I can even feel it in my chest now and my left arm. Do you think a heart condition could cause this almost pass out like symptoms?
Well, a drug really can't cause a mutation. That's something you're born with. Also, marijuana and benzos are very different in how they affect the brain. Marijuana is not an addictive drug, and really doesn't have the withdrawal effects that antidepressants and addictive drugs have. We can miss it, but it just doesn't do that. Maybe some the newer pot will be found to do that because it's so much stronger than what people have been using for all of human history -- it's not a natural product anymore but a highly bred drug that is quite strong. So maybe they will eventually find the brain having a harder time stopping it than they have so far. Benzos, on the other hand, probably have the worst long-term withdrawal problems of any addictive drug, according to some research done in England. Hard to know, really, with this stuff. My guess is the reason you get panic attacks from taking the drugs as you do is you get physical feelings that mimic the feelings you experience when you do get panic attacks, triggering you to experience one. This is how chronic anxiety works and spreads -- you expect to get one and you do. It can be caused by something as simple as drinking a beer or spinning around too fast on a dance floor. It depends on the person and the nature of the anxiety attacks, but they involve disorientation and so anything that leaves you feeling disoriented might trigger your brain to remember that's how it felt when you had an anxiety attack. Coffee, by the way, is speed, and speed can definitely cause anxiety attacks in chronic anxiety sufferers. Doesn't mean it will, but it can. The important thing is to get treatment for the anxiety problem -- hopefully, therapy can help you and then you won't have to use these meds that are affecting you so badly. As for benzo withdrawal, did you abruptly stop taking them after taking them regularly? Some people get what are called protracted withdrawal, which last longer than what most people get. At any rate, here's hoping you beat this.