Anxiety+stimulants=bad....?

[seizetheday]

I've been thinking about this for a while.. and i think any kind of stimulant makes anxiety worse. For example, marijuana is a stimulant, it makes your mind focus more on what it is already focused on. I think that's why people who are generally anxiety free can smoke weed and enjoy it because it is just enhancing what their mind is already thinking about, whereas people with anxiety smoke and it only makes them think more anxious thoughts. Same goes with caffeine and smoking. They make your mind race, and if your mind is already filled with anxious thoughts, then more of them will manifest. On the other hand, alcohol which is a depressant, eliminates anxiety to a certain degree for a period of time. Anyway, i know most of you probably already know caffiene and smoking is bad for anxiety, this is just my hypothesis why it is bad for anxiety. Your thoughts??

[rejanette]

I was a big coffee drinker for at least 5 years drinking 3 to 4 cups a day... Also was smoking lot of cigarettes...
My doctor told me to ease on coffee and cigarettes. I do not drink coffee no more and been reducing the cigarette a lot and trying to stop the cigarettes.
Also sugar and chocolates playing dirty tricks on me I used to love sugar...
I ' m making efforts on changing my diet and my anxiety seems to ease a little... If in the morning I' m having a sweet treat I feel more anxious most of the day.

[northstar]

my thoughts on this is that often stimulants are the source of anxiety, not that they make anxiety worse. it just happens that some people are more sensitive to stimulants, the same way some people have food allergies.

avoiding sugar, caffeine, marjuana and alcohol is incredibly important for those with anxiety. with anxiety your body is already on edge, a stimulant will just make that feeling worse so it makes sense to avoid them. i know alcohol makes you feel good for a short while, but it actually plays havoc with your blood sugars and the resulting low blood sugar crash can be a source of anxiety and panic, as well as the fact that it dehydrates and strips the body of B vitamins which we need to have a healthy nervous system.

[Shanti]

anxiety = overstimulation of, especially, vegetative nervous system

and you ask about additional stimuli?

cut all possible, exercise, maybe see a pro

take care

[rampagerose]

Weed helps if you only smoke enough to get a little bit high, then just lay around doing nothing. If you get completely baked, it messes with your anxiety at an insane rate. When you see things, like your hands are too big, etc. it's not funny at all. You start worrying about whether or not they really are, if it's ugly, etc. It's just a bad thing.

Alcohol makes people less inhibited, which for me, I find is also has a bad effect on anxiety. You end up just blurting things out or doing things you don't do normally, then you worry for ages about whether or not you looked like an idiot. It also guarantees a hangover no matter how much you drink, because of the medications you are already taking.

Overdosing or abusing sleeping drugs and antihistamines gives me the best results in a pinch. It's dangerous and not something anyone should do, but in theory of discussing mixing your medication, the fastest relax without actual calming down meds are those.

Too much caffeine in anyone gets the nerves uppity. Although sometimes just one cup in the morning seems to make things okay. I had a boss that used to force me to have breakfast when I got to work to make sure I was eating. They noticed when I didn't eat a proper meal before the day started, that I would have a terrible day compared to eating.

[Weez]

yeah i was in the ER the other week suffering from a panic attack that got out of control. Well found out that the pills the doctor put me on were stimulants that not only can raise anxiety levels but they increase your blood pressure. :(

Finally got that stuff squared away... but mixing is not good if you are unsure of the side effects and relations.
Peace!