was a heavy marijuana user...

Hello.

First of all, the panic attack may not have been associated with the smoking. But when it does happen, it is normal to believe it could be due to the Marijuana. And if the panic attack was actually a panic attack as per the criteria, it can occur any time.

Marijuana (Cannabis) is not known to produce physical withdrawal symptoms and there is no physical dependence. But there can be a psychological dependence. And the anxiety can be explained. However, the anxiety cannot be an isolated occurrence without accompanying thoughts. You seem to have developed an unhealthy anxiety about your health. This is evident from the fact that you are looking to find out what can be wrong with a hint of obsession.

You may need to take efforts to reduce symptoms of your anxiety. You can take anxiolytic medication with your doctor's prescription. Often that is enough to tide over the withdrawal phase. Counseling is also known to help during the few weeks after cessation of Cannabis use. It is also important to "feel OK" that you have the anxiety. Do not let the secondary anxiety (anxiety about having anxiety) affect your ability to focus on reducing the primary anxiety.

Hope this helps. Take care.

Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD


(This post is for the purpose of providing medical information and is not a substitute for a face-to-face consultation with a doctor. This post is not intended to give or rule out a diagnosis, create a doctor-patient relationship or replace an existing one. I am not able to diagnose medical conditions online. Please consult with your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment options)

Thank You Abhijeet,

This has helped me calm down and rid most of my worry of there being something terribly wrong with my body or mind but just so you know i talked to my doctor and told him how i felt when i had the panic attack and the symptoms were spot on but i have a question you said "And if the panic attack was actually a panic attack as per the criteria, it can occur any time" i know my doctor told me thats what is was but what else could it have been?... Although i forgot to mention in the first message that when i stopped smoking marijuana and tobacco about two days after i have been getting these feelings of vertigo(dizziness) i don't think it is normal vertigo because i haven't really got the head spinning it seems to effect me the most when im moving around ill be walking on flat ground and it feels like in up and down sensation in my head/body any idea's of what this could be? its the last thing thats bothering me most of my anxiety has gone down

Hi.

The reason I mentioned that is panic attacks are known to occur without a warning, and without any particular trigger. This seems to have been one isolated incidence. If your doctor knew about the details of the attack, then you should go with his diagnosis. Usually an acute anxiety episode can also be wrongly called 'panic attack'. Thankfully you don't seem to have got any more attacks after that.

I'm afraid I can't comment mush on the episodes of dizziness. You might have to consult a Neurologist to get a final word on that.

Take care.

Neurologists are experts on this case

I USE TO BE A HEAVY USER ALSO AND I HAVE HAD PANIC ATTACKS ANXIETY THROWN UP COLD HOT AND I ALSO WENT TO THE HOSPITAL AT LEAST 6 TIMES AFTER QUITING COLD TURKEY I USE TO SMOKE BLUNTS ALL DAY EVERYDAY. I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH MY HEART ALSO THEY DID BLOOD TEST AND URINE ALSO EKG CHEST X RAYS AND IM FINE. THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER REASON THAT SO MANY OF US IS HAVIN A HARD TIME QUITTING NOT JUST WHAT THE DR REPLIED IF SO WHY IS IT HAPPENING TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND DIFF STRUCTURES AND DIFF HORMONES AND BLOOD TYPES ETC. SO THERE IS DEF SOMETHING GOING ON WITH THE WEED TODAY AND I THINK THAT SOMEONE SHOULD DO MORE RESEARCH ABOUT IT AND WHAT IS CAUSING US TO HAVE HORRIBLE WITHDRAWLS FROM IT. I HAVE BEEN SOBER NOW 1 MONTH AND A WEEK TODAY. IM NOT ALL THE WAY NORMAL BUT IM GETTIN BETTER LESS TO NO ANXIETY ATTACKS, I CAN SLEEP NOW WITH OUT MEDICATION, I EAT GOOD NOW, DONT THROW UP ETC ETC. I HOPE THIS HELPED A LITTLE TO THOSE WHO ARE GOING THREW IT YOUR NOT ALONE AND IT WILL GET BETTER MOST DEF. IF YOU HAVE TO GET LORAZEPAM FOR AWHILE TO HELP WITH THE ANXIETY GO FOR IT IT DOES HELP BUT WHEN YOU QUIT TAKEN IT U WONT BE ABLE TO SLEEP FOR THE 1ST 3 DAYS SO DONT TAKE IT IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU DONT NEED TO ANYMORE.

Thank you for replying to this i feel the exact same way you do.. its now been 19 days since ive guit smoking and im starting to feel more like myself again im still having little waves of anxiety but they're not nearly as bad as the first 10 days mostly just sweaty palms and an uneasy feeling about everything i was purscribed 1mg lorazepam to help with the anxiety but havent had to take it everyday which im happy about but im just hoping these feelings of anxiety will all subside after another couple weeks because i never really had anxiety issues before this.. i had my medical cannibis card and would only smoke weed from the medical shops i think they are putting something on the weed or it is just the THC levels are so high nowadays

It is interesting that your doctor prescribed an addictive substance (lorazepam) to help you get off of a substance that is not physically addictive.
The Doctor answering this question wrote:
"Marijuana (Cannabis) is not known to produce physical withdrawal symptoms and there is no physical dependence. But there can be a psychological dependence." So you say you were addicted to pot but now you are taking one of the most "watched" drugs prescribed these days. I think that sometimes people want to change their life for the better and it is easy to blame the pot because they did not do what they were supposed to do. Some pot users have issues with apathy. Even NORML doesn't advocate smoking pot 18 hours a day. Pot is not for everyone at every time in their life. If you start smoking pot and you don't do anything with your life maybe it's time to look at your life and underlying issues. I had to withdraw from Tramadol. You can stop pot and the worst thing you will have is the emotional effects of not having your brain carressed by THC. You will not sweat out 12 t-shirts a night and have around the clock diahrea. You will not have hours of restless legs every night the cause you to writhe in pain. You will not feel like your lungs are on fire and that a sumo wrestler is sitting on your chest. You will not a medicinal, metallic taste in your mouth.
Pot can cause panic and paranoia in some people. And some people have mental issues and there is controversy over whether those people will be helped or hurt by it. But, I'm sorry to have to inform you, that happy little legal drug your doc wrote for you can cause you a lot more heartache than an attachment to Chronic. I say this out of concern because the doctors will defend these legal drugs and not tell you how bad pharmaceuticals can be. Look at all the people who never did drugs in their life and then they are given Oxy after a car accident and a year later they are knocking off the pharmacy or raiding the charity to get drugs.

I'm sorry if this sounded a little harsh. I am just concerned that weed gets a lot of the blame for other drugs and that people should really be concerned about what their children can get from their meidcine cabinet. They call it the "gateway drug". So it gets blamed for everything that might happen afterwards with Cocaine, heroin, exstasy, meth. All of these drugs exept for pot were developed by pharmaceutical companies and then when it was discovered how addictive they were the companies dropped them. The least harmful of all of them is pot, and it is the only one that was not invented by a pharmacy. But it caused all the people on meth to lose their teeth and sell their bodies to the night just to get one fix. But the legal pharmacies have no responsibilty for this even though at one time their scientists developed these drugs. As someone who almost died from an adverse reaction to a normal dosage of a legally prescribed medicine I find the lack of repsonsibility of the drug companies appalling, along with their lies and obfuscations.

Hi. I am trying to quit smoking marijuana and I am having the hardest time. I would definatley have to say my anxiety levels have gone way up! To say the least, I cant sleep. having a hard time eating. I am peranoid. Fiesty, it seems like everything turns into an arguement. I am on day 2 of qutting and I would say this has been the worst experience ever. I started smoking about 10 years ago because all my friends did it and it made me feel better about myself. I am now married with 2 kids and I feel worse now then I have ever felt. I have a wonderful husband and 2 perfectly healthy kids. My problem isnt them. Its definately me. I have really low self esteem and I am so jealous. I know my husband loves me and wants to be with me, my problem is that I hate myself, so how can he love me? I think I am fat, my face is ugly, I have bad hair. I wear glasses/contacts. I hope my daughter doesnt feel the same was as me, thats why I need help, soon. So far I am holding strog, but I would do almost anything to smoke right now. I have even turned to "legal weed" to get me high and make me feel better. It used to work, but I have noticed that it isnt working anymore. Its just a waste of money... =/ please help me

u need some professional help NOW, this is not due to your quitting pot. so search out mental health solutions from professional. if u have insurance; simple go to your Dr. who will refer u properly.

Hi. I am trying to quit smoking marijuana and I am having the hardest time. I would definatley have to say my anxiety levels have gone way up! To say the least, I cant sleep. having a hard time eating. I am peranoid. Fiesty, it seems like everything turns into an arguement. I am on day 2 of qutting and I would say this has been the worst experience ever. I started smoking about 10 years ago because all my friends did it and it made me feel better about myself. I am now married with 2 kids and I feel worse now then I have ever felt. I have a wonderful husband and 2 perfectly healthy kids. My problem isnt them. Its definately me. I have really low self esteem and I am so jealous. I know my husband loves me and wants to be with me, my problem is that I hate myself, so how can he love me? I think I am fat, my face is ugly, I have bad hair. I wear glasses/contacts. I hope my daughter doesnt feel the same was as me, thats why I need help, soon. So far I am holding strog, but I would do almost anything to smoke right now. I have even turned to "legal weed" to get me high and make me feel better. It used to work, but I have noticed that it isnt working anymore. Its just a waste of money... =/ please help me

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