Recently I have been put on Paxil and Klonopin for anxiety. I quit Marijuana about a month ago because it seemed to be contributing to my anxiety problem with frequent panic attacks.
As a little background, I never had an anxiety problem until I smoked marijuana/spice for the first time, which was back in April. I always had been an overly anxious person, but the first time I got high I had my first actual panic attack which was extremely intense (I've never had one as intense since). Fast forward to December, I had taken Mushrooms around 5 times, E around 3 times and some very good LSD once. The Mushrooms and E didn't perpetuate my anxiety attacks too much, I had a period between Mid-May - Early-August where I had only a few attacks; and this is the frame of time that I experimented with Mushrooms and E, along with smoking marijuana just about daily.
Come early August, I dropped LSD for the first time, 2 hits, in Vegas. The trip itself wasn't bad, but it was a very powerful experience. I never really felt any euphoria or dysphoria at all during the experience; Rather it was a very "neutral" experience where I just laid in bed and "let it happen." Well, after that experience, a few weeks after, my anxiety levels SKYROCKETED, the attacks had returned and on a regular basis. From August - late November I was having an anxiety attack at-least once every 2 weeks if not once a week. During this time, I still smoked marijuana daily and noticed that it had to a degree some role in perpetuating my anxiety.
December was a horrible month, this was the height of my anxiety problem, I was having an attack almost every other day and it was a self-perpetuating thing, I feared the fear of having another attack and marijuana just seemed to keep perpetuating the problem. On Christmas Eve I decided to quit smoking, hoping that it would solve my anxiety problem.
The first 4 or 5 days after quitting where great, I felt like I was making some great progress and that the anxiety was regressing. However, at the beginning of the second week, I had my first attack in which I was completely sober. This was very, very disheartening because I felt as though maybe what I thought was my problem (the drugs) was not the problem at all, but rather a catalyst to developing the problem. At that point, I convinced myself that I had developed a real problem that needed medical attention; my chest was hurting all the time from the frequent attacks and I feared to leave my apartment of the fear of having another attack.
On the 10th of January I went to the Doctor and was diagnosed with a panic disorder. I told the doctor everything, about the drugs, about how marijuana gave me my first attack, the LSD experience, everything. I feel lucky that I got a doctor that actually chose to listen to me and was very open minded, she didn't lecture me about my drug use, she just listened and took notes while I told her what was going on. After a long talk, she prescribed me Klonopin (Benzo) for the short-term to take when I have an attack and Paxil (SSRI anti-depressant) for the long-term to fix a "chemical imbalance" I had developed. It's been nearly two weeks since I started Paxil and I can start to feel the difference ( although I hear it takes about 3 - 6 to get the full effects ), my anxiety levels have undoubtedly gone down and when I do have an attack I just pop a Klonopin and that does the trick.
Now to my question. Has anyone had any success returning to marijuana after developing an anxiety problem and being treated for it (SSRI/Benzo), without having "the edge" marijuana gives people who do have anxiety disorders? Also, is there any kind of interactions I should worry about with these meds?
I know trying to take E on an SSRI is futile. I also know that you have to take a much larger dose of LSD or Mushrooms to get any effects while on an SSRI, but has anyone had any success here as well?
The more and more I think about it, the more I realize the drugs where not 100% the reason I developed my panic disorder, rather just a catalyst to a problem that would have probably eventually developed later on in my life. I had some great time with marijuana and psychedelics when I didn't have anxiety on them and I don't want to give it all up just yet.
I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and could add some perspective to this.
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