Anxiety/Panic triggered by one time cannabis use or...?

So I am trying to be positive here and wanted to get feedback on some things from anyone that has had similar issues or can point me to an existing thread.  

Today I woke up with a little anxiety but nothing like most days.  So I am grateful for that, but the worrying won't go away and my ability think about anything else is pretty much nonexistent.  I worry about my focus and I can feel the anxiety trying to creep in but I have been able to hold it off.

What I am asking is how much do we blame on anxiety and depression but in reality it actually is something else.  Not talking doom and gloom here, more like are all these changes (exercising a lot more, stopping caffeine, sleeping on a more routine schedule, diet, distraction techniques, etc...) causing me to feel differently and I am not used to it.  

I have fallen into the mindset that everything that is wrong is now because of anxiety, even when it isn't or is it the anxiety still.

I want to say that it is just my body and mind being so exhausted from the constant anxiety I have had for 5 weeks that it is taking a break, but how do i know that?

I was able to go to my son's open house at his school last night and while there all my symptoms pretty much vanished or I at least put them out of my mind.  How do I know which one it was?

Sorry to be so elusive in this, but it is difficult to explain.

Any advice is welcome and needed.  If I can shake the anxiety and the depression and only be a shell what point is there in trying? 

Hello. I hope all is well with you. I am going through the same thing. I am 24 and have been dealing with this for about 6 months now. Back in February I smoked some MJ with my ex boyfriend while we were on the way to Austin. I believe I had a panic attack. I start experiencing all these symptoms & my first thought was "someone laced this I am going to die" well I've had multiple test done, a full cardiac work up done by a cardiologist, and everything came back fine. But I can't shake these symptoms. I constantly have this thought that the weed I smoked was laced & it damaged my heart. I'm too scared to go anyway, eat certain things, exercise, drive long distances, any of that. My cardio prescribed me a beta blocker to help slow down my heart rate, but it isn't helping my anxiety. My GP and pyschiatrist prescribed me lexapro 10 mg (which I am too scared to take) and also Xanax 0.25 (he wants me to half that & I'm still too scared to take it) and like you ever since this incident I am terrified of putting things in my body. It took me 3 months to even start the beta blocker. I question everything! I'm constantly looking at ingredients & if I'm too anxious about it I won't eat it. Crazy right? But I do want to feel better. I'm too young & im afraid to live my life. I hope you feel better soon!

I wanted to thank everyone for the advice and sharing, it has helped a lot.  I am about 7 weeks or so into this ordeal and just over the last 3 or 4 days I have seen a lot of improvement.  I am still having issues but I can see them gradually get less and less often and less and less in intensity.

I am getting a full check up on my blood, hormones, thyroid, etc... just because I want to be sure and at my age it can't hurt to get things checked out regardless.

The only time the anxiety seems to hit me now is when I first wake up in the morning or during the night.  It passes fairly quickly once I start reminding myself there is no reason for it.  I have not had to take a Xanax in almost a week now, but I am not against taking it if a bad attack comes upon me again.  The only side effect I do get from the Xanax is terrible depression the day after taking it, but I now know why this happens and that helps with me dealing with it.  even though the depression sucks, it is not as severe as the anxiety when it hits me hard.  Hopefully I will not fall back to where I was, but I know I am going to beat this and if that happens I will adjust as needed. 

I just wanted to offer some hope to those out there that may have similar issues.  Again I am not back to my normal self yet,  not even close, but an improvement is all I needed to have hope and I think in another 3 or 4 weeks I will be close to being where I need to be.

I know I will never be the same again after all of this, but I do think I will be stronger and more aware than I was before.  

I have lost 40 lbs in about 6 weeks which I know is unhealthy, but my blood pressure was always high before all of this and now that I have cut out salt and caffeine it is better than it has been in 20 years.  I am averaging 125/75.

Been taking B12 and Vitamin D supplements as well - no idea if they are helping or not, but I think they are.

My major complaint now is the dissociation that I get on some days accompanied by light-headedness.   It is not as severe as it used to be so although I hate it, it is getting better as well.  It seems to be a symptom of a symptom for me due to lack of sleep which I am still having trouble with.  I never seem to get to that deep dreamless state, nor can I sleep for more than 4 hours tops at a time.  

What has worked for me thus far?

1.  CBT with a great therapist.  I suggest trying it if you have not and are able  - also if you have tried it and it did not work maybe try another one.  I just know it helped me a lot so far.

2.  Identify (if you are able)  what is causing your symptoms.  Yes I know the root cause is anxiety for most of us, but things like depression from the Xanax, or brain fog from the lack of sleep,  etc... for me was important.  Once I nailed down what was causing them I could isolate how to avoid them or to explain them which goes a long way to getting better.  At least it did for me.

Another symptom I am having that I am still working on is being overly sensitive to things.  I used to love horror movies but now just the idea scares me for some reason.  That is just an example,  I am also overly suspetable to things like music, like if it is a sad song I cry, and I used to bnever do that unless it was a special circumstance.  I think my testosterone may be low so getting that looked at just in case.

All in all I am pleased with my progress and I hope this helps someone even if it is just the positive vibe.

I am physically healthier than I have been in a long time so if this 50-year-old guy can make progress I know many of you all can as well.

Be safe, stay strong, smile when you can,

Dionne

I can definitely relate! A year ago I went on a night out and got very drunk, we went back to my sisters friends house and he had some weed. I being drunk started smoking it like a cigarette and I'm pretty sure I passed out. When I came to I had the most awful panic attack, didn't know where I was, severe paranoia and since then nothings been the same. I did already have an existing anxiety disorder but it was under control and barely made an appearance, now it's a daily struggle. MJ really isn't good for anyone with anxiety, it can really mess you up as I've found out. Nobody believes that it's the cause and just says it's me being paranoid but I'm convinced it was this.