Can marijuana cause anxiety when NOT high?

[Lily]

Once I finally got the MFLB a couple of weeks ago, and discovered that vaping was much easier than smoking, I started vaping quite a bit. However I didn't like mixing it with my pain pills I'm currently on so I decided to stop for a while and wait until I was completely off the pain pills before switching to mj.

Ever since, I have had a ton of anxiety and just general irritability and discomfort - even if I take the full dose of the pain medication I was on before I started weaning, meaning it isn't solely wtihdrawals that are responsible. This discomfort seemed to start after I stopped vaping and hasn't gone away. It's been about a week now. Granted, that was at the same time I really started weaning, but you would think if it was solely withdrawals from pain pills, this discomfort would have gone away when I tried a full dose to see if it would help, right?

Have a messed something up in my body somehow by vaping MJ or is this anxiety and discomfort something that is probably not related to the MJ or even withdrawals from pain pills? Any ideas or advice here? I can't stand the way I feel any more. I am so out of it and cranky and depressed and uncomfortable. but nothing seems to make it go away, not even temporarily (I even tried a valium which had zero effect on me.)

 

[Nycdeisel]

Sounds like you are still feeling withdrawal from the pills. Its not uncommon for some hard drugs to have lasting effects for weeks after stopping their use.

Cannabis, being another drug, should be helping you with this feeling of withdrawal, and that may be why when you are not vaping you feel this way.

The best way to prevent this experience in the future is just to completely quit whatever prescription drugs you are taking, unless when you stop using them you will have lasting effects for a while. I dont know how you feel about this, just saying.

edit: plus, if cannabis is the only medicine you take, you feel a more pure effect(just my ). and mixing strains can provide different effects from vaporizing alone, as well as vaporizing at different temperatures

 

[Lily]

Sounds like you are still feeling withdrawal from the pills. Its not uncommon for some hard drugs to have lasting effects for weeks after stopping their use.

Thank you for your reply... Just one question though...

If it was actually withdrawals from the pills, wouldn't I have felt better when I took a full dose to see if it'd help?

 

[Vicki]

I wouldn't recommend just stopping cold turkey, tapering down is safer. Depending on the drug, all kinds of bad things could happen, from seizures to even death. Please be careful.

I am currently taking a very powerful pain medicine because I have two broken feet. (long story, LOL) I just started a taper even though I'm still in a fair amount of pain. I'm decreasing my daily dose gradually until I'm completely off, or down to one capsule a day, altering with an OTC NSAID. I just don't like to take strong pain meds for a long time, especially fairly high daily doses.

 

[stroh]

Sounds like you are still feeling withdrawal from the pills. Its not uncommon for some hard drugs to have lasting effects for weeks after stopping their use.

Thank you for your reply... Just one question though...

If it was actually withdrawals from the pills, wouldn't I have felt better when I took a full dose to see if it'd help?

not necessarily, different pharmaceuticals take different amounts of time to be absorbed into the body, for example anti-depressants like fluoxetine needs to be taken for around a month to start having any effects.

 

[Lily]

I am tapering. I should have mentioned that, and I totally agree, I hope no one ever goes cold turkey off these evil pharmaceuticals. They really are evil. But sometimes a necessary evil.

I figured hydrocodone would be more of an immediate thing than other drugs like prozac, though. At least in terms of relief from withdrawal - at least that's how it always used to work for me (have been through a lot of voluntary withdrawals but broke down a few times) - that is why I am so worried because this time it didn't work that way, and also why I am wondering if it is something other than withdrawal. Hm.

 

[Yippie]

Have a messed something up in my body somehow by vaping MJ or is this anxiety and discomfort something that is probably not related to the MJ or even withdrawals from pain pills? Any ideas or advice here?

You certainly haven't messed anything up physically, just didn't happen. But you do seem to have developed a common acute type of anxiety or panic attacks (common in the psychedelic community). Likely this is from a specific combination of factors that have manifested - drugs + x factors (like stress or trauma) = anxiety. You should taper off what your on now, take care of your health (sleep esp.), and stay sober until things fade out (and they will). In the mean time you could try daily Taurine and/or St. John's Wort, or even something like Relax-All (w/ phenibut) occasionally. Could be gone in a few weeks, couple of months, but I've read it taking longer where individuals made it worse by using the wrong substances.

Good luck!

 

[PhishCactus]

weed definitely causes imbalances in chemicals in some people which can cause weird feelings, typically users get used to these feelings as their tolerance grows and they become more familiar with the drug. it is VERY easy to consciously or subconsciously blame weed for problems that can actually exist or can also be simply created by ones anxiety about using the drug.

most people tell themselves that what ever they are feeling has to be an actual negative side effect because they think that others don't think in the form that they do. for instance, I always thought of myself as a hypochondriac and very worrisome, i convinced myself that weed effected me in negative ways and that it wasn't in my head because no one else had the same problems.

i know this is kind of vague, i can clarify if you would like but i am about to fall asleep

peace!

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

weed definitely causes imbalances in chemicals in some people which can cause weird feelings, typically users get used to these feelings as their tolerance grows and they become more familiar with the drug. it is VERY easy to consciously or subconsciously blame weed for problems that can actually exist or can also be simply created by ones anxiety about using the drug.

most people tell themselves that what ever they are feeling has to be an actual negative side effect because they think that others don't think in the form that they do. for instance, I always thought of myself as a hypochondriac and very worrisome, i convinced myself that weed effected me in negative ways and that it wasn't in my head because no one else had the same problems.

i know this is kind of vague, i can clarify if you would like but i am about to fall asleep

peace!

Eat healthy , dont eat pills... you will get normal in few months.. Do you know that our body dissolves very few of the non-natural substances.. Its made by Nature to use nature... not pills... Pills threat symptoms not diseases ... Anxiety can be produced by weakened liver function which results in weakened overall filtration.. Liver problem comes from pills and bad food.. Pill are so mean chemical compound that our body would never recognize them as a part of itself.. The immune system attacks almost anything that it cannot recognizes.. The immune system is consuming the powers of your body...
and instead of dealing with disease or concentrate power elsewhere.. it will be busy with the pills..
I am telling you.. i don't know how it is in USA.. but here there are growing herbs for all pains and diseases... There is a joke round Sick people use doctors, healthy people use herbs .

 

[steiner666]

definitely get off the pills asap. until you do, it will be impossible to isolate the effects of vaping (or not vaping) or taking pills (or not taking them).

not only that, they're horrible for your body, with an enormous list of side effects and strong addictive nature that will really sneak up on you. I've seen way too many friends, significant-others and family pretty much ruin their lives on pills. long-term prescribed hydrocodone usage in particular has caused a lot of damage to someone i care about, both mentally and physically. and seeing them attempt to get off them is never pleasant, in fact i'd say that vicodin has indirectly caused me more grief in my life than anything else. a lot of ppl think that just because theyre widely and overly prescribed, and handed to you by someone in a fancy white coat, that they're not just as addictive and harmful as any street drug. and usually it seems like, by the time the pain that it was originally prescribed for has subsided, the dependency some ppl can build on it has already gotten to the point where they cant even tell and feel like shit any time they dont have it.
[/rant]

but anyway, I dont know your story or situation with the pain meds in particular, but, whether youre a long time user or recently prescribed them for a legitimate need, definitely do yourself a favor and research the long term side-effects of being on them (the ones that Dr's pretty much never feel the need to go over with you) and seriously weigh them against the benefits of taking them, and go from there in creating a plan too ween off of them.

and, ime, mj will do nothing but help you as you get off the pills, so use it liberally. any time you think about needing pills, do some vaping at as full of a temp range as possible, or fuck it, even smoke if you have to ( yes i said it). of course i definitely suggest vaping only in the long run, im saying maybe hold off on the transition from smoking to vaping until after youre off the pain meds, if thats what it takes. id recommend you look into another vape to add to your LB. an easy to use, convection, AC powered model with better extraction capabilities.

but to your original question, i have heard some ppl claim mj causes anxiety for them while theyre actually stoned (esp with improper balance of thc and other cannabinoids), but cant say that ive heard anyone claim that not being stoned causes it, unless they had a pre-existing tendency toward anxiety problems in the first place.

 

[WatTyler]

I'm sure this is disagreeable to some, but following on from lweins excellent evidence based approach posting in another thread I will spout anyway.

Often there's an almost religious reverence for the herb; it's referred to as some kind of panacea and there's often a refusal to recognise any potential negatives in it's use. It certainly is a powerful herb with many, many positive applications. But there are also potential issues, as with almost any other substance ingested/imbibed/inhaled by humans (including unobtrusive bovine milk, which seems to have been current on FC recently) and these haven't been well researched and aren't fully understood - we're really only scratching the surface with our investigations and make a lot of assumptions, even with food stuffs.

Now, there does exist statistical evidence of some relationship between some mental health issues and cannabis use. Whether that use is causal is unknown (and highly unlikely IME and IMO). It's also been postulated that those who are at increased risk of susceptibility to some of these conditions could have an episode triggered/progressed/worsened by cannabis use. Certainly cannabis changes your mental state, and not everybody's body/mind is well suited to being adulterated AT ALL, even with caffine, alcohol etc. I love indulging in my favorite herb, but I can cope with that fact and accept it's not for everybody. Most of us are on here because we enjoy herb and it generally agrees with our systems. You can look elsewhere and find opinions from people who have used MJ and speak of it as a very negative experience on their life/mind etc. That's their experience, and it's every bit as valid as mine. But I also recognise these people are the tiny, tiny minority of total users, so view it relatively. However, I do think alot of MJ advocates erroneously just ignore or dismiss these personal experiences that disagree with their own.

IMO it's perfectly possible that the OP might not be particularly well suited personally to the higher levels of THC sans other CBNs that are experienced through vaping, and it could lead to increased anxiety levels that wouldn't occur through smoking MJ. I'd have imagined that any actual chemical induced change would be relatively short lived though. But who knows; it's not been well studied compared to other issues, and compared to the diversity of humanity and the range of biochemical responses that could occur in our species (relatively small sampling in studies).

I like a rational approach and I certainly personally wouldn't totally dismiss the potential influence of THC/ vaping and blame all issues on the prescription drugs. That's just agreeable and convenient.

But because cannabis/mental health relationship is such a polemic issue I think the OP is going to struggle to find impartial information. So not much of a helpful answer really

 

[momatik]

There is a good chance your symptoms of anxiety discomfort come from cannabis withdrawal. It's fairly prevalent in tokers who take a break. Are you having trouble sleeping? Strange dreams? Good news is these symptoms generally only last for a short time. And you can do much to counter them by taking a good Omega-3-6-9 supplement (Fish Oil), any cardiovascular exercise like running, any daily multivitamin and tylenol when needed. The tylenol actually helps in more ways than 1. There are a few other things which may help, but I feel confident recommending these 4 things. Here's more info on withdrawal mediation: http://fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=4922

Hope you feel better!

 

[Rico420]

To anyone who is currently tapering off of opiates or plans to in the future, there's many herbs that can help besides cannabis. I do not advise just switching from your pharmaceutical opiates to herbal solutions, but gradually going on to a herbal opiate and reducing your pharmacological opiate intake is a good first step.

I personally have never developed a taste for opiates and never plan too. Only filled one prescription for Vicodin when i was a teenager and was burned on my arms and legs from being a dumbfuck and playing around with flammable gasses in an enclosed space. Lets just say mini mushroom cloud, and lots of singed hair. Learned my lesson real fast.

Anyway, for those who are looking for herbal alternatives, i can attest to the power of Kratom, which contains alkaloids that stimulate certain opiate receptors in the brain. Different receptors than those that traditional opiates act upon, but nonetheless kratom works well for pain imo, and inflammation. The plant interestingly enough contains tryptamine-esque indoles that affect the delta opioid receptor. They also display stimulating affects and sub-psychadelic effects in certain doses. Overall a very useful and interesting plant. Recommended to anyone who has pain issues but does not wish to take or have access to traditional opiates. Kratom also has documented uses of taking heavily dependent addicts of opiates, and on to a relatively safer alternative (kratom). Kratom is unscheduled BTW.

As far as inflammation, another great herb is cats claw. Cats claw contains many interesting anti-inflammatiory alkaloids, some of which are shared with kratom. I use it for gastrointestinal issues i have had all my life, but have only recently found relief with something i am comfortable taking daily.

Usually i mix a small amount of cats claw with a small dose of kratom, and that 2x daily keeps me symptom free, whereas before i had serious cramping and pain in my intestines. Overall, i don't usually feel any opiate-esque affects form this combo, due to the low dose of kratom. BUT it is a good antiinflammatory, better and safer than nsaids imho. Also, kratom in low doses acts as a stimulant similar to caffeine, but subjectively different. I find it can keep me working all day, with much less side affects than caffeine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Opioid_receptor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_claw

and also cordyalis yanhuso is another canidate for opiate replacement or tapering, heres the wiki for its main active constiuent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydropalmatine

 

[jackmormon]

Rico420---I don't like to contradict people online and I mean no disrespect but suggesting Kratom for an opiate detox can lead people into a whole higher level of hell. Many people find themselves addicted to Kratom (especially the extracts) which can be harder to get off of than short acting opiates.

I have extensive personal experience and was able to get off of a 15 year opiate spree that was mostly Methadone and Suboxone which are the hardest opiates to get off due to half life.

Anybody detoxing and experiencing symptoms including anxiety -- there is hope. I would point you to:

ODR
SUBSUX

Subsux has some lengthy discussions about the potential downfalls of Kratom and other "replacements". The best rule of thumb for an opiate detox is to NEVER take an addicting drug to get off of an addicting drug. It pretty much always backfires. This includes Kratom, Methadone, Suboxone, Benzos, etc.

ODR gets preachy about total abstinence but has a lot of good info.

 

[Vicki]

I am tapering. I should have mentioned that, and I totally agree, I hope no one ever goes cold turkey off these evil pharmaceuticals. They really are evil. But sometimes a necessary evil.

I figured hydrocodone would be more of an immediate thing than other drugs like prozac, though. At least in terms of relief from withdrawal - at least that's how it always used to work for me (have been through a lot of voluntary withdrawals but broke down a few times) - that is why I am so worried because this time it didn't work that way, and also why I am wondering if it is something other than withdrawal. Hm.

I'm glad you are tapering, I was a little worried. I also don't care for pharmaceuticals, but I also agree that they are necessary sometimes. Lortab can give you bad withdrawal, depending on how much you are taking, how often, and for how long. I am currently taking Oxycodone, and I really don't care for it, but I am in a lot of pain. I decided to taper down after only a couple weeks of usage because I don't want to gp through bad withdrawals. One capsule every 6 hours is a lot, IMO, so I'm gonna try to use just one capsule a day, altering with Aleve. I'm also going to continue to use cannabis for pain as well.

 

[Rico420]

Rico420---I don't like to contradict people online and I mean no disrespect but suggesting Kratom for an opiate detox can lead people into a whole higher level of hell. Many people find themselves addicted to Kratom (especially the extracts) which can be harder to get off of than short acting opiates.

I have extensive personal experience and was able to get off of a 15 year opiate spree that was mostly Methadone and Suboxone which are the hardest opiates to get off due to half life.

Anybody detoxing and experiencing symptoms including anxiety -- there is hope. I would point you to:

ODR
SUBSUX

Subsux has some lengthy discussions about the potential downfalls of Kratom and other "replacements". The best rule of thumb for an opiate detox is to NEVER take an addicting drug to get off of an addicting drug. It pretty much always backfires. This includes Kratom, Methadone, Suboxone, Benzos, etc.

ODR gets preachy about total abstinence but has a lot of good info.

I understand, i have very little experience with addictions to kratom or opiates. Possibly because i have never abused them. However, that's my personal experience just as that is your personal experience. Perhaps years of abusing opiates have given you different brain chemistry as me, (.e. kratom is more/less effective or different subjectively to you/me) also i am of the opinion that abuse really distorts the affects of any substance, cannabis included.I do think kratom has potential though. Its considered an opiate with a roof, and the same cant be said for many pharmaceuticals. Also, this herb has lots of cultural use in SE asia, with some documented addictive potential, but imo and in the opinions of many online who use this herb, its much less addictive than most pharma opiates. The rule you suggested is one i agree with in any case.

I recommend kratom for the reasons that you do not support big pharma, if fact you are giving them i a big F-U in the same way you can choose to use cannabis instead of other pharmaceuticals. I also recommend it as a replacement for medicinal use of opiates. It works for this purpose, but know its still an opioid antagonist like what you are replacing. Care must be taken as with all drugs to avoid dependance and or addiction. As i have no experience with opiate addiction i will not recommend kratom as an aid to get off of opiates. However, if you register at kratom forums, you can browse there where there is lots of discussion as to the potential for kratom to take you off of opiate habits. Lots of testimonials over there as to that regard.

EDIT: Kind of off topic, but don't let this kind of propaganda sway your use or trial of kratom. This video is sickening and just goes to show many of the problems we have with drugs as a society:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/health/substance-called-kratom-becoming-a-growing-problem-1575630.html

Also, this comes from FL. The prescription abuse capital of the world. Wonder if there's any shifty influences trying to make kratom illegal. cough...pharma...cough

 

[VWFringe]

I have had a ton of anxiety and just general irritability and discomfort - even if I take the full dose of the pain medication I was on before I started weaning

MMJ withdrawl is very similar to opiate withdrawls, according to new medical research, tho it's severity ranges person to person.

In my experience MMJ withdrawl's physical component is like a mosquito buzzing around my head along with aches and pains, but the mental component amplifies and distorts that buzzing until it is intolerable and I am experiencing anxiety, frustration, lack of concentration and irritability. Once I can calm my thinking the physical component seems quite small (for the next five minutes).

if you believe you also are experiencing a blurring of the line between the true extent of the physical component and the mental one, you could try picking a 5-10 second period of time recently where you were made to feel something negative, write down what the emotion was, what you say or heard that started it, and what your thoughts were (just the reactions to the event), then ask if the event caused the emotion or the thoughts. it help's me boil away the physical from the mental component...it does not stop the mental component for very long, but it's a good tool.

I'm guessing you may secretly harbor thoughts about giving up the pills and or giving up the vape, which may be causing the relatively small physical component to seem intolerable. And, that even after dosing with the pills the anxiety level is relatively undiminished. I'm only guessing from my experience with drug related anxiety in the past - getting my drugs didn't make me better if i'd waited too long, not for some time, but it had something to do with how i was holding things in my head and my expectations of how things "should" be.

Hope you're feeling better, or feel better soon!

 

[Sour Deez]

I have had a ton of anxiety and just general irritability and discomfort - even if I take the full dose of the pain medication I was on before I started weaning

MMJ withdrawl is very similar to opiate withdrawls

I wish opiate withdraw was similar to marijuana withdraw. Would of made it alot easier on me. Its not even remotely close IMO.

 

[Frozenhell]

I have had very similar problems. What I have to share is basically pure experience as I have no clue to how these things come together.

First of all this happens for very few people as the chemicals on our brains react differently from person to another. I know a few individuals who has that very same problem (weed, pain medications, anxiety) I've been taking pain medications for 2 weeks now and started to get those horrible anxiety attacks! They reminded me of what happened to me when I smoked pot! And I would rather the pain over those feeling. So I asked the doctor if those pain medications are causing this? She replied NO! good thing i asked a few friends who had smililar reaction to pot as me and found two of them telling me that those pain medications have done the same thing to them!

So I quit them almost cold turkey and guess what? Very next day I've been over those anxiety attacks this is a very recent story. It's been 4 days with no anxiety attacks at all and I feel much better. I know you're situation is different but all what I'm trying to say that there is a strong connection between those things.

Thanks,

 

[Elluzion]

^I feel that Marijuana does have withdrawal. I have TRIED to go on like 10 T-breaks, and have never gone past 3 or 4 days on any of them. I just couldn't do it, and I have enough weed to where I don't have to, but I still can't do it for some reason. I just always want to come back to weed. Although, I have been trying to clear my head and re-ignite my natural passions in life.

 

[djonkoman]

I also get minor withdrawal from weed, but very minor
the only ocassion I really noticed it was when in a vacation I was high every moment I was awake, when I woke up I would wake&bake and then eat breakfast
when the vacation was over and I went back to a regular shedule, I had no appetite for breakfast in the morning
I still had the stomach-ache kind of hunger, but not the other kind of hunger(wanting to eat, thinking of delicious things to eat etc), so eating breakfast became a chore for a short while(I think it only lasted a few days or so)
so now I have a personal rule that I always eat breakfast first before vaping if I want to wake&bake
sometimes I make an exception, but that's rare and never multiple days in a row

also falling asleep takes longer sober but that's just my natural state, before I began smoking it took me also an half hour or so to get asleep, but since I vape daily I've gotten used to falling asleep within minutes