I still don't feel the same after smoking weed for the first time. NEED SUPPORT PLEASE

Hello, Im posting here to get some reassurance and support. It has been over a year and a half now since I tried an illigal high (weed) for the first time and suffered a panic attack in which I thought I was going to lose my mind and die, and end up in a mental hospital. The high lasted about 4.5 hours. Nothing felt real and when the high wore off things didn't feel the same as before. I found out about derealization and depersonalization and I think that is what I have been dealing with since. I was diagnosed with GAD and I think I might of had it prior to smoking the pot but not to an extent that it bothered me.

The best way to explain it it just feels like something is off, nothings the same, i feel disconnected in a way. Like i keep trying to compare how i fet before the high (normal) to now but I cant exactly pinpoint what it is.

My vision gets weird and its hard to focus on anything. I see "noise" or static like tiny dots (visual snow) when looking at the night sky and floaters when looking at the blue sky. All things I have never experienced before the high.

At the start of this hell I thought I had died or that I was in hell. (It felt like it and my anxiety was through the roof and i felt nausous and panicky). I was obsessed with thinking i was going insane (schizophrenic) infact I still do get VERY VEEEEERY scared about it. Thinking that i could go mad. I also have light sensetivity wheb i look at something i get an afterimage if it that stays in my vision for a bit.

I feel like i had all my life ahead of me and now i cant live life like before. As if a part of me died. (Im not delusional though i dont think).

What has made it tolerable is being busy with study and work... But when im free all i do is be upset about it and feel miserable. I dont want medication because if the side effects and risks of psychosis/suicide.

I have no energy to do anything at times...

And i think the more time goes by the more i lose hope.

Please PLEASE if you can relate or have advice/support please contact me or reply to me here.

Thank you so much

Ive definetly made some prgress throughout the years but i still dont feel the way I did before the high..

Sorry your going thru this.I can relate but in a different way. I've always been a recreational drug user in the past 15 years. Smoked pot for about 15 years every day.most times I was fine but sometimes it gave me anxiety. The thc in weed is psychedelic which is why sometimes people who don't smoke often feel like they are "tripping". And it can defiantly mess with your anxiety. About 5 weeks ago I was in Las Vegas for my 29th bday and I was partying hard,drinkin, smoking pot, did some other party favors, got super dehydrated and had a severe panic attack and went to the emergency room bc I felt like I was dying. My heart was racing head was hurting, legs twitching, it was very scary. They released me after a couple hours and told me I had a severe panic attack and was severely dehydrated. That next day I slept all day bc of the anxiety meds I had and took to sleep. I had got up for a few hours ate some food and smoked some pot. Nothing out of the normal I smoked everyday. But a few minutes after I got another horrible panic attack. So the next day I decided I'm done with the pot and I'm done partying. For about 3 weeks straight I was having panic attacks everyday several times a day. I didn't know why this was happening or what was goin in with me ,my chest would feel tight but head would hurt my head was so clouded I was having so many weird things happening that' I thought I was going crazy. Went to my psychiatrist whom I've seen over the years for anxiety and she said that I have severe anxiety and needed to take an anti depressant bc I'm imbalanced. It's now been 5 1/2 weeks since that Vegas trip and I still don't know what happend that weekend that triggered my anxiety to get out of control. So I do understand what your going through but you need to go see a psychiatrist and just at least talk about what happend and see what they think. Let them know how ur feeling mentally. I know it's scary it's not a way to live but working out, meditation, will help. Hope this passes soon sorry you are going though this.

Hi Caolina,

Sorry to hear of this I hope you get some positive results soon if not already

Hey Caolina ,

I really wish to hear an update so I can know if this willing to go out or not , a help from you would be great.

Hello 

i am going exactly through what you are going through. have you heard of anything or any help it would help so much. 

Hi I Jordan

I'm so sorry you're going through the same thing.

It's now 4 years after I tried it for the first time and developed "derealization" or whatever it is. Still haven't figured out exactly what it is but I think it's just anxiety.

First of all please believe me that you won't go crazy. That was all I thought about when I first got it.. but nope!! It's just your flight fight and fright mechanism over reacting and making you feel like you're not in control.

Over time I was able to just ignore it and keep living my life. I even got drunk for the first time in 4 years and nothing happened!! (I don't recommend trying to drink or anything any time soon because you're still super hypersensitive to everything and it will trigger another panic attack)

The only real thing that has helped me is time and a really lovely partner who had been very supportive.

I still have it in mild levels and the physical symptoms never went away (like the floaters and not being able to focus my vision too well).. but otherwise I'm living like before.

Atleast trying to..

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions

I'm not 100% recoverered but I'm not freaking out 100% either

smile.. I really wish you all the best and hope that it won't last as long as me

I'm happy you posted this after 4 Years! I smoked pot 5 months ago and had a terrible panic attack! It was the biggest panic attack ive ever had! Now I've been affraid of going crazy! But after reading your reply, I have hope! How old were you when you Smoked?

Hi

Hi, I'm not sure if what I'm going through is the same but I did weed the other day twice in two days (for roughly the 3rd time) and my head feels slow, like the speed of everything has gone slow, I cannot feel pain and when people are talking to me nothing feels right. It's like im on an all time high, i wont lie in scared because I have 15 exams in school this year and what if it affects my performance, did any of this happen to you?

Hi mate I'm going threw the exact same thing it happened to me when I was 13-14 years old I'm now 24 years it hasn't gone away but I have noticed when I have a anxiety attack it feels like I'm loosing my head!! Have you gone to see a professional about this ? 

Hello the same exact things are happening to me right now I’m 16 years old do you think I’ll ever be the same? Have you recovered? It’s been 40 days since and I’m slightly getting better 

I smoked pot for a full summer when I was 16 I loved it, it was brand new to me. One night I tripped real bad, everything was echoing I was sweaty, sick to my stomach, I couldn’t focus on anything. I was thinking about every wrong thing i’ve ever done (which isn’t much) lol but I thought I was honestly losing my mind and that I was going to die. I stopped smoking it after that, I’m 21 now I recently just smoked it again last weekend and the same thing happened to me again. I blame it on my anxiety I’ve never gotten it checked out. I smoked it Saturday morning and i’m still not 100% but I’m way better than I was lol. I can’t stress anymore possible when I say this but IT DO NOT LAST. When this happens to you just know you will feel better. I didn’t someone to tell me that it would go away within a few hours. It’s so hard to get out of that state when your mind/body won’t let you but just know it don’t last  

Same s**t happened to me I guess it is getting a little better but when i'm out with friends at night I feel very affected.

Its been a year for me and time for me passes very fast as well, what are some tips??????????

How do you feel now? I’m going through the same thing, feeling unbalanced and “different” then I did before.

I went through the same thing bro...its all in our minds im still getting anxiety but what i did is stopped the medication and start to do things which i was affraid of by going to shopping malls and places where huge crowds is it started to give me anxiety at first thoughts was spinning like hell what if i fell or faint or whatsoever try to work in loudness i know it will make u confused and cant concentrate but try ur best and work through the noise...overcome your fears by facing it and tell yourself you are ok and its just anxiety that wants to control you theres no easy fix only you yourself can fix it im coping now vision is becomming better and noor palpitations only numbness in my body coming out of nowhere

Hi everyone, just an update and last post from me so it'll be a long one! smile

It's been almost 4.5years since my bad trip and I definitely still have anxiety and all the other stuff I posted earlier (weird vision, floaters, feeling distant). I've definitely become used to it and still try to live life like normal.

Some days are harder and more uncomfortable than others, some days I make it worse by drinking coffee or getting drunk as **** lol.. but I try to live life as normal as possible. (Again I don't recommend drinking or smoking anything because it will most likely exacerbate everything.. took me 4 years to get the courage to drink again after I developed this lol).

As I mentioned in my previous post you have to trust me that you won't go crazy! (But definitely put that joint down and take a break if you can do safely because the mind is very fragile...hence why you're here in the first place)..

Just know that crazy people don't know they're crazy so if you're here looking to figure out what the hell is going on that's a pretty good sign you're okay! Haha

If you do feel like you're going crazy it's because anxiety is a motherfu*** and will make you feel like you're not in control.

It's a constant battle but overtime you'll own it, just like a few other people on here have commented- you'll overcome fears and things will slowly but surely get easier and more normal.

Having anxiety is not just feeling"nervous, or shy at times" like people post on Facebook/insta etc...

Having anxiety is a constant battle with your mind, a mix of uncomfortable body sensations, stomach crunching fear, confusion etc..

I saw a few (ok a lot) of healthcare professionals who confirm is just anxiety.. in my case I probably had it before the bad trip..made it 100x worse after smoking the devil's lettuce haha. Rip..

Some people are lucky and they just have a few days/months of this bull (and hopefully that's you!)

But for some of us like me unfortunately, it'll be a constant battle with some days being harder than others. It definitely gets better over time and who knows maybe in a few years time it'll keep getting better.

The derealization (which is the bit where you feel like everything is a dream.. detached, spaced out feeling) is a symptom of anxiety and other disorders. If you have no hallucinations (audible/visual) it's most likely just anxiety.

Cannabis can trigger (awaken) pre-existential mental illnesses like anxiety and depression and I think the best thing to do is to go see a professional.. even talking about it (like on here) makes you feel less crazy and not alone.

Last thing I wanted to do is list things that can help you right now. Like right now.

-1) STOP taking substances that affect your cognition (drugs, alcohol even cigarettes). A glass of wine probably won't kill ya but honestly... Why risk making it worse?

-2) If you can't stop smoking weed, cant quit cold turkey and/or have tried in the past but quitting made you feel worse then please see a healthcare professional. They can often provide support/medication to help you come off weed. And it's 100% confidential.

-3) Go see a general doctor (for a general check-up as they suck at mental health stuff) and get your thyroid checked, your bloods checked (check for iron deficiency anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, etc). Deficiencies, imbalances, thyroid problems can mimick the symptoms of anxiety and/or heighten them.

-4) Once you've had a general check-up then go see a mental health professional such as a councellor, a psychologist anyone who has experience and a personality that you can work with. They work for you and should suit your needs, they should listen with respect and kindness. smile if you're lucky you may find a psychologist who was once in the same boat as you but was able to overcome it and guide you in the same direction.

-5) Stick to seeing someone as talking about your symptoms/sensations helps to normalize what you're experiencing.. helping you to overcome it.

-6) Excercise and review your diet (what I'm trying now). Excercising is basically like doing drugs.. but your own body makes them for ya lol (endorphins, dopamine and serotonin) same sht that prescribed medication such as SSRIS help increase/balance. (If you're on prescribed medications don't substitute/stop them unless you've discussed it with your doc).

-7)If you have been prescribed medications to manage this take it as directed but give it time. It usually takes about 2 weeks to start seeing/feeling changes. If you're afraid to take meds like SSRIs then remember that tried you tried weed.. (which had the potential to change your brain chemistry negatively) then why should trying medications that are meant to help be scarier?

(Now this one I'm a bit biased because I'm still too scared to try anything but leaning towards trying it especially for the harder days... Definetly giving myself some advice here lol).

-8) Review your life. Cut out stressful people, environments, situations if you can.. now it's about you..

In my case my energy is very limited now so I don't have time for stressful draining people or events.. You come first now- your health is priority.

9) Write down your sensations, triggers, what makes it better what doesn't to keep ttack

Accidentally pressed enter before finishing my post-lol sorry.

10) it'll get better. Remember that smile

Lots of hugs to you all. Good luck on your recovery!

My son smoke weed a month ago and dont feel the same as himself