Bizarre Symptoms- really Weed PAWS??

**Posts:** 8 · by **ultralobster** » Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:34 am

Hi so I've tried reaching out to other about this sort of thing because its been driving me crazy. I made a post on the WeedPAWS subreddit but I've been having this extremely intense health anxiety ever since I quit in late Jan. I had smoked for about a year every day with a few days off here and there. From end of Jan until mid Feb I started ingesting weed oil to help me sleep but I was using a LOT of it throughout the day so maybe that jacked my tolerance up?

So around mid Feb I started having really bad night sweats and my tinnitus got really bad so I got it checked at a clinic. I had some fluid and post-nasal drip so I was advised to take some decongestants. Okay, no big deal. I decided to smoke that night as a treat. When I did I started feeling like I was dying and one of my testicles started having a weird dull ache. At this point I started freaking out about STDs because unfortunately I slept with a friend unprotected on 12/28 and one more time on 1/6. She told me she was clean and I trusted her but ever since then and every since I quit I've been feeling such weird things:

-Night sweating
-Incredibly intense vivid dreams
-Chills / trembling
-Slightly swollen lymph nodes
-Frequent urination / leaky feeling
-Muscle aches in my butt and thigh
-Dull ache in one of my testicles
-Sweaty palms and fingers
-Heavy feeling in my chest around my heart
-Intense heartbeat / palpitations
-Gut distress
-Lack of appetite

I went to the ER on like 2/21 because when I went to the clinic they told me there were abnormalities in my urine like trace blood. They did a bunch of bloodwork and std tests and everything came back negative, they didn't find anything in my urine, said I present healthy etc so they sent me home. Then I went back then next day because I started feeling that leaky feeling I listed above, it felt like I was discharging and like it had pus in it so I went back. Again, bloodwork came back fine, and the next day my GC test came back and it was negative. I went to my doc and she took a swab and said I had a bacterial infection, so I took penicillin to clear it up. That was the middle of this month (march) because it took a while to come back.

So meanwhile I got tested more, I got tested on 3/4 at a private lab and did an entire panel and everything came back negative, even the HIV RNA test. I smoked on 3/6 because I thought it would help but it just made me feel worse. My vivid dreams and night sweating subsided for the night, coincidentally. At this point I was taking the penicillin and that leaky discharge feeling had gone away, so I thought it was probably the bacterial infection.

On 3/13 I was feeling a lot better and I made the mistake of smoking with some friends, I had a LOT that night (probably like .5 grams, we had two joints). The next day my mood improved, but the next evening I started feeling that bizarre leaky discharge feeling and it was incredibly distressing.

Fast-forward to today, i'm on my 18th day of not smoking or anything since I relapsed on the 13th. I've had that leaky feeling STILL here and there. One of my lymph nodes below my right ear swelled up really big two weeks ago and at this point it feels like it's diminished kind of but now the right side of my jaw feels really weirdly numb and like it's twitching, and the same side of my throat feels weirdly lumpy. My right leg was also twitching a bunch the past couple days.

At this point I really feel like I've lost it, I've never had to deal with anything like this from anything and despite all my negative tests I keep feeling like I have HIV or something. My health anxiety isn't letting me live any kind of life and i don't really know what to do anymore. I got a full panel and bloodwork done again today at the lab by my doc's office and I'm stressing so much waiting for it all to come back. At this point it's been 90 days and I know it should be impossible for me to test HIV-pos at this point but I cant stop worrying.

Not to sound too crazy but my health-anxiety is just through the roof because with every single day I feel something new wrong with me and it's not letting me live my life. I don't really know what to do if I end up testing positive for something, I really hope not. But this is driving me crazy because I still feel a little leaky and my jaw is weirdly numb and I'm not sure what to do or think anymore. But I've been to so many doctors at this point (primary, urologist, ENT, called the HIV hotline) and had so many tests done and I've been told I'm fine over and over and it doesn't feel like it. I haven't had ANY fevers too. Anyone have an experience like this? It's just been excruciating and it's making me legit suicidal because it's been following me around everywhere and I haven't felt a sense of peace all year

**Posts:** 12131 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:25 pm

I see this every so often in the forum, the mix of hypochondria with drug use.

Stopping weed can cause anxiety. Couple this with a person already primed for anxiety and you can get this self-fulfilling downward spiral of anxiety causing more anxiety which causes more anxiety. You become hypersensitive about symptoms which creates more anxiety which causes more symptoms, e.g. a numb jaw from teeth clenching that you don't notice.

The only way to break the cycle is by focusing on HEALTHY ways to reduce anxiety. This proves difficult because using drugs is a quick fix. These are crutches. Take a pill, smoke some weed, and you get temporary relief.

I'm not a big fan of using the term "mindfulness" but in your case it is a simple way to summarize what you need. I'm not talking meditation. I'm talking using your time to actively engage yourself in the present. Don't give yourself time to ruminate over the past or speculate about the future. When you are in the present, focused on things that require your attention then you will find your body not experiencing anxiety. At first it might only be a short respite, but over time if you can stay away from drugs as a crutch and keep your mind active in the present things will get better.

Best of luck. It definitely is not an easy process.

**Posts:** 10 · by **Bootstrap** » Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:53 pm

I have had the same symptoms for 4 months now, It will get easier. Eat well and drink plenty of water also I found that if I drink alcohol my balls would ache more but I am thinking it’s more to do with my gi tract, here to talk if you need.

**Posts:** 8 · by **ultralobster** » Fri Apr 02, 2021 6:31 am

Bootstrap wrote:I have had the same symptoms for 4 months now, It will get easier. Eat well and drink plenty of water also I found that if I drink alcohol my balls would ache more but I am thinking it’s more to do with my gi tract, here to talk if you need.

Thank you, have you felt symptoms related to your jaw and neck especially? The lymph node below my right ear has diminished significantly and my leaky feeling isn't here too much (at least not that I notice) after about 2.5 weeks. At the moment my jaw feels really stiff, especially the joint on my left side when I open and close it. I'm also able to crack my jaw really easily when usually it's rare. I don't think it's HIV really because I don't have any fevers or fatigue and my night sweating has subsided mostly although it affects my legs (mostly calves) after having a vivid dream that usually comes on after waking up at night and going back to sleep. Overall my jaw really hurts today. Really weird!

**Posts:** 10 · by **Bootstrap** » Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:37 am

Hi lobster, so I don’t have the aching of the jaw but I do grind my teeth on the left side of my face at night or when I am day dreaming, I have had a dry/sore throat and tongue for about 3 months it’s driving me crazy, and my night sweats seem to come and go! When they first stoped I was so relieved but after a week or so they came back, I know it’s crazy but what we are going through is normal, I have also been in and out of hospital, had numerous blood tests even had a camera sent down my throat into my stomach! But it all came back normal!! Only time can truly heal us but if you have a good mindset then you can maybe help yourself speed up the process, we are all different and we understand things differently. One thing that is bothering me lately is ear worm, I have a constant music or lyric repeating I’m my mind! It’s such a reminder of what I am going through it brings me down a lot, have you experienced this.

**Posts:** 8 · by **ultralobster** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:13 am

Bootstrap wrote:Hi lobster, so I don’t have the aching of the jaw but I do grind my teeth on the left side of my face at night or when I am day dreaming, I have had a dry/sore throat and tongue for about 3 months it’s driving me crazy, and my night sweats seem to come and go! When they first stoped I was so relieved but after a week or so they came back, I know it’s crazy but what we are going through is normal, I have also been in and out of hospital, had numerous blood tests even had a camera sent down my throat into my stomach! But it all came back normal!! Only time can truly heal us but if you have a good mindset then you can maybe help yourself speed up the process, we are all different and we understand things differently. One thing that is bothering me lately is ear worm, I have a constant music or lyric repeating I’m my mind! It’s such a reminder of what I am going through it brings me down a lot, have you experienced this.

I feel some of what you've experienced- my night sweats have come and gone at this point. I'm on my 20th day clean since relapsing on 3/13 and my dreams aren't as intense, and my night sweats only seem to come on if i DO dream and it only affects my legs and calves at this point and it isn't really as intense. But my jaw on my left side feels very achey and annoyed when I move it. I also did have a very dry mouth for several days recently and my throat felt dry and scratchy as well, though not necessarily sore. But my bloodwork and everything at the hospital on 2/21 and again on 3/1 came back all normal, I'm waiting on more bloodwork that I got done on 3/31. It really seems like bizarre symptoms affect us!! Also that's totally harrowing you got a camera put down your stomach, that's too terrifying for me and I'm not all that squeamish usually.

Also the ear worm thing definitely was a thing for me when I first stopped with the oil in the middle of Feb, I had a song CONSTANTLY going in my head extremely loudly. It was totally unending and even though it was a song I liked it was driving me nuts and really driving my anxiety. So I really feel you on that one, I usually have some kind of song going in my head normally but this time it was very loud and constant. Today at this point my jaw is still stiff and weirdly enough when I was in the shower earlier, for about a minute, I felt the taste of the weed oil appear in my mouth! Really strange and inexplicable, the weed oil has like a plant-y taste that appeared for only like a minute, like I was tasting it. So maybe that's a sign that it's working its way out of my system? Idk, really odd.

**Posts:** 10 · by **Bootstrap** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 6:27 pm

So many things I read on this forum mimic our Symptoms and we just have to keep going, stay strong and keep in touch

**Posts:** 8 · by **ultralobster** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 1:00 am

Bootstrap wrote:So many things I read on this forum mimic our Symptoms and we just have to keep going, stay strong and keep in touch

For sure man. If there's one thing I notice it's that for myself, my symptoms pretty much started in my groin and gut area and then spread up and down through my body. It's like week 1 featured intense gut distress and my groin felt very sensitive (as listed above). Next, it all moved up into my chest and down to my butt and thigh, my butt ached really bad and my right thigh was aching bad until pretty much today. My chest was extremely heavy and I had shortness of breathe, like a weight was constantly on my chest being taken off and on intermittently. Today my thigh doesn't ache really and my stomach doesn't bother me, but my calves ache moderately when I walk and whatnot, especially my right one. Chest is still lightly heavy, I feel a little lightheaded and my lymph node below my right ear was a bit swollen until now for a couple weeks but it never protruded or hurt really. My jaw doesn't really ache or hurt anymore thankfully and it doesn't feel stiff really. So it's like it all moved from my gut and groin into my butt, thigh, and chest; then into my calves and head and jaw and mouth (with the strange weed oil taste thing, that appeared briefly again last night!)

Overall I feel a lot better mentally, I realize I don't have some terrible disease because if I did I would feel a lot worse and I would have a fever. Also, I got a tetanus shot on 3/12 and if I really had some disease like HIV then my immune response would have been severe and terrible instead of my arm aching for like a day, the latter of which is what happened. I feel a lot more confident that nothing terrible is happening to me and I get my tests back tomorrow (I hope), so I'm just looking forward to seeing that nothing is wrong. This is a lot of text but I hope this helps someone who sees it and is going thru similar sh** lol. Everything is gonna be alright!!

**Posts:** 10 · by **Bootstrap** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 10:01 am

It definitely will but we have to be prepared for the bad days! Try to remember when having a bad day that it will pass and we will feel better than ever

**Posts:** 29 · by **PAWnorama** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 7:57 am

Hello ultralobster and Bootstrap,

I'm new to this forum, but it already helped me a lot to understand what is going on right now. I haven't smoked weed for close to 3 months now and feel really bad. I couldn't make the connection to weed withdrawal because i thought it should be out of my system by now. The Internet suggests the withdrawal period should only last up to a couple of weeks. I felt I was going insane.
My question is about the constant earworms, I too have this weird sensation for almost 2 months now... Did it ever stop for you?

Thanks a lot in advance

**Posts:** 9885 · by **Candid** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:03 am

Richard@DecisionSkills wrote:I see this every so often in the forum, the mix of hypochondria with drug use.

And this thread is the gazillionth one in which sane advice is ignored and all those teetering on the brink of using again talk only to each other about how terrible it all is.

This little homily is addressed to pretty much anyone:
Your life and health now are the result of every choice you've made so far. You can wallow. You can find similarly bummed-out people who will commiserate endlessly and keep you stuck. You can do better. You are the choice-maker every step of the way.

Any battling would-be ex-smoker can look at the many posts by tokeless. The name says it all.

Unless, of course, you're gathering support and excuses for a planned relapse.

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