Marijuana=Panic attacks and Anxiety?

[jd401]

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.

[nursegirl6572]

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.  

[bodave2]

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.

[theproblem810]

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.

[Politer]

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

[guest_doA]

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.

[gogowend]

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!!