Would marijuana cause permanent anxiety?

I feel concerned. I had anxiety for no reason all day long, so, it can go away like a waking out of a nightmare and your fun life can kickstart back again even if it's been along as decades dude. I went through the same sh*t, I swear. If you can find a way to regain emotions that feel good, you'll win this. It's the emotions that make your well being feeling which in turn will help you to identify chaos from normal. I'll be in touch.

Hey, so I went through something similar. I started smoking weed at about 15 years old, this went on till I was 20. I got to the point where I couldn't wake up/ sleep/ eat with out smoking, then the summer of my 19th birthday i began smoking mass amounts of weed for 2 months straight and forgot about everything. I 'woke up' so to say out of that haze in September, and i had lost 40 lbs (because i forgot a lot), then my anxiety began. When I smoked I became extremely paranoid (and this had never happened to me before), and the paranoia was about people and also about choking on food/saliva/etc. So I stopped smoking, cigarettes and weed cold turkey. From September - March I had extreme anxiety to the point where i vaguely remember that period of my life, I stayed pretty thin, the anxiety attacks never left - so through out the day they would get really bad and then I'd bring my self down and out of it but it would be there, it never fully left. Every night was the worst I went to bed thinking I'd choke on my tongue or saliva and die - he only way I went to bed was to keep my door open a crack and ell my self that if I stopped breathing someone would notice while walking by.
Another symptom was I would feel like my bones were shifting, because you could feel them prominently. So I went to the doctor and asked if I was fine, I got them to take an ex-ray, but it was clear of course. She said it was anxiety. But being the person I am I knew I wouldn't be able to take medication - because I don't don't like the thought of how they work, etc. So I left the doctor before she could go any further with that discussion.
So while I was going through all this I didn't tell anyone and know knew what was going on until March when a friend of mine told his mother that he thought I was going through severe anxiety and I needed help. She came to me and said she would like to start exercising and would I like to join her. I thought i'd give it a try maybe if anything it would keep my mind busy for a few hours. But after a month of exercise 3 times a week and eating healthily - which she helped me with, first she said to begin drinking protein powder shakes, because my body was so unhealthy I couldn't eat much, o the protein powder made it possible for me to get what I needed in an easily consumed way. I was getting better, my anxiety began to lesson and it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. I kept it up and 4 months later I was fit and clear minded, I've never felt so good in my life.
But anxiety is a strange thing, and habits had grown because I had it for so long and so intensely. So it took about 2 years after for all my anxiety quirks to leave, but they only dissipated because I had to tell my self over and over that it was ok that i didn't have to do certain things.
For example:
-> When i was going through my anxiety period I had to have a pillow between my knees/one at my back/and only a sweater or something for my head. To get out of this habit i took the pillow away from my knees for a week, then went onto the one at my back, etc...
-> My most sever one was breathing, I would get anxious say at night, and it would feel as if I couldn't take a full breath, then i would begin to spiral and believe I wasn't getting enough air and this would make my breathing come fast and shallow. So when this happened I would stop moving and tell my self it's ok, my body has enough air. Stop. And Breath. I would lay or sit and do nothing only tell my self it was ok, to stop and breath. And this would work because I was healthier and I wanted to change and not be supported by anxiety drugs.
So I hope that helps.
I do believe that we can do anything we set our minds to!

Hi,

I went through all the posts on here and felt like I should share my story as well. All the posts I read had a bit of a "no hope" ending to them. Hopefuly my story will give people some people a bit of hope.

The first time I tried mj was when I was 17 and I loved it. Before mj I used to drink alcohol with friends. One day one of my friend at the time introduced me to mj and I felt that I could replace alcohol with mj since it would be better for me. I loved smoking and would smoke about 3 times a day. At first I would get high and feel good but after a while I started to get a little parinoid. I was afraid that I would get caught by either my folks or the cops which I didnt want to happen. That paranoia grew and after a while I would get anxiety attacks but the attacks were manageable. I knew why I was getting the attacks and as long as I was in a safe place with people I trusted I was good. A couple of time I got a bit too high and my anxiety because uncontrollable. After a while everytime I smoked I would get an anxiety attacks which I would pass after about an hour and than I would enjoy the rest of my high.

At around 20 years old I was dating this girl and we decided we would try some other drug. Our choice was ecstasy we were going to get high on x smoke some weed and have a good time. The 1st time I tried x it was great! The 2nd time was not soo good. The 3rd and 4th were hell! Each time I did ecstasy I smoked mj and the anxiety was tourture. After my 4th experiance with ecstasy I decided that it was not for me so I gave it up. Two weeks from the 1st pill to the 4th and I was done with x forever. Weed however I would continue anxiety and all. Everytime I smoked I would get anxiety that would last the whole time I was high. A couple of weeks after I quit ecstasy while I was high my biggest fear came true which was that after my high subsides the anxiety would remain. It was Oct 3 a few months before my 21st birthday I had not smoked all day yet my anxiety was so bad I was throwing up. The anxiety started first thing in the morning and that night I ended up in emergency room with chest pains. I knew it was just a panic attack but it did not seem to want to end.

The doctors told me I needed to quit drugs if I ever wanted to live a normal life again so I took their advice and quit doing drugs. For the next couple of months I could not get out of bed. Everyting I did would trigger an attack. For about a year I fought this on my own with no meds and I made alot of progress. However I wanted more! I wanted my old life back. So I went to the doc expained my situation told him how I got where I was and he prescribed me some meds. We tried a whole bunch of different meds but non seem to work. I did not want a pill that would fix my attack when i had one I wanted some that would bring back the chemical balance in my brian that I had f'd up with drugs. After about a year of going on different drugs I stopped going to the doctors. I did not think there was a drug that could fix me. However after sometime I went to a new doctor to give it another shot. This new doctor was a prick but I told him my story and he gave me Venlafaxine and Propranolol. The Propranolol would control my blood pressure and heart while Venlafaxine would fix the chemical inbalance in my head. The two worked like a charm. I would still get panic attacks but only when I had to do things that were worthy of an attack. For example if I had a meeting and I had to present or if I had to go get blood work done, things like that.

After about 4 years of being on Venlafaxine and Propranolol I was able to get off them and live a normal life. I am 30 years old now. It took me about 10 years get my lift back which I know my seem like a long time but it was well worth it. Sooo why am I here? Well I always blamed esctasy for my anxiety and felt that weed was just the fuel on the fire that esctasy started. I wanted to take a trip to Colorado and smoke some mj like I did when I was in my teens. Now before I spend money on a plane ticket and get a cabin I wanted to try weed here at home..... Big mistake!! I got some from a guy at work and only took two hits. The 1st hit was small but the 2nd made me caugh and I knew I was going to feel it. Not a second after the anxiety hit as if it had never left. I knew right away the mistake I had just made. This was 4 weeks ago and Im getting better but I feel like it set me back alot. I had to go back on the meds which I hate my self for. But I hope that my mistake is your lesson. 

My advice is this. If you get anxiety while smoking weed than weed is not for you. Give it up its not the drug for you.

 

 

I, too, went through the exact same experience as you. Although I hadnt smoked weed but for 6 months prior to my first panic attack, it completed messed my head up for months. For example, the first panic attack occurred late at night. I was smoking as usual, and then all o a sudden I began to tremble and shake all over. I couldnt control it. Twitching and etc... Then, my heart began to race like crazy... And then the panic began to set in. IT took all of two hours for me to calm down, and even then, I wasnt fully back to normal. My cousin was on the phone with me the entire time trying to get me ot calm down. I didnt know if I was crazy or if I was having a heart attack... Two days later, I shook it off to just some bad panic experience, and decided to smock one more puff. That puff shot me back into panic attacks again, and I continued to have them every day for the next two weeks. Then, I went to a psych hospital to see what was wrong with me. They diagnosed me with anxiety and prescribed anti-anxiety medicine called lexapro and klonopin for immediate panic relief.

I took only the Lexapro, and three months after my first panic attack I began to feel a version of normal again. Every now and then I have a very short and mild episode of anxiety, but never the attacks again. I believe the medicine and therapy helped. MY understanding is that I was under too much stress and was actually depressed (which was why I was smoking in the first place) and my mind couldnt handle all the pressure and the weed together. I just broke. My anxiety symptoms were stomach knots (that lasted two straight weeks without relief) head tension, legs and shoulder tension and aching, light headedness, shortness of breath, and an overall feeling that I simply was losing my mind. I began to worry about things like death, who loves me and who doesnt, if I died would anyone actually care, would I ever be truly and effortlessly happy again...all sorts of stuff.

I will say that the entire series of panic and anxiety lasted from November 16 - end of February. By the 5th week or so, I could tell that the meds were working because i was able to go throughout my day without feeling anxious. I would still have episode of saddness, and they were unpredictable and occurred without any real stimulus (ex: I was in a clothing store, and all of a sudden I felt incredibly sad and alone, and had to leave). But those episode are occurred less and less as time went by. It is not July 7, 2015, and I havent had a sadness or anxiety episode since around May... and even then, it lasted for about 45 minutes. I mst also note, that I quit taking the lexapro cold turkey (which doctors warn you not to do) in February, and havent taken any since then. I probably should have stayed on them longer, but I didnt like the idea of being on drugs anyway...Ironically, because this all started with marijuana :)

yo the same exact thing where the heart starts pounding is happening to me now with this soar throat so if anyone else is reading these and is scared its not just you

Same with me. I tried weed twice and had a terrible panic attack. A few months later I started having anxiety. Real bad anxiety. I was scared to leave my house, scared to go places, etc. I started feeling dettached. Went on celexa. Felt dead. Got off. Year later my anxiety is getting better. I still have Panic attacks here and there, but not so intense. Some tips: don't think about it. Don't dwell on when you're going to have your next attack. Excerise. Eat healthy. When you're having a panic attack acknowledge that it's a panic attack. You're not going to die... You're not going blind... Nothing bad is going to happen. Close your eyes and breathe. It will get better! Trust me...

The same thing happened to me and I'm always depressed now and I can't do anything without thinking bad

Sounds exactly like what I had. Give in a month or two and you will be back to normal. I had to train myself to forget what happened. I started mountain biking and now I am completly back to normal no more anxiety at all. Don't take drugs and stay sober and you should be fine. I haven't smoked since just cause I don't want to go through it again

This sounds exactly what I went through however I didn't think of weed at the time. I am still anxious and dissociative to this day, and only now amm I quitting weed. I hope it helps as my anxiety has been through the roof since I gave up drinking over a month ago

I had a very similar problem as you and feel the exact same. Did the Lexapro make the weird "dis-attacted" feeling go away ? I was going to start taking it

2years ago I started smoking weed that was when I was 20 years old and stopped after a year, as soon as I stopped I started getting what we call marijuna withdrawls and which is what caused my chronic anxiety, I'd start worrying about basically everything about me and my body, health and mind I literally thought I was going to die, fast forward a year and I'm still getting them on and off it seems perminent for me, is it the same for you?

Somehow I stumbled along this thread while having a mini episode and let me tell you, I feel your pain. Anxiety and panic attacks can be absolutely crippling and most people having trouble empathizing with you on this sort of problem. Theyll ask if you are stressed about something specifically or act like you can control it by reasoning it out. If only it were so simple.

I've been a daily smoker for about 10 years. For years I had little panic attacks, but the positive aspects of smoking outweighed the bad. Euphoria, sense of humor, creative aspects of it. The way it made me think a little differently about a situation. Music sounded better, food tasted better, etc.

About a month ago I had a severe panic attack after smoking just a little hit. I couldn't control my anxiety, it was out of control. I didn't smoke for a few days after that but the anxiety persisted. Had trouble sleeping. Heavy eyes, cold clammy hands and feet, irritability and weakness in my legs. This went on for a few weeks so I broke down and saw my doctor.

A blood test determined that I had a severe vitamin D deficiency and was low on vitamin B. Further research on my end and learned that vitamin deficiency is highly prevalent in this country and often leads to misdiagnosis. Due to the sh*t food most Americans eat, our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and lack of sunlight, MOST people are deficient of vitamin D which is an incredibly important thing to have for your general health. There is also a direct connection between Vitamin B deficiency and a host of problems including anxiety disorder. My doc prescribed me supplements and I am hoping they will help me feel like my old self again.

If anxiety has you in its grips and won't let go, please see a doctor and have them rule out any underlying problems first. It might not be the weed, it could be something else.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It shows a tremendous amount of reflection and commitment you have to taking the best care of yourself that you can. It also brings me hope that one day my son will examine what smoking weed can have to one's quality of life. I do know smoking affects different people differently. Yet you sharing you had lots of emotional turmoil going on at the time you were smoking can often be a significant factor to your experience. Welcome back to living your life on your terms and connecting with those who undoubtedly love you.

all the same things with me

His same thing has happened to me, it was the first time I ever experienced it and now 3 months later it's getting gradually better. You can not do anything about it except for wait. It's going to be hard but that's the anwser. Everyday for 2 months I wasn't able to atend school because I thought I was going to die. Stay safe and watch what you do. From John