Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder - Is it real?
So, recently, I have began having very bad anxiety attacks rather frequently. I have always had anxiety but it has never, ever, shot to the levels it has recently. My doc seems to think that it is "Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder". I'd never heard of it until he had brought it up. but I have been smoking for multiple years, multiple times a day for the past year or two. Just want to know more on this, as these anxiety attacks are not pleasant in the slightest. I haven't smoked for a couple days now and they are still on going, but I don't want to smoke and induce a panic attack. If anyone has any suggestions it would be very helpful, as this is a very unpleasant thing to go through...
Comments
Yeah it’s “real” but not very common. Check out this article (I have nothing to do with the source). Look for higher CBD strains, stay away from sativas and focus on indicas. also you can supplement CBD via your choice of delivery to lessen the anxiety if it comes on after puffing. Or use it anytime you need it. I got out of shape my first big dab session. The guy I was with said I didn’t look like I was enjoying it. Well I sure wasn’t. Some CBD brought me back to earth. Best way for me is vape puffs. Not a huge fan of concentrates still but I know how to use them now.
h*ttps://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-how-to-combat-cannabis-caused-anxiety-n664
I get itchy posting hot links on dark boards. Cut and paste into a new browser tab and remove the * 👍
See, the problem isn’t the fact of me getting anxiety while I’m high. That hasn’t been an issue for a while now. I’ve somply been told by multiple people that prolonged use of cannabis, especially if beginning at a younger age, can cause schizophrenia &/or “Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder” . I cannot smoke at the moment because my anxiety outside of being high is so bad, THC doesn’t help.
The DSM5 does now list cannabis induced anxiety disorder. Not much info out there on it since there Probably aren’t many studies at all. That article i posted, some of the reader comments talk more about what you’re facing. Seems to me chronic use for some people at least can cause neurochemical depletions (serotonin, dopamine) that may or may not be fully repairable. No single substance in the world is suitable for 100% of the people, as more research is performed we may find some truths us longtime self-medicators won’t want to hear 😕
Sorry, funkynugz, but I disagree.
Increased anxiety is a common side effect of THC overdose, but it is not a disorder. A "disorder" essentially is a set of conditions phrased in such a way that a pharmaceutical or other form of "treatment" can cure or ameliorate it. Most of the time, disorders are defined with good intentions. Like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Before physicians knew how to treat it, it was just a cluster of symptoms. Now that there are treatment plans for it, it's now magically a disorder.
But what is Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder? In a word, bullshit. It has long been known that THC overdose can trigger anxiety attacks, that is solid science and I don't dispute it. But CIAD is something new and extra beyond that. Or rather something old and beyond that, because it's a continuation of the medical myth stretching back at least to the 1700s and probably even further back: that cannabis causes its users to go mentally insane. The specific mental defect is always changing over time: at first, they thought that it was literally the devil possessing cannabis users, then they changed the diagnosis to "violent mania" and then to schizophrenia. Now no one is buying the schizophrenia line anymore, so the pharmaceutical industry is making up this new "disorder" tautologically because no other disorder fits the facts.
So you're partly right: too much THC will very often trigger anxiety attacks, and in fact today's cannabis tends to have more THC and less CBD. So your advice is basically correct. But the idea of cannabis-induced anxiety as a disorder is BS!
Can’t say I disagree with you at all, most of these disorders are bullshit with the one being discussed here one of them. The new DSM, essentially the Bible for shrinks, lists some far out ones. Just more reasons for big pharma to make more money. Still not much for pieman to go by, sadly.
Yeah I noticed that. I started off by saying I disagree, but by the end I was agreeing with you more than disagreeing!
lol, back atcha bro. happy holidays!
Well said medboy...I to get anxiety from some strains of weed that have more thc...they make my heart race like I'm having a anxiety attack. I feel out of place. Now since I'm reading this discussion it seems that the problem is the new age cannabis has higher lvls of thc and I'm sure that's the problem. But my doc does have me take 3 purp xanaxs aday and as long as I got those I'm fine to smoke higher lvl thc cannabis but if I'm out of the xanaxs start tripping in a large crowd of friend and just feel like I need to chillax by myself or with my lovely wife. Anyway my wife can tell you I'm a much better person when I smoke cannabis as to when I take my xanaxs then she says I can be an ass sometime..that rarely happens. Should I try to wing my self off the xanaxs and try to smoke a little more cbd with my higher thc buds? Any input would be greatly appreciated. I just wanted to let medman, medboy, and medmama and the whole crew that yall are rocking this site and dude I really love it. Nvr had a problem with them. Very professional group of folks. Thank you for everything yall do for us out here...
There's a lot of people that seem to get relief using the kinds of strains Medical Jane is selling. Check out the Hempflowers or the CBD Flower sub-Reddit.
@Freebird3815 3 purple xanax a day is a lot. I feel like they may have went overkill with your script. Of course I don't know you personally, so I could be wrong and don't want to judge your individual situation, but 9/10 when prescribed that much, it's in extreme circumstances. When I say extreme, we typically don't even give that much to psych patients when they're having a psychotic episode and trying to take us all out lol. I was once prescribed 3 mg a day as well way before I understood my anxiety disorder or ever studied it years ago. I stopped taking it on my own as it was too much. My Dr at that time also got picked up by the FBI several mths later for overprescribing medications. Now if you absolutely need it, I wouldn't recommend stopping it, but I always recommend anyone get off of benzodiazepams as much as possible. Definetly under the guidance and help of a Dr, because benzo withdrawal is a bitch (excuse my French), can be fatal, or cause seizure disorders if stopped too abruptly. I have a script of Klonopin that I use as needed for my extreme attacks and barely use that now. That's probably your best bet with the xanax too. I've never tried the higher CBD flower, but I do hear it works wonders. Worth a shot!
@Freebird3815 having dealt with benzodiazepine addicition, withdrawal, and subsequent after-effects... i would advise that you start weaning yourself down immediately, but i would also do it very very very slowly.
Read up on the long lasting effects that people have, after coming off benzos (like xanax, valium, ativan, etc) .. this is the part nobody tells you about. most ppl know that if you just stop cold turkey, you are gonna have withdrawals, but not many ppl know that benzos are one of the only drugs that can give you pseudo-withdrawals/after effects for months and even years after you stop , even if you taper down and stop responsibly..
sorry.. definitely not trying to judge ANYONE bc i have been there, but its a fkn nightmare.. not gonna lie. i dealt with anxiety for literally a few years after. i'm probably 6-7 yrs on the other side now and i just barely have stopped getting these random bouts of anxiety. my wife the same way. you can be sitting there and then have a full blown anxiety attack, knowing the whole time there's no external stimuli even causing anything to be anxious or upset about. very weird, but you seem to kinda get used to it.. and it does go away..
anyway. i just wanted to share bc i don't think alot of ppl know this. my benzo of choice was klonopin, and while i dont judge anyone, it makes me sad when i see ppl taking this medicine so freely.. i think klonopin is, somehow, even a little more evil.
anyways! just something to think about. there's always time. as always, consult good Dr's that you trust and who don't have any incentive to sell you pills.. would def. recommend a good starting place is just being aware and thoughtful about it... didn't mean to make this post a novel!! lol
and as always. medicineman has a good solution that will DEFINITELY help.
stay lifted !!!
never read @OneLove post until after i posted mine. . definitely agree with that post also. especially* with high doses. i basically flipped a switch in my head where i have seizures now if i take ANY benzo at all. TWO PEOPLE at my work have died in the past 3 yrs for mysterious deaths/overdoses, even tho they (supposedly) didn't take that much. both involved benzos. (one involved opiate concurrently, the other did not. and just a PSA to stick in here too: benzos + opiate = death. if you're taking this combination like i was and many other people do... you are a ticking time bomb)
for me .. these are quite possibly the most dangerous drugs on the planet, right up there with heroin and methamphetamine, or IV cocaine. just everyone be careful! smoke more, take less!
I won't even take an aspirin anymore. That's how against unnatural pharmaceuticals I am. Just about every problem can be solved without pills.
Something to think about. Almost no drug on the market has been studied for its long term effects. Almost no drug on the market has been studied for taking it in combination with other drugs. That doctors are prescribing 20+ different medications for old people is just plain disgusting.
Taking legal drugs as prescribed kills at least 225,000 Americans every year. Millions more are harmed enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room. It's likely much more than that because doctors protect their own. This doesn't even count abusing prescription drugs or the millions of people that flock to heroin when they can't get their opiates anymore. Think of all the other issues that government cares more about because far fewer people are dying. They won't report this on the news and government will never try to address this medical holocaust. Government and big pharma are working hand in hand to kill people for money and nothing is ever done to fix it or even reduce it at all. These deaths are from drugs that were deemed safe by the FDA.
I would bet that the vast majority of people who die from old age are actually dying from the too many drugs that they've been on for too long.
When I was using benzos there was a site in South Africa that had a menu like MMs but for benzos and PKs. Anyway, I got the idea that I might alternate clonazepam, diezapam, whatever Xanax is...even Oxazepam (which was pink, very cute) and a green one that I don't remember. That experiment didn't work and effectively removed 2-3 years from my memory. Don't recommend it.
Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder? Never heard of this before. It sounds like the time I ate too many edibles... I got higher than I ever thought possible, thought I was going to die, and then fell asleep for 13 hours and woke up feeling amazing. 10/10 would do again
Personally for me the anxiety comes when I neglect things that are causing me trouble instead of trying to explore them and solve them and feel comfortable with them. The anxiety comes when I see them in the corner of my brain but neglect them and but refuse to fully acknowledge them. Im not a "professional" though hehe just a living being.
Some of these so called studies we need to be careful, some are being funded by pharmaceutical and nylon, plastic companies etc. that are worried of being put out of business by the diversity of this plant and like to keep it oppressed for these reasons. Making studies for not the best intentions, but merely to prolong there cash flow and slander the plant.
I was Prescribed Xanax for ten years 1mg 3 times a day from age 18 to 28 for anxiety I finally stoped taking them I weaned myself off over a three month period I still have anxiety but nowhere near as bad as when I was on Xanax I got to where if I went just one day without them my head would start racing and I felt like I was spinning and could hear my heart beat Thought I was going to have a seizure so glad I stopped taking them the worst ten years of my life I would definitely recommend stop taking them very very slowly and not cold turkey but that’s just my opinion hope your anxiety gets better
I only seam to get anxiety when I smoke some fire marijuana but it happens if I haven't smoked in a week or two. I do feel that I need to cut sown on the 3 purp xanaxs I get a day but also I'm taking 140mg methadone a day to. Been at the clinic for 13 yrs now so will probably have to do some kinda impatient detox program because I have a bunch of friends on methadone and they say even after a year of being off methadone they still feel shitty. So I've got along road ahead of me and its not gonna be easy. I really don't have no support group so looks as if I'll have to kick these benzo and methadone on my own. Thanks to everyone that's sent information my way bc I'm always up to listening and trying anything that could work. Thanks!!
@Freebird3815 be careful. The two of those are a dangerous combo to kick, on your own, especially as many years as you’ve been on. You should have a doctors help. Yes it’s a long road but so worth the end game. Trust me, been there, done that. So much better on this side of it. Then you get older and other things start going wrong, lol. Hang in there, it does get better.
@Freebird3815 I was on 150 mg methadone a day for years. Still I'm finally on Subutex. While on methadone i was on xanax but prescribed Klonopin 2mg 3 day. I can't take the meds i need due to doctors not wanting to give even though I have 20 years of prescriptions. So hang in there. My meds helped me so much. Then divorce. Coming off for the 5th time at least but subs helped but I still feel i pay for misery. I wud b sick without but the xanax helped so much. Now they have crippled me. My hands lock up n hurt. Constantly crawling out my skin. Sorry for rambling......just wanted to say I understand. Just make sure ur comfortable. The drive was 1 hour n 10 min away. Wishing you all the best @Freebird3815