I started to get them when i gave up the weed after half my short life (30) being a very heavy pot smoker. Was struggling to breathe, concvinced myself i was dying, pains down my left side, the shakes etc ect was the most terrifying experience of my life.
Went to the doc after a few months and a chat with a very understanding boss about how scared i was and did a stack of tests to ensure it was nothing physical then i had to come to accept that i was suffering a mental illness. This was the hardest part for me i was always someone who never seemed to care about anything, never worked myself up etc.
So i took the step and advice to go and see a forensic psych and it was the best decision of my life. After a few chats we honed in that it was my body learning to react to things without weed. I had spent most of my life dealing with things by having another cone instead of processing it, and now my body and brain had to deal with it on its own and it wasnt coping.
I talked openly for the first time about crap I had been through and denied to myself and others how it had affected me, like being held up with a shotgun, loosing loved ones etc etc.
I honestly never believed in mental illness and was always of the "harden up princess" school of thought. If it wasnt for my boss, my awesome wife and family id probably be in a bad way by now but I managed to get through it in a reasonably short period of time so i was one of the lucky ones.
The hardest bit other than accepting what was happening was mates who didnt understand, they always knew me as the guy who nothing got to and could always laugh things off and they just didnt get it which was really dissapointing - even had one make allot of jokes he thought was funny until i told him to ******** off out of my life if he kept it up.
Its tough but there is light at the end of the tunnel, its good to see this sort of thing being spoken about open and honestly as it may help someone who is starting to go through it get help before its to late.
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