Sudden increase in anxiety - after months of vaping?

[Blackfriars]

Hello.

I have been vaping a large variety of flowers for about 18 to 24 months. I use a medium grind and place the flowers in my Mighty vaporizer. Frequently, I could vape three bowls easily.

Recently, though, I have been experiencing a marked increase in anxiety after vaping. The last four or five times have really not been pleasant vaping. Racing thoughts, skittery energy, light sweating, feeling of an marked heart rate increase, etc. Very much a fight or flight response similar to what I recall in May 1992 when cannabis had the same effect on me (in college). I never used again until late 2014.

Today, I vaped a "dash" of Indoor Alien OG. I believe a dash is 0.30806 milliliters when speaking of liquid measurements. No idea on solid ground herb.

A dash is certainly less than 1/8 of a teaspoon. Regardless, despite eating a good breakfast first, I became nervous again after vaping this small amount today. Maybe tomorrow I will try the pinch or smidge.

Some indoor-grown White Widow appears to be producing the same effect in me. Not pleasant. So...

I have ordered an ounce of a 15% CBD / 1% THC strain to try out.

Black peppercorns (I am speaking to you, Neil Young) did not calm me much the other night.

==

EDIT

I am looking at this article now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/33y3a6/for_everyone_who_has_anxiety_when_using_marijuana/

 

[Blackfriars]

See that 'drop' above? I vaped that amount and did some diaphragmatic breathing and listened to some lighter music (The 6ths' Wasps' Nests).

No attack.

 

[KeroZen]

Without sounding alarmist, over the year I've witnessed the exact same symptoms you have, happening over and over for various users of very diverse horizons.

They were all relatively long time users, sometimes heavy users even. And suddenly, there was a "breakdown": the day after they couldn't take it anymore, exactly like you describe. Anxiety, cold sweat, racing heart. As if their body rejected the substance.

In nearly all cases I've seen, the person had to stop completely. Most never looked back. It seems you describe having had the exact same episode a while ago? Maybe the Plant is not for you? Something different in your metabolism? Something with your liver? An underlying mental health condition dormant in you? You should consult a specialist if you want a definitive explanation... or just have a break maybe...

At least lower your dosage and try to stay away from concentrates.

 

[invertedisdead]

I don't know but it happened to me, possibly I was using cannabis in a distracting way and it was surfacing underlying problems I had been pushing aside. Would get some heavy anxiety, and even strong panic attacks, super weird. I was able to push through it, but there is a lot of reports on this online of long term 5+ year users experiencing the same thing. It does seem like most have to quit permanently.

 

[Blackfriars]

Thank you for the anecdotes. I do appreciate them.

I am thinking about things.

 

[Blackfriars]

I have vaped three "drops" above today. Such a very small amount!

One early this morning, one after breakfast, and about an hour ago. The first two were OK, but the third has increased my anxiety. I am not panicking, but I am shaky and have just eaten something. I get warm, then cool off temperature-wise. Better outdoors in fresh air. Feel better after eating. My eyes feel really dry too, which is uncommon.

May be this one seller's strains? I am hoping that is it. Will know I would think once I can vape a tiny bit of the high-CBD strain.

 

[ginolicious]

You may need to take a break for a bit brother.

 

[hibeam]

Sometimes the best medicine is to stop taking something?

 

[psychonaut]

If that white widow was harvested early that explains it. Looks at the trichs under a scope, if they're clear I'd bet that could be part to blame. I seem to remember some WW trim being awful racy and appetite suppressing. The tops were more mellowed. That high CBD will treat you well I'm sure.

 

[Blackfriars]

If that white widow was harvested early that explains it. Looks at the trichs under a scope, if they're clear I'd bet that could be part to blame. I seem to remember some WW trim being awful racy and appetite suppressing. The tops were more mellowed. That high CBD will treat you well I'm sure.

Will look in the AM. :-) I don't think my partner would appreciate my investigation at 2:30 am. Hah.

Here is my understanding of where you are going:

When resin trichomes are near their THC concentration peak, they are translucent since the plant is still producing resin in its trichome glands. At this moment, THC production is at its peak, while CBD levels are still low and stable, and the THC has few sedative effects due to low CBD and CBN levels.

 

[psychonaut]

Clear trichomes are not fully developed and typically give a shorter more intense/racy high. Cloudy trichomes are just about at the peak of potency with proper balance of cannabanoids, amber trichomes are ripe or overripe and give a more sedated high. A good mix of cloudy with a little bit of amber is generally what a grower is looking to harvest.

 

[muunch]

nothing about cannabinoid content though


can't link an entire album but:


https://imgur.com/a/MxtwW

says you're more likely to find CBN in darker colored trichs, but it isn't necessarily due to the THC oxidizing to CBN...

idk, using a strong sativa when prone to anxiety seems like a nightmare to me. I stay away from even my strong hybrids when I'm feeling overanxious

 

[Blackfriars]

As I wrote, I have used stronger sativas repeatedly in moderation in the past. Vaping only.

I vaped one-third bowl in my Mighty of the Ringo's Gift (~15% CBD; ~1% THC) about 30 mins. ago. No anxiety whatsoever. I do feel calmer, I think. I had eaten before too.

I am skipping my coffee in the AM. I have anxiety, but I still maintain the White Widow and Alien OG I bought are off somehow. Hell, even smelling the WW in the glass jar this AM made me a tad queasy.

Will continue to moderate and think about how I use.

 

[C No Ego]

As I wrote, I have used stronger sativas repeatedly in moderation in the past. Vaping only.

I vaped one-third bowl in my Mighty of the Ringo's Gift (~15% CBD; ~1% THC) about 30 mins. ago. No anxiety whatsoever. I do feel calmer, I think. I had eaten before too.

I am skipping my coffee in the AM. I have anxiety, but I still maintain the White Widow and Alien OG I bought are off somehow. Hell, even smelling the WW in the glass jar this AM made me a tad queasy.

Will continue to moderate and think about how I use.

you may be fine tuning your metabolism FAAH to much with thc http://www.bionity.com/en/encyclopedia/FAAH.html . .. over active intracellular calcium etc... here is a few links that if you can follow a diet protocol can help balance out/ Buffer those metabolic reactions... http://themodern.farm/studies/Omega-3 Deficiancy Abolish Endocannabinoid Function.pdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13676/full#references and of course CBD helps balance the way thc acts in your ECS

 

[muunch]

Take some pics of the buds if you can, would be interesting for sure to see.

You've used those strains fine before?

 

[chris 71]

nothing about cannabinoid content though


can't link an entire album but:


https://imgur.com/a/MxtwW

says you're more likely to find CBN in darker colored trichs, but it isn't necessarily due to the THC oxidizing to CBN...

idk, using a strong sativa when prone to anxiety seems like a nightmare to me. I stay away from even my strong hybrids when I'm feeling overanxious

keep in mind sativas can take a very long time to mature and ripen compared to indicas i would bet most sativas are harvested immature .

also i think what im getting from what your link says is , that there can be amber trichomes from the plant ripening and also amber trichomes from aged (old ) possibly browning ? samples . the aged old samples would be higher in cbn form degradation of the original thc , which could be a good thing or possibly not a good thing . more studies will need to be done to know for sure the whole picture .

im my opinion just because the plant may have reached its optimal potential in the amount of thc it will produce . does not translate into the optimal time to harvest .
i think what maybe happening with some producers and in general the whole pot culture . is thinking that the highest numbers in thc , translate to the most sought after buds . they even have the strongest strains vids all over you tube and listed on the internet .
with all the cool kids thinking they want the strongest of the strong and the high thc
this might change as the market matures and people get a better understanding of the effects .

in my mind it makes sense to compare cannabis to other fruits that are produced by plants . if you consume to many unripe straw berries or green bananas or green tomatoes or whatever . your bound to get a stomach ach and maybe diearea lol.

maybe with the obsession over high thc numbers we are missing the full ripeness because to harvest at peak thc levels means to harvest at less then full ripeness in my opinion . could this be a possible reason for some of the anxiety that most of us have experienced after consuming . i think it could possibly be . maybe even the reason for the whole reefer madness stuff ? who knows maybe ...

now this is just my opinion but like i said it makes sense to me . i have had some very strong high thc strains that i believe were fully mature with a nice amount of amber tricomes . and i had a nice experience . i have also had other samples that were more on the under ripen scale and not even as strong in thc numbers and noticed them to be more racy .

also dont forget set and setting . i recently have went through some terrible anxiety issues and still battling . in my case there is another force in play , with a stupid autoimmune disease that im hopefully going to go into remission from . but it plays on hormones levels and can make a person very anxious all by its self .

but the reason i bring it up is because i learned something useful that i wasn't even aware of before . and that is a person with anxiety can make them self worse just by thinking about having an anxiety or panic . attack . it really is a bitch but also amazing what your own mind and thoughts can do to you .

concurring that can be very helpful although very difficult as well .

anyway i did as what you mentioned your waiting to try . i switched to high cbd strains and mixes of thc and cbd . im still up in the air on weather this made a difference or not i have had anxiety attacks after using just cbd strains lol but this may nave been a product of just freaking my self out with mind tricks .

anyway i hope you concur your anxiety issues , OP ,

 

[Blackfriars]

Take some pics of the buds if you can, would be interesting for sure to see.

You've used those strains fine before?

I've vaped plenty of White Widow before, never done Alien OG before, and the Ringo's Gift (high CBD) is also new to me.

I have 22 megapixel photos so let me know if these are not big enough? These are much smaller.

Thank you.

http://ge.tt/1uP7PUn2

 

[chris 71]

not sure if its just me but i cant see any of your pics

 

[muunch]

Same, I can't see anything. Broken links

 

[Blackfriars]

Same, I can't see anything. Broken links

I updated the link with a single ZIP file with three sets of folders inside. Each folder has a different set of pics for each strain.

Thank you.

 

[Kosherbubba]

Hello.



Today, I vaped a "dash" of Indoor Alien OG. I believe a dash is 0.30806 milliliters when speaking of liquid measurements. No idea on solid ground herb.


I have ordered an ounce of a 15% CBD / 1% THC strain to try out.

Any high THC indica or indica dominant strains can cause anxiety after long term use. You are doing the right thing with taking a CBD. CBD counteracts the anxiety feeling from a high THC. Try strains that are more indica dominant and mix them with a high CBD strain. You can also try CBD strains for a while to balance things out.

 

[asdf420]

severe anxiety after quitting lexapro and reducing weed usage. when on weed I was basically sedated but still had anxious sorts of thoughts. can't function with or without

already had anxiety before ever doing weed, but now it's worse than ever and i've lost interest in all my obsessions (I think weed was the last thing I've had "painless motivation" for, ie i could just work on making a stem or something without pushing myself)

It's been easy to tell that alcohol is more anxiolytic for me than weed. with it I can answer phone calls, I can actually talk and sort of explain things.. short term

maybe i'll end up microdosing indicas with cbd. could be difficult to not "overdo" it again on impulse, though. I'm afraid partaking has worsened this anxiety significantly. or maybe it was more the quitting lexapro than the weed
i might combust a small amount of cbd sativa

 

[C No Ego]

severe anxiety after quitting lexapro and reducing weed usage. when on weed I was basically sedated but still had anxious sorts of thoughts. can't function with or without

already had anxiety before ever doing weed, but now it's worse than ever and i've lost interest in all my obsessions (I think weed was the last thing I've had "painless motivation" for, ie i could just work on making a stem or something without pushing myself)

It's been easy to tell that alcohol is more anxiolytic for me than weed. with it I can answer phone calls, I can actually talk and sort of explain things.. short term

maybe i'll end up microdosing indicas with cbd. could be difficult to not "overdo" it again on impulse, though. I'm afraid partaking has worsened this anxiety significantly. or maybe it was more the quitting lexapro than the weed
i might combust a small amount of cbd sativa

look into using whole black peppercorn for your anxiety... just chew on one or two when you feel anxious... no joke... it is the beta caryophyllene that stops seizures... it's a cannabimimetic

 

[Kosherbubba]

maybe i'll end up microdosing indicas with cbd. could be difficult to not "overdo" it again on impulse, though. I'm afraid partaking has worsened this anxiety significantly. or maybe it was more the quitting lexapro than the weed
i might combust a small amount of cbd sativa

You are on the correct path. Definitley use high cbd content to THC. Cbd counteracts the anxiety affects . THC enhances. Any THC strain over 12 percent would not be beneficial for you. CBD actually has been proven to work with patients that have psychosis. So for now stick with Very high cbd strands. Try a cbd strand that is a sativa dominant. Try sativas in the moring and CBD indicas at night. . If that does not work . Stick with CBD indica dominants.

 

[b8man99]

I'm one of those people who had these same anxiety issues a few years back and decided to press on smoking weed regardless and this is what I learned.

CBD weed or 50/50 CBD/THC mixes work wonders when you're getting anxious effects or no longer enjoying your weed. Adding it to your regular weed makes it less likely to be anxious but still can become uncomfortable if you smoke a lot. You can easily find strains/seeds with CBD to grow - it may be more legal where you are than the THC variety.

Taking regular magnesium supplements helps calm general anxiety. For some reason long term smokers notice the benefits of this one the most. They say everyone is deficient anyway so worth looking into.

Taking ashwagandha for 30 days stops/reduces the anxious thoughts and feeling jittery in your skin. It reduces the cortisol so you're less in panic mode. I'd recommend this strongly as it's cheap, natural and with no side effects - plenty of studies and anecdotal evidence online.

If you're having panic attacks you should be aware that pharm benzo-diazapenes like xanax will stop the anxiety instantly. Your doctor can probably prescribe them to you. There are many issues involving dependence, but they do work. Sometimes just stopping the panic can give you time to think and get your life in order.

I don't think cannabis causes the anxiety but it can certainly exacerbate it. There are certainly a lot of people with anxiety issues these days - smokers and non-smokers.