Derealization and Depersonalization from Cannabis *Please Read*

Colby5566

Greenlighter
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
7
Hi this is my first post any comments are appreciated, I will try to be straight to the point as best i can. I dont know if it matters but im a young adult male. Leading up to this event my use of weed and alcohol slightly rose over time but still i fall into the light user category at the most low end moderate user of weed and alcohol.

I started smoking weed back in August 2017 and i only do it a couple times a month with friends for the vast majority. I have had no probelms with smoking until now. Around 4 days before this happened I shared 6 joints with a group of friends and i took my fair share of hits. Along with that i drank a beer and had a sip or two of gin. I had a buzz going form the alc but nothing much. I ate an edible which was about 55mg and we all fell asleep. As i was waiting to fall asleep i was having mild weed induced hallucinations and some anxiety which was a first so i just figured i was too high and fell asleep. I felt fine in the morning and didnt think much of it.

So this is where things go wrong. About 4 days after this i come home from work and decide to smoke a bowl or two, i wont even get that high i thought. So im smoking by myself in my backyard. I take a couple hits till the bowl is done and i go inside. I start feeling like somethings off. Im not even that high either but the weed was pretty good. I have vicid thoughts about what if my family member finds out i smoke. Ive thought this before while sober and doesnt really bother me and i dont dwell on it. They wouldnt be that mad. I take a warm bath and as im in the bath my heart rate goes up. I still feel like somethings off its a very vauge feeling that i couldnt describe. I go to my bed and lay down. I am hit withh intense depersonalization and derealization which is a first for me. The world feels lacking in signifgance and importance. Im having deep thoughts and i feel very depressed along with the dr and dp. I take deep breaths and ii feel as though my breaths are out of sync with my heart rate. I notice my heart physically feels its beating irregularly and i start to feel dizzy a little off balance and light headed. My muscles ache but ive never felt an ache like this before. I stand up and go for a walk i comeback because of my heart. I lie down again. Im lying in my bed and my muscles feel really achy and kind of stiff. My heart rate feels off beat. All of a sudden i have a heart palpitation. I just lay in bed trying to fall asleep eventually i do and wake up the next morning feeling a little depressed and derealized. This goes away later in the day and i feel how i normally would. I tell my friend what happened as i describe what happened i kind of feel the symptoms come back again but far less intense and they subside. I also forgot to mention days after the experience i had random loud ear ringing out of nowhere which was odd but is gone now.

I have tried smoking weed after this and i just feel derealized and depressed along with mild anxiety. I still feel high but the high is completely ruinef by the new negative side effects which kick in soon after i spark up. It happens after just two hits of a dab pen or one bowl. I feel like smoking will never be the same and its not really worth it anymore. Its been a week since the experience.

Im wondering what was it that caused the symptoms and why. Ive done shrooms twice and both times have had a good experience. The derealization felt like a terrible form of ego death but ive never felt full on ego death from shrooms. I plan on not doing shrooms until i figure out what happened. My thoughts have been really deep lately and i feel like the experience was mildly traumatic. * I wonder if something happened to my seratonin in my brain or something like that. Im hoping for some input and thoughts on this. Thanks for reading.

I will delete this thread in a couple days thanks for all the replys I now have a good idea of why this happened going to take break for a while, goodluck with everything everybody.
 
Last edited:
Nobody likes it when I say this but here we go lol - dont do any drugs AT ALL (no booze either) for eeehhh lets say a month. Dry out, when you try weed again, take extremely small doses, pay attention to your set and setting, if its still the same misery, your just gonna have to stop smoking weed bro. Opinions are like asshole though
 
I agree completely but alcohol i dont have any issues with and again i dont do it frequently so i may still do that but i cant see myself smoking weed for a while it was nearly traumatic
 
I have had similar experiences. Cannabis can be a very powerful experience. I have found that taking a break is good, a lot of times the anxiety has to do with what is going on in my life. It seems like the root of this is that your family might find out / doesn't approve of cannabis. You might try discussing with them about your use, or just stopping until you are in a place in life where it won't matter. I take it you live at home with parents?

When you did mushrooms did you smoke at all on it? I have found that psychedelics sometimes will have an effect on future cannabis use.

The above advice of no drugs, no alcohol for at least a month. Try getting into some health eating and exercise habits. Then if you want to continue smoking, make SURE that is a small dose and gradually increase as needed.

I have made the mistake of breaking tolerance only to smoke the amount I had been smoking and it hit me like a ton of bricks only increasing the anxiety.

Set and setting are extremely important. You want to feel comfortable and in good head space.

Good luck.
 
That's an intense reaction but it also does not seem that uncommon for people to experience some version of that. I concur that the best thing for now is to stop smoking/ingesting weed and any other consciousness altering substances. And be sure to keep the alcohol to a reasonable level. I say this to every young person but I stand behind it: alcohol is a sneaky addiction. Check into your family history as well as paying attention to both quantity and frequency.

One thing that I would point out that while your experience was unsettling, it did spark those deep thoughts you are having now. Continue to explore your mind and your emotions without judgment or worry about long-term effects. Nothing you did caused anything permanent (except maybe some new wisdom;)) but it did give you the opportunity to think about ego at a time of life when ego is really under assault as it tries to be in charge of your thoughts. It can be very life changing to question your own thoughts around your feelings.

P.S. Welcome to Bluelight!<3
 
I agree completely but alcohol i dont have any issues with and again i dont do it frequently so i may still do that but i cant see myself smoking weed for a while it was nearly traumatic

I didn't mean to sound like a conservative prick, but I do want you to know that I have experienced the same things from Cannabis and that is what helped me. I hope things get better for you bud I really do
 
Also agree with taking a break. For me it never got better, I tried smoking again a few years later and got a panic attack, so I'm clean from cannabis since 8 years. These feelings will pass but you will most likely remember the feeling and have it remind you to take it easy.
 
What you're describing, OP, sounds like an intense instance of a fairly common experience with cannabis. People often talk about getting 'paranoid' from weed, and this can certainly be part of it (e.g. what if my family finds out I'm smoking?). But that sensation can become more profound, and more profoundly upsetting than 'just' paranoia. I have definitely experienced intensely unpleasant depersonalization/derealization from weed, and it's terrifying.

It's definitely not a bad idea to take a break.

But it might also repay thinking back a bit on your headspace leading up the the negative experience. Personally, I've found that when I go back and think about how I was feeling before a bad marijuana experience, there was almost always some germ of insecurity, worry, or fear in the back of my mind. Over the years, I've tried to learn to recognize these red flags and not smoke when they are present.

There's also the matter of which strain(s) you're using. A big bong rip of a seriously heady sativa can have me weeping in the corner pretty easily, while a stoney indica might relax me under the same circumstance.

All in all, this is a good time to listen to your body and your mind and figure out how to guard yourself...something that's important whenever drugs enter the picture.
 
Thanks, I have been thinking extremley deep latley probably from my recent experiances with weed ever since I did mushrooms. I have only tripped twice but hope to do it more to learn from it.
 
Yeah I am not even concerned about my family finding out they do not really care but I would rather them not for now. At the time I was not in the best headspace going into it for different reasons so that is probably why thanks for the post.
 
I was not in the best headspace going into it and I am not even really worried about my family finding out I smoke weed every now and then. I was thinking of other stuff at the time that probably contributed to what happened. Now I just think deeper about life, everything works out eventually. Thanks for posting you did not sound like a conservative prick :)
 
well good, I have a lot of friends that look at my like I am SATAN when I suggest that we all need a break, so I got a bit too defensive lol!
 
I dunno, derealisation is one really typical effect of weed for me. In that context, it is welcome- I think its kinda weird and funny to experience- but it gets bad when it happens without cannabis. I'd actually say you were way more stoned than you thought and were really strongly feeling and focusing on one particular rather typical or expected effect of pot. It is a much more powerful drug than its often credited as.

I have certainlyfound that it both amplifies and introduces fears into me. Things that do not bother me when straight have totally tripped me out when stoned; for example, I enjoy dancing but if I smoke I basically feel too shy to do it. :\ It really amplifies sensation, and this can of course be negative sensation. I would suggest you take any of your stoned experences with a grain of salt.
 
Top