Marijuana - permanent anxiety?

I have the same problem. I'm 17 now, and i started smoking when i was 14. I never thought there was anything wrong with smoking weed and i still don't..
except for the past few months i feel so disconnected from reality. i get HORRIBLE panic attacks when i'm high. And it used to be that i couldn't go a day without smoking. Even when i'm not high i still feel high which makes me have these horrible panick attacks. i don't know what to do..it's such a scary helpless feeling. i smoke at least a gram a day which isn't much considering how much my boyfriend and friends smoke. i didn't used to be like this..i just don't know what's wrong. i think so deeply now, which is what triggers them. like right now looking at my laptop doesn't feel "real". my preception is so distant now from what it used to be. i can't handle this anymore. what to do.

I'm relieved to have come across this website as i've suffered similar problems to many of you for the past 8 years. I'm 28 and this is the first time I've really researched the affects of weed. One thing I am surprised and relieved by is finding out taht I'm really not alone in experiencing these negative effects, especially considering how lonely they make me feel when I suffer them.

I started smoking weed when I was 15 and continued intensively until my early twenties. Basically, my social life in high school revolved around it; where to get it, how much to spend, what kind, where can we smoke it etc. I made friends purely on the basis of we were both smokers. This isn't rare in drug circles really. It was my identity as a teen.

At first, the reason I decreased my use was that after high school most of my smoking buddies moved away. It seems that since I slowed my consumption from many times a day to perhaps once a week or so, the effects of weed really changed. I don't remember the first time I felt anxiety attacks come on when stoned, but it became more and more common, to the point where I couldn't deny that it was the weed doing it. These anxieties took the form of acute self-consciousness and inward, self-deprecatory thoughts that would emerge totally involuntarily to the point where the thoughts were more like voices in my head bullying my consciousness. Sometimes these thoughts would be followed by uncontrollable shaking, and increased heart rate.

My problem is that I still smoke from time to time and even go through patches where I'll smoke habitually every day. One thing that hasn't changed are the risks of suffering anxiety attacks though. It's almost a gamble that sometimes I have a really nice, mellow high and sometimes one frought with panic and paranoia. In fact I was over at a friends place last night and got stoned. Fortunately it was a good high though. I work in the music industry where weed is very common and know many fellow producers who use it habitually and like nothing better then to share it around. Not accepting can make you seem untrusting or square.

Part of me feels so determined to continue smoking weed and try to ignore or overcome the effects, but after reading some of the testimonials on this site I've realised I'm not alone and that the negative elements of weed are a real and genuine threat.

So I'm 20 years old, and have casually smoked probably a few times a month since I was 17, with periods of not feeling like doing it in between. I've been high probably somewhere in the ball park of only 50-60 times. Everytime I got stoned things went well and I had a great time and felt happy, with the occasional session where I took too much and felt too weird and wanted it to stop, but I was never overly scared. The last 10 or so times I have done it, however, things have been different. It started with random pains in my body when the high came on, such as feelings of stabbing wounds as if they were really happening, or very bad stomach aches to the point where I couldn't move without it killing. I shrugged these off as nothing and figured I'd give it a shot again. One night I came home really high, with the munchies of course, and grabbed a piece of chicken out of the fridge. I chewed on it, and thought I felt a small bone in it, so I continued to chew for a few minutes because I couldnt get it out. I didn't feel it anymore, so I swallowed it, and i thought I could feel the bone lodge in my throat. All of a sudden intense panic hit me, it hurt, I could hardly breathe, my throat swelled up tight, my mouth dried right out, etc. I was convinced I was choking to death for about 2 hours, and I could only try to swallow it down with juice, but I couldn't tell if this was actually happening or not; I was completely freaking out but trying to remain calm. Thoughts of rushing to the emergency were running through my head, having to explain to doctors in this state of mind, etc. My heart was pounding out of my chest; it was absolutely terrifying. The only thing I could do was shake violently in my bed and try to fall asleep because I tried to convince myself it wasn't real. I finally fell asleep after who knows how long and awoke with a perfectly normal throat feeling groggy. Turns out I never was choking at all.

I have tried to smoke again about 4 times since this incident, (with different strains of the plant), but everytime the high is miserable and frightening, and begins with a swollen throat and paranoia of not being able to breathe and extreme difficulty swallowing. The paranoia has only been hightened because I have tried it at parties and social situations where there are a lot of people around, so I get worried about embarassing myself. I haven't touched the stuff for about a month, but I would love to get that normal, laughy high again sometime.

Has anyone else been through anything similiar to this at all? Any intense pain like this? P.S. I have never had anxiety while sober.

Oh MAN! I thought I was alone on this one! I've felt the same f*****g way for like three years, and my scenario was the same as you, I'm 18. OH GOD! This is great! Hey my name's Nate and if you still come back to this forum, please reply.

you mentioned that something like the fourth time you got high you experienced a terrifying high, complete with anxiety and the whole works.

I had the same problem, except it was maybe the tenth time I smoked. It's about a week later and I still feel marginally depersonalized. I have recursive thoughts before I go to bed and I can't fall asleep. and occasionally I am hit with an anxiety that I am not functioning normally.

I have not smoked much weed in my life, and would very much like to have my life back.

any ideas?

I'm also suffering from panic attacks and found that medication such as valium supress the attack (to an extent as I still feel tense)
If you really don't want to suffer the panic attacks (after quitting) I suggest you contact a doctor or psychiatrist to prescribe some anti-panic pills or a mild sedative.
Also, I have a question someone here might be able to answer;
Is there anyone who's had these attacks from smoking hasjisch?
If not I might just switch to that instead of weed, as the reason I'm quitting is the panic/anxiety attacks.
I must say I'd rather have a week of depression or heartbreak than one panic attack... it's the most horrible thing I've ever been through.
Fear is the mindkiller eh..

regards
Harry

Yea I had a similar problem. I was smoking for some time and like you (topic Creator) It took a few times for the weed to start hitting me. When it did i wasn't that crazy about it and i had a panic attack which caused me to quit. I started up later and found that i loved weed and it was my miracle drug.

Then one night, just like any other night, i had a panic attack while smoking and after that weed was never the same. I tried smoking again but i'd always feel like i was going to have a panic attack but i never really did. Then I had a panic attack when i wasn't high and that kinda freaked me out. A week after that i couldn't get to sleep because I felt like my breaths were too shallow and i was almost crying because i felt like i couldn't breath. The feelings didn't go away and especially at night, i started getting panic attacks.

I went to the psychiatrist and they gave me remeron and since taking that I haven't had any more panic attacks and I feel like my life is back to normal. The drug itself doesn't stop the symptoms of anxiety it just helps me to not freak out about them.

I'm wondering though if I can smoke more weed cause I really miss it but I don't know if it'll mix badly with remeron or not. Any help there?

i know exactly what your talking about...i started smoking weed and had the worst trip of my life..i felt like i was in hell...all throughout my life i never believed there was a place worse than were we live..i was wrong...weird enough a bunch of people the night before prayed that god will show me that these things r bad...after that i decided to quit but i felt like the addiction would b there and i wud start back up again...so i prayed that God take away this addiction and i cud b free of it...well i started getting flashbacks of the incident and that took away all desire to do it again..thanks the lord but i honestly think that the only way to save your sanity is to stop.

hi i am 17 years old and when i was about fifteen the same thing happened to me as did to Exodus. i smoked what had felt like way too much weed in my buds backyard and then we went inside. a couple minutes later i almost felt that my brain was being attacked by a needle on the top, right, back corner of my head. it felt so painful and i couldnt even move. i decided to try and sleep but i couldnt and didnt fall asleep until a long time after, i got up the next morning hoping it was gone but it wasnt. i have smoked only a couple of times in the 2 years and every time the needle sensation happens every time. i really want to see a doctor about it but im not sure if thats the right thing. even on a regular basis i can feel a slight sensation of the needle, and i can really feel it even if i just sit here and think about it as i tell you my story. can anyone provide any suggestions on what it could be or what i can do. to this day i can feel it allllll the time.

im 17 and smoked to much weed one time in a friends backyard. we went back inside and a few minutes later my head started feeling really weird. then like that it felt like there was a needle going into the top, back, right corner of my head. the pain was unbearable and almost called an ambulance for myself. this was 2 years ago and still today i can feel this pain in my head all the time, even if im not smoking. i havent smoked in a really long time and i cant figure out what it is or why it has happened but this is enough, i cant get rid of the sensation and need some help

I have read through this post and i can sympathize with all of you. I too had the same problem you all did.

After about 2 years of smoking, i got really high, and had a panic attack. then a month later, another. At the time, i didn't know what they were. it got to the point where if i even took one puff i would instantly have a panic attack. I stoped smoking when i was 16 and i am now 24. A lingering anxiety has persisted ever since.

Now some insight. I have seen countless doctors and done hundreds of hours of research on what the hell happened to me and why i feel like this. Most of them i could tell were full of sh*t. Some wanted to put me on meds, some said i was fine. Then i found a brilliant therapist who really understood the condition.

Let me sum some things up for all of you. The central reason, I, like all of you, had a panic attack while high was because we all had a predisposition for it. Meaning to say, regardless, weed or not, it may have surfaced at another point in your life.

There can be alot of things that can surface your first panic attack. In our case, it was the weed. For others its too much caffine or a tramatic event. In any case, the panic/anxiety is an underlieing condition, brought to the surface by a stimulus.

Some of you may have just one isolated incident. Others may let your condition turn into GAD. Either way, you need to take care of your body. Eat right, exercise, no caffeine, no weed.

If you do decide to smoke, do so in moderation. Dont DONT DONT smoke racey sativas, stick to couch lock indicas. You want to find a strain with a high CBD content, it will raise the anxiety threshold.

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Would marijuana cause permanent anxiety?

I completely understand. Let me be perfectly clear. I do not hate weed. I am not against the legalization, sale or advocacy of the plant. In fact quiet the opposite. I still, as of last nite, smoke weed. Blunts in fact. I have always been a fearful neurotic kinda guy but also very emotional. Never really feeling in control of anything in my life. About 3 years ago, I got a great job working for support at a corporation. I took this as a chance to celebrate. Me, my bro and a few friends started drinking and smoking weed. Now, at this point I hadn't smoked in quiet awhile. It hit me hard but I was having a good time. At first, it was only a casual thing. I smoked only on Fridays and Saturdays. I felt no need to do any more. Now, I was a fairly lonely guy and didn't go out much to begin with. I would stay home and watch movies. After awhile, from sitting around and chilling, I started smoking on weekdays. So what was once casual was now becoming an everyday thing. My life wasn't going anywhere but I didn't care. Around the middle of 2008, I developed a severe depression. I was crying everyday, so down that you could read it on my face. My only solace would be going home, chilling, smoking with my peeps, watching movies and sleep. It continued like this for a while until half way through 2009. However, by this point, I was still getting a full nights sleep and getting up and handling my morning routine. It wasn't until, I would go on my way to work, that suddenly I was hit with fear, anxiety and depression. But I was able to pick myself up and get through the rest of the year rather easy. Suddenly, this year, I started being overcome with an intense fear. Fear of love, which ruined a great relationship for me that I am only now trying to get back on track. Fear of social events and even withdrawl from events in which I do not know too many people. Even fear that I might be turning gay. I feel like I'm losing my mind. Now, if I get bored, I need a blunt. It got to a point where I would be anxious at work and feeling like c**p and the only thing that helps me through the day is knowing that later, I will be smoking and forgeting about it all. It got way too out of control. I have been smoking weed at 12am at night when I had to work the next day. My anxiety has spiked again and now all I do is smoke at night and pay for it in the morning. I regularly sleep only 2 to 3 hours at night and would become so fatigued in the morning that my work has began to suffer. I must admit though, that my weed consumption has gotten out of hand. I smoke it way too much and I think it may be atleast part of the problem. My dilema now is, I cannot imagine NOT smoking weed....

yes its the pot, that made u feel like this, ive smoked it for 11 years, it has made me have panic attacks, they suck, but just remember. they cant kill you just scare you. i no longer smoke the junk. it has been 2 years. i know what you are feeling, but i promise. it gets better. some time worse. but just remember its ok. if you really want to know what helped me it was when i gave my life to god. maybe you should try it just saying he his always there.