Found myself in a pretty terrible place mental health wise for a few years. Every day after work was 20-60mg edibles, a bowl or three, and vaping. I did this with some incredibly toxic people.

I’m back on track with my life now and only smoke occasionally. But now when I get high I just fucking panic. I’m talking one single joint and I’m in full blown stoned panic. It’s not eating junk food and laughing at stupid movies any more. It’s being terrified that everyone hates me and that I’m wasting my life and stressing about climate change the increasingly fascist government. I literally cannot relax when I’m high any more.

Is this a thing that happens? How do I go back to a happy high?

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Iirc Canada did a study and apparently you only get about 12% extraction through smoking. The rest is broken down and forms the carbon particulates that make up smoke. A good vape can maybe get you 80%+.

      Anecdotally, when I dropped smoking in favour of vaping, my consumption halved, meanwhile I was getting more high than ever.

        • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          Hah you just named my two go to vapes. Mighty for normal use, dynavap for when the zombie apocalypse breaks out and there isn’t much electricity.

          But I understand some people like the taste of smoking. Maybe I’m lucky that I tried a really nice vaporiser bong in Amsterdam 20 years ago, early on, so when the portable ones got near to that standard it was already kind of nostalgic.

    • AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.eeOP
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      3 months ago

      I can’t have a vape. I won’t stop hitting it until it’s gone. The smoke at least forces me to stop because it hurts.

  • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    You might be going too hard. You had much more tolerance back in the day. When I was an occasional smoker (like once or twice a year) it only took one or two hits for me to get REALLY messed up.

    Smoking a whole joint might not seem like much to an everyday smoker, but depending on how occasionally you smoke nowadays, it might be WAY too much.

    • AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.eeOP
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      3 months ago

      I have definitely noticed my tolerance is lower. I used to not feel anything after one hit and now I’m buzzed after just one.

      • oldfart@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Then stop smoking at one hit and see if you have fun. If this messes you up, consider not smoking for a while, there are other safe relaxing substances like kava kava for example.

  • deranger@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    Sometimes I get speedy paranoid highs if I harvest a plant too early but letting the weed cure for a few months mellows it out. I don’t really think this is it in your case though.

    To me it sounds like before you were so constantly stoned you didn’t really absorb reality. You were medicated out of your mind. Now you’re in a better place and sometimes that’s more difficult. There’s more emotion to deal with. You’re not just monotone stoned all the time.

    It doesn’t sound like you’re having irrational thoughts, the world we live in legitimately is anxiety inducing. Have you tried meditating or doing whatever it is that lets you be chill with the fucked state things are in? Get high and do something rather than just vegetating. You’re the only one who knows what will do the trick. If you’re feeling like you’re wasting your life… do something worthwhile. Sometimes that’s just something simple like going on a walk and appreciating the beauty around you. Maybe it’s working out a bit. Maybe it’s fixing up the landscape around your house, or starting a garden. You gotta do something though, by the sounds of it. Vegging out will likely exacerbate your condition.

  • CO5MO ✨@midwest.social
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    3 months ago

    I agree w the other posters. Might be a good time to step back from da bud & take some time to assess & address the root cause of those panic attacks. I’m moving on to the next chapter orb my life & find that I needed to do it sober in order to make any type of significant progress. While I miss drinking & drugs every damn day, it’s not really worth it right now. Once I complete that next phase & get to a better place, I’m definitely gonna partake again, but need to learn some restraint first.

    Hope you get it sorted & good luck 🍀

  • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Weed amplifies you’re emotions. If you feel happy, you feel more happy. If you feel anxious about things, you feel even more anxious about them.

    I think maybe because you’ve worked hard to get yourself better you’re anxious that you might be getting worse by smoking again.

      • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Yeah, I reckon until you can address that concern getting high won’t be enjoyable.

  • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    I stopped smoking for years and started again. I’d say that deep introspection is a very early symptom when you get high the first few times. I have a theory that this is why a lot of people don’t like cannabis: They get an honest look at how they actually act and think, and lots don’t like what they see.

  • Dasus@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    But now when I get high I just fucking panic. I’m talking one single joint and I’m in full blown stoned panic

    It sounds like you’re possibly smoking high THC low/none CBD products. Probably at the doses you were used to smoking, but now you don’t have same tolerances.

    The very simplest thing I think could solve that issue is CBD.

    Idk if it really has really any effects on it’s own, but it definitely attenuates THC high. The high then feels more like a “classical” high, still effective, but dulls away those negative panicky feelings.

    https://youtu.be/9MEGGV2WGYo

    That’s a video from like 15-20 years ago, but perfectly demonstrates my point. It’s a BBC reporter doing a story on “Skunk”, which was used as the term for very strong cannabis. It was strengthening around that time to about 20% THC. Now best plants are going somewhere around 30%THC, some even claiming closer to 40% on some plants.

    She gets intravenous cannabis, twice. On one day she gets THC. On the other, THC and CBD (“more like the ‘natural’ makeup of the cannabis plant”). I think you’ll see which is which.

    And probably recognise some of the feelings on the only THC part.

  • BilboBargains@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I had the same problem and ascribed it to the introduction of potent strains of ‘skunk’ weed at the time but I think cannabis in general was becoming toxic to my mental health. I’ve gone through this process with many substances and eventually realised I have an attention deficit which is treatable with stimulants. Lisdexamfetamine and caffeine are the only substances that are sustainable in the long term. Meditation helps too. I feel happy.

  • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    That sounds really rough. I’ve been smoking, used to dab for a while, daily for like 15+ years and I haven’t felt that paranoid feeling since high school. I do struggle with munchies but my eyes never get red anymore so that’s a plus. I think you probably need some therapy (but I think everyone does). It could be related to anxiety - I definitely have issues with some of that. You also can’t force things. You’re emotions are trying to tell you something and you have to try and listen. In my experience, emotions are very tough to sort out when I’m high - still working on that

    It’s worth keeping in mind most people online will usually not have similar experiences to a daily smoker/user. I’ve noticed most people in trees subs have tried weed once or twice, and have typically not smoked daily/regularly. That means their tolerance is typically never impacted. You can still totally take their advice but I’ve always felt it doesn’t apply as much to me or any daily stoner/heavy user I’ve ever known

  • ChadCMulligan@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    I get the same way if my tolerance is too low, anxiety, paranoia, etc

    If I smoke daily for a week or two it goes away and I get my fun/functional highs back

  • Kroxx@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Didn’t see this mentioned, look into type 2 bud which means the ratio of thca:cbda is roughly 1:1 or at the very least the cbd is much higher than type 1.

    There are research studies that confirm that cbd dramatically reduces the side effects of thc, anxiety being a big one. The psychoactive effects will be dulled down but the side effects will be majorly mitigated.

  • beeng@discuss.tchncs.de
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    3 months ago

    I stick to hash now. Much cruisier.

    I thank Ricky from TPB. “You know what happens when you smoke weed (not hash)” (you freak the fuck out)

  • paraphrand@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Consider doing some magnesium supplementation. Look up the different forms it comes in and see what one sounds good for you.