# Newbie here...Cannabidiol oil induced DP/DR. Please help!



## Kanu (Jul 22, 2018)

Hi guys, I hope you all are doing well. This is a short summary of my story and I am looking for some insights.

I first experienced DP/DR when I was around 16 years old (I am 40 now). This was caused by my first cannabis cigarette. It was a terrefying experience and the feeling disappeared few hours later. After about 5 years I got stupid and tried cannabis again. The same thing happened. Few years later my gf insisted that we smoke some marijuana and you guessed it! I ended up in the hospital due to a terrifying panic attack caused by DP/DR/racing thoughts/intrusive thoughts/fear of death/insanity. Again, few hours later everything vanished. A month ago, I was reading about possible natural remedies for my condition (Fluoroquinolone syndrome. It has nothing to do with DP/DR). So, I discovered Cannabidiol oil and from what I read it's considered an amazing remedy for many diseases/disorders and it does not make you "high". I bought a bottle from Amazon and started using it right away. One drop sublingually, nothing...Added another after half an hour, zero effect...Added few other drops, and I went to take a shower. BOOOM...DP/DR is here with an insane panic attack and I ended up in a hopital.

The next following days I was feeling nowrmal, but after a week I strated to have DP/DR almost everyday! Since then, I am depressed, anxious, have no motivation and living in a constant unexplained severe fear. I went to a psychiatrist and a neurologist and they both precribed SSRI and benzos. I declined to take them as I still have some optimism for recovery by natural means.

Anybody have an idea about the mechanism by which I was hit? Anybody have a similar story?

Any natural supplements that help? SJW?

Any comment/help will be highly appreciated.


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## Kanu (Jul 22, 2018)

Come one guys, no one?


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## Amina_x (Nov 22, 2014)

Kanu,

I am sorry to hear you are going through this. It does not surprise me that the Cannabidiol oil caused such an effect.

As scary as it is, there are coping skills you can develop if the symptoms are overwhelming.

I think the biggest thing is to develop a support system. Do you see a psychologist/therapist? Do you have family members or friends you can turn to? It's important to have someone who can not only give you advice, but someone to monitor your symptoms and it helps a lot simply having someone you trust to clear your thoughts.

Next thing I would say would be to do things you love. What are you passionate about? What makes you feel connected? What inspires you to keep going? Do these things and you will feel peace. Is there something you and a friend have in common you can do together? Have you ever wanted to try something new but never have?

Last bit of advice would be to try to exercise or try meditation. Personally, exercising isn't really for me but I know many who have had a lot of success with it, and you will hear it from doctors like a broken record. Meditation is also very powerful. If you meditate, (even if you are not stressed at the time your meditating) you are building a mindset which you can turn to when you are panicking.

Also, I want to say, don't be afraid to reach out and be honest about your symptoms. I think you did the right thing going to the hospital. Now, I would say to continue to seek help and start seeing therapist if you aren't already.

Good luck and we're glad to see you here,

- Amina


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## nicewon (Aug 10, 2017)

any trauma in your life before dp or mental illness in your family? maybe it had somthing to do with the anti biotics?

what symptoms do you have if you dont mind me asking?


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## eddy1886 (Oct 11, 2012)

Reduce all levels of stress in your life...

Stress is like candy to DP....

Stay away from ALL drugs and alcohol...Long term they will make things much worse...

You will improve over time...But nobody can tell you when or how....Recovery from DP is alot of trial and error and in some cases requires the help of medication...

Get lots of extra sleep if you can too.....


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## Phantasm (Jul 16, 2017)

I've not tried CBD oil so I don't know what happened there as it's not meant to be psychoactive. It could have been that you were hyper-anxious and alarmed by any changes or sensations you felt.

If you're reluctant to go the med route SJW is good for mild to moderate anxiety and depression. I took it for years but it doesn't agree with me these days.

When I was extremely anxious Spirulina was really good for me, and there's also a supplement often called ZMA, which combines Zinc, Magnesium and vit B6 (magnesium is very good for anxiety). Spirulina contains these too along with plenty of B-vits, so I regularly take both.


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## Kanu (Jul 22, 2018)

Thank you guys for the input.

Amina, thanks for the advice. I exercise regularily and eat healthy even before what happened. I am thinking if I don't recover soon I will see a therapist. I went to psychiatrist who prescribed an SSRI and a benzo but I refused to take them. I am a bit hesitant to start meditation/mindfulness as I am trying to ignore DP/DR and meditating is kind of admitting that I suffer from it. I am going to start learning to play guitar tomorrow and I hope this will help.

Nicewon, Fluuroquinolones (antibiotics) stole about 50% of my health. Since I took them in 2013 I developped thyroid problems (hyper) among many other health problems (doctors seem to think it's all related to my thyroid). Brain-wise, the symptoms that I am leaving with since 2013 are: restlessness, forgetfullness, decreased intellectual abilities, brain fog to name a few. Before taking cannabidiol oil, I was thinking that I was leaving in hell. Now, I wish to go back to that hell. My life is generally stressfull, and I know I have put my brain and adrenals under alot of stress, but the last three weeks I am staying away from stress and I intend to never put my health at risk again.

Eddy1886, you are right. I don't use drugs and I only drink on Saturdays but when drink I go all the way! I noticed the last two times I drank that I wake up feeling much worse dp/dr wise. I noticed that if I don't sleep well the same thing happens. Since my cannibidiol incedent I am stuck in unhedonic state. Nothing gives me pleasure apart from music while drunk! But even so, there's some fear on the back of my mind that I might "lose/forget" myself so to speak. For the symproms, I do not want to describe them in details as I am trying to ignore them, but to give you an idea they are centred around obsessive existensialism thoughts, dissociation from oneself, lack of feelings, consciuosness problems etc.

Phantasm, I went to psychiatrist who prescribed an SSRI and a benzo but I refused to take them. I am even hesitant to take SJW as I am scared to mess with my brain chemistery. My strategy, is to give my brain a chance to recover by totally natural means (food, vitamins, minerals, exercise, rest). If things don't get significantly better this two weeks, I will introduce SJW or other (any suggestions?) herbal product. Give this 2/3 months, if things don't get better I will consider SSRIs and/or benzos. BTW, i am taking lemon balm and mother wort to help me with the restlessness ("apparently" caused by my thyroid even though my blood tests are ok). I don't take any thyroid medication now apart from the occasional propanolol when I feel too agitated. These actually help with my dp/dr as things get worse when I am irritated/restless.

Finally, I would like to say, that since the onset of dp/dr things are getting a bit better and there are some random moments when I feel relief. I don't know how and why they happen but they give me hope. Another thing is that dp/dr for me made me unhedonic and unmotivated and I think that I am officially depressed. I am looking forward to hear guys with SJW experience. Why do you guys think about starting SJW? Is there a risk of making things IRREVERSIBLY worse?

Again, thank you guys for your help and I hope a speedy recovery for all of you.


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## Kanu (Jul 22, 2018)

Phantasm, did you have withdrawal symtoms from SJW when you stopped it? Suppose that SJW works for me and the length of treatment is 6 months to a year. If I stop it will I go back to baseline or its effect is permanent?


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## Amina_x (Nov 22, 2014)

Kanu,

I want to encourage you again to see a therapist. Even if you think you are strong enough to manage your symptoms by yourself, it is always good to have someone on your side who can guide you and inform you on your condition. A therapist can monitor your symptoms so that you have someone who can give you outside input. We can't catch or benefit from everything we deal with by ourselves and seeing a professional will help because they can recognize things you may not be able to. You might think you already know what they're going to say but a good therapist will help you in ways you didn't even imagine was possible. Anyone dealing with mental illness should highly consider therapy because it's a huge contribution to recovery and a happy life.

I think meditation doesn't necessarily have to be done due to needing it for mental illness, meditation is healthy and beneficial to anyone. If it seems like something that you feel you have to approach as being vulnerable, then you may want to re-ajust your approach. You may want to think of it as something you can do to relax, just as you do anything else in your free time. Even the strongest of us can benefit from it. It's possible that meditation will teach you how to face your situation and see it in a light manner. I don't feel like you should feel that you have to have this pre-exsisting sense of your placement in the disorder in order to do it. I think you can simply begin to meditate where you are and see where things go.

I hope that helps and good luck! You are stronger than you think.









- Amina


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## Phantasm (Jul 16, 2017)

Kanu said:


> Phantasm, did you have withdrawal symtoms from SJW when you stopped it? Suppose that SJW works for me and the length of treatment is 6 months to a year. If I stop it will I go back to baseline or its effect is permanent?


No, SJW is gentle and you won't have any withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it.


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