ED covered in drugs...

Well, I'm sorta figuring out some stuff lately, and I think I have a serious problem. I get panic/anxiety attacks. I smoke pot. The pot generally helps with the panic attacks, as i havnt had one the days i do smoke. Which, btw has become a daily habit. My problem isnt with the pot smoking, i do everything i need to do and i dont let it affect my work or my art or anything... i usually smoke at the end of the day anyways.

The problem is that i think ive been developping an eating disorder over the past while. I think that pot has actually been helping with that. As in i dont eat much, i have wierd habits with how i eat (or approach eating), but when i smoke, i can easily bring myself to eat, even though i still wouldnt classify it as 'normal' eating. So what to do then? apparently smoking is helping with both keeping me eating AND my panic attacks, and I don't feel like smoking interferes with my everyday life. So what then. Does anybody feel like it's a possibility to manage my 'possibly developping' ed by self medicating like that? And please, if you're someone who is insanely against marijuana and do not have an open mind regarding this issue, please try to abstain from telling me that im letting myself get into reefer madness, and consider that everywhere other than the US pot is regarded in an entirely different way...

I'm not really sure where the question lies in there, but if you have comments you feel might help me please go ahead and let me know... Thank you!

Well, If you have a serious ed disorder, a professional should be helping you in your recovery process.  As far a pot is concerned, I to use it for many different reasons.  It helps me relax after a long day, and accually stops me from eating emotionaly as I normaly do.  Watch out for the munchies though. But in all serious, pot helps you open your mind do new ideas, and perceptions, I dont see any reason why that wouldn't pertain to food.  If its being used as a resource to help you have a better relationship with food, that might not be a bad idea.  However, If your relationship food is distorted to the point where you fear calories and gaining weight, marijuana may not provide all of the help that you are seeking, or should be recieving.  I hope this helped.

Forgive me for stating the obvious but when was the last time you saw a doctor and discussed your panic attacks and eating habits with them. I don't think you are going into 'reefer madness'  at all. I smoked alot of weed in my day and I still have many friends who do still. I just choose not to anymore. I don't judge them and I don't judge you.

So lets just lose the weed from the equation completely for a moment.

If you are having panic attacks you should speak to a doctor they can be caused by so many different things ranging from chemical imbalances to anxiety and lack of sleep.

Get to the root of the panic attacks and speak openly with your doctor about your eating habits and perhaps they can offer a course of action to get you back on the road to health and peace of mind.

So many people fear the doctor when they shouldn't some times it just makes sense you know!

I hope you get it worked out though!

I agree with the last poster. It really sounds as though you need to get medical help and possible pyschological help for the panic attacks and eating disorder.

I personally don't care if people smoke pot as long as they do it in their home and don't go out driving!

I don't have a doctor, and I haven't seen one in years, as where I live doctors don't take new patients, so a lot of people are left unchecked. And I don't feel like I'm ready to talk openly about this whole thing with a professional, or simply another person, face to face. Although I know I probably should. I feel like I know better, and that I'm smarter than that, so it's very embarrassing to admit that I'm a small person inside and that I'm scared. I think I just need to prove to myself that I really o have a problem before I can talk to anyone about it, and then I think that the first person I could feel comfortable approaching about it is my boyfriend... Thanks for your take on it though, I will get to considering. I think I'm going to start by putting all my habits, worries and problems onto paper, and then I'll weigh the pros and cons on it... It's very confusing...

first of all, congratulations on taking the first step towards recognizing that your life is not where you'd like it to be.  that's not easy to do, though it's quite amazing because now you put yourself in a position to start changing things. 

with regard to your panic attacks, there are a few well-validated treatments that have a lot of research to support their effectiveness.  for many people, the duration of treatment is relatively short (a few months).  panic attacks occur when your mind becomes overly sensitive to bodily symptoms and interprets the symptoms as a sign that something is wrong, which, in turn, exacerbates the symptoms.  if you reach a point of being open to getting help with the panic attacks, look for a local cognitive behavioral therapist.  just so you know, panic disorder is one of the most common disorders, which is precisely why people have worked so hard to develop effective treatment. 

even more, eating disorders are frequently comorbid with panic attacks and other kinds of anxiety disorders, so you are not alone here!  marijuana does have anxiolytic (anxiety-reducing) properties, but as you mentioned, smoking also has it's own set of costs.  if you are willing to get treatment for the panic disorders, you might notice an overall reduction in your anxiety and therefore you might not be as dependent on the marijuana. 

i think you were saavy to acknowledge that using pot to improve your eating behaviors isn't a lifelong strategy.  confronting longstanding problems IS scary.  Very scary.  so maybe the question to ask yourself is whether you'd be WILLING to be scared if it meant you could have your life back.  would you be willing to feel silly/scared/judged/embarrassed about going to a therapist if it meant you could have a life that wasn't consumed with thoughts about food, eating, calories, and weight?  if you decide to wait until you feel less scared/silly/embarrassed before you seek help, i'm concerned you might stay where you are for quite some time.  emotions can be powerful, but they can't kill you.  really poor eating habits, however, can.  and they can destroy relationships, careers, etc.   CHOOSE to feel uncomfortable for a bit by talking to a professional...because that choice could also give you your life back. 

congrats again on taking such a brave step in recognizing this problem.  thankfully there are resources out there that have been effective at helping people VERY SIMILAR to you to get much, much better. 

Great post Laura. 

I was a chronic pot smoker for over ten years, I gave it up when I moved to England.  I used it because it mellowed me out and helped with my mild anxiety as well.  Although, it gave me the munchies which was a bummer!  Anywho, when I smoked again several months after I quit it was exactly the opposite!  I had a panic attack!  I was totally freaked out and couldn't believe how it made me feel.  I was quite shocked that I didn't get the benefit from it that I once had.  I still have anxiety, I do take Ativan when it gets bad.  I also do yoga which has really helped.  I talk myself out of freaking out when something goes wrong.  It's amazing what our minds can do, we can calm ourselves down given the tools to learn how.

I think writing how you honestly feel and how you handle the anxiety is a great place to start.  Don't hold back and write everything that you are feeling.  About your eating habits, anxiety issues and smoking pot.  You are already being honest with yourself and admitting you have some issues and want to deal with them.  We all have issues!  Learning how to deal with them is the key.

Please keep posting and let us know how you are doing!  

djayde, self-medicating isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you may find over time that the pot isn't as effective as it used to be.  and THC does have a cumulative effect on your brain, so you might want to consider the long-term effects of daily use (it's estimated that THC takes up to 60 days to break down and leave the fatty tissues of your body - including your brain.  that's why people believe there are no physical withdrawl symptoms; you think you're off it when really you're just enjoying the effects of it breaking down over time).

the other posters here are right; finding other ways to deal with your anxiety would be a real benefit.  otherwise, you're just prolonging the problem, you know?

not being able to access a doctor is a problem in a lot of places, including where i live.  you need to be a strong advocate for yourself.  go to a walk in clinic and demand a referral.  keep going back and phoning until you get some action. 

and good luck!

Thanks guys everyone here is extremely nice, and i love the fact that now i feel like theres someone i can talk to. Thanks for the great advice, and I'll let you know how it all moves along... thanks!

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I want to repeat what someone above said, good for you for realizing that you have a problem (or two or three)!  This is the first step towards solving them! 

As for pot, I have past experience and I know many heavy pot users.  Most of them are self-medicating.  Unfortunately, pot is not a cure.  It is only going to make you feel better without getting at the underlying problem which can mutate to rear its ugly head in time despite your self medicating efforts.  Also, pot DOES have very serious side effects.  I have witnessed a couple of good friends stagnate in their lives due to heavy pot smoking.  One lost his short term memory - like the opposite of alzheimers sort of and very sad to see in a relatively young person (this person is now in his early 40s but has been a heavy daily user for his entire adult life).  The other I met in University and he was on the Dean's list for amazing academics - sharp as a needle and straight to the point.  Within one year of trying his first dope, he stopped studying and let himself coast on Bs.  Sure, he finished school and got a good job and is managing fine but WHAT A WASTE of a great mind.  Both of these guys had their ambition in life CRIPPLED completely.  Both suffer from the short term memory loss but have found coping strategies.

Now I am nobody to say that without the pot, things would have been better for them - only god can know what might have been.  However, you have a choice now.  In a year or so, the choice will be gone because for many people, especially those self-medicating, pot use is habit forming (read addictive).  You can always go back to pot later if the other methods don't work.  But you may not be able to choose to get off pot later if you aren't satisfied down the road. 

Good luck in your choices.

im just glad to see that people on this website actually smoke weed. (well not glad, but i thought i was the only one for the past 6 months on here)

Katelyn, you would be surprised by the people who smoke pot.  Doctors, lawyers, financial wizards, engineers, web designers, mechanics, POLICEMEN!  Seriously, almost every walk of life has it's pot smoking crowd.  I'm not just generalizing here, I know someone in each of those careers I listed who smokes pot!

And with that I'll say.....drugs are bad mmm'kay. 

Whether you try to cover your ED problem by smoking pot or volunteering at a homeless shelter, the problem is still the same and should try to be solved.

Consider if one day you didn't have access to pot. What would you do? What would happen? After having pot as a crutch, if it were suddenly taken away, I fear for what might happen. I think you should try to solve the underlying problem of your ED before your pot problem: trying to solve both at once would be more difficult and probably less efficient in the long run.

Also, I think you should tell your boyfriend, or at least one person you really trust. I can tell you that this is going to be hard, and it will really help to have someone redirect you if you wander off the path of recovery or need a shoulder to cry on. Best of luck to you.

muttlover, that presumes that the ED is the underlying problem.  most people in the field agree that it's a symptom, as are the drug use and the anxiety (i'm working on my thesis in this field, so i'm reading every bit of research available).

personally, i don't think that labelling the problem is nearly as important as finding healthy, productive ways of dealing with it.  if volunteering feels good, do more of it; if writing poetry or songs helps, do more of that.

djayde I encourage you to seek assistance with your problems. The poor man's counselor is his friends who listen and advise and research, listen again and often come up with solutions and ideas that do work. A medical professional would be the right way to go in my opinion, but starting with your boyfriend or close friend to talk to would be good. Self medication does work for some people, but the better informed you are as to your choices and solutions, the better you will hopefully be able to deal with your problems whether they be anxiety, depression, eating disorders or some underlying problem. Another possibility is support groups. Just like you weren't aware that many people do smoke pot, there are probably a lot of people even in your area who have similar problems and issues who you are unaware of.

This topic appears to me to be edging towards promotion of an illegal substance which is against the user agreement. Discussion is not against the user agreement, encouraging or promoting an activity that is illegal does violate the agreement. This is from the about.com User Agreement

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Oops... ::tugs at collar uncomfortably and strains neck::  didn't realize I was going against guidelines!

Good insight there, smwhipple.  I was probably being irrational and one-sided due to my frustrations with the medical industry.  I was just saying what works for me, though :P

I can tell you from my personal experience that most of us have had experiences that don't necessarily follow the straightest path or what we would have done had we known then what we know now (does wisdom come from age or experience?).

The more information you have, the better informed your decisions will be.  In this situation, I would definitely talk to close friends and family and get their advice as well as consult a physician or counselor, hopefully one who specializes in anxiety and possibly eating disorders or at least a general physician who can refer you to a specialist.  At least in California, some physicians do prescribe marijuana for some medical conditions.  Some conditions require medication, some can be handled without...the more information you have and the more options you investigate, the better your decisions will be.

the bottom line is that you made a post reaching out for advice. this indicates to me that you realize you're not solving your problems, and that you know you're not managing them in the best way. even if you decided to smoke pot daily for the rest of your life, you wouldn't move past whatever is driving your anxiety and ED in the first place. i would definitely suggest talking to somebody, as nerve-wracking as it seems, because they'll be able to help get you to the point where you don't HAVE to smoke (wouldn't you rather have the freedom to do it because you want to, not because you need it to keep you feeling okay?) 

I'm not going to get on my soapbox and rail against drug use, but consider this.

One of the newer drugs being tested for weight loss blocks the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

marc- what is your statement trying to state? im missing it? that its blocking it for a reason lol?

 

 

im aware of how many people smoke. i was just saying on this site, because it does effect your appetite and i figured people wouldnt smoke for that reason. not that it has ever stopped.