Undiagnosed Possible ptsd from bad drug trip

[mikhayla]

i know this sounds fairly weird, and honestly before this all happened I would have thought this was kind of stupid. I don’t know if this is PTSD, or just some good ol anxiety but I’ll just start from the beginning so maybe I can get some insight. I know that no one here can diagnose me nor tell me for sure what this is, but I need to get it off my chest and have someone possibly tell me I’m not crazy.
To begin, I am on 2 different medications for severe depression. I had just started these while I was hospitalized, for about 2 months or so. I don’t know if these make a difference, but the medications I’m on are 150mg of seroquel xr, and 75mg of Effexor. They had been working decently well and I felt a lot happier. Then I decided to smoke some weed in my house, not out of the ordinary for me but since I had just got out of the hospital it had been awhile. I don’t want to get into details about what happened because it’s triggering to say the least(more on that later). But to summarize I felt as though reality wasn’t real and I had this sense of impending doom and it was honestly hell. I freaked out and would’ve gone through with trying to kill myself(the state I was in I didn’t have control over myself and it felt like everything was leading up to that) had my mom not caught me and calmed me down. After I woke up in the morning I felt completely fine, and convinced myself that it was just a bad batch of weed or something and it wouldn’t happen again. so I smoke some more weed a week or so later. It happens again. I was fine again the morning after, but then a few days later I was watching a movie and something triggered it and I all the sudden felt like it was happening again. After that I was in this constant state of depersonalization and derealizafion. so many things would trigger those feelings again and I would be constantly plagued with intrusive thoughts that were scary and made me question reality. I’m starting to feel a little better, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel normal again if I’m being honest. I hate feeling like this and I’m hoping to start some therapy for it because it’s getting in the way of me enjoying life.
thanks for reading if anyone actually made it through that lmao

 

[Fadeaway]

First of all, that was light reading compared to some other intros. There was no massive wall of text so you are all good. Secondly, that must be very distressing. Third, the criteria for PTSD officially rules out drugs as a cause.

It probably threw your brain chemistry out of wack. I am no Dr. but my guess is you brain needs time re regulate. Do you feel comfortable talking to a psychiatrist about it?

 

[EveHarrington]

Unfortunately one bad trip can change your life forever. Hopefully it’s just a temporary thing for you though. It’s not PTSD, but I suggest seeking out a therapist who can help you cope with the anxiety. :hug:

 

[mikhayla]

First of all, that was light reading compared to some other intros. There was no massive wall of text...

Yeah I think so too, I think I’ll probably heal with some time and therapy. At the current moment I don’t like my psychiatrist and don’t feel comfortable talking to him about pretty much anything especially something involving drugs because I get the vibe that he’s judging me. I am working on getting referred to a new one, hopefully I’ll feel comfortable with the newer one but I’m not 100% certain I will(as I’m not very trusting) but I’m really hoping I do so I could possibly get some answers on the best way to go about recovering from this.

 

[alt]

Sorry you experienced that.

I agree with the others. Your brain chemistry is probably out of wack. When that happens, things aren’t experienced like normally. If you are still on the same medication, you might get better if you change or quit the meds, but obviously not without supervision. Ask for help, is my advice. I hope you’ll feel better really soon, and stay away from drugs until you are stabilized. Or preferably - forever. You obviously are sensitive to chemical changes/influence.

Hug.

 

[mikhayla]

Unfortunately one bad trip can change your life forever. Hopefully it’s just a temporary thing...

Tell me about it haha
I’m also hoping it’s a temporary thing and I can make a full recovery. At the moment I don’t feel as though that is possible but I’m really trying to keep positive. I’m working on getting a therapist and I plan on telling them about this whole thing. I’m hoping they’ll be able to help me and honestly that’s the only hope I’m clinging to so I really hope it works or I’ll be at a loss.

Sorry you experienced that.

I agree with the others. Your brain chemistry is probably out of wack....

I do want to quit these meds to see if that will make a difference but this combo is the only one that’s worked for me so I’m really hesitant to quit them because even if I get rid of these feelings I’ll be left with suicidal ideation and severe depression. I’m definitely going to stay away from drugs now and I have no desire to go back to smoking weed or trying any other drugs because I never want to experience what I experienced ever again if I can help it.

 

[KwanYingirl]

I did a lot of drugs in the 70’s and they didn’t contribute to my PTSD except for the fact that I used drugs to cope with CSA. I’ve certainly had bad trips and I recovered from all that crap. Give it time it will fade. I used acid weekly and I felt horrible after I came down. How I managed to keep up my grades is a mystery and once I moved away from home for college, I never used drugs again.
I was prescribed Seroquel many years ago and I also felt what you describe. The derealization, dysregulation. I couldn’t concentrate on driving or follow directions. I was also taking Effexor and unfortunately, it just made things worse. I was prescribed other atypical antipsychotics and finally, Geodon works for me. I gained a ton of weight on Zyprexa. I stopped the Effexor because it made my depression worse.
I am not a doctor. I’m just sharing my experience to say that if you continue with meds, then they may not be the best if you’re having symptoms. Experts say that acid can cause permanent damage. I think I was just lucky and in the70’s the drugs weren’t as cut with fillers like they are now. Seroquel increased my anxiety. It can take awhile to find the right combo of meds. Try to stay in the moment when you get anxious. I’ve had good results from Reiki and massage. They calm me down. Good luck. It can be scarey getting meds that work. I understand how you feel about talking to the Psychiatrist. They seem to just want to manage meds but don’t have time to actually get to know you. I hope you can find a therapist to help you with your symptoms.

 

[420kitty]

i know this sounds fairly weird, and honestly before this all happened I would have thought this was k...

It sounds as if weed is the primary factor in this equation. I would suggest you quite smoking weed and see how you feel then. You don't say how long ago the mari j interaction was. It sounds a lot like anxiety and some paranoia. Then again, I am no doctor. I'm in thr complete opposite position. I never really smooed weed until I started getting flashbacks from domestic violence. Anyway, lay off the weed. It seems as if it doesn't work well with your brain chemistry. I wouldn't caterogirze it as ptsd.

 

[joeylittle]

Hi @mikhayla - I’m sorry to hear about your experiences, they sound scary.

There’s an exclusion in the PTSD diagnostic criteria specifically aimed at substance-induced events. In other words: medically speaking (according to the current criteria/accepted science), you don’t have PTSD as an after-effect of the marijuana use. None of us are doctors and we can’t diagnose - but the substance exclusion is pretty clearly laid out.

If you are between the ages of 14-21, your chances of having a negative neuro-response to the combination of your psych meds and the MJ are quite high. It decreases somewhat after that, though it’s still quite possible.

I don’t personally have a lot of experience with this, but it happened to one of my siblings. Marijuana is psychoactive, and that alone makes it quite potent. Mix it with other psychoactive drugs, and lots of stuff can start to go wrong. Add in your depression diagnosis, also compounds the risks. Then, there’s whatever might have been added to the weed (I’m curious if both negative experiences sourced from the same dealer or batch)

Therapy always can help. What will matter is also time and good cognitive practices, which hopefully the therapist can help you with.

It’s possible to alter your neurological functions by combining psychoactives. People with mental health issues need to be especially careful, as the consequences can be long-term.

I would very very strongly encourage you to stop your recreational drug use - especially while you are on the seroquel and Effexor, and extra-especially if you are in your teens/early 20s. It’s honestly not worth the risks.

(BTW, I’m not at all anti-drug or anti-recreational drug. Just am familiar with the ways rec. drugs can negatively impact those with certain mental health problems.)

 

[James McGregor]

i know this sounds fairly weird, and honestly before this all happened I would have thought this was k...

As others have said, no not PTSD - sadly it's a harsh lesson, there's a reason why illegal drug use is not a good idea, sadly you've learned the hard way. A good thing to take from it is hopefully you won't do it again

 

[Daniel Grafton]

As others have said, no not PTSD - sadly it's a harsh lesson, there's a reason why illegal drug...

You have no idea how serious and long lasting trauma from a bad drug experience can be. And may I also say that you sound rather smug. It seems to me that any event that is significantly traumatic has the potential to cause PTSD. To say that traumatic drug experiences can't be the cause of PTSD seems arbitrary, illogical and even discriminatory.

I hope your finger wagging has made you feel righteous.

 

[EveHarrington]

You have no idea how serious and long lasting trauma from a bad drug experience can be. And may I also say that...

...but your assumption is that drug use causes the same kind of symptoms in the same kind of way. Why are you making this assumption? Why do you think you know more than PTSD experts? (You don’t). Bad symptoms does not automatically equal PTSD. Trauma can result in MANY MANY MANY disorders, and PTSD is just one of those disorders. Please educate yourself. Why would you want PTSD when there are other disorders that fit better when the trauma is a result of drug use?