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[Mega] Anxiety and Paranoia Help / Discussion Thread

It is VERY common for cannabis to trigger anxiety and panic attacks in those who are prone to them. The thing is that anxiety disorders dont always surface or develop until adulthood, or atleast 17-20 years of age. This is also the age in which people most experiment with drugs and weed.

We have a whole series of mega threads dedicated to paranoia/anxiety and cannabis. im merging this with it now.
 
I used to be a major pothead, then I became pregerz and quit. Then had my son in "09".
I totally quit because I would get panic attacks and paranoid, so I don't smoke anymore bud.
My BF wants me to smoke once in a while but I just can't I bug the fuck out.

So as i always say (even i don't smoke anymore),
Peace love & Bud
 
oh i know entirely too well how common panic attacks are, but until that one, i'd have them while walking home from school when i was like 15 and i'd literally be like "shit what the fuck? am i having a heart attack? whatever, breathe and keep walking dude"

i guess maybe it was the sucker punch that really fucked with me.
and yeah, i've had prior anxiety issues, but they were always situational and never anything that convinces me im gonna drop dead. its just new, and dont get me wrong, its a hell of a lot easier to deal with now.

the only thing is it doesn't seem to let up. its always as severe, i just have to learn to live with it.
i think it was last summer this all started. it certainly makes 6 months feel like a lifetime, i gotta say.
 
Something I've realized over the years, through periods of smoking/not smoking, though phases of acute anxiety and paranoia, and phases of literally no anxiety for months....

BREATHING!!! it's the answer!

The feeling of anxiety is mostly caused by not breathing in enough oxygen. Your brain gets deprived, and you start to feel dizzy, your hands/feet/face may start tingling, and you may black out or your vision gets messed up. It's from hyperventilation or the opposite, holding your breath without realizing you're doing it.

I've gone through so many marijuana-induced panic attacks and regular panic attacks to realize, that a very very quick and reliable method to controlling these when they happen, is to simply BREATHE. Slow. In through the nose, deep into the chest and diaphragm and stomach, and slowly back out through the nose. Breathing through the nose is very important. Breathing too quick and shallow will cause hyperventilation. Anxiety often causes you to unconciously "squeeze" or tense up your body and hold your breath. Do you often let out a huge "sigh" for no reason? This is why! Whenever you find yourself having an intense moment of anxiety or panic, especially while smoking, which decreases the level of oxygen flowing to your brain, just take a step back, concentrate on your breathing, and it will go away.

Getting up and walking or stretching out your chest/shoulder area also really helps get the oxygen flowing back into your system, and relieves so much tension!

If all else fails, make some green tea or mint tea, which is calming and will help relieve anxiety.

Hope this helps someone else out there, because god damn I know how shitty and terrifying it can be, and it does not have to be! :D

Peace... xo
 
First anxiety attack i had was when i was 19, i remember it well. I was in my mates shed with a bucket of water doing a few water fall bongs. Anyway i did 3 bowls in a row and we went back to his house to chill on the computer. It just came on all over a sudden i could hear ringing in my ears, heart was beating out my chest and i litterly thought to my self OH SHIT ive unlocked psychosis. The thing was that after it i had a few more attacks probably 2-3 in total i cant even remember now but i did have one at college which was horrible. After all that i got derealization for a few weeks which was fucking shit

Before this happened i was very stressed because of college work, the stress manifested itself into chest pain and my left arm felt numb and wierd and times, i saw a doctor who told me there was nothing wrong etc i think this and the fact i was smoking everyday triggered it all

But anyway i quit smoking weed for 9 months in fact i quit all drugs completely even drink. Unfortunately i got depressed and started smoking weed again which cured me of it. 4 years after all that i still smoke weed and haven't had any issues but im not an everyday smoker anymore.
 
For me I just cann't smoke like I used to, and high grade I can only tolerate like a hit or two of before I start bugging out. To really enjoy weed now a days I have to take a benzo before smoking.

I know when the panic sets in that its just in my head and can usually bring myself out of it but man dose it ruin the high :(.

Are there any good strains for someone like me to try? I was planning on getting some seeds soon... Would love anything couch lock inducing. :)
 
since i first got "the fear" from herb the only ways i've found to avoid are:
1. smoke alone at home
2. take other drugs with it.
i've never been able to smoke around other people or out and about without anxiety since i first got paranoid off bud unless i pop some pills or drink a 40.
 
I used to love weed....WHAT HAPPENED???

I started smoking weed again, after not smoking for 2 years (had a stint in rehab), but I used to love smoking weed. LOVED IT, made me hungry, happy sleepy, and just made me feel great overrall.

Well 2 years pass, I smoke, and I feel serious paranoia, anxiety, DUMB (cant stress that enough), and just a mess.

What happened?? I even took some klonopin to help and see if it might kill the anxiety, and nope, same deal. Just feel miserable, self hating, and most of all, NOT comfortable. Just dont understand.

Anyone have similiar experiences???
 
treezy z said:
since i first got "the fear" from herb the only ways i've found to avoid are:
1. smoke alone at home
2. take other drugs with it.
i've never been able to smoke around other people or out and about without anxiety since i first got paranoid off bud unless i pop some pills or drink a 40.
Click to expand...

Woahhh!! If anybody was in need of a lifestyle change...at least re-read everything you typed and think about how counterproductive this sounds just getting through your short time on this planet
"the fear" is a thing you laugh at or triumph, not try to get on with...
 
I made edibles last night and had way too much. It was the worst anxiety of my life. I felt like I was sinking, that I was floating, and kept doing repetitive things to remind myself I was "real". The repetition made it even worse because I thought that's how I was going to be forever.

I don't know what the fuck went wrong. I'm finally relaxed now.
 
Hey. Thanks for this point. Do you use it regularly with pot? I have a few times and found it to increase the clarity of a good stone.
 
Overall, weed tends to make me quite unsettled. Hasj on the other hand never fails to calm me and just give me a nice break from the world around me. I've tried to enjoy weed many times over but it just doesn't seem to do it for me. I regret not being able to enjoy the experience weed gives (with the exception of when I am rolling, does wonders for me then), but I guess I'm lucky enough to be able to source my hasj right from the coffeeshop so there will always (hopefully) be an alternative for me.
 
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If I were to place a guess as to if your plan of "to try and sweat during the day as much as possible and burn off the toxins trapped in the fat" will not work at all.. it is just flawed on many levels. What you are actually experiencing is a withdraw symptom. in quitting grass you will experience withdraw symptoms and one of those is likely to be sleep disturbance as well as many others. This will go away soon and you will actually sleep much better once you are off the grass and have cleared the withdrawal. The symptoms will get better with time and go away.

As far as finding something to replace smoking with I would seriously consider meditation.. as a heavy grass smoker for over two decades I gave the practice up when I started to ecspiereince negative effects as well as no longer liked some of the effects I once did. But you can get really, no not kidding you, really high off meditation, just with out the negative aspects of the grass. It gets me high but leaves me with a clear and in fact clears my mind. it something you can easily learn and practice before bed. I do mantra meditation but there are lots of forms out there.


http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...26641001001069

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11958969

http://www.personalpowermeditation.c...release-valve/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/19...-in-the-brain/

yep a little proof it gets you high but it also causes many more positive chemical changes in your brain.. takes a little practice but if your like me you may enjoy more than smoking.. Good Luck Illum :)
 
Think I've never read any report of excessive sweating as a symptom of cannabis withdrawal. Other drugs? Sure.

If you can't sleep after quitting cannabis, maybe you are anxious. And that could also account for the sweat. But there is no direct cause-effect between cannabis withdrawal and sweating. That I know of.

It's also to be expected -and very pedantic of me to point out- that if you have smoked yourself to sleep repeatedly, once you removed the smoking bit you found it hard to sleep.

I'm not a doctor, therapist, or anywhere near, but you don't need to exercise or do sauna to "sweat off the toxins". Exercise might be of use to repentant stoners because it builds back self-esteem and work ability that *might* have been lost in stoners, not because quitters of weed are in need of physical punishment.

Everybody's different, but cannabis withdrawal symptoms are usually mild and don't last long.

Maybe cannabis was masking symptoms from some condition you have (that condition need not be caused by cannabis, BTW). Once you cease use, voilá: symptoms that at least some cannabis is good at treating (lack of sleep, anxiety, etc.) suddenly appear. That would not be surprising.
 
Illuminatus said:
I know it is from quitting the pot because I never had this before until I started using it to help me sleep for 2 years straight then each time I'd stop smoking I'd sweat at night. If you google sweating and cannabis withdrawal you will read other reports.


Probably its at least partially anxiety. ...
Click to expand...

Did you usually smoke cannabis by itself, or mix it with tobacco?

And would it be controversial for me to state that cannabis does not cause physical addiction? If you accept this, the direct withdrawal symptoms are purely psychological (anxiety, etc.). These are mental effects, but they do not cease to be psychosomatic sometimes. I've had anxiety in the workplace. I'd sweat bucketloads. I did not smoke cannabis in that period. Now I smoke cannabis again. My anxiety is gone, workplace or otherwise. It would probably come back, and in fact I find it does after I quit cannabis for 2-3 weeks.

For anxiety, maybe you need to look into alternative medicines.
 
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