third day after smoking weed, chills/anxiety/no appetite

I am a 19 year old girl, 5'2" tall and weigh 45kg (99pounds). I have a very low tolerance to weed, i've only smoked about   4 times in my life. My tolerance to alcohol is also low.
I smoked up during the day, about 5 hits which is a lot for me. Straight away I went into a panic and felt very paranoid. However, about 3 hours later the anxiety faded and I went out that night and felt okay but a little slow and didn't speak as much as I do.
The next day, I felt fine. In the evening we decided to go out, and at around 11pm I had one alcoholic drink (vodka and lemonade). Then suddenly I felt like I was going to die. My heart started beating really fast and I felt really hot. A friend stayed with me till 9am the next day and I felt a lot better, and slept during the day. My eyes were still a bit red, I made sure to drink plenty of water every time I woke up from my sleep. I ate around 8pm, and occupied myself with reading till midnight.
Then I decided to sleep. After 15 minutes, my heart started to beat really fast and I felt really anxious - I thought I was going to die. My body felt very hot. My friend came over to keep me company and the feeling slowly faded but I did not feel safe sleeping on my own and she stayed the night.
Today I woke up, still with a headache, feeling slow and eyes a little red. I felt a bit sick and tried to vomit, but only liquid came out. I have no appetite whatsoever. I have had no feelings of anxiety yet (but it is only 7:40pm right now) and have been alone for around 5 hours. My vision is slightly blurred - I dont feel like I am properly here. My body feels extremely hot and I keep getting chills.

I am also on my menstrual cycle right now (if that is relevant). Has this happened to anyone before? I am sure the weed smoked was just weed and nothing else as a group of us smoked it and they are all fine. Any ideas how long this will last?
Thanks

[Pat1956100]

Hi Ritax
My GUESS would be you are suffering from panic attacks brought on by your reaction to the weed.  Once you suffer a bad paranoia and panic attack, it is so easy for them to come on.  They are very scary.  You do seem to have other symptoms that I'm not sure about so I would really suggest that you go and see your doctor and be totally honest with him.
Believe me, they have heard it all before and he or she will respect you for being honest.  
If it happens again try some deep breathing, slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth to calm you down until you can see your doctor.
I could never smoke weed as it made me very paranoid. Stay away from it.

[ritax]

thank you for the reply,

I don't think I can see a doctor as I may be thrown out of my university. Is there anything I could do myself to get rid of the weed in my body fast?

[Pat1956100]

Whatever you tell your doctor is confidential.  Don't be afraid to talk to your doctor. I really don't know what you can do to rid your body of the weed, except drinking plenty of fluids.  You may want to pick up some valerian root for the anxiety.  You can get it at a drug store in the vitamin section.

[dominosarah]

Was your drink always in your possession?

[Butterflyskull]

No weed makes a lot of people feel paranoid, and some people say smoke more & u that feeling will go away but that's not true.  Marijuana is not the same as it was 10/20 years ago it's really not safe.

[Butterflyskull]

& drink a lot of water to clean your system out & exercise & sweat it will help

[Pat1956100]

Good question, detective sara.  I didn't even think of that.

[ritax]

Yes my drink was definitely not spiked.

[Jade59]

Hi honey, I know how you feel as I feel the same right now, and I am here to tell you, it is the weed.  This is a common reaction for many.  You sound like you are on the tail end of your awful experience, you just have to ride it out.  Due to your reaction, you never, ever want to smoke again, EVER.  The weed today is very strong; I see lots of young people on the Anxiety Forum have this happen. Use the Search feature on that forum using the key words: pot, weed or marijuana...and you will see you are not alone.  You will eventually feel just fine and think you can smoke again, but no.  Please trust me on this as I was 'You' a very long time ago.

For now, you want to avoid alcohol and caffeine of any kind in order not to set off another attack.  Pat's suggestion to use Valarian Root is a good one.  I am using it right now to control the racing heart, tension and anxiety.  It works Very Well.  

I wish you the best, and feel very real soon!

[Jade59]

...feel *better* real soon!

[nursegirl6572]

Sounds like textbook panic attacks, which is VERY common when someone smokes weed.   You were extra vulnerable because of your sensitivity to the MJ.  You can browse the anxiety forum, you will find lots and lots of threads where people also experienced panic attacks during/after smoking weed.

The good news is...you didn't harm yourself or do any damage...the bad news is, it can take some time for the residual anxiety to dissipate.  What happens is basically a fear response...you're basically "fearing the fear" at this point...the sensation was so scary, you cannot easily shake it...again very common.

PLEASE avoid ANY and all drugs and alcohol (which also exacerbates anxiety terribly)..and give yourself time.  The BEST thing you can do is try to shrug it off, keep yourself very busy and try to stop yourself from thinking about it.  The more you think about it, the more anxious you will feel and the longer the anxiety will hang around.  

If after a few weeks, you don't feel better, then you may want to consider asking your doctor for a referral to a therapist to start working through some coping mechanisms for anxiety.  The sooner you do that, the better off you will be.

PLEASE, I cannot stress enough...please do not do any more MJ or alcohol, that will trigger another panic attack, without a shadow of a doubt.

Very best to you, hope you get to feeling better soon...stop by the anxiety forum if you need some more info or support.  I would suggest you do some searching and reading there about this.  You will be surprised at how common this is.

[ritax]

Thank you all for your feedback.
I have not had a panic attack since Friday, anxiety levels are lower than they were, and I am feeling a lot better than a few days ago.
However, my body temperature is still very high (fever) and I have a huge headache. Is it safe to take any over the counter medication to combat this?

[Pat1956100]

The fever concerns me.  I don't think it's common with anxiety attacks so maybe you just have a bad flu.  It would be very safe to take tylenol or other over the counter pain meds for the fever and headache.
Again, if it persists, see your doctor.

[nursegirl6572]

A full blown panic attack can cause a low grade fever (99-100), but low to moderate anxiety levels shouldn't cause a fever.  How high is the fever?  You can take tylenol for the fever.  If it persists, you need to see your doctor.  I'm very glad you are feeling better mentally though, that's good news!

[ritax]

I went to see the doctor today, she checked my temperature and it was normal. She checked my oxygen level, heart rate and bloody pressure - all normal.
The only symptom I have now is of slowness, I am able to function and speak normally as I would but I feel like I am not performing to my usual standard. Will this go away? How long will it take?

[Pat1956100]

Hi there and thanks for updating us.
Did you tell your doctor about the weed?  I am so glad you went and got everything checked out.  I am sure you will be back to your usual standards soon.  I think you had a big shock to your system form the anxiety attacks.
Once again if it persists, go back and tell your doctor but I really think you will be okay.  You sound very wise and I am sure you will stay away from weed.

[nursegirl6572]

I TOTALLY agree with Pat.  Severe anxiety is a real insult to our systems.  It may take you some time to REALLY feel like yourself again...just be patient, give it some time, and do whatever you can to NOT think about it.

Something I wanted to mention, related to some of the things you've described.  It sounds like you were experiencing a little bit of "derealization".  That's an anxiety related symptom (also can be drug induced) that is an alteration in a person's perception.  In the case of derealization, that perception has to do with one's surroundings, the environment.  Everything may "look" funny, as if you were in a dream state, or as if you were watching your world like it was a movie.  Your vision seems "off"...your other senses can feel "off" too.  

Another similar, but less common side effect of anxiety (and drugs) is depersonalization.  It's the same thing as DR, only the altered perception has to do with one's self.  Those people will report that they feel they LOOK different, don't feel like themselves, their reflection in the mirror looks very strange, almost foreign to them.  Sounds like you may be experiencing a little bit of DR....based on these statements you made:

"My vision is slightly blurred - I dont feel like I am properly here."

" I am able to function and speak normally as I would but I feel like I am not performing to my usual standard. "


The good news is, DR and DP are completely harmless, they are ONLY perceptions.  The bad news is, that side effect can linger for a while.  Once the anxiety subsides, the DR/DP will as well.  Again, the BEST thing for that is to distract yourself as much as possible and try NOT to think about it.

I'm glad you went to the doctor.  You're on the right track...just give this some time.

[ritax]

Yes I did tell her about the weed, and thank you. I may have some DR I suppose, it only occurs to me when I'm sitting doing absolutely nothing eg) going to the toilet or laying down. But otherwise I am okay.. thank you all so much for your help and advice.