# Marijuana Induced DR



## chris89 (Sep 16, 2010)

Hi everyone i'm chris, a 21 year old student from the Uk and i've been suffereing from DR for a little over a month, i'm sure you've heard the story a million times before but here we go... about a month ago i was smoking with some friends and i only smoked a few drags off a joint. i'm not a light smoker, i've been smoking heavily for the past year and for some reason from this joint i felt completely bizarre. The room seemed as though it was zoomed out, i got tunnel vision and my hearing went really low. Obviously i completely freaked out which resulted in a massive panic attack, hyperventilation and so on. Anyway it's been a good month now and i'm still getting these horrible feelings, really spaced out dreamlike sensations. before i found out about DR i thought i had a brain tumor or something to that extent, as i just couldn't get my head round why i felt like this. anyway i had a head scan and blood works - all came back negative. so i know it is simply just DR after my doctor said it sounds like anxiety and then after surfing the net i discovered Derealisation and how i could directly relate to what everyone was describing.

The interesting thing is though about 6 months ago a similar thing happened to me, again i had a bad trip again from marijuana pretty much exactly the same thing that happened this time and i freaked out, had a panic attack and then the next day i had DR, although i didnt know it at the time. i ended up going to the doctors and they thought i had labyrinthitis - an inner ear problem which affects balance etc, but i think that was down to the way i had described my symptoms - like a strange dizzy sensation, probably the wrong words to have used but it is difficult to describe as you all will know. anyway i was prescribed prochloparazine and obviously this wouldn't help with my DR - it is used to relieve dizzy symptoms and nausea, but at the time i remember feeling better within a couple of days, obviously it was a placebo effect but i wasn't worrying about the way i felt because i thought the doctor was right and she assured me the feelings will subside in a week. Looking back on it though these were exactly the same feelings i have now and when i went back to the doctors this time round they did a full check on me and told me i had never had labirynthitis after checking my ears.

This time round the feelings were definitely more intense, as it came with snowy vision and definitely more intense dreamy feeling , but i do feel as though i am getting better again, i'm just reassured by the fact i know i've gotten over this once before - even though i didn't know it at the time.

I know the key is definitely distracting yourself from your symptoms and staying positive as i said before i was better within a few days - this time round it's been over a month and i'm starting to wonder if it's made it worse the fact i know it's DR, i know that might sound strange but i now find myself constantly checking if i feel better today etc.

Anyway my question is for anyone out there who has suffered from DR and recovered. What is it that you think made you better and if your DR was caused by marijuana, will you ever smoke up again?

For me this is enough to scare me off smoking it for good. i used to love smoking weed, pretty much everyday i loved it, but i've definitely felt myself getting more and more anxious and paranoid over the last year and i think that is down to the weed. as i say i'm 21 and before this i've never had any problems with anxiety, definitely a more dangerous drug than i initially thought.

Also with DR and alcohol, as i felt myself getting better about a week ago i decided to have a few drinks with friends and then i felt terrible after one and a half beers - really disconnected. is it advisable that i don't drink at all until i feel 100% better ? i start university again in a few days and obviously it's like one big party so i'm gonna be pretty bummed about not drinking but i think going back to uni might get rid of my dr as i will be constantly around friends and doing more things with my time.

Anyway thanks for listening i look forward to hearing from you all.


----------



## Onibla (Nov 9, 2010)

I had a very similar experience. Had a panic on weed, felt DP/DR for about 2 weeks after, didn't think anything of it, didn't spend days obsessing about it and it went away very quickly. 
This time it's lasted longer and been a lot worse because I noticed it and spent 2 months obsessing over it 24/7 and making it worse :/


----------

