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Something’s not right

waterlover
Casual Contributor

not the same since drug exposure

HI everyone, this is my first post so hoping it goes well.

 

I'm feeling paranoid and anxious constantly and it's getting to the point where I am afraid something will happen to me. I am seeing a new trauma therapist but wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this.

 

A few months ago, I went through an extremely disturbing and traumatic trip off acid. I thought I would never escape it, it seemed as if I was stuck in a loop. Obviously it passed, as all drugs do however since then I have not been the same. I am constantly second-guessing everything, I overthink, I can't relax and I feel as if nothing is different. I feel detached from reality and I don't know if I'll make it to the next day. Its distressing for me and my family and friends are supportive but I can not seem to shake the feeling that something is wrong.

 

Please help, share stories or anything to help me feel grounded and myself again.

 

Thankyou so much

3 REPLIES 3

Re: not the same since drug exposure

Hey waterlover

 

Welcome to the forums!  It's great to see you come on the forums to get help.  I am sorry to learn that you have been experiencing constant paranoia and anxiety and I am glad to know that you have have arranged to see a new trauma therapist.  I hope that our forum members will be able to share their experiences in this regard.

 

As for the experience you have whilst taking acid, I would recommend that you contact Alcohol and Drug Information Services (ADIS) which offer, amongst other things, information nformation, referral and support for anyone seeking help for their own or another person's alcohol or drug use.  The contact detail for ADIS in WA is 08 9442 5000 (Metro) / 1800 198 024 (Country) and you make look up the number for other states.


You may wish to take a look at the following website:

 

Lives of Substance - www.livesofsubstance.org/

One of the aims of this website is to inform the public by sharing personal stories of these experiences with drug habits.

 

Your post is great but just thought it helpful to mention that we need to be mindful of not encouraging members in relation to illegal drug use and where this conversation might head as there may be safety concerns. 

 

If you have not already done so, I would suggest that you take a look at our community guidelines.  They are a bit hidden in the forums page and it is helpful to bear these in mind when drafting posts.  See link to safety aspect of community guidelines https://saneforums.org/t5/help/faqpage/title/safety 

 

Take care,

Mika

Re: not the same since drug exposure

Hello @waterlover  welcome my friend

@Mika  wrote here for you, hope this helps

Re: not the same since drug exposure

Hi @waterlover   Responding to your post here so you know you have been heard.  It's brave of you to share what's going on for you.  Sometimes it takes some time for others with like experiences to see your post and reply - that's the nature of the forums.  I'm glad to see @Mika  has replied and given you some really good resources to explore.  I hope you do follow them up and find them helpful.  But also I recommend talking to a medical professional about what you're experiencing.

 

Personally I can't really respond about acid specifically as I only tried it once, many years ago.  But I was chronic with pot for decades and have also done a lot of reading about the effects and potential undesired effects of various recreational drugs.  For a while I had a small business distributing herbal alternatives (all legal ones, many imported) so it was my responsibility to know about more than what I had actually used myself.  

I believe it is possible that what you are experiencing could be after-effects, but am also aware that it could be that these changes might have happened without that experience too.  I definitely reached a point with my smoking herb use where it was detrimental to my mental health.  I would feel a disconnect from reality, as if there were 2 realities happening at the same time, and this would trigger huge anxiety afterwards.  Also I was using it frequently and always felt I had to hide it from the world, so I became paranoid that others could see through my mask.  For me it was definitely addictive and it took a few years of efforts and relapses to get off it completely (7 years ago now).  But I must add that I also was diagnosed with bipolar 1 10 years ago (probably had it for many years prior to that) and I now see that the pot could trigger bipolar swings to happen more frequently and intensely.  I also have complex PTSD and was mainly self-medicating because of symptoms of that.  What I will never know for sure is if the pot use triggered the bipolar to develop and perhaps I'd never have become bipolar without it.  There are definitely studies out there that prove it can happen.  Same with schizophrenia, to my knowledge.  And in recent years I've read of occasions where one-time use was enough to bring on such problems.  

But I stress I don't know about acid doing that for sure, that's why I suggest you make contact with the references @Mika  suggests, and if possible talk to a Dr too.  It is only when we are able to be completely honest with them that they can best help us.

I just googled "long term effects of one time LSD use" and there are many studies and articles available.

The other side of all the above is, with what you are feeling/experiencing, what can you do to self-manage your symptoms?  I think it's important to find activities that ground you (cooking, exercise, art/craft, soothing music, gardening ... and many more) and recommend looking at the topic of mindfulness - it can be applied to any activity at all.  Breathing exercises really help too (again, lots available on-line).  A few threads that have suggestions are Coping Box , toolbox , and  Re: what’s in your tool box ?   

Hoping some of this is helpful to you.  Take care, @eth 

 

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