'Flare up' caused by very strong edible? Now smoking weed puts me in psychedelic headspace

[ron_maiden]

Okay so, buddy gives me super strong gummies he made, I get high as fuck, higher than I've ever been on edibles(been smoking and taking edibles for 15 years) and experience what I would describe as mild CEVs(this was three weeks ago) Now, ever since taking this gummy, when I smoke weed it feels as if I'm coming up on an acid or shroom or RC trip (ive always felt this 'anticipation anxiety' when edibles start kicking in but not when smoking), and I begin to have mild but prominent visual disturbances. It is a very not fun, anxiety ridden, depersonalizing experience that ive never even come close to experiencing in the 15 years ive been using cannabis,  but plenty of times when i used to take psychedelics. When I was a teen I took lots of many different psychedelic drugs, particularly 2ci and 25i. I have had and recognized visual snow/static and occasionally very faint and colorless spiral patterns that i remember from a certain bad trip occassionally when I close my eyes. I've always identified these as symptoms of HPPD but its always been so mild that It didn't effect me. And now, for some reason God knows why from taking this edible, smoking any amount of weed causes my HPPD to 'flare up'. Mild CEVs(weird colors and shapes moving around), what I can only describe as 'halfway visuals' where the visual snow really seems to WANT to distort reality, but only just barely ALMOST highlights shapes and patterns that aren't there, and a lingering depersonalization and anxiety.  This scares the shit out of me from the many traumatic trips I endured as a teen. Now, it has been nearly 48 hours since I last smoked, I roasted a huge fat bowl to my self and went to bed, trouble sleeping cuz CEVs, and even when waking up it was still clear that there was some shit going on. Now, nearly at the 48th hour I am still seeing some strange things when I close my eyes and the visual snow I've always had is way more intense. I plan on taking an extended break from weed because this shit has made it an awful, stressful, 12+ hour experience every time i smoke. I suppose theres a chance this is not HPPD, but I am hoping someone can give me some kind of anecdotal advice or has a similar story because I am very much confused, terrified, and distressed by this. It's been 13 years since I've done a psychedelic drug and it feels like I'm going through the paranoia of tripping 'forever' all over again, just from one stupid edible which I am no stranger to taking. I feel a certain amount of depersonalization and tremendous anxiety. While it seems to be fading, the notion that it could linger for months scares the shit out of me. Just from one stupid edible.

[Jay1]

Your body/mind is telling you to stop ingesting weed. It's really that simple. 

[cosmiccharlie]

I agree with Jay.  For me, weed provided what I thought was a lovely oasis for years until it started doing pretty much exactly what you are describing.  It seems for some of us, our past psychedelic drug use eventually comes back to haunt us.  Try to remain calm and take a break from cannabis.  You don't have to shut the door on it completely, that's your decision.  However, I highly recommend getting an accurate cannabis free sense of your baseline symptoms by abstaining for a few weeks.  They may just go away after a few weeks/months.  They may reduce and reach a steady state after a similar amount of time.  It's impossible to know but I think it makes sense to understand where you're at and then adjust life style accordingly.  For me, the prospect of never smoking again was impossible to digest which is why I have never made any such declaration.  I choose to stay sober today because it's what makes my life stable and enjoyable.  This may change down the road and that's okay.  DM me if you'd like to chat more or talk over WhatsApp.  Hang in there, you'll be okay. 

Take Care,

Nick 

[Jay1]

Great post Nick!

[ron_maiden]

8 hours ago, Jay1 said:

Your body/mind is telling you to stop ingesting weed. It's really that simple. 

Trust me friend, I have no desire to continue ingesting the stuff.

[ron_maiden]

6 hours ago, cosmiccharlie said:

I agree with Jay.  For me, weed provided what I thought was a lovely oasis for years until it started doing pretty much exactly what you are describing.  It seems for some of us, our past psychedelic drug use eventually comes back to haunt us.  Try to remain calm and take a break from cannabis.  You don't have to shut the door on it completely, that's your decision.  However, I highly recommend getting an accurate cannabis free sense of your baseline symptoms by abstaining for a few weeks.  They may just go away after a few weeks/months.  They may reduce and reach a steady state after a similar amount of time.  It's impossible to know but I think it makes sense to understand where you're at and then adjust life style accordingly.  For me, the prospect of never smoking again was impossible to digest which is why I have never made any such declaration.  I choose to stay sober today because it's what makes my life stable and enjoyable.  This may change down the road and that's okay.  DM me if you'd like to chat more or talk over WhatsApp.  Hang in there, you'll be okay. 

Take Care,

Nick 

Thank you for such a kind, well thought out reply! I never thought my past psychedelic drug use would come back to haunt me in this way, but it truly seems that the edible has agitated something in my brain and smoking does not help. I'm definitely going to be sober for a long time. I'm afraid to even have a beer or a coffee at this point. While I've definitely been having an 'episode' the past few days, and while it's honestly very hard to say for sure if its really getting less prominent, the visual disturbances have already been seemingly beginning to subside. When I close my eyes I am getting little to none of the strobing/ spiral patterns where as yesterday and the day before they were for more present, but of course it can be very hard to tell. Still plenty of 'visual snow' though. I truly hope this will be over with soon. I've gotten some klonopin from a friend of mine, and I'm hoping that in this instance it will do more than just give me some temporary reprieve and help alleviate some of these symptoms long term, as at the end of the day they're pretty mild but they still invoke some ancient anxieties of mine. A truly peculiar phenomenon stemming from stupid mistakes I made as a teenager. I really can't believe it. I suppose the best course of action just to take deep breaths( I find them to be INCREDIBLY effective in dealing with this), and just reminding myself that its not real, and it can only get better, not worse, as long as i stay sober.

Edited January 25, 2023 by ron_maiden

[cosmiccharlie]

4 hours ago, Jay1 said:

Great post Nick!

Thanks Jay, I hope you're doing well.  

[MDD678]

Well you're not the only one y  

I do a lot relate to how much I relate to your post, same/similar chemical for me as well and weed (had) sadly put me back into that hppd headspace. This is coming from a layperson but it's my POV, I think there are individuals out there who have biochemistries that are a bit more sensitive/vulnerable (probably quite a lot of people honestly) to certain extrogenous drugs. Like taking amphs has a different high from one person to another or that person is sensitive to it; processeses it a certain way, or psychs cause somewhat persistent symptoms when someone else (ignores) the experience moments after it's happened mentally, one person gets anxiety from weed from the get-go another doesn't etc. 

Hoping sure there is a time soon me, u, anyone who has had the same experience (reddit/google shows this) can enjoy weed again without falling into the psych headspace that should have been long and passed years before. 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by MDD678

[ron_maiden]

3 hours ago, MDD678 said:

Well you're not the only one y  

I do a lot relate to how much I relate to your post, same/similar chemical for me as well and weed (had) sadly put me back into that hppd headspace. This is coming from a layperson but it's my POV, I think there are individuals out there who have biochemistries that are a bit more sensitive/vulnerable (probably quite a lot of people honestly) to certain extrogenous drugs. Like taking amphs has a different high from one person to another or that person is sensitive to it; processeses it a certain way, or psychs cause somewhat persistent symptoms when someone else (ignores) the experience moments after it's happened mentally, one person gets anxiety from weed from the get-go another doesn't etc. 

Hoping sure there is a time soon me, u, anyone who has had the same experience (reddit/google shows this) can enjoy weed again without falling into the psych headspace that should have been long and passed years before. 

 

 

My coworker was telling me he's experienced the same shit from a really strong edible years ago,  he couldn't smoke for months. Now a days, he's constantly high, so it seems there's hope. The anxiety  and DP/DR I was feeling  have faded a lot, and the visuals seem less noticeable st the end of day 3. So I'm hoping I got off easy this time... even still.prob gonna stay sober for quite some time 

[SomebodySomewhere]

I'm glad I read this post. I started using weed again for a long time, justifying it by the fact I no longer suffer HPPD symptoms.

I've been in a state of weed-induced psychosis multiple times, one of which nearly lead to some jail time.

Whenever I've smoked weed, it's like I'm tripping again, and not always in a good way.

It's really not worth it.