HPPD? Marijuana withdrawal? Anxiety? PTSD? Temporary? Permanent?

[Spipdop]

Hi. I've been having some scary issues since my last drug experiences, along the lines of panic attacks and dizziness/vertigo. I've never had anything like this and I'm not sure why it's happening, but I need it to stop, and I'd love some advice.

Shortening this a little to avoid TLDR, but: heavy/daily marijuana user, occasional and experienced MDMA/LSD user. Scary LSD/weed experience on June 16th involving dizziness and feeling faint, bad enough that I briefly thought 911 should be called. Quit cold turkey, had a week of insomnia, then felt fine! Until July 4th: took MDMA, then smoked weed, then felt dizziness and vertigo. Since then, that hasn't gone away. I keep getting panic attacks. Symptoms include extreme dizziness/vertigo, ringing/buzzing in my ear, shortness of breath, tightness in my throat, sense of fear/doom, and sometimes the floor looks sort of slanty (which is usually my first visual cue when I take LSD). Thinking about it makes it worse and looking at my computer screen makes me dizzy; this post is kinda difficult to write. The one thing that's helped is klonopin, which I don't want to overdo.

I had a physical checkup on 7/7 and seem to be in good health. Since then, it's been easier for me to cope with this by reminding myself it's all in my head and nothing bad's gonna happen-- but it still hasn't stopped.

I've read that people can experience dizziness/vertigo when they quit weed, but this far into it? It's been nearly a month aside from the 4th, and I was fine UNTIL the 4th-- so the timing seems suspicious. (I HOPE it's just weed withdrawal, since that means it'll pass.) And if that's the case, how long can I expect this to last for?

Could it be HPPD? Did my June 16th experience scare me so much while I was on LSD that I did some sort of permanent damage? And if so, why was I fine for the first three weeks or so?

Or could it be PTSD? Same deal except less permanent/physical? Am I just traumatized?

Or is this an anxiety thing? I've had anxiety issues before, but never anything like anxiety attacks; it's been more like ADD symptoms. I took Klonopin as needed and hadn't touched it in a couple of years until this started. Did I maybe trigger some latent issues and saddle myself with something that was always there but always more under control?

I'm scheduled to see a psychiatrist tonight, but would still love any input from Bluelight. This shit's real bad and I need it to stop. (And just to be clear: I'm avoiding all recreational drugs right now, and even caffeine. I don't want to give my anxiety anxiety right now.)

Thanks so much for any input.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

The damage isn't permanent or physical it's mental most likely.

You need to stop obsessing over this and tell yourself you will get better.

I would give it a good period of abstinence bfrom all drugs before you start taking whatever cocktail the psychiatrist will prescribe

 

[Xorkoth]

This definitely is not permanent. Seeing a psychiatrist isn't a bad idea, but I have seen so many people report similar things in this forum. A bad psychedelic experience leading to temporary problems. I think the best thing you can do is take care of yourself and stay away from all drugs for a while. Try not to obsess over it... anxiety is a crazy thing, it can produce psychological and even physical changes in you. You can convince yourself something is wrong with you when in fact you just need a little time to regain your equilibrium.

 

[Spipdop]

Nope, no concentration problems.

Long story short: my psychiatrist put me on Klonopin, which has continued to help, although gradually less so as I've developed tolerance. He had hoped being on it steadily would help me normalize, but I tried tapering and still got panic attacks, so now I'm on Lexapro (today is day 5), along with Klonopin (which I'm now tapering but at a slower rate).

My psychiatrist seems confident that this is temporary. I may be on Lexapro for as little as a few months, just to sort myself out. I have no reason to think that after that, I'll still have issues. If I do, I guess I'll deal with that then.

 

[pupnik]

i would eat a bit of CBD not pharma

 

[Xorkoth]

Watch the klonopin, man... dependence to benzos is a long road out when you want to stop. Requires a long, slow taper and then a difficult jumping off. Consider taking them only when you're really struggling, rather than daily. That way you can avoid addiction. Or, well, I guess it sounds like it might be too late for that, but at least you can avoid getting deeper.

 

[Spipdop]

I'm well aware of the dangers of benzos, and comfortable with my current tapering plan.

The doctor initially put me on .5 mg in the morning and .5 mg later in the day, and after a little over a week, had me taper to just .5 mg in the morning. The second night of that, I got a pretty bad panic attack, and went back to the original plan for about a week or so. As of last night (day 4 of Lexapro), I've tapered to .5 mg in the morning and .25 later. The plan is that after a week, I'll taper to .25 in the morning and .25 later, and after a week of that, just .25 in the morning, and after a week of that, quit. This is all as Lexapro is gradually taking effect; I didn't want to start tapering again until I was a few days in, because I know anxiety can be a common side effect during the first few days of Lexapro.

I had also taken higher doses of Klonopin as needed for lesser anxiety-related issues in the past, probably several days in a row at times, and never had a problem quitting or felt myself developing any sort of dependence.

 

[Xorkoth]

Cool, just thought it should be said. Glad to hear you're aware and being proactive.