Marijuana anxiety withdrawal

I recently stopped smoking weed after many years of smoking.. i made this decsion because i wanted too.. My last hit was about 2and a half weeks ago. It was a real horrible skunk which was unpleasant to smoke. So after quittng i did get up totally soaked with sweat in the night but i thought this would have been that i have two blankets etc.. everything seemed normal until i was i couldnt sleep this particular night and went to work on 10mins sleep. while i was in work i sat down to the biggest thing that has ever hit me. Something just clicked and staright away i went anxious and my barin just couldnt focus on anything exect what had happened.. it is now sunday and i totally know it must be withdrawal from the cannabis.. i am unsure as what to do.. i am totally depressed like everyday seems like a week. my girlfired has gave me total support but i am worried that this will never pass.. or take a very long time etc.. i was never a really big smoker.. more like only 1 hit a night.. and i had already quit once before for 1 year and never had anyside effects. Is there no miracle cure for this feeling to dissapear so i can carry on with life? I am taking a total detox too now... ie herbal tea, exercise plan mediation at night. Can any1 help or let me know if they have recovered.. as i say i was only hit by this fear 2 weeks after i had already quit. i just hope this passes very quickly. If any1 would like to contact me over advice or similar problems that they have that would like to share plz reply to this post and i will send you my email address. hope this wasnt to long winded to read. many thanks

ps i never thought pot would do this me.. i never thought i would quit because i wasnt on it morning, afternoon, and evening person.. very occasionaly i would be smokingmore than 2 hit-3 hits a night etc. But the effects are real any1 thinking about starting the weed might apear to be a buzz at first.. but when you come off it your life will feel like nothing:(

First off, Congratulations Billy, for quitting. Next, you should be told that you need to flush your system of it entirely in order to get past these symptoms. I can share a few helps. First is taking Niacin & drinking lots of water. This would be what I'd do. Here is another way to detox faster, Drink two lemon & hot water's a day & drink lots of water. Third, you could drink green tea , 4-5 cups a day & take a good multi vitamin with minerals plus drink a lot of water each day. These should jump start your road to recovery faster. Eat jello also but stay away from lots of sweets during your cleanse. For your nerves, I suggest buying Lavender essential oil & dabbing it behind your neck. It works very well to stay calm.

I hope this helps you. I'm sorry you are having such a bad time. It's worth it & your decision to quit is quite a noble one. :-D

many thanks harmony hill, i am drinking lots of water and also taking a multi vitamin, i usually try and get a good intake of these anyway and i usually always go for a healthier option. I will try the green tea... what is more disturbing that if i could have even dreamt that i would have had withdrawal symtoms like this i would have never one near the stuff... as it goes i did like to smoke a joint on my own just for the 10 minute break from the world. Has any1 got an opionion on the beta blockers? would it be worth mentioning to my doctor that these would help? i usually dont take a paracetemol either only when i have cold/flu etc.... would it be best to sit this out on my own? also are my chances of reaching a normal state 100% guaranteed?

there are so many questions i would like to ask.. but any more advice / help / support would be great.. thanks harmony hill too.. i am taking the camomile tea at the minute.. ill try green tea as of tommorow.

keep posting :-D

Billy, you're welcome. Another thing, I just thought of is a Colon Cleanse. It's not as bad as it sounds. A product called "Colon Clenz" at Walmart works rather well. The green tea will release your fat stores which is where the THC hides.

I smoked some last November. It had been a year since smoking any. I didn't really like it as I used to. Of course, it was a different straind though. I had no trouble kicking it since it had put my immune system down so far & energy levels. I didn't remember that part until I smoked again. I definitely don't hate the marijuana but it does weaken your body. Marijuana users completely heal from the use of it. Rest your mind about that. Meth users don't though.:-( Most ol' hippies that appear dazed & confused, years after smoking are the ones that did a lot of LSD in their prime. If they do smoke weed later in life, then, yes, they will exhibit more "doh" characteristics due to them frying brain cells through chemical addiction.:-(

thanks for replying again harmony hill..

i will just post further about my time smoking the cannabis.... i started when i was about 17 and possibly that got quite regualar and maybe daily based quite quickly.. through possibly a couple of years of maybe heavy smoking i suddenly took a total new direction and QUIT! i can even remeber my 21st birthday was training on weights and martial arts and my commitment to exercise and well being could have not been better... infact i was so obsessed with training that it caused a injury to my back.. to which day i still cant really train to well. The martial arts had stop.. but i have always had a skinny figure but muscular .. ( a bit like bruce lee) lol .. and was able to continue weight training on my upper body and some lower leg exercises. I have mainily kept a good series of training ever since.. apart form the last six months where i have quit in order to renivate my house with my partner. My diet in the last 4 years has possibly been ideal.. in term of i always try to get some fruit down and also when binging through work i make up for these days by having a slight detox of fruit or some health gimick fruit bar etc... so overall i would say there are far worse of.. people who i also know who eat nothing but crisp and chips and macdonalds and smoke pot morning.. noon and night. I am only ever a night smoker really.. plus these friends would smoke anything they could get there hands on.. ie If i got a very poor bag of skunk that did not get my high at all i would either give it to them or sell it etc.. i was never into smoking for sake of smoking.. i usually just enjoyed a quick hit really.

so from my last hit which was a tuesday i am not sure if it was 2weeks 2 days or 3 weeks 2 days to which i suddenly snapped into this world... my days seem really long and i cant wait to see if i am better the next day.. it is now sunday too and this has only been my fourth day so far.. i maybe feel a little better i cant really be sure.. what i can be sure about now that i dont want to ever smoke cannabis again because of this after math.

I am also in a big debate weather to take beta blockers which i friend reccomened.. he said that he had a really bad time comming off and encoutered a lot of stomach problems which lasted months for him... infact he never acctually told us that it was cannabis withdrawal until he recovered etc. So what happenes if i stay like this for months.. i really think it would be too much to cope with. i can talk to friend, parents girlfirend normally but i just have a constant thought about what has happened.. feels like a dark cloud is over my head and i am not the same person i was.. weather smoking cannabis or not.

If some boday said wait two weeks and you will be better then that would be ok for me.. because i would just follow a detox program.. which i am doing now.. but it seems hard to think that there will be an end to this..

any more comments would be welcomed with open arms... also any1 else who reads this and might be esperiencing the same plz feel free join in posting. This is a great site to tell people exactly how you feel and maybe get some good tips for a recovery that is if there is one :-(

cheera again harmony hill :-D

Truthfully, I've never had the withdrawal past a month & I used to be an extremely heavy smoker that nearly cried when I would run out.LOL Since you have eaten healthy then your stomach should be ok. If your stomach goes to burning or feeling sick try raw crushed garlic. It's amazing stuff that cured my DH after years of Doctor's never finding a cure or remedy for a wrecked stomach done by drinking straight bleach when he was very young. One clove a day would suffice. Keep drinking your water though.

Gotta run. Hopefully someone will post a reply soon for you. The more info the better.:-)

many thanks again harmony.. i will possibly put a few more post over the next couple of days, hopefully other people in the same boat can also get a head start in beating the recovery process.. I will definatly go and get a few more supplements tommorrow hopefully they will also aid my recovery.

IF you have the time harmony and you feel ok to post.. maybe you could post about your experiences and how your recovery went? also what do u think about the hassle coming of it? it has kinda been a big wake up call for me.. I really enjoyed my spliff at the end of a hard day. but when you come off it makes it 10x everything seems 10x as hard.. thanks again

peace!

Hello! Just wanted to let you guys know who are going throug anxiety attacks, that it does get much better and they will leave you completly if you will not be scared of them. I've been clean for almost 4 month and want to share a little from what I learned to help others that r going throug the same thing as I did. Just to make sure and not to worrie you can get a medical exam, this will free you of the paranoia that there is something wrong with you physicly, second when you start being scared to come out of the house or feel like you need your self place and your phone with yoiu in case something happens, then it will be worst, you will live with fear and the anxiety will not leave you alone. However if you face your fears and quit living you life with fear all the anxiety will dissapear. If its been happening for to long it might become like a habbit, that you will have to get unused to by not supporting your fear! Like that theory u learned in ur psycology class about a man ringing a bell everytime he gave his dog meat and the dog would start druling, then later he would just ring the bell and the dog would drull right away. Thats how it is with panic attacks, negative thought brings out the attack and the more u r scared the more chanse that it would become a habbit. Stop being scared, no one ever died from the pannic attacks, they are just all in ur head that u start feeling on a physical form. Its not as big as it feels. Fear just has long hands. On that note I will never smoke weed again and it did scare me a lot I couldn't get off the couch for 2 month. Now I am much better, I enjoy life and try to be positive, it's all in ur head if u tell yourself ur depressed so that's how u r going to feel. Consentrait on the good things like people u love and that love u. Stop only thinking about ur self and ur situation, help others, be nice and the good things will come back to u. Good luck!

Billy, sorry I took a while to post. My pups came down with Parvo so was busy tending them 24/7.

At first I was flatlined practically. Anxiousness would come & go for three months at best. I really missed it but as a few weeks passed, I started changing my daily routine so that the time I smoked it was being taken up by something else. Something worthwhile. It helped me to sleep so I struggled with loving the increased energy I had as the weeks went on but slept terribly for around two months. Eventually I kept myself busy to the point that I was exhausted enough to sleep nine hours or more, in a row. The worst was dealing with rapid pulse rate from giving it up & the edginess I felt. Back in those days, it was two bowls or one bowl & a joint daily or else I'd spaz. I really haven't missed it after 6 months of quitting. I can't believe I tried it again to no prevail. I suppose I gave it up because around here it was only sleepyhead pot. The stuff I was used to before (for years) was one or two hit pot & that was that. I really didn't have panic attacks from it, just short fits of anxiety/edginess. Back in the day though, if none of my stuff was around, I'd literally sulk. I'd be so depressed knowing I didn't have any left & would have to wait until more came in. I was chronic. I just learned to live without it. Simple enough.

I hope this was helpful/:-)

Cheers harmony... Weird you mention your dogs.. i am getting my german shephard puppy in 2 weeks so i really looking forward that.

I went to the doctors and he gave me some anti depressants.. i dont think i am gona take them really. i know they will sort me out of possibly take away all the symptoms in a couple of week. coz you have to stay on them for montths i will be surley free then but i am thinking about the side effects they cause you becuase you always get addicted to anti depressants.. so i might flip out when i stop taking them.. i am going to try a few more natural things first.. st john wort and gona look at some more health products that will lift my depression.

My friend had the same symptoms as me really.... just checking you had the same..... i have had really wierd thoughts(maybe this is through the depression) like i cant lift the feeling in my body and terrified at what had happened IE/ panic attack and constantly anxious.. hopefully this will have gone for good.. i thought i was egtting better but then i went a bit funny again lol so that i why i went back to the doctors.

Any more good health tips? shall i carry on sweating it out in the sauna lol? i seem to be loosing wieght as it is and i am already a very slim person. i really dont wanna loose any more.

cheers

Billy, I was naturally anxiety proned before smoking weed. That's why I smoked it.LOL You're right about the feeling of panic attacks. I made a salve that really helps with this. It absorbs in to the blood stream & really helps if you can catch that feeling in time. I thought it was because I was going through some hormonal issue but if I were you I'd try Progesterone cream, all natural. Weed really messes with male & female testosterone levels & throws all hormone levels out of wack especially if you quit smoking. It relaxes me greatly. You can buy it at Walmart but don't overuse it. Just a few days a week until symptoms level out.

DH used it & it helped him. He smoked for 30 years!!!

Hey all, I'm so glad I discovered this thread because I too recently decided to quit smoking weed out of concern for my lifestyle and health. I had been smoking my own herb since October 2007 (about 5 months straight since then), at first only smoking once a night every other night or so, or only on the weekends to make sure I didn't start acting like an addict. However, my habit steadily got worse when I hung out with some pothead college buddies who encouraged me to smoke more often with them. Starting in late November/early December, I began smoking at least once or twice nearly every day, only taking one-day breaks every so often. And then finally one of my good pothead friends moved out of his parents' house in late February and needed a place to stay for 2 weeks, and the entire time he was staying with me he was always asking me to smoke weed constantly. I would only abstain if I had serious homework to do for college or had to get to class (I personally don't like doing schoolwork under the influence). Of course this entire time, I had NO IDEA that there would be any crazy withdrawal symptoms, and I saw a previous poster say that (in their opinion), quitting marijuana is harder than quitting cigs, which nearly made my jaw drop. Thank God I at least don't have a thing for cigs or any other drug.

Anyways, things got really bad for me starting four days ago on Easter Sunday. I came home from church, smoked a joint, then started feeling shitty. I took a nap, but still felt the same upon waking up. About 2 hours after waking up I decided it was finally time to eat my first meal of the day (at 6 PM no less) because I was too exhausted from getting up at 8 AM to eat lunch after church. That was when the scary sh*t happened. I had an extremely disturbing anxiety attack...intense pins-and-needles feeling, very nervous and wound-up, couldn't stop pacing back and forth, and for a few minutes felt like I was losing my mind. When it finally wore off (which felt like an eternity), I had no idea what just happened, but I already made up my mind to not smoke weed anymore and do whatever it took to make myself healthy again.

Unfortunately my same pothead friend convinced me to smoke one last time the following night, and since I was in a pretty good mood, I accepted. But now I'm pissed that I might have delayed the withdrawal symptoms one more day. So you could say it's been only 2-3 days since I officially quit, which really sucks. But I have been experiencing all of the symptoms everyone here has been describing, and personally I believe the insomnia is the worst. I stayed awake all day long yesterday in order to prepare myself for a full night's sleep, but I still woke up 2 and a half hours after falling asleep, and nearly every time I'm woken up by some screwed-up dream (always involving pot by the way) that leaves me feeling frightened and sometimes in a cold sweat when I awake. I love getting my sleep so this aspect of it really bothers me.

So now it looks like I may be in for a long haul with full recovery. The good news is that my mom and stepdad are health nuts and have been helping me eat healthy and regularly without skipping meals, even when my stomach is iffy. I went to the doctor yesterday after having another anxiety attack and got put on Xanax and Zoloft, and I plan on going for at least two walks each day and exercise a bit with weights. So far I've been somewhat successful keeping the anxious feelings gone during the day, but I'm not sure about my stomach. I will say that i AM confident that eating healthy and exercising will at least help you to some degree, because it really helped me. I can't imagine what I'd be going through if it wasn't for my family. My only possible question is if there is some correlation between how long you've smoked green and how long the withdrawal symptoms last, because I've only been smoking regularly for less than 6 months, and it sounds like the hardcore users had a long battle to go through.

Anyways, please wish me good luck as I don't handle this kind of stress very well. I'm really hoping that the insomnia will go away soon at the very least.

Edge Of Blue ~ Congratulations on quitting! :-D You do know you are only prolonging your addiction by going on Zoloft & Xanax??? Seriously. You need to clean out your system, not add to it. Zoloft is far worse than Marijuana on withdrawal symptoms. Not to mention there are many side effects to using Zoloft plus rashes that are red, burn, & itch terribly for 6 months after using it in some cases. I know I took it for migraines, years ago. I only used it for four months & it took 6 months for it to fully leave my system. The Doctor's will tell you this if they are educated in the drugs they prescribe. The chronic ear infections, swollen hands/face/limbs, extra tiredness, yeast infections, eye problems aren't worth taking the Zoloft for, IMO. The shakes stink from using it also.

Be fully aware about the drugs you use because they are far worse than herbs any day. Remember they are chemicals & there have been plenty of deaths due to these prescription meds.

My best for you! Keep going to Church & pray a bunch. God will help you through this.

Well done edge of blue! anyways i was putting a few posts through my series of attacks.. harmanoy hill was also very helpful with some advice
too..

anyways so i have been 1 month now or slighlty longer since my attack.. mine lasted a full two weeks really of all the symptoms. if you read the post i put up before there might be more info on my smoking habbit.. but a quick recap was that i was probably smoking skunk for maybe over 1 year.. i aslo had lots of breaks inbetween like days where i wouldnt smoke if i couldnt get any skunk becasue rocky(solid) wasnt getting me high enought and really i was on 1-2 joints a day no more than that. so i know alot of people who smoke alot more...( but all these people i know who need it to function basically basically try and stay high all day! they dont put much weed in there joints as what i liked.. because i usually liked to have 1 good hit so i would put plenty of weed in .. so realistically 1 joint would last me the whole night) So after 1 month i feel like i am getting normal again.. i felt like this after 2 weeks, because the anxiety had dropped but no 100%.. but although i have been moving property so i thought this might have been adding to the situation, but after the third week i suddenly dropped into depression again for anoother week.. but when i get a good nights sleep it really makes the difference!!! EDGE OF BLUE i joined the gym back up again and noow this focus is really helping me! at first i was going but still felt too bad to properly concentrate.
So where am i at now? i said before i fell back into depression( i know that i will be like this from the moment i wake up) i did also today but each day seems to get 5% easier( atleast i think) SO time is a healer really. soon you will get to your old self again! EDGE OF BLUE my advice would be to not take those anti depressants tho... AS harmony hill said doctors are to easy to prescribe them.....( i went to the doctors twice first time i told him about the anxiety attacks and told him about my smoking habbit----most doctors wont have a clue.. mine was in total denial that the cannabis did anything to me and blammed it on stress! errrr--yes i am stressed but i know it was throught my sudden erge to stop smoking it! second time i went he give me anti depressants-- ahh i forgot too i think they are called citoplam.. At this stage i wanted to take them! i would have took anything to get rid of this sh*t rut i was in...My auntie who had battled depression for a year of her life told me to try the st johns wort fisrt.. ANd this is what i did.... i belive they only take full effect too after 4-6 weeks but evidnece suggests that they are just as effective and you can come of them straight away. so mine will take full effects shiortly..

EDGE OF BLUE basically think about what you feel now... I think i know what is causing the problems too either go worse or giving me the problems full stop. Basically i felt like i was going mental at first, but i think all these syptoms--ie/ anxiety/nightmares/stress all relate DEPRESSION. What is making me worse is because my mind is over actice!!!! all i am thinking about(not as much now like) is what has happened, why has it happened and basically alot of pointless conversation that i am having in my mind that normally woulndt happen. This is where your sleep gets effected becuase while we sleep our brain is getting the mental rest we need. When depression kick in the brain is still too active and that is why when i awake at night i am wide awake after 2 hours sleep, causing more panic/stress/anxiety and fear of am i getting better etc etc etc... AGAIN on the anti-depressants i have a close friend who quit 2 years ago.. he didnt tell any1 that he was really bad through quitting and his seemed much worse than mine.. alothough in reality i smoke alot more than him. But he took the anti depressants, he said he felt that bad after 1 month still that he had no choice and his doctor understood the situation more compared to mine.. becasue when he was asked his syptoms his doctaor asked 'have you had any light drugs' which obviously seemed his doctor had delt with this more than once . HE was fine taking his anti depressants except he had a couple of side effects which said didnt bother him too much.. only side effect he said he had when he had come off them all together was that he felt dizzy and strange for a few or more days. Then he said he was totally fine( hence he has made a full recovery)

Keep posted in EDGE OF BLUE--- if you have all these negative thoughts like me basically try and stop them... i know that they count for nothing and you seem just like me want to move on and forget.. i think once this is done that i totally forget about this whole ordeal that i will be cured! I am getting some counciling which is ment to be really good for these negative thoughts so fingers crossed this time next week i will be alot better and maybe fully cured.. hopefully any more set backs this time again i will be able to deal with it better and stronger! SLEEP is a big healer!!! maybe just try some sleeping tablets.. i got a herbal one i havent started taking them as i have had 2 days of good sleep this again is making the difference. I still had a wierd dream last night... i knoow this becasue my brain was still working the minuate i got up lol, but it was at 9 so i know i had atleast 6-7 hours.. so maybe the dreams will still come.. but i know if i stay possitive this will all stop!

take care edge of blue have a really good think about those anti depressants again.... 2 weeks before they can take effect right.. you might have seen light before them like i did and relize that all the problems will pass just takes time! hopefully nothing will stop me now to full recovery!

Hi Billy! I'm glad to hear you are taking St. John's Wart. It is easy to stop using!

Something I just found out could help all of you. If you aren't allergic to fish that is. (I am) Still, I tried it.LOL

Take your Fish Oil. When the pups recovered from Parvo, they were still depressed. Especially Noah from getting it twice back to back.:-( I recently put them on Fish Oil (Omega 3's) & instantly there was such a change. They are very happy, playful dogs now. All 8 of them. I decided to try it because I can take Cod Liver oil just fine. My body does Cod easily just not other fish. It did keep me calm & happy until I turned queasy.LOL You don't have to take much like the directions say to, just one pill a day would suffice. If you have low or border line low blood pressure, don't take this as it lowers your blood pressure quite fast. I have low BP so can't keep taking it.

If you can't take your Omega 3's try Cod Liver Oil. It has added Vit D & is great for those who don't get much sun. It's called the winter Fish Oil.

You could drink loads of milk along with this. It boosts the seratonin levels in your brain quite fast. (This is what most prescribed meds chemically do but with side effects) St. John's Wart boosts your seratonin levels.:-)