Suggest Treatment For Pressure In Chest, Headache And Sweating Caused By Marijuana Abuse

Posted on Thu, 11 Feb 2016

Question: I have had marijuana induced panic attacks that became severe six months ago while I was under the influence and I would keep doing it because of my addiction to the drug. I would keep having paranoia and panic attacks from smoking that has left me in a altered state of consciousness and reality thereafter. It started almost 2 years ago when the effects of the Marijuana started to change with my body and made me paranoid and panic. I would think that I am getting a stroke and will die, and lose my mind. Now 6 months sober I have felt ever since that I have lost my mind and something isn't right. I do not know how to snap out of it and what I can do to go back to my normal self. It has caused me to be in a depersonalized/derealized state of mind. I had episodes of sweating everyday, forehead headaches and tightness (almost everyday for the past 7 months), chest tightness, irrational thoughts, stuck in my head constantly in my thoughts, paranoid thoughts and social anxiety, fighting/contradicting myself in my head, a deep detachment from reality, vast randomness in thoughts that got me bothered and stuck in my head. I am in fear of underlying neurological conditions. Please help me, I cannot go on living in this altered reality any longer, it is really taking a toll on my wellbeing and happiness.

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Drug treatment needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Welcome to HCM.
I have gone through your query thoroughly and understand your concerns.

You are experiencing symptoms like irrational thoughts, derealized state, paranoia, anxiety and physical symptoms like sweating and chest tightness etc. even after being sober for 6 months.

Well, marijuana is one such drug of abuse which can cause this altered state of mind even after sobriety.
The clinical picture is usually polymorphic which includes mood, thought and behavioral disturbances.

These symptoms are not pointing towards and neurological disorder.
In my opinion, psychotherapy alone is not sufficient for you.
You need drug treatment.
My drug treatment for a case like yours would to start with an antianxiety drug like paroxetine plus low dose of mood stabilizer antipsychotic like olanzapine and Clonazepam, if needed.

I would suggest you to consult a psychiatrist and discuss about your symptoms and drugs which I suggested.
As these are prescription drugs, you would need a valid prescription for these.

Hope this helps.
Feel free to discuss further for more queries.

Thanks.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar