perspective, your communities, your governments, your expectations that aren't even your own and everything in the entire UNIVERSE.
When I was coming up you just didn't hear much about people getting anxious smoking weed. If you did it was momentary and when they came down they were no longer anxious. I know lots of people who quit because it made them paranoid but the anxiety didn't last into the next day.
I think weed has gotten a lot stronger in the last 15 years and is probably being treated with some sh*t (possibly by the government, who'd love to keep us in constant fear, because you can control someone in fear). But what I believe is happening is that weed has opened our eyes to how sick our world is, how scary the future is, how corrupt things are and how part of the reason we started smoking weed was to escape from the pain and rebel against all the egotistical, financial, aggressive, political sh*t we deep down don't believe in or want to be part of OUR lives or our world! But since the day we were born we've all been domesticated by our parents, society and the media to believe what we've been programmed to believe. When we smoke weed our brain wants to reject all that programming, but the programming says "no, I'm the truth", our stoned brain then answers back "no your not", and a deep, if the not the deepest inner conflict is born. Panic sets in; and won't dissolve even once you stop smoking. Why?
Because you are in a sick, hipocritical, violent world that you know is sick and and you want peace but you can't find it anywhere, so you're in a state of panic. The weed peaced you out, you put your gaurd down and the truth hit you like a brick or a bomb. Then, you are so panicked, you think your life is over, you'll never feel like you used to, you think you ruined your own life and you get more panicked, depressed and hopeless, which further ruins your life. To be panicked in today's world is actually probably the most sane reaction you can have. I know exactly how you feel and I can't believe so many people are suffering from this as I am. Because you are sensitive you're feeling the panic first, but it's gonna hit the whole society, it's already infiltrating every mind. Some are running into all kinds of addictions and others just won't admit they're panicked yet, so they act out with greed, violence, ego, the usual. But they will realize it -when it hits like a tidal wave. When they pull the plug on the economy, when homes get repossessed, when jobs evaporate, when big brother wants more of your freedom. You and I are already used to living in anxious hell, most of the population is trying to hold back the floodgates.
I think the only way out may come from transcending this by acknowledging that we really do have a lot to be anxious about and then deciding how we are going to individually and collectively change this fearful world so that those that follow in our footsteps can't even conceive of this kind of dread anxiety whether stoned or not. Look, I wish Xanax worked, I wish paxil, prozac, klonopin, lexapro and every other corporate drug worked, but in the end they don't. Give yourself a pat on the back for being someone who is deep and truly gives a damn about love, this planet and the future. You are the new breed that will break through the illussion, not be destroyed by it as you fear. Fear is putting this sh*t right in front of your face and fear won't let you ignore it. The only way out is through. Your suffering will force you to change yourself, your perspective, your communities, your governments, your expectations that aren't even your own and everything in the entire UNIVERSE.
Hey I stopped smoking about 2 months ago and I've been suffering from massive depersonalization. I understand that my consequences are of my actions but has anyone been in this situation and does it eventually leave me be I don't want to feel like I'm in a movie forever.