Marijuana related to anxiety.. help!

[Cubsfan125]

Hi everyone!

I have been doing some thinking. But some background first. I had anxiety 2 years ago and I dealt with it quiet a bit, and then it vanished. In late 2018 and early this year I would smoke marijuana at least a few times a week. Then it early March, I stopped because I began getting anxiety feelings.

Overtime until now, it has developed and gotten stronger for sure. But certain times I feel like I’m high and it is weird.

I am wondering if that weed smoking could have triggered my anxiety again and how to deal with it?

Thanks a lot!

 

[AiThink]

Im not sure about your case but i can tell you about my experience with anxiety and marijuana. It all started back when i was 15. I started smoking weed with a friend of mine and everything about the experience seemed normal. I would always get nervous before smoking, and during the high but i thought that was part of the deal. Mind you that no one ever coached me on smoking marijuana and now that Im older, i understand that this is crucial part of becoming a stone head. Anyways, i thought I was though and smart enough to navigate through it. Little did i know what was lurking around the corner. When I turned 18 i met a group of friends who were real pot smokers. I mean these guys were smoking the heavy certified stuff. And i thought since I had been smoking the cheap stuff for a couple years, i felt i was a veteran and that i could naturally fit in with these guys. Between 18 and 19 i ran with these guys. We smoked and drank heavily during this time. And thinking back now, i don't remember ever enjoying the high. It wasn't nervousness like before, it was full blown anxiety. From the moment we got together and began our little ritual of getting high, i was a ball of nerves, cold hand, tense muscles, pounding heart. And it would get 100 times worse when the high peaked. But i didn't realize what was happening to me. Sometimes my body would kick it to overdrive just so i wouldn't pass out. It felt like there were insects literally eating the skin of my brain. And i guess the alcohol sort of kept me sedated enough to withstand the anxiety. But it didn't last. About a year of this went on until my body finally broke. I was at work and a budy called me and wanted to meet me during my break for a smoking session. And i agreed like always without hesitation. So we smoked for about 30 minutes in his car and i was eager to get it over with so that i can get back to work and figure out how to calm myself. Im getting a bit emotional here because I can't believe what I put myself through during this age. Anyways, i said goodbye and started walking towards my job when I realized my keys to my work were missing. I must have dropped them in his car. And this was the only way i could get back into the building without anyone noticing. (The circumstances were much worse but im going to leave out a small detail for the sake of anonymity). Anyways, the high had just peaked and i find myself in a desperate run back towards the parking lot with the hope that my friend didn't leave yet or maybe he spotted the keys and was trying to return them. I ran back and forth like a mad person. People in the parking lot started to notice. I don't remember how much time passed by during this but it felt like an eternity. I finally spotted him. I quickly ran up to him and explained about my keys. Surely i was able to locate them underneath the car sear, ran into the building and thought it was over. ReMind you that the sequence of events that i just described are enough stressful to cause a normal, sober person to have anxiety . this happened to me after smoking a substantial amount of some very potent marijuana. As i got in the building, i prepared to go back to work, my mind was still racing. I was so caught up in my head that I just realized how fast my heart was beating. I mean it was not even a beat, it was like a phone vibrating. At that moment i couldn't breathe. I kept pacing back and forth forth wishing it would subside but it didn't. Then i got this stabbing pain in my stomach. I couldn't beat this thing, not this time. I told a coworker i wasnt feeling well and that I had to leave. I tried my hardest to play it cool but it was evident that I was in a serious crisis. I drove off, still not catching my breath, heart still pounding. I remember calling my girlfriend at the time and begged her to meet me somewhere and telling her that I needed to go to the hospital. She quickly agreed and we rushed to the ER. They quickly took my vitals and determined i was not having a heart attack. They had me waiting room for over 2 hours and I finally calm back down. It was such a relief, as i really thought I was gonna die. We left the hospital before i was called to see a doctor. But something wasn't right with me. I couldn't stop analyzing that night and what had happened. My girlfriend took me home and waited until I fell asleep, she knew i was rattled and was really concerned. Next day, i went to work. Feeling really embarrassed and ashamed. I played it cool as if nothing happened. I was a little off that morning but i was determined to go back to normal. Lunch time comes around, my buddy calls me up, wants to come around and smoke. I said ok. I was desperately trying to convince myself that the night before wasnt real and i wanted to delete it from my memory. He came to my job just like the day before only this time, before we even began smoking, i began feeling like the night before. Breathing difficulties, chest beating heart. My left arm went completely numb. Tingling all over. I couldn't hide this from him so i told him. I rushed back to the ER. No signs of a heart attack the nurse tells me. Ekg was negative. Again i felt better after a few hours in the waiting room. I realized this story is too long. I will finish this up by saying i was latter diagnosed with generalized anxiety with panic disorder. And that the anxiety wasnt a consequence of the marijuana. The anxiety was always inside of me and it was brought out by the drugs and alcohol. I just was completely unprepared and uninformed as a 19 year old. I just wanted to be cool and have friends. Sad thing is i could of had that minus the drugs. And maybe i would have given myself more time to better deal with my anxiety. Non the less, its been 20 years since and the anxiety never left. Its something i learned to live with now. It deeply rooted in my brain. Sorry for the long story.

 

[Cubsfan125]

Im not sure about your case but i can tell you about my experience with anxiety and marijuana. It all started back when i was 15. I started smoking weed with a friend of mine and everything about the experience seemed normal. I would always get nervous before smoking, and during the high but i thought that was part of the deal. Mind you that no one ever coached me on smoking marijuana and now that Im older, i understand that this is crucial part of becoming a stone head. Anyways, i thought I was though and smart enough to navigate through it. Little did i know what was lurking around the corner. When I turned 18 i met a group of friends who were real pot smokers. I mean these guys were smoking the heavy certified stuff. And i thought since I had been smoking the cheap stuff for a couple years, i felt i was a veteran and that i could naturally fit in with these guys. Between 18 and 19 i ran with these guys. We smoked and drank heavily during this time. And thinking back now, i don't remember ever enjoying the high. It wasn't nervousness like before, it was full blown anxiety. From the moment we got together and began our little ritual of getting high, i was a ball of nerves, cold hand, tense muscles, pounding heart. And it would get 100 times worse when the high peaked. But i didn't realize what was happening to me. Sometimes my body would kick it to overdrive just so i wouldn't pass out. It felt like there were insects literally eating the skin of my brain. And i guess the alcohol sort of kept me sedated enough to withstand the anxiety. But it didn't last. About a year of this went on until my body finally broke. I was at work and a budy called me and wanted to meet me during my break for a smoking session. And i agreed like always without hesitation. So we smoked for about 30 minutes in his car and i was eager to get it over with so that i can get back to work and figure out how to calm myself. Im getting a bit emotional here because I can't believe what I put myself through during this age. Anyways, i said goodbye and started walking towards my job when I realized my keys to my work were missing. I must have dropped them in his car. And this was the only way i could get back into the building without anyone noticing. (The circumstances were much worse but im going to leave out a small detail for the sake of anonymity). Anyways, the high had just peaked and i find myself in a desperate run back towards the parking lot with the hope that my friend didn't leave yet or maybe he spotted the keys and was trying to return them. I ran back and forth like a mad person. People in the parking lot started to notice. I don't remember how much time passed by during this but it felt like an eternity. I finally spotted him. I quickly ran up to him and explained about my keys. Surely i was able to locate them underneath the car sear, ran into the building and thought it was over. ReMind you that the sequence of events that i just described are enough stressful to cause a normal, sober person to have anxiety . this happened to me after smoking a substantial amount of some very potent marijuana. As i got in the building, i prepared to go back to work, my mind was still racing. I was so caught up in my head that I just realized how fast my heart was beating. I mean it was not even a beat, it was like a phone vibrating. At that moment i couldn't breathe. I kept pacing back and forth forth wishing it would subside but it didn't. Then i got this stabbing pain in my stomach. I couldn't beat this thing, not this time. I told a coworker i wasnt feeling well and that I had to leave. I tried my hardest to play it cool but it was evident that I was in a serious crisis. I drove off, still not catching my breath, heart still pounding. I remember calling my girlfriend at the time and begged her to meet me somewhere and telling her that I needed to go to the hospital. She quickly agreed and we rushed to the ER. They quickly took my vitals and determined i was not having a heart attack. They had me waiting room for over 2 hours and I finally calm back down. It was such a relief, as i really thought I was gonna die. We left the hospital before i was called to see a doctor. But something wasn't right with me. I couldn't stop analyzing that night and what had happened. My girlfriend took me home and waited until I fell asleep, she knew i was rattled and was really concerned. Next day, i went to work. Feeling really embarrassed and ashamed. I played it cool as if nothing happened. I was a little off that morning but i was determined to go back to normal. Lunch time comes around, my buddy calls me up, wants to come around and smoke. I said ok. I was desperately trying to convince myself that the night before wasnt real and i wanted to delete it from my memory. He came to my job just like the day before only this time, before we even began smoking, i began feeling like the night before. Breathing difficulties, chest beating heart. My left arm went completely numb. Tingling all over. I couldn't hide this from him so i told him. I rushed back to the ER. No signs of a heart attack the nurse tells me. Ekg was negative. Again i felt better after a few hours in the waiting room. I realized this story is too long. I will finish this up by saying i was latter diagnosed with generalized anxiety with panic disorder. And that the anxiety wasnt a consequence of the marijuana. The anxiety was always inside of me and it was brought out by the drugs and alcohol. I just was completely unprepared and uninformed as a 19 year old. I just wanted to be cool and have friends. Sad thing is i could of had that minus the drugs. And maybe i would have given myself more time to better deal with my anxiety. Non the less, its been 20 years since and the anxiety never left. Its something i learned to live with now. It deeply rooted in my brain. Sorry for the long story.

Wow. Thank you for sharing that story. I know the panicky feeling and I get the left arm numbness too.