Had to stop smoking, and it really sucks... but want to share this with you all...

Hi all,

I’m new here and found this forum because I recently had a bad experience with cannabis that’s forced me to stop using it. Like let’s put it this way, it terrifies me to even think about smoking again but at the same time, I miss the GOOD in smoking. Here is my story….

I have been, for the last 13 years, almost a daily user of cannabis. As we all know, nothing beat the feeling of getting high when at a concert, out with friends, or at a family BBQ where smoking makes everything so much more enjoyable and fun. But a recent bad reaction has me so confused, and kind of scared..to ever go near it again.

We all know, that for some of us smoking makes us paranoid, and I was no exception. It didn’t happen all the time, it just started happening these last couple years. I would also get that bad body high, where my body kind of felt crappy but after about 20 minutes that reaction would go away and I felt fine. About 3 months ago, I was with my GF and we smoked. We then watched a scary movie, ya know one of those movies with demons and crap..and I was fine… after the movie we smoked again and when my head hit the pillow all of a sudden my head started ringing, like the flat line of an EKG machine, but in my head. My GF didn’t think much of it and started to freak me out which made the situation worse..but I was high so I fell asleep. Woke up at 4am, ringing still there, very LOUD I could hear it over a fan on full blast. The next day it was still there…. Next day and the day after..it was still there and it made me panic because my mind was racing. I had this high pitched sound in my head that wouldn’t go away. It drove me insane. All I could hear was this ringing, so loud it was heard over everything around me, I could even hear it driving on the highway with my cars top down!! After 3 days I went to the doc, who did a hearing test and looked at my ears. Everything was normal. The next day I end up going the ER having a panic attack due to the constant ringing in my head. The ER gave me Xanax and it didn’t help, just made me tired. I was panicking, what did the weed do to me? I didn’t know what to do.. I was terrified I had somehow done brain damage from smoking so much. This had never happened to me before in all my years smoking up…

The ONLY thing that made me feel better was going outside at night and hearing all the crickets. The high pitch of crickets masked the sound, and I was able to relax. My father came over and we were sitting out on my deck and I was honest with him, I told him what had happened after I smoked. He is almost 70, old school, never tried weed ONCE in his life…but he was non-judgmental about it…His reply was “You pissed off a nerve in your brain by smoking too much, I got just the thing for you to try. "
My dad then handed me a few .5mg Klonopin pills he uses for times he cannot sleep. He left and I went and took one. Within 20 minutes the sound in my head was almost gone. I was so happy for relief I almost cried, and as a grown man at almost 40 I hadn’t cried in maybe 25 to 30 years. It took a few days on Klonopin to knock it out, but it never went away fully. My mind was racing still. My doctor put me on Buspar 30 MG a day to stop the obsessive thoughts and I’m back to living normally. I still have the sound in my head in the morning sometimes, although it’s very subtle and I usually forget about it within minutes. I bet this sound (tinnitus) was always there, and was somehow brought out via a severe weed induced panic attack.

Why am I telling you all this? Well a few reasons. First off, even though I haven’t gone near weed in 3 months, sometimes I do miss the good times with weed. I loved to smoke when I was out for a night with friends, or at a family BBQ, or just to relax at home. That’s my dilemma, I’m scared to have this reaction again, but don’t want to say I’ll NEVER smoke again in my life. Like I said I generally enjoyed weed and am sad this happened to me. Second, I don’t know a lot about how weed is grown, but maybe there are strains that DON’T induce paranoia?? Not that would run and try it now, but maybe a year from now..

I dunno, like I said it sucks I cant smoke anymore..and wanted to share this experience because its something I needed to talk about with people who use cannabis and understand what im talking about. Part of me says to try again and see if the same thing happens, the other part of me says NO WAY…so im torn..
Thanks for reading…

Hay Iv had similar things, black panic attacks with no end.

I have resisted big pharma drugs, you can get locked into that and they are absolute poison on your body.

Have you thought of going from Recreational pot smoking to some kind of medicinal high CBD pain relief tincture?

What will happen is the Dr's don't care about you and will start flipping different meds on you.

I doubt anything can numb your obsessive thoughts. Nothing can for me but just totally clearing it out healing or fixing the issue or getting over it.

Right now i'm doing a detox Juice with nothing but juice and nothing else (lots of it)

The idea is the nutrients will cause every cell in your body to purge its mucus out and take in the new nutrients.
I can tell you its ~REALLY~ hard, its a mess in the kitchen and takes quite a bit of time and money.

obsessive thoughts and panic sucks because they can change and morf to what ever they want to attack you.

Id really suggest elimination of alcohol, caffeine and all foods for two weeks.
I'm not a juice zellet, but I also bet your insides are filled with mucus and toxins as that can get into your inner ears by the way.

I do this for two weeks to two months from now to January.

Google: juice for panic attacks.
Google: nuts for mental health Pistachios, cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, macadamias. Peppers.

One study they gave people with schizophrenia nuts and vitamin B and they were able to function.

Unless your diagnosed with some serious mental issues get off the drugs from the DR!

Hey thanks for the response...

Yes I did some research on the medicinal high CBD pain relief strands of cannabis, but I live in a state where its not legal yet ( CT ) and those who deal don't offer choices, you just buy what you can buy. I agree with you that the pharma drugs are bad, and right now im only using the Buspar. I started to cut off the Buspar as well because it has its own side effects i dont like...The Klons I have just in case I need them..

Your diet idea is a great one, but like you said its time and money. Neither of which I have right now. I don't eat junk food, fast food, cold cuts and try to buy things that are all natural. Don't drink soda or even much alcohol, mainly tea and water. But you are right, the big pharma drugs are no good and even though they are helping me now I don't plan to stay on them much longer. Im sure I need to detoxify and need to find a way to do it..

I just never had a severe panic attack like that before cause such a bad case of tinnitus after cannabis use. If I could find some cannbis that didn't set me off with panic, something that just relaxed me id def give it a try. But right now with what you can buy on the street, I have no idea whats really in it...

Do you have any degradation in your vision in the past 3 months?
Do your obsessive thoughts have direction or can they just be "OMG your driving to fast"

"OMG I LEFT THE OVEN, Espresso machine, soldering iron, lit cigarette" have to go home and check issues?

Are you worried about a "possible" issue? Because for me the only way is to just solve that possibility one way or the other or I will never be sure and my panics will continue.

Feels like standing over a bridge with "OMG" "___________" Put random issue in the blank space.

Organicpoop said:

Do you have any degradation in your vision in the past 3 months?
Do your obsessive thoughts have direction or can they just be "OMG your driving to fast"

"OMG I LEFT THE OVEN, Espresso machine, soldering iron, lit cigarette" have to go home and check issues?

Are you worried about a "possible" issue? Because for me the only way is to just solve that possibility one way or the other or I will never be sure and my panics will continue.

Feels like standing over a bridge with "OMG" "___________" Put random issue in the blank space.

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Ummm, not really. About a week ago I thought I might need to update my prescription for my glasses but its very minor, nothing I would consider out of the ordinary for a 40 year old. I can see fine with my glasses off enough to drive and do things. I only use my glasses to read, watch TV and anything I want to see clearly.

No I haven't had any of those OMG issues but I will tell you this, im always worried about something in one way or another. I have a very stressful life. im divorced with 2 kids so supporting my children takes at least half my income, and I work a full time job and run my own business to make ends meet. Imagine sitting at your full time job and having your own personal clients calling you needing things that you have to take care of after work. I can be very stressful.. I can work some many long days too 14 to 16 hours..... So its safe to say I do have a high stress lifestyle... its always something it seems. I can never sit back and relax without having to think about money, and I mean money as in how am I gonna repair my furnace or get enough oil to get through the winter, my daughter starts college next year can I afford it, when is the next time my phsyco ex gonna take me back to court for more money...stuff like that...

Im better off than MOST people in the world. I have things like a house and two great kids, a job..things others wish they had..and I know this... but reminding myself of all the good things when im constantly worried about the other things is very difficult..

Sounds more like tinnitus than anything marijuana causes / influences lol. Ringing ears? :X I feel you on the paranoia / anxiety. Whenever I take a break from smoking and come back I get pretty bad anxiety for a while until I get used to it again and my tolerance works its way back up...

ayr0n said:

Sounds more like tinnitus than anything marijuana causes / influences lol. Ringing ears? :X I feel you on the paranoia / anxiety. Whenever I take a break from smoking and come back I get pretty bad anxiety for a while until I get used to it again and my tolerance works its way back up...

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Yeah but, I never had the tinnitus problem before this incident. All I know is that I smoked and within a few minutes, all hell broke lose in my head. The only thing that got rid of the tinnitus was Klonopin, a drug to stop panic and anxiety attacks...so logically, whatever was in the weed, or the reaction I had to it at that time, caused the tinnitus. Normally I wouldn't care, but it was so intense, so loud... I was about to lose my effin mind..

And as for tolerance... I have smoked for over a decade.. why would I all of a sudden start having anxiety and panic now from weed?? makes no sense...

Speakeasy2009 said:

Yeah but, I never had the tinnitus problem before this incident. All I know is that I smoked and within a few minutes, all hell broke lose in my head. The only thing that got rid of the tinnitus was Klonopin, a drug to stop panic and anxiety attacks...so logically, whatever was in the weed, or the reaction I had to it at that time, caused the tinnitus. Normally I wouldn't care, but it was so intense, so loud... I was about to lose my effin mind..

And as for tolerance... I have smoked for over a decade.. why would I all of a sudden start having anxiety and panic now from weed?? makes no sense...

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The thing is weed can amplify problems that already exist, and/or suppress others - if you have this type of thing happen after smoking there's a good chance you already have/had an underlying issue that very well could be worth getting checked out. Anxiety can trigger tinnitus, and ofc marijuana can cause an increase in anxiety - so while MJ might have played a role, I highly doubt it is the 'cause' so to speak. It probably just gave you an early warning of some ailment you had prior to smoking (this time) imo...

ayr0n said:

The thing is weed can amplify problems that already exist, and/or suppress others - if you have this type of thing happen after smoking there's a good chance you already have/had an underlying issue that very well could be worth getting checked out. Anxiety can trigger tinnitus, and ofc marijuana can cause an increase in anxiety - so while MJ might have played a role, I highly doubt it is the 'cause' so to speak. It probably just gave you an early warning of some ailment you had prior to smoking (this time) imo...

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I agree with you 100%. Ive never really experienced real " silence " all my life. I cannot sleep without a fan or white noise machine because of the constant static or ring ive always heard. I did go to the ENT doc, and they told me my hearing was in the normal range and they looked in my ears and said my eardrum was fine and they saw nothing wrong.

I think what happened this one time was a combination of things that set me off. I have a stressful lifestyle and suffer from stress and anxiety, I smoked a lot of weed that night, watched a scary movie and my GF who was high too, started to freak me out when I told her I heard a ringing. She had no idea what was happening to me she was being playful so I don't blame her at all. Once it turned into the situation it did she was very supportive and was there for me..

Thing is..weed will never be out of my life as long as im with my GF, who I don't see going anywhere after 3 years together. My GF suffers from Thyroid disease and weed is a lifesaver for her nausea and pain. So ill always be around it. Will I try it again?? I dunno...part of me wants too...

I mean come on, what fun is playing Grand Theft Auto online sober??

Sounds like you're getting a line of really strong Sativa from your local dealer. If consuming marijuana would be a better way for you to go, I'd suggest growing your own. For around $200 for a setup, you could have a steady supply of herb that wouldn't involve you having to go to a dealers house or to an unfamiliar area.

I'm fortunate enough to know someone who is trustworthy, I don't know who you know. But growing your own could greatly reduce your risk of done smartly and correctly. Having known people who have grown their own and swear by the difference in quality, and actually being able to decide what specific strain you want. Here in the Midwest, many hybrids that are more Sativa dominant are common among "bag weed."

If you haven't already, I'd really encourage you to compare how much you spent on cannabis in the past with how much that cost would be reduced by growing your own. Again, this is all considering if you actually want to consuming marijuana.

I would definitely wait until your life is way less stressful. The more you are worried about smoking again for the first time the more likely you are to have panic issues. Buspar is garbage. Klonipin works wonders but can be very addicting.

Oh shit northrnspark this post was kinna old.

Bro weed or any smoke causes vasocontriction and vasodilation wich constricts the blood vessels and ppl with high blood pressure tend to get that tension and ringing in the ear also blurry vision and extreme paranoia. Also some extreme sweating. Make sure you see your doctor and have him check your blood pressure. Its actually happend to me and it was my blood pressure also the stress i was under. And of all ppl ive should of know it was hypertension.

Tham old treads fuck!

A used to be a heavy smoker as well then one incident happened won't go in to it but spent weekend in the cells asa I got home sparked a j and the paranoia kick in tryed lots of times after that and same thing 5yrs later only just starting to enjoy the stone again just very small amounts but the paranoia has not came back as of yet but what a kick a get from the smallest amount maybe just start from scratch again a no every time one of my mates try's to past me a j a say no still cos they pack them and a don't want to get that para feeling again hope this helps good luck

hellmutt bones said:

Bro weed or any smoke causes vasocontriction and vasodilation wich constricts the blood vessels and ppl with high blood pressure tend to get that tension and ringing in the ear also blurry vision and extreme paranoia. Also some extreme sweating. Make sure you see your doctor and have him check your blood pressure. Its actually happend to me and it was my blood pressure also the stress i was under. And of all ppl ive should of know it was hypertension.

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Just drink some a strong brew of coffee. Caffeine works as a vasodilator at least for your lungs, and most of the time the two pair really well.

I'd say if your blood pressure is going up it is maybe not the best strain or just way too much stress. Remember vasodilators decrease blood pressure. But yeah, if you normally have really high blood pressure like over 120/90 then the herb will have to suffice.