Cannabis related anxiety

[alienantfarmer]

To anyone who can help

four days ago i tryed cannabis for the second time.

The first time i tryed this drug i got the effects i was expecting, calm cool and chill, but the second time i suffered from what i assumed to be a panic attack. My mind started racing, i got chest pain, my vision started flickering and i got welling up of feeling faint. I felt as though i was leaving my body, my face would do its own thing and flicker and twitch and id not be able to hold a conversation, i felt as if i was drifting in and out of a dream, it really messed me up.

These effects lasted till i fell asleep, and in the morning i felt strange, but assumed i was still slightly high, only to find that when in the car with my parents (who dont know i tryed cannabis) i started to feel another panic attack coming on, i calm myself, breath deeply and the feeling surpasses, but now im really freaked out.

I come home and research on the internet immediatly, it seems i did suffer from a panic attack and that im in no danger, and i feel calm - some twitching remains for another day, as well as minor 'attacks' but then the next day all symptoms seem to dissapear.

This is where i think i went wrong.

I smoked more cannabis the day the symptoms dissapeared, suffered another panic attack and franticly tryed to control it, the effects lasted much longer, were stronger the next day and now - two days on from my second smoking panic attack i can still feel the symptoms, twitching, nervous and occasional hallucinations.

What is wrong with me!? What should i do.. im only 16 and im really scared. Please help.

[Hensley258]

Funny you mention that because I had the same experience at one point in my life.

I used to smoke MJ everyday, then one day I smoked a joint and got pretty high and then had the worst panic attack. I mean my anxiety was at mach 10 for like 8 hours.

I haven't been able to smoke weed since that day. Everytime I do I get a nasty panic attack. So I just put it down years ago. Problem is that now I still get the panic attacks.

I often wonder if it was my pot smoking that triggered the chronic anxiety I now have to live with.

[silverberg]

who cares that you are only 16, STOP SMOKING POT! some people can , some people can't ! you CAN'T
p.s. I am really glad your scared! hope you  remember the feeling next time you think "it will be ok this time",

Sorry no sympathy for anyone who smokes pot or drinks and crys about having Panic Attacks , THEN DOES IT AGAIN. some of us have Panic and Anxiety and we DO NOT DO DRUGS .

Also tell your parents what you did and you need to see a DR. NOW

[Paxiled]

Don't know if you need a doctor, but you might want to see a therapist.  Marijuana intensifies what we're feeling -- it doesn't create the feelings.  You obviously have anxiety brewing inside you, so don't smoke pot -- or use other drugs, for that matter.  Sorry, but that's just the way these things work.  Now, go to work on the anxiety before it grows into us.

[alienantfarmer]

Its been another whole day now and im still really shaky and experiencing the symptoms (in a mild form), what should i do!

[Paxiled]

This is common for anxiety attacks.  See a therapist and begin working on it.

[Hensley258]

Whatever you do, don't smoke anymore weed. Smoking that **** is like asking for a panic attack.

Most people think that the active chemical in MJ (THC) is a depressant, but the fact is that THC is classified as a STIMULANT. It increases heart rate and does all the things that other stimulant based drugs do.

As you know, stimulant based drugs are the worst for people that suffer anxiety and panic attacks. Just do the math.

On the other hand I have friends that smoke MJ all the time and they never get anxiety from it. That is because they don't have anxiety dissorder like I do.

As for the Panic attacks your having......Don't worry they can't kill you, but thay will make you feel like your going to be killed by them.

Get to a doctor.

[alienantfarmer]

day 3 now, still suffering - wont this just go away?

[marliz89]

How did you smoke it and where did you get it from there could have been stuff added such as cocaine that could cause those feelings  

[silverberg]

just go to the Dr. already

[Paxiled]

Yay silverberg.  

[Barry3000]

I think I have had a some what similar experience. I was 19 when a was coxed into smoking marajuana for only the second time. I was drunk at the time and after even just one puff, I totaly lost it. I was filled with a feeling of intense panic, i started punching walls and lost total control of my free will, hence my mind. I am lucky I was around friends at the time who stopped we from jumping out of a second floor window and held me down in my bed as I shook and spasmed violently. I too felt 'strange' the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that one. I had to force myself to eat for the next two weeks. What followed was 5 years of anxiety, insomnia and depression during which time I felt like I was teethering on the edge of sanity. I was able to maintain sanity by focusing on my studies and abiding a strict exercise regime. Now I am 25 and though I came out of it alright (and with a decent engineering degree), I still bear the mental & physical scars. To this day I still must only drink 'moderatley/responsibly' and keep a regular sleeping pattern to keep the anxiety at bay. I will not EVER touch another recreational drug (with the exeption of alcohol) again in my life. That single puff took away 5 years of my life. My message to you and the point of this anecdote if any is simply: DONT TAKE DRUGS - particulary if have an anxiety disorder. Focus on something positive (a goal) and never succumb to 'it' no matter how futile it may seem. GOOD LUCK!
p.s. listen to hatebreed (its a band).

[ConfusedMe315]

HEY! im with you on that. I did the same thing a month ago or so and I thought it would relax me but boy was I wrong! i went into full blown panic. Its because your mind is telling you that its gonna hurt you even though its not. its crazy how ur mind can mess with you so much!!!!!

[Paxiled]

Look, I'm not advocating for anyone to use drugs, I don't, but one puff, sorry, but that just couldn't cause what you suffered.  Most first time users don't even get high -- it usually takes a couple of times.  There are two possibilities -- you say you were coaxed, so I assume you were afraid of drugs, and your fear took off.  Most likely you were destined for anxiety anyway, and the experience brought it out of you.  Second possibility is the mj was laced with pcp, which happened to me and has happened to a lot of people.  There are a lot of cruel people out there.  Whatever it was, though, I'm glad you got better.  I did mj for years, but stopped as soon as I started getting anxiety problems -- mj just makes you more of what you are already, and it definitely doesn't go along with anxiety.  But I've never gotten better, and my problem wasn't caused by mj, so there you go.  I'll tell you, it's amazing how many anxiety sufferers write on here about smoking mj.  I would have thought everyone knew 30 years ago that it just doesn't set well with anxiety sufferers or those prone to it.