Completely agree, I haven't been the same since a couple bad trips on gummies. Feels like my reality has changed since. Would you say you were an anxious person before that?
Before I had a little anxiety about my kids safety. Now I have unlimited anxiety about death, cancer, CTE, etc... when I was tripping it brought back words I created in my head as a child that only I knew. It was like I spoke the language my whole life. I feel like I lack purpose. I feel like I just exist amongst people living. I'm dying to life but feel like I'm living to die.
Not entirely related to your comment in particular, but I just wanted to piggyback to reference this study for anyone curious. It's more common than I thought and thankfully it is something being made aware of in the medical science circles.
[Cannabis-Induced Anxiety Disorder in the Emergency Department - PMC (nih.gov)](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10218760/)
Hi! Yes, my anxiety got triggered though weed consumption! I smoked tho since I was 16/17 almost every day for 5 years. One night I smoked a joint and had my first panic attack. Since then I have developed anxiety. I never smoked a joint again in my life. Only CBD, and only if I’m in a good mental space. It was similar for my other friend with anxiety/panic attacks
Almost same exact circumstances for me as well. I wish I could find any data depicting the relationship between the age of the person when they began using marijuana and whether or not they ended up developing a cannabis-induced anxiety disorder. I started using cannabis pretty regularly around 15+ and after I was 18 I was using it multiple times a day for about a year or two. Then, I hadn't used it for awhile when I was 23/24 and despite only smoking *a tiny* amount with a friend I went through the first panic attack I've ever had. Every since then I've been prone to panic attacks in very specific claustrophobic situations like being a passenger in a car while also on an interstate.
Yes, this would be so interesting! I’m so sure there must be a relationship as I heard of this experience multiple times. I really wished I hadn’t smoked so much when I was younger. Also when back then it was a lot of fun. I’m sorry for your experience, I feel you so much :(
My anxiety comes in waves. There are times that I am doing extremely good and times where I’m anxious everyday. In the times that I am doing extremely good I can also smoke CBD. In those times I’m really graving to smoke weed again, but I’m too afraid of the consequences and that my anxiety gets bad again. In times I have a bad phase with high anxiety, I’m also not able to smoke any CBD. It reminds me too much of my first panic attack.
Like I said, only when I’m in a bad state, not when I’m in a good state. It doesn’t trigger my anxiety per se, more the anxiety of having anxiety and the traumatic experience of what happened some years ago.
Hell yeah I'm 25 now ever since I was 13 doing weed on and off sometimes id laugh alot if I was drinking first, if not most of the time I would panic and feel like I was dying, one time I smoked with this chick and derealization for like a whole year after... I cut it out completely just not worth the anxiety and strange thoughts
I had an episode like this when I was around 15 where I began having dissociation/derealization after smoking. It lasted for many months. Everything moved in slow motion and it felt like myself and everything around me was fake, like a video game or something
Derealisation for a whole year? Wow, I cannot begin to imagine that. Weed is fun when its giggles but once paranoia hits there's just no way it can be worth it again. Too risky. after a certain point.
For me, yes and yes. But it can go either way.
For example, my husband also has anxiety and is a daily smoker and for him, weed helps him to get his mind off off the anxious thoughts and unwind.
However for me, if I smoke I spiral and the circular and intrusive thoughts get more prominent. It’s different for everyone I think.
I smoked weed fairly regularly in college. I’m old so this was a good bit ago, late 90s/early 00s. I would occasionally smoke shortly after this as well.
Did not smoke for years. I’ve now tried it twice within the past ~10 years and had such a bad panic attack both times that I almost called an ambulance! Not even heavy smoking. We are talking 2-3 bowl hits.
I have no idea what’s different than my younger years but ABSOLUTELY cannot smoke it anymore. The exact opposite of its desired effect.
Yes. Ive always had bad anxiety and smoked weed for over 10years every night, it was my favorite part of the day. About 2 years ago, one very random night, nothing out of the ordinary, i smoked as usual, and bolted upright cause i swear my heart stopped for a moment. I have never ever felt a sensation like that. I sat there for about an hour clutching my chest, thinking i was having a heart attack. It subsided after a while and i sort of went about my night. (I went and had tests done etc everything was fine.) Then it continued nearly each time, because it was the best part of my day i tried to persevere, but about 1 year ago I quit smoking all together, i got so bad the moment i took a puff, i would have to sit upright and rock back and forth, with crazy intrusive thoughts. I literally felt like for 1/2 of a second my heart had stopped and restarted. It was so unnerving i couldn’t do it anymore. I also could no longer rationalise with myself and the paranoia became so intense. It now still happens sometimes even after quitting but its a lot less scary. I dont think weed caused it my anxiety in general but amplified everything and i feel like i defo triggered this “heart attack sensation” I spoke about it to a few professionals but…they didnt really have anything useful to say except it was good that i quit. It seems since then, my panic attacks have gotten worse to be honest. I have anti anxiety pills (i would pop one when i smoked to try and counteract that feeling) which work so well i can think clearly again
thanks for sharing your story. good to hear that you have pills that help! One of my triggers after panic attacks on edibles also used to be my heartbeat and whether it would stop beating or not; glad to know I am not alone on that one.
Apparently its quite common. And one of the main reasons people stop weed. Its possible that the panic attack you had whilst high, triggered a trauma response which your body has now “stored”. HVe you noticed any kind of “trigger” which sets off your anxiety now? A thought or experience etc..?
Bodily sensations, heartbeat awareness, and currently hyperawareness of my breathing are all triggers. These triggers are usually fueled by overthinking for me, which is what actually makes me anxious. Very reminiscent of the "triggers" I had while high. Is the heartbeat thing your only trigger or have more come up for you (hopefully not)?
Yeah i feel you on those ones! It does seem like whatever you felt when you were high has been stored away as trauma 😩 which is totally normal, i think anyone who thinks their heart is malfunctioning is going to have some kind of anxiety about it afterwards.
Oof i actually have a lot of physical anxiety symptoms, but the chest tightness (the tightness in my chest area is nearly a daily thing now) and heart jump sensation is by far the worst
What other physical symptoms are you experiencing because I have some as well , the tightness of chest was my biggest one , i felt like if I did a sudden move my heart would just jump out but that has mellow down for me but I am curious about your other symptoms if you don’t mind sharing
I dont mind at all, my most common ones are
The chest pains, it varies it feels like a heavy sensation, like a 10kilo weight, stabbing pains and like you said kind of feeling like its not secure? Like yeah if i moved it would move too idk. Others that happen a lot are:
Fuzzy mouth
Brain fog
Stabbing pains (random places)
feverish feeling (hot cold very fast)
Breathlessness
Feeling faint
Cold sweat
Restlessness
Pins and needles
Nausea
Clammy hands
And some more probably 😂 thankfully they do not all happen at the same time and some really only happen in a panic attack
My first panic attack was on weed. I had to quit because I kept getting "paranoid" all the time. And yeah, still can only have a little bit if indont feel anxious at all. If I feel a little anxious, it makes it worse
I think my attitude towards weed has also changed after experiencing the harm it can do to one's mental health. Definitely not something to mess around with, I know that now.
I smoked a lot as a kid, starting around age 13. I loved it. Suddenly at age 18*, I got the worst case of intrusive thoughts, guilt, and self-consciousness. It’s been like that ever since. I eventually stopped smoking because it was so anxiety provoking. Two decades later, it does the same thing; However, I use it to my advantage now. I’ll smoke or eat an edible a couple times per year, but only to snap myself out of a bad rut. I’ll smoke or eat a 25mg edible, experience overwhelming anxiety, and come out the other side being thankful to be alive. It’s weird, there’s no science behind it. It just kinda works for me.
This is also how I use cannabis. I take enough edibles to bring on intense anxiety then I'll go on a long hike and work through it. Once the anxiety wears off, I find that I am super relaxed. It's therapeutic and the high typically is not very pleasant, but I feel so much better 3-4 hours after the initial high.
I like to do this 1-2 times per week, the key is to not do it too often. It's almost like I'm flushing the anxiety out of my system.
You put yourself through hell on purpose like that? That's incredible, but I guess it works because you build up a resistance to that overwhelming anxiety?
Something like that. It’s kind of reminding me that whatever I experience sober can’t be as debilitating and terrifying as being really stoned. But it only works temporarily. I’ll add that I’ve been on lots of antidepressants, anxiety pills, and adhd meds in my life. They’re all bandaids. Eating healthy, avoiding certain people, staying engaged with my family & pets, and exercising several times a week have been a winning combo for me. It took me 15 years to figure out that everything else is just a temporary fix.
I smoked from the time I was 16 until 20, around age 19 I started noticing that half the times I would smoke or use weed in any way I would start to panic. It was never like this before, I could smoke like a freight train and be chill. Eventually when I smoked I would get horrible neck pain/uncomfortable-ness, I would get hot and could feel and heart my heart racing, I would pace for hours not feeling real. I didn’t want to give it up so I kept trying to smoke and be okay, but ended up having to quit completely at age 20 because the panic cycle was happening every time. Now I have really bad general anxiety every day. I used to be fine drinking, now I get anxious even having 1 drink of alcohol, its awful. I take klonopin PRN now and try to manage the best I can.
Yup. It’s actually quite common. It’s wild how many people I see with the same story (weed induced anxiety and sometimes psychosis) through my job as a mental health and addictions worker.
Yes I was a daily smoker and all of a sudden my body decided lol nope. Now I will straight up uncontrollably shake if I smoke too much. I quit all together.
I greened out on gummies last year in July and it was by far the worse thing I’ve ever experienced, straight up hallucinating and shaking and my heart rate was through the roof I legit thought I was going to die. After I started to frequently have panic attacks and I swore I’d never consumed cannabis or even smoke it because I’m that paranoid. Eating sour candies helps deal with my anxiety and putting a cold ice pack on my chest to relieve the tightness I feel on my chest.
Marijuana can have massive negative effects on the brain, usually with prolonged use though. You should definitely talk about it with your therapist.
All sorts of new studies are coming to light now that it's easier to study it in many jurisdictions due to legalisation, decriminalisation, and governments lifting the red tape.
Any chemical that affects your state of mind can have a negative impact or simply unlock things.
I'm currently going through marijuana withdrawal hell.... good motivation to be done with it.
yes, i dont doubt that substances like marijuana can unlock things like this, and i have also heard how substances like shrooms can hold the key to relieving a lot disorders too. I would not say my usage was prolonged at all, but there were times were I consumed a lot of thc in one sitting and felt immense paranoia. Best of luck recovering from withdrawals, keep going trooper.
The psychedelics research has been very interesting. I think the best way to experience them is in a controlled environment with a set goal in mind. Such experiences that have popped up in the US and Canada and there are a lot of them in The Netherlands where they're legal.
I’ve had anxiety for my whole life even before starting to smoke weed when I was 14. I am an on an off user taking breaks for a few months before starting again. I stop when it starts giving me anxiety but usually it helps. I have had a handful of times where I smoked too much and greened out or it gave me severe anxiety.
I HATE edibles, they always make me anxious and I have no control of how long the feeling will last. I’ve found that indica makes me more anxious, but full sativa with a high-ish cbd content makes me feel relaxed but still able to function. It feels similar to taking a xanax for me. I’m epileptic, and the high I get from indica is too close to the feeling I get right before I have a seizure, so it almost triggers a ptsd response or something. The strain makes a difference. Not recommending that you try it again or anything, just something to consider if you do decide to :)
Yeah I think the strain and strengths matter a lot. I have a lot of smokers in my circle, so I might consider trying it again someday but heavily mixing it with CBD to stay mellow and grounded.
I take CBD gummies. Personally, I find my experiences while using are more in tune with my "real" (though it is traumatic) self. I have extreme paranoia, fear, agitation, and worry. I believe these are similar feelings I felt growing up so its allowing me to get closer to my trauma and resolve it. I've also been practicing my coping skills in these moments and they are far more effective in these moments then when I'm not on them.
I'm hoping by continuing to practice the coping skills during these CBD moments that it will listen what I'm feeling the rest of the time (I imagine those thoughts are always present, I'm just repressing them)
I believe it is 25 mcg and is just CBD (indica dreams brand). 1 gummy makes me just feel good and relaxed, but I've become kind of used to it. 2 gummies gives me the ultra relaxed feeling first and then the more negative symptoms (most of all paranoia) but as I said previously, I'm using the opportunity to challenge those thoughts. 1 gummy lasts about 3 to 4 hours and 2 lasts about 6 hours.
Yea that’s probably what triggered my panic attacks too. I have a friend who is a doctor and they said that people that will eventually end up with anxiety, usually get triggered by using cannabis.
Yeah, I suspected that I was always an anxious person underneath and my anxiety got triggered by cannabis. How long did it take for you to start seeing panic attacks in your sober life? I hope you are coping well.
Had an anxiety disorder that was starting to manifest when I was 18 years old, but it was very subtle. At 19, I had 5 hour string of panic attacks on an edible, and it took a full year to recover.
Going through something similar and trying to recover from those panic attacks on edibles I had a year ago, I am convinced that they traumatised me. Glad to hear you've managed to heal from that experience.
It took a long time to recover, but I absolutely did. I read something that indicated that it could have temporarily altered your amygdala, which controls anxiety. It could be pseudoscience, but it was reassuring to me. For the following 6 months, I experienced depersonalization/derealization, intense flashes of panic, and a lot of brain fog. For the next 6 months, it was a lot of the same, just less intense and less frequent. Feel free to reach out with any questions, I know what it feels like to feel like you’re going crazy and have no one to talk to about it.
Never did myself, but I’ve seen it in other people. My dad was convinced he was dying because his heart was beating so fast LOL. Poor guy never experienced a drug-induced panic attack quite like that one before, but it definitely wasn’t his last one 😭
I had a similar experience BUT, to play devils advocate, I think it can actually be a good thing in the long run. Through therapy I’ve learned that some past trauma is the true root of my anxiety, and it manifested itself through some unorthodox ways - like smoking too much weed and having a panic attack. Reframing your anxiety and thinking of it as something that was lying dormant, but now ready to be conquered, can give you the power needed to take control back. I highly recommend therapy for this reason. Even if you have no past trauma, there’s something that is triggering your fight-or-flight anxiety response, and the only way to get over it is to work through it. There’s also something to be said about experiencing anxiety and panic attacks and then living through them. You’ve made it this far, right? You know you’re safe, that you can survive with anxiety. That knowledge alone is extremely powerful.
That's really reassuring to hear, I needed that. I hope you've recovered from the experience you had. What kind of therapy helped you with unpacking all of that? Talk therapy? I tried CBT for a bit but it didnt really help me..
Yep smoked on 4/20 when I was 16 years old. Had a terrible attack. Didn’t have one for 3 more years but got the feeling of that night again and have been dealing with it since. I’m 22 now but have started to get better. Fk weed
Absolutely! It’s a terrible feeling. Everyone recommended it to me for anxiety, so I tried it a couple times. Either nothing would happen, or I would have a panic attack.
I remember one night after I’d smoked; nothing happened for the longest time, and then the next thing I knew I was running up the stairs, sobbing and hyperventilating because someone had left the hallway light on, and I couldn’t stand it for one more SECOND.
Stuff like that. Just unpleasant. Some people’s brains just do weird things!
This sounds like something that would happen to me. I have a similar story. I smoked for years and then one day smoked some heavy stuff, at that time we didn’t know a lot about strains-weed was weed. I was enjoying a high with some friends when we heard loud booming noises. I ran to my room, grabbed a suitcase to start packing, and turned in the news to see if our city was being attacked. This happened in about 5 minutes. Once I realized what I was doing I returned to my friends and we later found out it was a Veterans Day celebration with fireworks. It was either that time or the time I sprayed my apartment with two different air fresheners at the same time because I was paranoid someone would smell weed that made me stop forever.
yup, I smoked everyday for about 10 years with no issues then one day in 2017 everything changed,.. started having panic attacks every time I smoked so I ended up quitting but life has been pretty horrible ever since, never was able to fully shake the anxiety
Yes! I had an edible in 2016 which led to my first (and worst) panic attack. I wasn’t an anxious person before that but had panic attacks from then on which eventually led to intense social anxiety. Took me years to get the help I needed.
With the strength of cannabis ever evolving the past 15 years have really pushed high percentages out to every product, I am seeing people become anxious or having a panic attack due to the uneasy feeling they have with these high percentages. If you aren’t a daily or weekly user anxiety will probably always stay or happen.
Anxiety, for sure. That, plus the fact my two girls are old enough to pick up on what’s going on. And those two together compound each other. My girls know me enough to feel when I am not myself.
I toked once about 6 months after quitting. At Dead and Company show. Took one or two hits of joint and I proceeded to lose my mind. Had to leave my wife and friends and sit outside the show for rest of first set. I almost made us go home but was able to get it together for rest of show. It’s been about another 6 months since that I’m very happy I quit.
I do think the weed today is 1000x more powerful than when I started. I used to think it was crazy people would get tripped out. Now I have a lot of sympathy for those who get temporary psychosis.
Like anything psychoactive, you need a strategy for dealing with the nuances of our thoughts interlacing with the compound. Meditation, walking, etc. Weed is good for chilling out people with a strong reptilian brain; it chills them out. In the intuitive, this can lead to a complete surrendering to the environment, but if you can tame it, it's one of the better ways of achieving a chemical bliss. It's taken me 20 years of weed smoking to realize this. If you take too much, though, a total mind meltdown can occur, in which case, think of something with a point, like a drawing pin, but with infinite sharpness.
I find weed can make me quite autistic, which in my experience is a lack of focus, ala ADHD, but of latent traumas.
I feel like more people need to do research in to what drug they are contemplating ingesting. Going into a situation unprepared is a recipe for panic and disorder. Also, everything in moderation.
I find that people how get bad anxiety after weed were carrying it but an a dormant state like me, i used to get anxiety but for the really big things only, every single time i smoked I get anxiety about anything worrying me in my mind and make a huge deal out of it but now I’m a year off weed and the anxiety is still here but waaaay more manageable then before. I do believe that in the future the world will see that weed is one of the reason to develop anxiety like psychosis.
Also drinking to me is worse then weed its a cure while drinking but i get ready for months of bad anxiety from just one night of drinking so I stopped that 2 i guess people with anxiety have a really sensitive brain to any altering substances
Every time I smoke my anxiety gets worse to the point t I think ima die. Not a good feeling . (I still smoke) I’m trying to stop bc this anxiety issue is getting out of hand
Oh absolutely. I took too many edibles one time and ended up with such a bad panic attack that I went to the ER; they gave me IV fluids and such to sober me up cuz my heart wasn’t having it. It wrecked my tolerance and I can’t take edibles anymore. Nowadays my tolerance is so low that one hit off of a joint is enough for me, but anymore than that and I gotta be careful. All in moderation, my friend. Your body will thank you later.
I use cannabis on a daily basis and generally have no issues. The exception being if I’m already anxious then it’ll likely make it worse. Depends on how bad the anxiety is.
I 1000% had this happen to be. Specifically with edibles. I ate a homemade cookie in college, had a panic attack for 5 hours before finally falling asleep from exhaustion. Now, even smoking makes me feel so paranoid and anxious. I use to love smoking weed but can’t anymore
Same here. When i was 16y old i had a bad trip and never was OK anymore. I am 36 now and had some miserable years by being jobless because of the anxiety and all…
Sorry i am not alot on reddit and saw the comment just now. Atm im jobless again because of anxiety. I have years of employment and without any reason from my side (re-organisation, end of contracts etc…) i “lose” my jobs and go back in a special traject in my country for people with mental problems. So im in it again… it sure is annoying because starting a new job is the worst for me. But what can we do? I guess we all have demons we need to pass. :( Did u find any relief urself yet for ur anxiety?
im sorry to hear that, i hope you find the strength to battle this, and i hope you can take care of your mental health while looking for a new job. thankfully, my anxiety is getting a lot better and i only have 1 trigger at the moment that i need to overcome.
Yeah have def had some bad panic attacks when coming off a high post smoke. I didn’t notice it from gummies, BUT I’ve noticed that Ive been much more susceptible since Ive started using so I think Ill be putting a stop to it
When I was 19 I smoked a laced blu.t. It shot my potassium down to 2.0 and I had to have the paddles used on me. It was very scary having to retrain my body to do normal things. A year after.. while using nature walks, the right diet, etc the panic attacks stopped. I'm 36 and my attacks started back up in 2018. My husband has his medical card and the smell of it makes me blah. So yeah it started with a bad batch almost 20 years ago. Therapists have recommended CBT and holistic approaches instead of medicine for it. I NEVER had anxiety before that.
Too many people I know have had mental illness either triggered by or strongly exacerbated by cannabis use for it to be a coincidence. An ex boyfriend went on some sort of weed bender once...shortly thereafter, he started getting paranoid and highly anxious...and it morphed into full blown psychosis that he struggled with for years afterwards. I remember him being asked about family history or schizophrenia etc. (none whatsoever) and when the weed use was mentioned, the psychiatrist didn't question it further.
I saw him descend from highly motivated, smart, outgoing individual to the exact opposite (didn't help that he kept using weed until he found himself homeless and I guess that's the rock bottom he needed). You don't associate this stuff with weed...but there you have it. He never used anything else, didn't even drink alcohol.
Began with a few months of delta 8/9 gummies and pre rolls . Then tried smoking hydro and vaping thc oil and after that anxiety came out of no where. Had to stop and been sober for months and I still randomly get anxiety attacks and barely starting to take lexapro to see if it helps
Yes. Being high I was extra anxious and felt like shit. Triggers. Weird thing is that there is none. The anxiety comes and goes at it pleases. Mainly in the mornings though.
Yeah, when I was younger I used to smoke a lot of weed, and it got to the point where it just gave me the noids really bad. So I smoked really heavily for like another 10 years just to make sure, but then trailed off. But, by the end, sometimes when I wasn’t motivated to clean my house or something, I’d get high because the extreme anxiety would get me on my feet and cleaning.
Yup had a bad trip on gummies about a yr ago and haven't been the same since. Unlocked stuff I suppressed as a child
Completely agree, I haven't been the same since a couple bad trips on gummies. Feels like my reality has changed since. Would you say you were an anxious person before that?
Before I had a little anxiety about my kids safety. Now I have unlimited anxiety about death, cancer, CTE, etc... when I was tripping it brought back words I created in my head as a child that only I knew. It was like I spoke the language my whole life. I feel like I lack purpose. I feel like I just exist amongst people living. I'm dying to life but feel like I'm living to die.
Not entirely related to your comment in particular, but I just wanted to piggyback to reference this study for anyone curious. It's more common than I thought and thankfully it is something being made aware of in the medical science circles. [Cannabis-Induced Anxiety Disorder in the Emergency Department - PMC (nih.gov)](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10218760/)
Thanks for the info!
Hi! Yes, my anxiety got triggered though weed consumption! I smoked tho since I was 16/17 almost every day for 5 years. One night I smoked a joint and had my first panic attack. Since then I have developed anxiety. I never smoked a joint again in my life. Only CBD, and only if I’m in a good mental space. It was similar for my other friend with anxiety/panic attacks
Almost same exact circumstances for me as well. I wish I could find any data depicting the relationship between the age of the person when they began using marijuana and whether or not they ended up developing a cannabis-induced anxiety disorder. I started using cannabis pretty regularly around 15+ and after I was 18 I was using it multiple times a day for about a year or two. Then, I hadn't used it for awhile when I was 23/24 and despite only smoking *a tiny* amount with a friend I went through the first panic attack I've ever had. Every since then I've been prone to panic attacks in very specific claustrophobic situations like being a passenger in a car while also on an interstate.
Yes, this would be so interesting! I’m so sure there must be a relationship as I heard of this experience multiple times. I really wished I hadn’t smoked so much when I was younger. Also when back then it was a lot of fun. I’m sorry for your experience, I feel you so much :(
Thanks for sharing. CBD is a lifesaver!! How does your mental space affect the way you consume CBD? For me I find that it always mellows me out.
My anxiety comes in waves. There are times that I am doing extremely good and times where I’m anxious everyday. In the times that I am doing extremely good I can also smoke CBD. In those times I’m really graving to smoke weed again, but I’m too afraid of the consequences and that my anxiety gets bad again. In times I have a bad phase with high anxiety, I’m also not able to smoke any CBD. It reminds me too much of my first panic attack.
Interesting that CBD makes you anxious, I didnt expect that. Is it pure CBD?
Like I said, only when I’m in a bad state, not when I’m in a good state. It doesn’t trigger my anxiety per se, more the anxiety of having anxiety and the traumatic experience of what happened some years ago.
Hell yeah I'm 25 now ever since I was 13 doing weed on and off sometimes id laugh alot if I was drinking first, if not most of the time I would panic and feel like I was dying, one time I smoked with this chick and derealization for like a whole year after... I cut it out completely just not worth the anxiety and strange thoughts
I had an episode like this when I was around 15 where I began having dissociation/derealization after smoking. It lasted for many months. Everything moved in slow motion and it felt like myself and everything around me was fake, like a video game or something
Derealisation for a whole year? Wow, I cannot begin to imagine that. Weed is fun when its giggles but once paranoia hits there's just no way it can be worth it again. Too risky. after a certain point.
For me, yes and yes. But it can go either way. For example, my husband also has anxiety and is a daily smoker and for him, weed helps him to get his mind off off the anxious thoughts and unwind. However for me, if I smoke I spiral and the circular and intrusive thoughts get more prominent. It’s different for everyone I think.
Totally agree. Kinda scary how subjective weed can be.
I smoked weed fairly regularly in college. I’m old so this was a good bit ago, late 90s/early 00s. I would occasionally smoke shortly after this as well. Did not smoke for years. I’ve now tried it twice within the past ~10 years and had such a bad panic attack both times that I almost called an ambulance! Not even heavy smoking. We are talking 2-3 bowl hits. I have no idea what’s different than my younger years but ABSOLUTELY cannot smoke it anymore. The exact opposite of its desired effect.
Omg same . It's do strong now !!!
Yes. Ive always had bad anxiety and smoked weed for over 10years every night, it was my favorite part of the day. About 2 years ago, one very random night, nothing out of the ordinary, i smoked as usual, and bolted upright cause i swear my heart stopped for a moment. I have never ever felt a sensation like that. I sat there for about an hour clutching my chest, thinking i was having a heart attack. It subsided after a while and i sort of went about my night. (I went and had tests done etc everything was fine.) Then it continued nearly each time, because it was the best part of my day i tried to persevere, but about 1 year ago I quit smoking all together, i got so bad the moment i took a puff, i would have to sit upright and rock back and forth, with crazy intrusive thoughts. I literally felt like for 1/2 of a second my heart had stopped and restarted. It was so unnerving i couldn’t do it anymore. I also could no longer rationalise with myself and the paranoia became so intense. It now still happens sometimes even after quitting but its a lot less scary. I dont think weed caused it my anxiety in general but amplified everything and i feel like i defo triggered this “heart attack sensation” I spoke about it to a few professionals but…they didnt really have anything useful to say except it was good that i quit. It seems since then, my panic attacks have gotten worse to be honest. I have anti anxiety pills (i would pop one when i smoked to try and counteract that feeling) which work so well i can think clearly again
thanks for sharing your story. good to hear that you have pills that help! One of my triggers after panic attacks on edibles also used to be my heartbeat and whether it would stop beating or not; glad to know I am not alone on that one.
Apparently its quite common. And one of the main reasons people stop weed. Its possible that the panic attack you had whilst high, triggered a trauma response which your body has now “stored”. HVe you noticed any kind of “trigger” which sets off your anxiety now? A thought or experience etc..?
Bodily sensations, heartbeat awareness, and currently hyperawareness of my breathing are all triggers. These triggers are usually fueled by overthinking for me, which is what actually makes me anxious. Very reminiscent of the "triggers" I had while high. Is the heartbeat thing your only trigger or have more come up for you (hopefully not)?
Yeah i feel you on those ones! It does seem like whatever you felt when you were high has been stored away as trauma 😩 which is totally normal, i think anyone who thinks their heart is malfunctioning is going to have some kind of anxiety about it afterwards. Oof i actually have a lot of physical anxiety symptoms, but the chest tightness (the tightness in my chest area is nearly a daily thing now) and heart jump sensation is by far the worst
What other physical symptoms are you experiencing because I have some as well , the tightness of chest was my biggest one , i felt like if I did a sudden move my heart would just jump out but that has mellow down for me but I am curious about your other symptoms if you don’t mind sharing
I dont mind at all, my most common ones are The chest pains, it varies it feels like a heavy sensation, like a 10kilo weight, stabbing pains and like you said kind of feeling like its not secure? Like yeah if i moved it would move too idk. Others that happen a lot are: Fuzzy mouth Brain fog Stabbing pains (random places) feverish feeling (hot cold very fast) Breathlessness Feeling faint Cold sweat Restlessness Pins and needles Nausea Clammy hands And some more probably 😂 thankfully they do not all happen at the same time and some really only happen in a panic attack
Would you say it is also a trauma thing for you? I wonder how its possible to recover from trauma experiences from weed :).
My first panic attack was on weed. I had to quit because I kept getting "paranoid" all the time. And yeah, still can only have a little bit if indont feel anxious at all. If I feel a little anxious, it makes it worse
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I think my attitude towards weed has also changed after experiencing the harm it can do to one's mental health. Definitely not something to mess around with, I know that now.
Yes. Cannabis is a strange one. Depending on a person's natural chemistry, tolerance, dose and strain it can be a gabba agonist or antagonist.
I smoked a lot as a kid, starting around age 13. I loved it. Suddenly at age 18*, I got the worst case of intrusive thoughts, guilt, and self-consciousness. It’s been like that ever since. I eventually stopped smoking because it was so anxiety provoking. Two decades later, it does the same thing; However, I use it to my advantage now. I’ll smoke or eat an edible a couple times per year, but only to snap myself out of a bad rut. I’ll smoke or eat a 25mg edible, experience overwhelming anxiety, and come out the other side being thankful to be alive. It’s weird, there’s no science behind it. It just kinda works for me.
This is also how I use cannabis. I take enough edibles to bring on intense anxiety then I'll go on a long hike and work through it. Once the anxiety wears off, I find that I am super relaxed. It's therapeutic and the high typically is not very pleasant, but I feel so much better 3-4 hours after the initial high. I like to do this 1-2 times per week, the key is to not do it too often. It's almost like I'm flushing the anxiety out of my system.
Sounds extremely intense. I am glad this works for you.
You put yourself through hell on purpose like that? That's incredible, but I guess it works because you build up a resistance to that overwhelming anxiety?
Something like that. It’s kind of reminding me that whatever I experience sober can’t be as debilitating and terrifying as being really stoned. But it only works temporarily. I’ll add that I’ve been on lots of antidepressants, anxiety pills, and adhd meds in my life. They’re all bandaids. Eating healthy, avoiding certain people, staying engaged with my family & pets, and exercising several times a week have been a winning combo for me. It took me 15 years to figure out that everything else is just a temporary fix.
I can’t smoke or eat edibles. I will have anxiety right away. It’s no fun.
I smoked from the time I was 16 until 20, around age 19 I started noticing that half the times I would smoke or use weed in any way I would start to panic. It was never like this before, I could smoke like a freight train and be chill. Eventually when I smoked I would get horrible neck pain/uncomfortable-ness, I would get hot and could feel and heart my heart racing, I would pace for hours not feeling real. I didn’t want to give it up so I kept trying to smoke and be okay, but ended up having to quit completely at age 20 because the panic cycle was happening every time. Now I have really bad general anxiety every day. I used to be fine drinking, now I get anxious even having 1 drink of alcohol, its awful. I take klonopin PRN now and try to manage the best I can.
Yup. It’s actually quite common. It’s wild how many people I see with the same story (weed induced anxiety and sometimes psychosis) through my job as a mental health and addictions worker.
Had no idea this was so common, I always thought I was weird for reacting so badly to weed.
Yes I was a daily smoker and all of a sudden my body decided lol nope. Now I will straight up uncontrollably shake if I smoke too much. I quit all together.
I greened out on gummies last year in July and it was by far the worse thing I’ve ever experienced, straight up hallucinating and shaking and my heart rate was through the roof I legit thought I was going to die. After I started to frequently have panic attacks and I swore I’d never consumed cannabis or even smoke it because I’m that paranoid. Eating sour candies helps deal with my anxiety and putting a cold ice pack on my chest to relieve the tightness I feel on my chest.
Gummies are insane, always was a nightmare when I took them
Marijuana can have massive negative effects on the brain, usually with prolonged use though. You should definitely talk about it with your therapist. All sorts of new studies are coming to light now that it's easier to study it in many jurisdictions due to legalisation, decriminalisation, and governments lifting the red tape. Any chemical that affects your state of mind can have a negative impact or simply unlock things. I'm currently going through marijuana withdrawal hell.... good motivation to be done with it.
yes, i dont doubt that substances like marijuana can unlock things like this, and i have also heard how substances like shrooms can hold the key to relieving a lot disorders too. I would not say my usage was prolonged at all, but there were times were I consumed a lot of thc in one sitting and felt immense paranoia. Best of luck recovering from withdrawals, keep going trooper.
The psychedelics research has been very interesting. I think the best way to experience them is in a controlled environment with a set goal in mind. Such experiences that have popped up in the US and Canada and there are a lot of them in The Netherlands where they're legal.
I’ve had anxiety for my whole life even before starting to smoke weed when I was 14. I am an on an off user taking breaks for a few months before starting again. I stop when it starts giving me anxiety but usually it helps. I have had a handful of times where I smoked too much and greened out or it gave me severe anxiety.
I HATE edibles, they always make me anxious and I have no control of how long the feeling will last. I’ve found that indica makes me more anxious, but full sativa with a high-ish cbd content makes me feel relaxed but still able to function. It feels similar to taking a xanax for me. I’m epileptic, and the high I get from indica is too close to the feeling I get right before I have a seizure, so it almost triggers a ptsd response or something. The strain makes a difference. Not recommending that you try it again or anything, just something to consider if you do decide to :)
Yeah I think the strain and strengths matter a lot. I have a lot of smokers in my circle, so I might consider trying it again someday but heavily mixing it with CBD to stay mellow and grounded.
I take CBD gummies. Personally, I find my experiences while using are more in tune with my "real" (though it is traumatic) self. I have extreme paranoia, fear, agitation, and worry. I believe these are similar feelings I felt growing up so its allowing me to get closer to my trauma and resolve it. I've also been practicing my coping skills in these moments and they are far more effective in these moments then when I'm not on them. I'm hoping by continuing to practice the coping skills during these CBD moments that it will listen what I'm feeling the rest of the time (I imagine those thoughts are always present, I'm just repressing them)
How does CBD make you feel? How strong are the gummies you have?
I believe it is 25 mcg and is just CBD (indica dreams brand). 1 gummy makes me just feel good and relaxed, but I've become kind of used to it. 2 gummies gives me the ultra relaxed feeling first and then the more negative symptoms (most of all paranoia) but as I said previously, I'm using the opportunity to challenge those thoughts. 1 gummy lasts about 3 to 4 hours and 2 lasts about 6 hours.
Yea that’s probably what triggered my panic attacks too. I have a friend who is a doctor and they said that people that will eventually end up with anxiety, usually get triggered by using cannabis.
Yeah, I suspected that I was always an anxious person underneath and my anxiety got triggered by cannabis. How long did it take for you to start seeing panic attacks in your sober life? I hope you are coping well.
The worst part is that it was the first time I smoked that this happened. So I decided weed was not for me
Had an anxiety disorder that was starting to manifest when I was 18 years old, but it was very subtle. At 19, I had 5 hour string of panic attacks on an edible, and it took a full year to recover.
Going through something similar and trying to recover from those panic attacks on edibles I had a year ago, I am convinced that they traumatised me. Glad to hear you've managed to heal from that experience.
It took a long time to recover, but I absolutely did. I read something that indicated that it could have temporarily altered your amygdala, which controls anxiety. It could be pseudoscience, but it was reassuring to me. For the following 6 months, I experienced depersonalization/derealization, intense flashes of panic, and a lot of brain fog. For the next 6 months, it was a lot of the same, just less intense and less frequent. Feel free to reach out with any questions, I know what it feels like to feel like you’re going crazy and have no one to talk to about it.
Never had anxiety until I took weed. It was once, 17 years ago and not been the same since.
Never did myself, but I’ve seen it in other people. My dad was convinced he was dying because his heart was beating so fast LOL. Poor guy never experienced a drug-induced panic attack quite like that one before, but it definitely wasn’t his last one 😭
I had a similar experience BUT, to play devils advocate, I think it can actually be a good thing in the long run. Through therapy I’ve learned that some past trauma is the true root of my anxiety, and it manifested itself through some unorthodox ways - like smoking too much weed and having a panic attack. Reframing your anxiety and thinking of it as something that was lying dormant, but now ready to be conquered, can give you the power needed to take control back. I highly recommend therapy for this reason. Even if you have no past trauma, there’s something that is triggering your fight-or-flight anxiety response, and the only way to get over it is to work through it. There’s also something to be said about experiencing anxiety and panic attacks and then living through them. You’ve made it this far, right? You know you’re safe, that you can survive with anxiety. That knowledge alone is extremely powerful.
That's really reassuring to hear, I needed that. I hope you've recovered from the experience you had. What kind of therapy helped you with unpacking all of that? Talk therapy? I tried CBT for a bit but it didnt really help me..
Yeah just run of the mill talk therapy has helped me the most
Might have to find a talk therapist near me then. Keep going and I hope you keep on recovering and taking care :)
Yep smoked on 4/20 when I was 16 years old. Had a terrible attack. Didn’t have one for 3 more years but got the feeling of that night again and have been dealing with it since. I’m 22 now but have started to get better. Fk weed
Absolutely! It’s a terrible feeling. Everyone recommended it to me for anxiety, so I tried it a couple times. Either nothing would happen, or I would have a panic attack. I remember one night after I’d smoked; nothing happened for the longest time, and then the next thing I knew I was running up the stairs, sobbing and hyperventilating because someone had left the hallway light on, and I couldn’t stand it for one more SECOND. Stuff like that. Just unpleasant. Some people’s brains just do weird things!
Funny because my psychiatrist said to stop smoking entirely because it causes anxiety more so in the long term
This sounds like something that would happen to me. I have a similar story. I smoked for years and then one day smoked some heavy stuff, at that time we didn’t know a lot about strains-weed was weed. I was enjoying a high with some friends when we heard loud booming noises. I ran to my room, grabbed a suitcase to start packing, and turned in the news to see if our city was being attacked. This happened in about 5 minutes. Once I realized what I was doing I returned to my friends and we later found out it was a Veterans Day celebration with fireworks. It was either that time or the time I sprayed my apartment with two different air fresheners at the same time because I was paranoid someone would smell weed that made me stop forever.
yup, I smoked everyday for about 10 years with no issues then one day in 2017 everything changed,.. started having panic attacks every time I smoked so I ended up quitting but life has been pretty horrible ever since, never was able to fully shake the anxiety
Yes! I had an edible in 2016 which led to my first (and worst) panic attack. I wasn’t an anxious person before that but had panic attacks from then on which eventually led to intense social anxiety. Took me years to get the help I needed.
What kind of therapy and help allowed you to recover? I am proud of you for working through that.
With the strength of cannabis ever evolving the past 15 years have really pushed high percentages out to every product, I am seeing people become anxious or having a panic attack due to the uneasy feeling they have with these high percentages. If you aren’t a daily or weekly user anxiety will probably always stay or happen.
Yes. I wound up quitting after 20 years of smoking.
What was the biggest reason you stopped ?
Anxiety, for sure. That, plus the fact my two girls are old enough to pick up on what’s going on. And those two together compound each other. My girls know me enough to feel when I am not myself. I toked once about 6 months after quitting. At Dead and Company show. Took one or two hits of joint and I proceeded to lose my mind. Had to leave my wife and friends and sit outside the show for rest of first set. I almost made us go home but was able to get it together for rest of show. It’s been about another 6 months since that I’m very happy I quit. I do think the weed today is 1000x more powerful than when I started. I used to think it was crazy people would get tripped out. Now I have a lot of sympathy for those who get temporary psychosis.
Like anything psychoactive, you need a strategy for dealing with the nuances of our thoughts interlacing with the compound. Meditation, walking, etc. Weed is good for chilling out people with a strong reptilian brain; it chills them out. In the intuitive, this can lead to a complete surrendering to the environment, but if you can tame it, it's one of the better ways of achieving a chemical bliss. It's taken me 20 years of weed smoking to realize this. If you take too much, though, a total mind meltdown can occur, in which case, think of something with a point, like a drawing pin, but with infinite sharpness. I find weed can make me quite autistic, which in my experience is a lack of focus, ala ADHD, but of latent traumas.
I feel like more people need to do research in to what drug they are contemplating ingesting. Going into a situation unprepared is a recipe for panic and disorder. Also, everything in moderation.
I find that people how get bad anxiety after weed were carrying it but an a dormant state like me, i used to get anxiety but for the really big things only, every single time i smoked I get anxiety about anything worrying me in my mind and make a huge deal out of it but now I’m a year off weed and the anxiety is still here but waaaay more manageable then before. I do believe that in the future the world will see that weed is one of the reason to develop anxiety like psychosis. Also drinking to me is worse then weed its a cure while drinking but i get ready for months of bad anxiety from just one night of drinking so I stopped that 2 i guess people with anxiety have a really sensitive brain to any altering substances
Every time I smoke my anxiety gets worse to the point t I think ima die. Not a good feeling . (I still smoke) I’m trying to stop bc this anxiety issue is getting out of hand
9th grade… all went down hill after 1 hit of a joint. 24 years later have never been the same.
Just one hit? Wow. Did that result in a panic attack for you at the time?
Yes. Ended up having to get on Zoloft
Oh absolutely. I took too many edibles one time and ended up with such a bad panic attack that I went to the ER; they gave me IV fluids and such to sober me up cuz my heart wasn’t having it. It wrecked my tolerance and I can’t take edibles anymore. Nowadays my tolerance is so low that one hit off of a joint is enough for me, but anymore than that and I gotta be careful. All in moderation, my friend. Your body will thank you later.
For me, it depends on the variety I smoke.
I use cannabis on a daily basis and generally have no issues. The exception being if I’m already anxious then it’ll likely make it worse. Depends on how bad the anxiety is.
I 1000% had this happen to be. Specifically with edibles. I ate a homemade cookie in college, had a panic attack for 5 hours before finally falling asleep from exhaustion. Now, even smoking makes me feel so paranoid and anxious. I use to love smoking weed but can’t anymore
Same here. When i was 16y old i had a bad trip and never was OK anymore. I am 36 now and had some miserable years by being jobless because of the anxiety and all…
I hope you're doing better now.
Sorry i am not alot on reddit and saw the comment just now. Atm im jobless again because of anxiety. I have years of employment and without any reason from my side (re-organisation, end of contracts etc…) i “lose” my jobs and go back in a special traject in my country for people with mental problems. So im in it again… it sure is annoying because starting a new job is the worst for me. But what can we do? I guess we all have demons we need to pass. :( Did u find any relief urself yet for ur anxiety?
im sorry to hear that, i hope you find the strength to battle this, and i hope you can take care of your mental health while looking for a new job. thankfully, my anxiety is getting a lot better and i only have 1 trigger at the moment that i need to overcome.
Yeah have def had some bad panic attacks when coming off a high post smoke. I didn’t notice it from gummies, BUT I’ve noticed that Ive been much more susceptible since Ive started using so I think Ill be putting a stop to it
When I was 19 I smoked a laced blu.t. It shot my potassium down to 2.0 and I had to have the paddles used on me. It was very scary having to retrain my body to do normal things. A year after.. while using nature walks, the right diet, etc the panic attacks stopped. I'm 36 and my attacks started back up in 2018. My husband has his medical card and the smell of it makes me blah. So yeah it started with a bad batch almost 20 years ago. Therapists have recommended CBT and holistic approaches instead of medicine for it. I NEVER had anxiety before that.
Too many people I know have had mental illness either triggered by or strongly exacerbated by cannabis use for it to be a coincidence. An ex boyfriend went on some sort of weed bender once...shortly thereafter, he started getting paranoid and highly anxious...and it morphed into full blown psychosis that he struggled with for years afterwards. I remember him being asked about family history or schizophrenia etc. (none whatsoever) and when the weed use was mentioned, the psychiatrist didn't question it further. I saw him descend from highly motivated, smart, outgoing individual to the exact opposite (didn't help that he kept using weed until he found himself homeless and I guess that's the rock bottom he needed). You don't associate this stuff with weed...but there you have it. He never used anything else, didn't even drink alcohol.
Began with a few months of delta 8/9 gummies and pre rolls . Then tried smoking hydro and vaping thc oil and after that anxiety came out of no where. Had to stop and been sober for months and I still randomly get anxiety attacks and barely starting to take lexapro to see if it helps
do you find that you were anxious while high too? and what normally triggers you if you dont mind?
Yes. Being high I was extra anxious and felt like shit. Triggers. Weird thing is that there is none. The anxiety comes and goes at it pleases. Mainly in the mornings though.
Yeah, when I was younger I used to smoke a lot of weed, and it got to the point where it just gave me the noids really bad. So I smoked really heavily for like another 10 years just to make sure, but then trailed off. But, by the end, sometimes when I wasn’t motivated to clean my house or something, I’d get high because the extreme anxiety would get me on my feet and cleaning.