I am 48 and male. I smoked marijuana heavily for the past 27 years. I quit 90+ days ago.
I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder.
I currently take Gabapentin and have just started taking Hydroxyzine, both for anxiety. They may help somewhat. I still have severe anxiety. It could be worse without these meds. I also take Risperidone because I have heard chattering voices. This has cleared up since i stopped smoking marijuana. I have tried a dozen anti-depressants and none have helped with depression or anxiety.
This past year, I have started to experience health symptoms. I was smoking marijuana when they started. I get a weird tickling sensation in my abdomen from time to time. It lasts for hours. I also experience abdominal pains and cramps. They were really bad in weeks 4-6 after quitting marijuana but are much better now. I also get a weird general kind of malaise feeling, a feeling of unwellness. Someimes i have a full body kind of nausea with no vomiting.
My primary care provider has pressed on my abdominal organs and there is no pain or enlargement. My stools are normal. My bloodwork in June was normal, suggesting that I don't have cancer. I have been tested for anemia, liver, thyroid, and pancreatitis, all negative. My PCP suggested my abdominal issues could be irritable bowel syndrome and that my nausea could be anxiety related. He said that the malaise feeling could be anxiety related too.
The malaise feeling used to come and go. Now I experience it for several hours a day.
I have major health anxiety issues. I am in therapy, making little to no progress.
My anxiety has gotten worse since I quit marijuana. I constantly pace. I am unemployed and live with family. I am very restless and fret constantly about my health. I wake up after sleeping 5-7 hours with a weird restless anxious feeling. If I try to go back to sleep, I toss and turn until I finally give up and get out of bed.
Could these physical symptoms be caused by anxiety? I'm having a hard time believing this. I always feel like I must have cancer or something terrible. I Google my symptoms several times a day. I know that this doesn't help.
Could it be because of PAWS that my anxiety has gotten worse? I had anxiety before I quit marijuana but not this bad.
Thank you for reading this. Any help or insight would be appreciated! Thank you!