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Marijuana=Panic attacks and Anxiety?

Hi, first time poster looking for some help and answers. Im a 19 year old male who has used the drug marijuana for the past two years heavily( 2-4 times a day). I would experience a very good time from and it would help me relax and chill out form a long day of work ect. Then one night i used the drug and started to experience a rapid heart beat, hot flashes, it was hard to breathe, which i then found out was a panic attack after visiting the ER. I didnt think much of it untill a week later when i smoked again and expereinced another panic attack which was like the first one but a little more intense with a since of losing control i ended up falling a sleep while trying to control my breathing. It has been two months since having a panic attack because i have stopped smoking. However, i think i am experiencing some anxiety. For example, headaches, tingling sensations, feelings that i might have a panic attack, always thinking somethings wrong with me, and their has been some problems with my bowel movements which i heard can be cause by anxiety. so any answers, help, or support would be wonderful. Thanks.
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Avatar universal
So I got a question like last year I smoke some pot and it was laced with meth and heroin and I was freaking out I was afraid I was going to die my mom almost took me to the er. so now every time I smoke pot or I try to drink or I try to take any type of pills I start freaking out and having really bad panic attacks to where my heart rate goes up and I'm afraid I'm going to die. do you think if I quit smoking and drinking and doing everything for a couple of years it will die down? because after I smoke that pot I have panic attacks so bad like I won't be doing anything and then all the sudden I'll have a panic attack and I'll be feared for my life. How do I make this go away
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Avatar universal
wow I get those exact symptoms when I smoke aswell but some heart palpitations when I don't and I too smoked for 2 years. Sometimes 14 joints a day now a good joint can last me up to 2 days and never been higher. But can cause the worst feeling in the world from panicking. Never gone to the ER but I did think about it.
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Avatar universal
so im 18 and yesterday had a friend stop by my work when i was on break and he just bought a new piece and supposedly some high grade top shelf chronic from the local dispensary. i say supposedly because when i got in the car to smoke i was only intending to take one hit because i have been on probation for a long time and i knew my tolerance was not going to be very high, but within 1 minute i was already feeling veerrry high and then i said i had to get back to work but just went inside and sat down not even clocking back in. i couldnt say exactaly how long it took but maybe 10 -30 minutes after sitting down i started feeling like i was goin to puke so i got up (which was very hard to do) and walked very slowly to the restroom and got on my knees by the toilet. nothing happend after a few minutes so i got up and when a did a massive headache hit me and my vision started getting kinda blurry but it looked like everything around me was pulsating and getting very bright. i had to grab the counter so i wouldnt fall but the fast pulsating and brightness was just getting worse and worse until finnally  one of my arms and one leg just started to rapidly twitch and i immediatley fell to the ground . ihave no idea how long i was laying on the floor in the restroom but as i got up the twithcing and pulsating was all still there but i manged to get up and go sit back down. after a while i did end up puking...quite a bit too...and not until someone told me to go for a short walk did i start to have a little more control over my body. pretty much i just wanna know am i a light weight or did i smoke synthetic marijuana because i have before and it was almost exactly like that...and i have been to the ER for it before and was told my heart for 6 seconds and other times i sware its happened too but i cant be sure.

so is it possible to get that high from taking 1 mean rip of top shelf marijuana?
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Avatar universal
I have a take on this.  First, I'm old, but when I was young and using pot it was a very different thing than it is today.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, some greedy yuppies in California started hybridizing natural marijuana, which wasn't that strong a drug, and turned it into another drug altogether.  It's much much stronger now, but even back when in my youth a lot of people got paranoid on it.  Eventually, I started getting anxious on it, and so I stopped using it, but went on to develop agoraphobia.  My own feeling is that it's not necessarily the marijuana that does this, but marijuana brings out of us what's on the inside and intensifies the experience, which explains the munchies, the laughing, the heightened sense of enjoyment of sex, movies, music.  If you didn't already like those things you won't like them while high, but if you do like them they'll feel more intense while high.  This is also true if you are anxious or depressed.  So if you get anxious while smoking, the logical thing to do is stop using the stuff.  If you feel you have to force it into you by taking another substance to control the anxiety, then you're not smoking to have fun anymore, you're smoking to be smoking.  Because marijuana, as with all drugs that affect the brain, targets neurotransmitters, if you have bad experiences on it they can become imprinted in your thinking, and slip over to when you're not high -- thus many get chronic anxiety from using marijuana.  A lot of this is just lifestyle because marijuana has been illegal and when something is illegal those who use it bond over it.  The same happened with alcohol during prohibition.  The use of the substance becomes a lifestyle instead of something fun to do.  That makes it hard to stop doing when it turns out not to be enjoyable anymore.  This can also happen to people who learn they're intolerant to eating wheat products or dairy -- there's a lot of societal pressure to keep eating the stuff.  One other thing -- the trend in marijuana is heading back to becoming illegal, because pharmaceutical companies are racing now to develop synthetic drugs for medical use.  Right now synthetic marijuana has a lot of unwanted side effects on too many people, but when they get it right, and this has already started, the will get FDA approval and the FDA will ban all other marijuana products for medicinal use just as they've done for opium.  So the turn to greed in this drug is heading back toward making it illegal.  That would be unfortunate.  As with all drugs, including strains of marijuana grown to emphasize certain active chemicals, the stronger you make any one chemical the weaker you have to make the other substances in the plant which probably help make it safer to use -- more balanced.  So be careful what you wish for.
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707563 tn?1626361905
Please be very careful when taking the advice to use marijuana for anything, as it is still illegal in many places. We are not taking a stand on it either way here, and as always, no judgement, but it is not legal for even medical use in most places still, which is a consideration for many.

Thanks,

Emily
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Avatar universal
Hey all, hopefully we can help each other out here.

I relate a lot to what you've all said and it looks like I've found the reason to my persistent anxiety after weed use.

I started smoking (first time) around early August, I got 1g of Indica and smoked it over the course of a few days, of which I had 0 problems with it, sure I had the increased heart rate (which is an unavoidable symptom of THC intake that everyone gets) but none to minimal anxiety during or after use.

Early September time (little over a week ago) I got 3.5g of a Indica-dominant hybrid strain. First few times I smoked got some anxiety but it subsided after the high; it was tolerable. But come Sunday night just gone I smoked more than I ever had before (which was only 1 small joint and 2 bowls tops). I got visuals like everything was tinted green/yellow, and everything looked goopy, on top of this my heart rate was pretty high but once again no anxiety.

Some time between the peak and comedown I got the feeling in my chest again, that feeling that told that I risked having a panic attack. I fought it by keeping distracted and moving a bit, and I went to bed. Bearing in mind stayed 'high' for several hours during this session, just taking a hit or 2 when I felt myself coming down.

The following day I woke up with increased heart rate and anxiety, and was okay for a few hours, but after that it turned into a miler-panic attack that lasted the entire ******* day (I kept it under control). It was a miserable and exhausting experience, I thought I had damaged my heart or something. I contemplated asking my parents to drive me to the ER as it wouldn't end, hell even an ambulance drove past my house on that night on the way to someone elses aid (sirens and lights where active).

The following day I went to the urgent care center as the anxiety was killing me (figuratively) and stopped me from eating combined with chills, rapid heartbeat etc. They done tests and nothing was wrong.

It took 4 days since that experience for it to subside, I still had a slightly increased heart rate but I knew this was just from the residual anxiety. Last night I smoked again to see if this was a one off things, I only had like 1 and a 1/2 small joints before I felt the anxiety. I put it away and followed advice online to just divert my focus away from the anxiety and keep moving, went to sleep okay.

Aaaaand now I'm back to square one it seems, as the following morning (i.e today) I have anxiety, who knows if it will follow the same pattern it did last time (I hope not as I didn't smoke as much). So hopefully this will go away again, or it will be another trip to the urgent care center only a week later.
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TL;DR -- this is what I've gathered... for some reason, weed use in some people unearths underlying anxiety, that may or may not be present during the high itself, and is not the result of a heart condition or otherwise. All the nausea, sleeplessness, rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing etc. is caused by the anxiety, all of it, at least in most people. I've found 3 things that may help here:

>>This thread on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/33y3a6/for_everyone_who_has_anxiety_when_using_marijuana/

>>Check this out: http://cannabisdigest.ca/black-pepper-relieves-cannabis-anxiety/

Inhaling a few whiffs of black pepercorns, or Black Pepper Essential Oil can reduce cannabis-related anxiety (I think it only applies during use as it involves interaction is active-THC). Never tried it yet, but as hard to believe as it sounds, it works. A guy on a weed forum told me about this when I posted my problem. One idea I had would be to get an inhaler (old or new) remove the cotton stem in the middle, buy a new one, soak it in Black Pepper Essential Oil, then put the cotton stem back into the inhaler and use it on the go.

>>Look into CBD-heavy cannabis with low levels of THC, CBD is a cannabinoid that is responsable for most of weed's medicainal effects (you can look them up), this also includes anxiety. This guy has reviewed the most useful strains for anxiety, the best being the ACDC strain: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoAtxPh--wffhic5fev5IoQ

He used to smoke regular weed, but due to the same issues we all have here he moved onto CBD weed. I'd be interested in finding out what would happen if you mixed ACDC with a regular type of weed? Maybe it would work the same as taking a Xanax before smoking or something, I dunno.

>>Search "best weed strain for anxiety" or look here: http://www.medicalmarijuanastrains.com/tag/good-for-anxiety/

One review said that the "Chocolate Chunk" strain worked as well as Xanax for calming anxiety. Think of the strains in the above link as ones that and will help your anxiety, and think of the CBD heavy strains as ones that won't get you high, but will totally relax you, then again it's all subjective. Once again there's a possibility to mix.
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Hopefully this helps others.
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Avatar universal
I went to the Er for similar reason I got a panic attack from eating a really potent muffin I ate but I did not make the butter my friend told me he made a cup of butter with 4 oz of weed but i didn't use the the whole cup I maybe used 10 spoonfuls in to 6 muffins I ate one and 1 hour later I started to feel slow with tunnel vision it kinda of felt shaky and I told my gf to take me to the Er because I felt like I was going to die I had a heart rate of 190 the doctor made an iv and gave me atival which put me to sleep for 6 hours and ever since that day I didn't feel like myself I thought there was something wrong with me getting high and drinking weren't the same anymore as if my tolerance restarted so I decided to smoke a week after the incident and start to get a bad panic attack almost the same as the day I ate the edible I think it might have been the atival still in my system so I decided to not smoke from now on or drink because when I'm sober I feel fine just a couple of tingling sensation But I don't think I can smoke now which I was a daily smoker I would smoke up to 5 times a day and never tripped out like when I ate the edible hopefully one day I can smoke again and have the relaxing feeling I got from weed but for now staying sober keeping the anxiety away
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Avatar universal
I smoked for years, a few times a day for about one and cut down to just before bed and random occasions for a few months and now Its been about 2 months that I just don't smoke. I was hungover and with my stoner friend a couple days ago and I know that smoking always cured my hangovers so I thought I'd get in on his doob and i was okay for a bit, but then I just felt really really high like everything was slow and I couldn't put words together. I smoked like half a cigarette and by the time we got back to his house I just finished it and got out of the car and everything went like green and couldn't stand I thought I was about to have a panic attack at first so I turned around and hugged him but everything was going black and I couldn't hear or stand anymore then I started shaking uncontrollably and I was getting cold sweats. Then I passed out for a second and I opened my eyes and tried to get up but I couldn't so j just sat there leaning against the house for a few minutes and finally got up and passed out again as soon as I got inside.. then got up and passed out again before I got to his bedroom and then finally made it to his bed and slept it off and was totally fine when I woke up. It was so scary it's never happened to me before, I had one incident a couple months ago but it was more of an anxiety attack then whatever this was. I guess I greened out. I don't think ive ever passed out before too so that was just so awful.
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Avatar universal
Dude. You are a machine, great stuff !! You could seriously be an anxiety therapist, you'll make some good money ;)
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Avatar universal
Hey guys. I know this post has been closed for quite a while, but this is the only discussion i could find.. so im literally shaking and my heart is racing and getting crazy heat rushes, feels like I'm having a heartattack! Im parked outside the ER, don't want to go in and cause a fuss about nothing... Just going to try and wait it out and see what happens i guess.
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Avatar universal
Trust me, from someone that smoked everyday for 5 years, some people are just not cut out for it. I had to quit fairly soon after I started getting paranoid.

To begin with it was fun, got the giggles, munchies and enjoyed it but realised I was doing it more and more on my own. I had a nice flat, lovely girl and nothing wrong but thought people were after me. It messed me up, I always worried but this was irrational.

Some can smoke and be fine, others need to be careful and I had to quit for my own sanity. When the bad times outweigh the good,it's time to move on.

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Avatar universal
The best thing you can do is not runaway from it. I beat this, it was very hard but it is beatable. You have to confront it head on. Do the things that make you anxious incrementally increasing these activities until you are again comfortable with them. If you got this from weed then smoke very small doses, tiny hits at first, 1 small hit is normally enough to begin, do this for a week or more. Give yourself something to do where you are not over thinking and freaking yourself out. Video Games are good, light exercise, even masturbation if it will relax you. Very gradually smoke more. I got anxiety for the first time and first panic attack on shrooms and was a nutcase for about 2 years with constant anxiety, even in my sleep where I would have dreams where I could not breathe or wake up. Gone are those days. Meditation helps a lot at first if you decide to drop marijuana for a while. I would also strongly recommend tapping technique for anxiety google it, it may take you years to get over it, but if you confront the things that stress you out then you get comfortable with them and the anxiety goes away. I was afraid of movie theaters for a while due to a Panic attack during a creepy film as well as public transport, taxis etc where my stomach would flip out and make me want to **** myself. You have to confront all these things, and most importantly say to yourselves that it is all in your mind and hove the power to control them. In a way your are letting your own thoughts bring on anxiety, you are not scared you are afraid of being scared. As soon as you get a grip on these the anxiety will go away. To avoid any heart conditions eat better, diet and exercise, this way you will know you are healthy and mentally know that you are safe and fine. If you must go back to smoking then do it alone at first. Everytime you feel anxious just change your thoughts, this is why it is important to keep occupied and not dwelling on dread or depressive thoughts.

My mantra: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”


― Frank Herbert, Dune
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480448 tn?1426948538
Just a friendly warning, alcohol is not the answer.  Alcohol actually exacerbates anxiety something terrible.

You need to work with a therapist to learn how to cope with your panic attacks.  Drinking will actually end up making you worse, plus it's not a healthy way of dealing with this.  That kind of self medicating can lead you down a dark path to addiction.  Plus, drinking alcohol while taking an antidepressant is not advised.  It actually can cause the AD to not work effectively, not to mention other issues.

An antidepressant takes time to see results...it can take up to 4-6 weeks before significant improvements are seen, and even after that, a higher dosage may be needed, so it's definitely a process that takes time and requires patience.

Get yourself into therapy, start learning about anxiety, what things are good to stay away from, and you will be on your way to managing it.  MJ has proven time and time again to trigger or exacerbate anxiety.  You'd be smart to steer clear of that all together also.

Best of luck to you.  If you want some more input, please start your own thread, as this one is older.  You can click on the orange "post a question" button on the top right of the page.  


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Avatar universal
Same here guys, was an avid smoker for years one day, BAM tachycardia of 210bpm and er visit, 2nd time weed brownie ER again, had anxiety ever scene. Have not smoked in years and on low dose SSRI its under control. Only way to stop attacks for me is having 2 or 3 beers it stops it in its track.
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Avatar universal
u know i feel the same way icant belive this **** i love to smoke weed but damn i dont want suffer these affects on it...hard to breath,tiggling,i feel like im going to swallow my throat. my mom wont take to the docter and its been going on for weeks she just tells me i have an axiety.
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Avatar universal
I've Been smoking for about four years and in the past week I have had panic attacks from any large amount and serious stomach pains and vibrations in the stomach area even off of 1 hit I will feel the pain a bit in my stomach
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Avatar universal
I recently had the same experience, been smoking weed for about 6 months now. 1-2 times a day on workdays and i keep a buzz going on weekends. Anyways, about a month ago i had a really bad panic attack after work (~12 hours) after smoking last. Went to the er and was looked at. They told me everything was fine and ever since my panic attacks have stopped, and I've continued to smoke without issue. I realized that i had an underlying fear that something was wrong with my heart, but once they had relieved that fear i was in the clear. I hope this helps.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for everyones stories, and especially to Cannahelp for a more scientific expalnation to what happened to me recently. I feel so much better knowing that I'm not alone and that this is a common reaction to pot.
I'm a 50 year old female who was at a BBQ and decided to have a pot brownie for the first time ever. After all, how innocuous does that sound...pot, harmless enough, brownies yum, who doesn't love those, right?
Within 10 minutes I had spiralled down in to what, at the time, seemed like the very depths of hell on earth. All the symptoms mentioned in the other posts were there, including extreme neck and head pain, triggered by someone taking flash photography. This all continued for 2-3 hours, I finally got relief when I was bought a cup of hot sweet milky tea, which I drank & then puked it all up 5 minutes later. Within minutes I started to feel better & could walk again.
I have been searching for an explanation of what physically and mentally happened, and this one has bought me most comfort.
I had worked very hard in 100 degree temps that day & not eaten very much at all, plus I'm recovering from hernia surgery,  I think that all this was the "perfect storm" for a very BAD TRIP on my very first experiment in pot. I won't be doing that again, needless to say.
This was four days ago, & I still feel pretty bad all round, will this pass?
Thanks for the support, glad to know I'm not going mad!!
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Avatar universal
So can anybody tell me if i had a panic attakc alreadyy and recently got another one today is it going to keep happening even tho i stoped smoking weed?? Is there any help i can get??
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Avatar universal
i experience anxiety daily..it comes and goes so much that im at the emergency room about 2 or 3 times a day jus because i cant nor know how to handle anxiety.this anxiety thing has messed up my life to da point where i cant work nor can perform things as i used to..i had a heart attack not so long ago and since then ive developed anxiety issues that will not go away,im scared to sleep at times thinking i may never wake up and my chest pains is so painful..its so bad the docs at the e.r. are tired of seeing my face but i have yet to know a good way to deal with it!! i need sum input as to how i can cope with this? i call it a disability bcuz right now it has me to the point of feeling disable?? any help with this hell i call anxiety..it has me more fustrated as each day passes
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Avatar universal
I smoked for 3 years straight, two years skunk, had a mild panic attack, told myself it was the skunk and so started smoking hash and all was fine. I went to a festival recently and had two tabs of LSD and had a panic attack (whilst hallucinating - not fun!), anyway i then smoked for about a week longer and suddenly one night i had a panic attack, i have tried to 'test' hash again to see if i can handle it but after years of smoking 6-7 zoots in front of the tv everynight, i can now not handle a toke. This maybe a naive question, but will I ever be able to smoke again? To be honest I do miss it!
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1042487 tn?1275279899
Activating the CB1 receptors with THC (smoking cannabis) is producing a decrease in GABA levels. Decreased GABA levels can be linked with anxiety.

A good example is the benzodiazepine drugs. They produce anti-anxiety effect by agonizing GABAa receptor therefore producing a release of GABA.

The acid role in this might indicate you are prone to psychosis and I would avoid taking acid again if I were you.

M4
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1430697 tn?1283215997
Okay,so i smoked pot for like 2 years.Everyday all day.It was GREAT,i LOVED it,i built my life around it.Then shortly after doing acid,i realized every time i smoke now,its diffrent.Idk if its panic attacks,or acid?
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584851 tn?1220272833
I was an addict for 27 years, yeap 27. I would smoke 1/4 lb a month, every day ( except when i would run out) for 27 years. I've spilled more weed then some of you folks have smoked. And, I agree with and have had everything ya'll talk about. But I wanted to add something. I quit 10 years ago at the end of this month, im 48 now.
I thing i can make a fact about is memorie loss. I had good memories when i smoked weed, and sence i got off "bam" no more good memory. The panic desorders i still have from time to time, there fifty times worse now then when i was on the weed. I shiver to think about haveing one today. I'm not going to tell anyone to stop, i sugest it tho. It is better to not smoke the weed. Peace to all

ML
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