Question: Hi, I'm writing for guidance about my husband. We tried marijuana while visiting XXXXXXX state where it is legal. This was in December. He had an extreme panic attack where he was hospitalized. We were told that this can happen. He was treated with Ativan and haldol at the hospital. He had no previous mental illnesses. Our concern now is that he has been experiencing panic attacks ever since where it seems like he is re-living feelings he had that night. Physical effects are also present when this happens- racing heartbeat, sweats. Is this common? What can we do to to help him stop experiencing this? 

He has set up a telehealth appointment but I'm writing for your thoughts because I want more insight to this issue ahead of the appointment. i've been searching online to see if anyone else has experienced this before and can't seem to find anything. I'm hoping there is a medication potentially. Do you recommend it? Fear is that this won't go away. We're looking for help on this now because for several months we were thinking it would just subside but he is not getting relief and it persists. Looking to see is there is more information out there and when he does have the telehealth appointment what is the best way to describe his condition, if you are familiar with this. 

Worried and looking for more information.

Thanks,

Valerie

Hi, I'm writing for guidance about my husband. We tried marijuana while visiting XXXXXXX state where it is legal. This was in December. He had an extreme panic attack where he was hospitalized. We were told that this can happen. He was treated with Ativan and haldol at the hospital. He had no previous mental illnesses. Our concern now is that he has been experiencing panic attacks ever since where it seems like he is re-living feelings he had that night. Physical effects are also present when this happens- racing heartbeat, sweats. Is this common? What can we do to to help him stop experiencing this? 

He has set up a telehealth appointment but I'm writing for your thoughts because I want more insight to this issue ahead of the appointment. i've been searching online to see if anyone else has experienced this before and can't seem to find anything. I'm hoping there is a medication potentially. Do you recommend it? Fear is that this won't go away. We're looking for help on this now because for several months we were thinking it would just subside but he is not getting relief and it persists. Looking to see is there is more information out there and when he does have the telehealth appointment what is the best way to describe his condition, if you are familiar with this. 

Worried and looking for more information.

Thanks,

Valerie

Q:He was given Haldol which is an antipsychotic and most likely at that time he developed Acute Psychosis though I am not sure. What kind of symptoms has he developed at that time?
A: In December when this took place he thought he was going to die or possibly be killed. He was yelling/crying. While at the hospital they have him the Ativan first and when that showed some relief but not enough, they gave him Haldol. (To get his heart rate down)

Q: Did he show any symptoms like fear, ideas that others are talking about him or hearing voices which others can't hear?
A: Fear yes. Voices no, I do not believe so although he was saying things like "is this real" and "am I dying"

Q: What are his current symptoms?
A: Currently he will have disorientation/disassociation and panic, where his heart is racing and he is sweating. He will ask me, "is everything ok or going to be ok" His eyes look like he is elsewhere. This happens several times a month from XXXXXXX till now. It will usually last 10 minutes or so (the intense part) but he feels uneasy and abnormal for the rest of the day. Certain things can trigger this like too much excitement or sometimes it just happens without knowing the trigger.

He also has some reoccurring thoughts that he first experienced during the cannabis induced incident: Thoughts include: If he doing enough in life or has he messed up his life in some way; Is anything going on in the outside world and is his reality "real". I think he just feels disoriented with panic. This is similar to what he went through the night in December on cannabis but to a much lesser extent. I would say now he experiences fear when he's having the panic attack whereas when he was hospitalized with cannabis he was feeling terror.

He never had these insecurities before and he says all of these thoughts first occurred the night of the cannabis evening when he was hospitalized. He has not used cannabis since December and was not a frequent user prior to that either.

My concern is that I understand how cannabis could have triggered the psychosis and panic in December when he took it, but why is he going through similar (albeit less severe) symptoms months after the incident?

Q:He was given Haldol which is an antipsychotic and most likely at that time he developed Acute Psychosis though I am not sure. What kind of symptoms has he developed at that time?
A: In December when this took place he thought he was going to die or possibly be killed. He was yelling/crying. While at the hospital they have him the Ativan first and when that showed some relief but not enough, they gave him Haldol. (To get his heart rate down)

Q: Did he show any symptoms like fear, ideas that others are talking about him or hearing voices which others can't hear?
A: Fear yes. Voices no, I do not believe so although he was saying things like "is this real" and "am I dying"

Q: What are his current symptoms?
A: Currently he will have disorientation/disassociation and panic, where his heart is racing and he is sweating. He will ask me, "is everything ok or going to be ok" His eyes look like he is elsewhere. This happens several times a month from XXXXXXX till now. It will usually last 10 minutes or so (the intense part) but he feels uneasy and abnormal for the rest of the day. Certain things can trigger this like too much excitement or sometimes it just happens without knowing the trigger.

He also has some reoccurring thoughts that he first experienced during the cannabis induced incident: Thoughts include: If he doing enough in life or has he messed up his life in some way; Is anything going on in the outside world and is his reality "real". I think he just feels disoriented with panic. This is similar to what he went through the night in December on cannabis but to a much lesser extent. I would say now he experiences fear when he's having the panic attack whereas when he was hospitalized with cannabis he was feeling terror.

He never had these insecurities before and he says all of these thoughts first occurred the night of the cannabis evening when he was hospitalized. He has not used cannabis since December and was not a frequent user prior to that either.

My concern is that I understand how cannabis could have triggered the psychosis and panic in December when he took it, but why is he going through similar (albeit less severe) symptoms months after the incident?