Anxiety And Depression After Long-term Marijuana Use. (Page 1)

I'm 17 years old, i've been smoking marijuana since I was around 14, and I have noticed now since I don't smoke as much that I am extremely paranoid, and stressed when i'm not high. I'm also very irritable, and very defensive if I haven't smoked.. And drinking? Forget about it.. It always ends in me crying,fighting,arguing,or just being extremely depressed.

i have recently quite smoking myself. lunch break, after work, twice before bed. started out as fun then soon relized i was total jerk, without it then came anxiety and some depression. im 28 been smoking since i was 14. it very hard to quite. i would like to say im proud of you for the steps you have taken. alot of peopl say its just marijauna. its more than just that. i had good days and i had bad days. i never really lacked motivation afterwards just desire and did some days not really know who i was. but that was my identity. being out of touch with myself seemed to happen on a regular basis. after a year of not being able to keep a job bc lack of interest. i found i was bipolar. that i had no control over the way i was thinking and acting because of my brain chemistry. i hate medication said i would never take any meds seen to many friends die from accidental overdose. but now im on a mood stabilizer. and everything is totaly diff. it has worked for me i wish you the best keep fighting! live free!

I am 40 years old, I smoked everyday for 12 years about 5 months ago I started tapering off and 3 months ago I totally quit. A month ago I started having severe panic, anxiety and insomnia. My brain raised and I could not stop wondering what was wrong with me. I also had lots of tummy trouble. I went to the doctor thinking I had something horribly wrong with me. Only to come to the conclusion that I was losing my mind. The first doctor perscribed Prozac and Xanax...both addictive. Only made it worse sooooo I got a second opinion. This great PA gave me compazine (anti nausea/anti psychotic med) Scarry right. None the less I started with 2 10mg a day, plus an herbal sleep aid called Alteril. Could not really tell at first, but gradually after about a week I noticed I was sleeping and my anxiety was not so overwhelming that I dreaded leaving my home. Now I only take 1/2 a compazine in the morning, and 1 alteril at night. You can get alteril at CVS. Eventually, I am hopeful that my brain will reset and I will be completely detoxed. I wish I never would have smoked the first joint, but I can't look back...only forward with hope and patients that I will be clean and normal. I hope this helps, it worked for me, and it was not as scary as replacing one daily addiction with another. Good Luck and Gods Peace.

you may have derealization

I was a life long pot abuser and even though I quit a few times, I finally really meant it with every single cell of my body.
Decisions that I made because I was a pothead really put my life at extreme risk and many other 'heads" who quit look back at everything and it's like a tidal wave of being manipulated and big time denial.
The hydroponic stuff regularly has other addicting drugs put into it, and the regular stuff has tons of bug poisons, so the withdrawals can really be severe.
A common factor to all drugs is spiking the blood sugar, which is why you get the munchies, however studies indicate that long term use can lead to hypoglycemia which becomes part of the high and can lead to diabetes in some people.
Thinking that you are treating your anxiety and depression, actually you are creating more chronic anxiety and depression even though you say, "Oh it's JUST paranoia" and with the depression "Oh I am just tired and need more". That cycle leads to regular anxiety and depression syndromes that sometimes have to be dealt with in severe levels after quitting. No fun at all!
If you start young and have emotional problems that you are covering up, then all those problems will come back all at once!
I am not down on anyone, I got stoned at Woodstock with David Peel etc. and I am the one who abused it so severely, but now that I know the real deal which, is now being confirmed by many medical studies, please beware!
The whole original idea of weed being less harmful than whiskey is different now because that was a generation gap thing and the weed is way more potent and dangerous these days.
Weed and demial go hand in hand, so your life decisions can be very flawed as I realized after quitting.
Many heads have gone through similar experiences and believe me, it is no picnic! Since your brain receptors relate so much pleasure activity with weed, for a long time, you feel like you can't enjoy anything at all! Of course most TV seems so stupid after you quit. Man!
So take my word for it, we used to scoff at the long term effects of weed use but I am not laughing anymore!

D,

Good to hear your post man. I quit smoking about two months ago and have been feeling depressed on and off since then. Was wondering too how long it would take for it to stop - if it was weed caused or if the depression was something more permanent that had developed during my weed smoking. So can't say I can give you an answer, only say that I'm looking for the same one as you.

I suppose there's no absolute time threshold. Maybe the fact that you're quitting drinking as well will make this more of a challenge for you.

I dealt with the same thing when I was in college. I was a pot smoker for like 10 years and woke up every morning with a bong hit. I loved those days, problem was that they ended because I started having anxiety attacks and this led to an eventual depression because I never sought help and was not understanding what was happeneing to me. That was a really scary time in my life. I missed smoking pot but every time I smoked it would bring on another panic attack. I eventually started to seek help as I had become so depressed, after many false starts I was given antidepression medications (zoloft) and the results were good after a few months. It was really hard for me to accept taking antidepressents, but I really do feel that they saved my life. I don't regret at all my days of pot smoking, that plant taught me a lot.. I just think it was my body's way of telling me that it had had enough of that substance, then I had to deal with the transition. I was also just graduating from college and was in fact anxiety filled about what to do next, how was I going to measure up to the world, etc. Maybe my body was telling me that I needed to stop smoking for a while and focus on other things, which I did and have had a wonderful life. I'd like to start smoking again, but really don't have time for it now with everything else I enjoy doing. If I can give you any real adivice it is: listen to your body and don't push things too far, talk to people, don;t feel embarrssed about seeking help. People care about others when they are asked to, it's JAH way after all, compassion. You will be surprised at home many people deal with depression and anxiety, it;s pretty normal. Don;t be scared to try antidepression medications, they exist for a reason and it's not like you are going to be on them forever. But if you are so down that you can;t be living normally, get help so you can climb back up. Stages in life pass, don;t forget that. Best of luck to you

I smoked weed on and off for almost 10 years. Starting at age 19 and stopping at age 27. There were long periods where I would make up my mind and not smoke, the longest being 3 years. However, when I was smoking, it was not recreational.

When my career started, and I had less time to sit around for a smoke, I decided to finally quit. It was an easy decision, as it usually was.

I found I could focus better, I woke up on time without the need for an alarm clock. My thoughts would speed through my mind at a terribly fast rate, which was useful when working. However, anxiety and panick appeared out of the blue. The thoughts would race, and suddenly I didn't know how to deal in situations I had been in before.

This was the start of my depression, I lost confidence, I had problems sleeping, stress affected me exponentially. Almost over night I went from smart and capable to confused and freightened. ADHD, stress, depression, anxiety, OCD, I didn't know what it was, and that it could all hit me so quickly. The main symptoms in the begining were:

- bad memory
- confusion
- low confidence
- problems sleeping
- twitches throughout my body
- extremely tired and lethargic
- racing thoughts
- blurry memory
- non existing short term memory
- pinching sensations on my frontal lobe, cortex
- Vivid dreams
- vivid imagination (clear visual flashbacks)
- Heavy eye strain
- constant worrying

I had no idea how to cope, what to do. I took medication for depression but it didn't work. I tried different medications, however the only times where the symptoms stopped was while in prayer with my sister. And this was only for a short 30 minutes. Then it all returned. However, remembering the 30 minutes of normalness reminded me that what I had was a disease rather than withdrawal symptoms.

I still struggle, after 2 years of living with the symptoms (mildly reduced). Now I feel like I just have stress and ADHD with a touch of confusion. I am on medication for ADHD and anxiety which is the only way I can cope at work. I hate the effects of the medication and would love to become normal again. Smoking weed again does not make me feel normal or better, and after trying numerous SSRI's I've given up on them. Alcohol makes my head clear up and more focused and more active, however in combination with the medication I blackout very easily.

Has anyone else gone through this? Does anyone know a cure, or have an answer, or information regarding this disorder? I do not wish it on anyone, and never before when not smoking did I ever get this sort of punishment.

Slamkwon,

I had a similar experience with a similar drug. I used marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms havily for a couple years then rapidly stopped due to bad experiences. I had a lasting form of anxiety and depression that lasted for about a year and a half total. I learned about something called HPPD, or Hallucinogic Persisting Perception Disorder. Instead of anti psychotics I was put on light nerve pills like kolonopin and low doses of xanax. This really helped with my confidence at work and at school and helped me function normally. Just an idea. Everyone is different. Good luck and God bless.

I smoked pot for regularly for nearly 20 yrs. Sometimes when i smoked I felt mild to heavy paranoia..but it would only last for 1-5 min then go away. After it went away I would feel great. Then when effects of pot wore off I would ask myself "why do I smoke if I feel paranoid?" But the answer was always 'there's no need to feel paranoid, it must just be some kind of weakness'. The day after I found out I was going to be a father (abour 1 yr ago) I had my first panic attack (which was horrible, lasted for nearly 30 min. I should also add, I had quite a few bad experiences and life changing events that year...close family member died and my wife had a minor injury in a car accident.) Due to the panic attack,I immediatly stopped smoking weed, since I knew it made me paranoid at times. I didnt smoke for nearly 6 months. Then I started smoking again, a little at first, then back to my normal routine. About 4 months after that I was having a really stressfull period at work and my panic attacks resumed. It really sucked. I actually had to call in sick 1 day due to them. So I quit smoking again. About a month ago I finally went to a behavior medicine Dr, and told him about the attacks (I didnt mention my prior weed use). He recommended excersising regularly, and watching my diet. He asked me if I wanted to go on meds but I told him I would rather try a natural approach. It was really helpful to me seeing the Dr., as I was able to talk about this stuff and I got alot off my chest. Its been 3 weeks now, Im still not smoking pot and Im now excersising 4 days a week. I've felt kinda panicky a few times, but no attacks, just really mild thoughts of anxiety. I feel much more in control of my anxiety. In closing, I didnt see regular excersise (mainly cardio) recommended in this thread as a means of coping, but that really helped me out alot. It sux not being able to smoke anymore (my friends and wife still do)..but it's just not for me...and it's not worth going through panic attacks. Good luck to all. -fin

I am 23 I smoked weed for 3 years my last 2 I was pretty much considered a pot head, I would not go through 1 day without being high every second. Randomly after not having any problems I had a panic attack. I was sitting watching a movie and suddenly couldn't breath and had this horrible scared feeling in my chest. I got up and walked around and it wouldn't go away, it even made me throw up several times and my whole body was shaking. The next day after not really sleeping I decided that I would smoke again and the same thing happened. I ended up going to the hospital but didn't see a doctor because I had calmed down enough from just being in the waiting room.
The next month I had panic attacks all the time, I had weird vivid dreams, shakes and was scared that I was firing or going crazy. My friends were wondering if someone had laced the weed or something but other people had smokes mine and they didn't have any problems. So I went to the walk in clinic a bunch of times, they gave me anxiety meds that I didn't end up taking because I am not into pills as the soultion plus they were suppose to be for short term because they were highly addictive. So I didn't take them. I started experiencing depersonalization, where it feels like the world is not real or like your in a movie, your hands don't even look like yours. I started to think I was crazy and was constantly looking up my symptoms on the Internet. Which sometimes made things better but sometimes I would think I had horrible things like brain tumors, heart problems, or cancer. I paid to talk to a doctor online, he said it was anxiety. Finally I went to see a therapist, she helped me out a
lot, just to have someone to talk to everything about that you don't feel you are dumping your problems on, because I think most of the people in my life were getting sick of hearing me talk about it. Anyway, I quite in July, and saw the therapist in oct, only once, and had blood tests done to rule out diabetes which ran in my family and thyroid problems. I was still having panic attacks bit they were becomeing less frequent. Then in December I only had about 4-5 panic attacks instead of one everyday. I began to think positive since I was starting to feel better, I set goals and kept myself busy, I tried to get out more an connect with people again since my anxiety had prevented me from even going to the movie theatre. After December I didn't have a panic attack, it's now the end of feb. I
almost had one but I was able to talk myself out of it, life is getting back to normal, I just wanted to share my story because a lot of other people helped me three my experience. Best advice, get blood tests, see a therapist, and don't smoke weed again!! The he'll I went through is not worth it.

Have ever heard of proxan? it's a naturopathic remedy against depression. it works but it's natural, you still to get it through your doctor or a naturopath. it takes about 4 weeks to work but it works. take a lot of fish oil and all vitamin b group.
good luck!

It is obvious that continuous smoking marijuana causes anxiety and depression.These are really major problems can easily erase your memory.

No physical symptoms, I think not.
I have/had been a daily pot smoker for 20+ years, and gave up approximately 4 years ago.
I had terrible night sweats, was extremely irritable and moody, but more worryingly had severe headaches at the rear base of my head, which in the end actually caused a Sub Arachnoid Hemorrhage (Brain Bleed in other words), and I spent 2 weeks in Hospital, 3 days of that in intensive care. I continued to have these headaches for the next six to eight weeks after, until I relented and did what my brain was constantly telling me to do, smoke it again, and yes the headaches miraculously disappeared.
This is definitely not the right way to go, but demonstrated to me that the headaches were connected to my pot use, and that it was going to take a lot of courage and will power to give it up again, knowing that I might have another brain bleed, and possibly put my life in jeopardy.
I told Doctors about my long term use, but they just fobbed me off, as if it wasn't an issue, including a neurologist, the were more interested in the fact that I had used "Ice" (Meth) twice previously in the preceding year.
This was the most frustrating part, that no one would listen to me when I told them that I believed the bleed was caused by giving up pot. They just seemed to laugh it off. It was extremely frustrating, I was crying out for help, but their ignorance was the most upsetting part.
It has taken me 4 years to finally have the courage to give it up again, and yes, the headaches are back, but this time I will ride out the storm and hope that I don't experience the same thing again.
I consider myself an intelligent person, but don't ever underestimate the power of the brain, even as I sit here 1 week after quitting again, all my thoughts are related to pot, and wanting to take the easy way out of my pain.
All I can say is, I won't be tempted to go back to it, even though my brain is doing everything in it's power to make me feel as though I need it.
So to the ignoramus who thinks there are no withdrawal symptoms, beware, there are, and they can be devastating, I know all too well.

I have recently decided to quite smoking after five years. I have been feeling systems of depression, headaches, anxiety, and find it harder to fall asleep. I have lost five pounds in one week. All these stories have shown this is normal, but sad. I hope my mind and body can over come these systems but reading through everyones post, I am realizing its going to take some time. Good luck to everyone and thank you for sharing.

I'm a 23 yr old male been smoking weed for about 6yrs but last 4yrs constant everyday a pothead, for the last 1yr I was having anxiaty when I had a smoke but never really knew what it was or what I was feeling but it was happening every time I had a smoke. about 2months ago I was working (didn't smoke of cause at work) I had a huge panic attack out of nowhere very scary stuff, thought it was a heart attack and no one and nothing can help me lucky I worked at a hospital as a storeman went to the ER put me on drip and I relaxed slowly. Since that day I stop smoking weed and ciggerettes and since then I had chest pains and anxiety attacks. Been to the doc he says from stress which it's true like I said for the last year of smoking and anxiety with It I would think why am I smoking weed for and I guess that's the result. My last attack was bout a month ago I'm learning to deal with it, I know and by the other post it's a long road.. Hope you guys recover and all the best these fellings suck

When I was a child I'd known that my father used marijuana and plant it on our backyard. However when I reached the age of 6 he suddenly stopped using and removed all the marijuana plants in our yard. And then he seemed to be so paranoid and soon he and my mom started to quarrel. My mom left with me and then I found out from my aunt that my father was always anxious and soon got a mental disease. I cried a lot when I found out about that, I know that his condition is the effect of the combination of the effect of his withdrawal to marijuana and his emotional problem. I love my dad and its hurts me so much. Thank God at present my father recovered from his anxiety disorder and mental sickness. Thanks to people and of course to God.

im 22 yr old male. I smoked weed heavily, $40 a day minimum for about 6 years. I was always a very confident and outgoing person. About 3 years into my pot career things started to change and by my 6th year i was almost a different person. I was very withdrawn, id lost all confidence, i was definately showing signs of depression and didnt enjoy anything in life. my emotions run ranpid. I quit smoking a month ago and havent seen a radical change yet. Im still relatively in shape (physically) and am back to regular exercise and weights training etc. When i quit i really struggled to sleep for about 2 weeks. I also had severe night sweats and would wake up dripping wet. These have since gone. I still have the most vivid dreams and have noticed they are generally negative ones. I also have vivid flashbacks during the day and my mind can drift off on all tangents should i be day dreaming. I still consider myself rather interlectual. My brain is still there and i dont have a problem using it.My memory doesnt seem to be affected, my job involves me remembering a lot at once and i havent really had a problem with that. I seem to drift between being happy then been down for no reason. I have really low confidence and stuggle to communicate socially. I seem to focuse on all the negatives in life rather then the positives. I have lifes goals and i do belive i will achieve them. I still remember the person i was and i know that i will get that person back. Ive done alot of research and have read all the posts on this forum. I have noticed a particular trend. That being most replys have been from people that have recently quit. I believe this is because the ones that quit a longer time ago no longer feel these feelings/depression etc. It is a slow process however you/i will get there. I have been reading a book called the power of one by anthony robbins. This book preaches the power of the mind and he belives we as humans can trick our subcontious mind into any desired state. For example simply by writing on this website that you are depressed, your subcontious mind will start to feel depressed. What im trying to say is think positive. No what it is your doing, find the postives to it and ONLY focus on them. When you are feeling down hold your head high, breather deeper and force a smile. It wont take long before you will change your state into a positive one. When feeling un-confident or struggling socially, stand up tall, hold your head high, focus on the positves and look who ever your are speaking to in the eyes. Again you can trick your mind into believing anything and with this power depression doesnt really exist. I know all this sounds alot easier then it really is but it works. Try to remember the last time you felt happy, confident, content etc and imitate that period. Even if you dont feel those things pretend you do. It will be hard at first but if you can stick with it you will trick your mind into being that person again. Your body harbours what your mind manifests. In other words however you feel inside, is written all over the outside of you. Forget the past. Forget depression and anxiety. Think about the future and how good its going to be for you and remember it takes time.

hurtby pot
I would like to thank everyone for writing their experiences. So many of your symptoms are exactly what I am going through. I used pot regularly for 29 years. Then a year after I quit I had cancer. A year and a half after that I went back to using it for five more years. Now I have been off of it for five months. I feel terrible. The list of symptoms that slamkwon listed are my experience. To repeat others words, this is hell. I am having very bad anxiety that won't allow me to sleep. I am having uncontrolled thoughts, very bad headaches, tiredness, am very very depressed, difficulty concentrating, difficulty remembering what I just read, focussed on all the negatives in my life, problems with my appetite, and almost everything else that previous people have written on this site. I could not agree any more strongly about the terrble, painful effects of marijuana and its withdrawal. The last time I got off it, it took about a year and a half to feel better. I was in better health back then and younger. I am very worried that these symptoms will not go away. I don't know how I would be able to live with them. I am grateful for this site and all the contributors. To read all your posts have been a help to me.

I was in no way a heavy user. A half quarter would last me 3 months generally--just a pinch hit or two every other day. However I am suffering depression and cravings TWO years later now, as if it was just yesterday that I gave it up. I do not have physical access to any weed or I would absolutely start up again(and no I'm not in prison, I just don't have access to a dealer, nor am I willing to hang out in bars to find one(don't drink/hate drunks)). That may sound ignorant, like I don't realize the dangers, but a) I don't care and just want to feel better and, b) I believe that it must be an issue where the weed was helping me treat existing problems, as I had bad depressions in adolescence. I doubt that I have brain damage because I have to use my noggin career-wise, and it's always been sharp, both before and after weed with no noticeable difference. I've tried antidepressants and there are too many side effects, I don't like them. An unfortunate situation. I couldn't find anything online about this type of circumstance, only polarized pro/anti weed evangelism. So I figured I'd share in case anyone else has this issue. No answer for it, but maybe nice to know that you're not alone.