I Think My Body Is Overwhelmed From Too Much Anxiety

[BlackbirdSinging]

I normally get warning signs such as recognising my own bad breath, chest pains... which is about the time I exercise or take some other action to calm myself

I agree and I can feel it that it effects the body. It's so totally exhausting. I feel like I'm burning out. I wish I could take medicine for my depression and anxiety but I can't. Normally I can feel my anxiety getting worse and worse like you were saying. It just hit me suddenly yesterday and when it did it caught me off guard and it scared me.

There has been a lot of talk about how marijuana can be helpful. If that's true I'd be open to using it medically. I've never been drunk or high before and I have no intention of using it to get high. I do think if a doctor could legally prescribe it to me I'd use it just like any other medicine.

I'm really needing help dealing with and maintaining my anxiety. The fun of GAD and PTSD is a little bit too much for me to handle on my own. I do try as hard as I can though.

 

[KwanYingirl]

Can I ask where you read that marijuana is useful for anxiety? Personally, when I was a teenager, I tried all the drugs to self medicate my anxiety. Smoking pot was always a mistake because it quadrupled my anxiety. To the point of paranoia.

 

[JEKBreatheandBelieve]

@KwanYingirl - My therapist told me about marijuana possibly helping anxiety. She told me because I won't try meds. I am not sure why she thought I would try marijuana. I have seen a couple people post about it on here as well.

 

[KwanYingirl]

Hmmmm....I'll defer to the experts. People react in different ways. I hated pot, but as we all know, it's well regarded for medicinal use. I'm probably the exception to the rule.

 

[anthony]

If that's true I'd be open to using it medically.

The medical evidence is actually quite the contrary, in the it heightens anxiety, paranoia and depressive episodes. There is a very small market for medical marijuana that works... and people keep trying to extend that into every realm of health, claiming it works great.

I grew up with a mate who lived on marijuana. If you ask him, its awesome. His life though... is far from awesome. He's constantly struggling to hold a job, is really lazy and makes every excuse under the sun for his inactions for things... so he needs another bong hit to feel better. Again though... ask him, it has no effect on his life and he would never give it up.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

Can I ask where you read that marijuana is useful for anxiety?

I think I'd seen it on the news with everyone talking about legalizing medical marijuana. I've talked to people who've said marijuana helped them to calm down and relax and others who have said it made them paranoid. I'm not sure how it be with me. I just wish there was something I could take to help me. Especially as I work through this.

 

[anthony]

Medical marijuana has a market, no doubt about it, but using on people with depression and anxiety, is not that market. Cancer patients to help them relieve pain, as it interacts with pain receptors in a lesser way than morphine or such, without the addictive and harmful qualities... well, lesser anyway.

People use it to dull mental pain as well. Lots of traumatised persons use marijuana in the belief it dulls their pain. It suppresses it, absolutely, but it's side effects keep you wanting more and more use because unbeknownst to most, it is also the cause of the continual anxiety and pain, thus you use marijuana to keep its own symptoms produced down / under control. Most people eventually use more and more, just like pharmaceuticals, as the benefits wear and you need more to do the same job as your system counters the effects.

When working through trauma, the last thing you want is another substance suppressing feelings. If you can't feel with accuracy, you don't know what exactly to deal with as you work through the process.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

The medical evidence is actually quite the contrary, in the it heightens anxiety, paranoia and depressive episodes.

I've heard that can happen. It's a big reason I haven't asked any of my doctors or therapists about possibly using it medicinally. I definitely don't want to make it worse or harder on myself. It just gets hard knowing that there are many medications out there to help but due to other health issues I can't take them.

 

[anthony]

Its no different than the half arsed information people use about MDMA to manage PTSD. They read only what they want, then perpetuate nonsense for their own purpose. MDMA was modified to remove the harmful aspects, was used in a purely clinical environment, and the purpose was to get a person who wouldn't open up easily to relax in therapy sessions so that the therapist could get at their deepest, darkest secrets, fears and issues in order to help them.

People forget all that, and then perpetuate a need to use MDMA as OK by the professionals for everyday use to treat their PTSD, which just isn't factual.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

I'm so naive about some of the medications and different kinds of therapies that I had to go look up what MDMA was. I can laugh at myself about that because I know it by it's street name.

I think being educated on all of this as you've said is very important. Without the actual facts it can be dangerous. I know for myself I want to learn read and educate myself on options but I don't want to do anything that's going to be counterproductive.

 

[anthony]

I don't want to do anything that's going to be counterproductive

I think the problem though... is none of us want to hinder our progress, but unfortunately you have to try different things in order to find what works for you uniquely, thus you will likely try more things that do nothing for you in order to find the things that help you the most. You will also have to endure symptom spikes in order to deal with your trauma... and whilst that is counter productive, you have to look beyond the short-term effect to the long-term goal. It will always be painful getting through trauma, but the longer term outcome is worth the shorter term counter productiveness of symptom spikes and disruption to ones life.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

You will also have to endure symptom spikes in order to deal with your trauma... and whilst that is counter productive, you have to look beyond the short-term effect to the long-term goal. It will always be painful getting through trauma, but the longer term outcome is worth the shorter term counter productiveness of symptom spikes and disruption to ones life.

I know you're right. And maybe I'm whining but I think I just hate how hard the process is you know? It's not like I went out and made a mistake and these are my consequences. It makes me angry that I was traumatized by other people and now I have all of this to deal with.