Mental Health Cannabis fucked me up. Help me. Please.

[Lemon420]

I decided to blaze with 2 of my friends about a month ago at school. I ended up having a panic attack and crazy anxiety which I have never had in my life. This ended up I think giving me anxiety and for sure giving me depersonalization disorder. I haven;t seen a doctor yet but I am probably going too soon. Almost every day of my life constantly feels like a dream even if its just slightly. Some days I think I feel like I am fine all day and then randomly I get a HUGE hit of the dream like state and I feel like I am blind even though I can see and I feel like everything is completely fake and I am about to wake up but normally this feeling fades within 30 minutes. There are some moments where for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes I feel ok but then I snap back into the feeling of dreaming. I need help. Please.

 

[Hilary]

Seriously, try Cannabidiol (CBD oil). It's one of the complex compounds in cannabis that protects your nervous system from the psychotic effects of THC. Google it. Lot's of companies sell it on line. Look at a few different suppliers until you're fairly sure that you have a reputable dealer. Cannabidiol has even been used in scientific studies to treat Schizophrenia and anxiety. There are no side effects from it - it just works.

 

[Big Bird Gemini]

^^Damn, I didnt know about CBD oil, have you used it often?

BB

 

[TheSacredTree]

Not trying to bring on another problem for you but maybe try a benzo once and see if it works to get rid of it. They're pretty addicting so don't try it if you have addiction problems but i also get cannabis induced anxiety and they've helped me quite a bit. My first panic attack was during my first time smoking weed.

 

[Hilary]

^^Damn, I didnt know about CBD oil, have you used it often?

BB

I use it, and my son does also. 25mg a day. The Mayo Clinic has even published a dosing guide for treating schizophrenia with cannabidiol. It's in one of my other posts somewhere.

 

[Mel22]

I don't think a school aged kid attempting to medicate himself with benzos or CBD oil purchased online is the best way to go here.

Eat healthy, get your sleep routine right, get plenty of exercise and sunlight, and try not to stress to much. Some simple breathing exercises may help a lot as well.

See a doctor if you don't start feeling better soon - there are plenty of ways to sort out your anxiety. CBT and/or meditation would be a good starting point.

This will pass.

 

[Chatative]

Lemon,

I'm sorry to hear that you have had a bad reaction to cannabis. Unfortunately it's all too common. I'm sure everyone whose social circle involves pot smoking will know of people who have stopped smoking because of anxiety and/or paranoia etc.

Everything Mel said is spot on. It's certainly the case that many of these sorts of episodes can pass, but if it has already been a month... I think seeing a doctor is probably sensible.

A couple of things that might help meantime:

First, understanding "cognitive distortions" can often help highlight where your thoughts are getting the better of you. I found this one from a worksheet I was given to be useful with regards to my anxiety:

I feel bad so it must be bad! I feel anxious, so I must be in danger. Just because it feels bad doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. My feelings are just a reaction to my thoughts - and thoughts are just automatic brain reflexes

And a quote that can often put things in perspective:

My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened

One of the worst things about anxiety, is the vicious cycle of worrying. If you can learn to break that, then you'll be able to get through any flare ups much easier.

Hang in there, one way or another things will get better soon but don't feel bad about getting help. There is no shame in it & these problems are much more common than you might realise.

PS - It may well be the case that helping to control your anxiety may well help with the depersonalization-type episodes too.

 

[Chatative]

I don't think a school aged kid attempting to medicate himself with benzos or CBD oil purchased online is the best way to go here.

Agreed.

I would just like to remind everyone that we do not advocate self-medication here, whether with illegal, or legal drugs:

Never advise the use of legal or illegal drugs to self-medicate. Self-medication can lead to larger problems when not regulated by a knowledgeable practitioner.

I appreciate there may a fine line between using supplements & self-medicating in certain instances but certainly no-one should be advising someone to use supplements in place of seeking professional help where it is needed.

 

[Hilary]

...when I would quit the cigarettes the dp would go away and when I would smoke weed I would feel great I think the root cause for depersonalixation is emotional stress/trauma ...

That is very interesting that you would notice that. It has long been known that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia are much more likely to be cigarette smokers. There is now new research implicating cigarette smoking in causing mental illness. Stress is also strongly linked to mental illness. My son is convinced that his last psychotic episode was due to stress dealing with school and with his new roommates.

I started looking for scientific evidence of that, and was able to locate studies involving brain scans that showed how chronic stress caused physical changes to the structure of the brain, and to the way it functions.

So I think you're on to something.

 

[paranoid android]

It sounds like your suffering from Depersonalization and possibly derealization both of which are 9 times out of 10 caused by anxiety. I had really awful Depersonalization and worse by miles Derealization before i got my anxiety under control. It felt very much like i was in some kind of waking nightmare and that i was looking at the world through dirty glass almost as everything seemed off somehow and strange. It got so bad that i was sure i was developing Schizophrenia or something which is what prompted me to go to a doctor about it. Once i told the doctor my symptoms she just said don't worry you are not going insane you are suffering from Depersonalization and Derealization caused by the intense anxiety you have. To hear that i was not losing the plot altogether was a great relief in and of itself. Once i got my anxiety under control the mental cloud lifted and the world looked "real" again for lack of a better term. I was so emotionally numb from the DP/DR and brain fog that once it went away i actually broke down crying from the flood of emotions i experienced.

My advice at this point would be to lay off the drugs until your atleast better for a good while anyway, eat healthy, get plenty of sleep and exercise if your into that. The only time my Depersonalization and Derealization come back these days is either because of a hangover or if i am suffering from sleep deprivation. Alcohol and sleep deprivation both raise my anxiety levels through the roof so that makes sense actually.

That is very interesting that you would notice that. It has long been known that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia are much more likely to be cigarette smokers. There is now new research implicating cigarette smoking in causing mental illness.

Actually i think the high rate of smoking among Schizophrenics is due to the fact that Tobacco helps relieve some of the symptoms of psychosis and depression. Tobacco smoke does contain both Nicotine and Harmala alkaloids the latter of which is a reversible inhibitor of MAO-A. As MAOI's are potent anti-depressants and Nicotine is a stimulant that acts as a Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist and also increases levels of Dopamine in the brain one school of thought is that Schizophrenics smoke more then the general population to relieve some of the cognitive defects caused by Schizophrenia. Tobacco may also offset some of the side effects of anti-psychotic medication as well and speaking from experience a few ciggs in the morning does help lift the drowsiness caused by some anti-psychotics like Quetiapine and Thorazine aka Largactil. This is a bad and possibly dangerous practice though as Tobacco can speed up the metabolism of certain drugs thus making them less effective which is the last thing you want. I am not sure about how it effects different anti-psychotics but it can speed up the metabolism of certain benzos such as Valium as it's a enzyme inducer. This is one reason why my doctor is constantly on my case about smoking as he says the meds would work better if i didn't smoke and from experience i have noticed that certain benzos work far better if you don't smoke.

I don't think anyone actually knows the true cause but that's one theory on it. I suffer from Bipolar disorder with some Psychosis and i smoke way more ciggs during a Manic or depressive episode then i do when i am not having mood swings.