Constant panic symptoms since doing cocaine

[crazyhayz]

Hi all, well the title says it all really. On NYE i did quite a bit of cocaine with friends. Ive done it before about 4 or 5 times but never of that amount. I started shaking/sweating/heart pounding/could barely see/felt like i was not in this world like i wasnt real for example.. my friends said i was panicking and after about 4 hours it all stopped and i managed to sleep. The next day i had severe chest pain and dizziness. Never had that before so that got me reallllllllly worried. 2 days later it allhadnt calmed down and i had a huge panic attackyetagain, but this time i thought i washaving a heart attack. Went to A&E and ECG was normal. I was just having a panic attack,yet again. Ive never ever suffered from anxiety of anyformor anypanic ATALL. I used to feel normal and now ifeel like mywhole life is messed up, like im on a downward slope. Its horrible. I regret doing it so much. Basically, i have panic symptoms every single day. Not an actual attack everyday but just some of the symptoms! I get an actual attack probably 3 times a week. Symptoms i get everyday are dizziness and bad blurred vision about once every couple of hours lasting about 10-15 minutes. Hands and fingers feeling weak like myfingers are ona spring and i cant open them properly/arms feeling weak, tiredness and itching on my spine. The dizziness/blurred vision is what is affecting me the most though. Ive had 3 ECG's in 5 weeks and all are normal so ive accepted ive not got anything wrong with myheart. But imworried ive done something to mybrain. Im worried sick. My doc has prescribed me Diazepam for my panic attacks which help alot, but he said to only take them when i start to feel the symptoms coming on, but i dont wanna feel them in the first place! Ive got to go back soon to getmore but is he guna think im addicted if i ask for more? im worried if i dont have them then im guna keep getting panic attack symptoms!! so is this it now for me?? Will i ever be cured?? I cant blv one night of doing loads of cocaine has done this to me. I feel like im going mental and dont know how muchmore i can take.I cry everday. Please help. How can stop these symptoms coming on? They literally come out of nowhere,i could be just sat down watching tv or talking tomymumonthe phone and then all of a sudden i start getting them. I dont feel anxious/panicky beforehand. Why is this happening :(

[Claire_MHModerator]

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[panicking1]

I had panic attacks for 25 yrs now. I got a psychiatrist and he gave me xanax .5 x3 a day. Back then the dr talked and gave therapy for an hour. Nothing else works for me just xanax and I tried everything. watch out for ssri very bad like taking acid --changes your brain chem. Yeah I went back to drinking and doing coke here and there but never caused panic for me. Well haven't had a drink or did coke for 10yrs now. But just a few months ago a huge panic attack hit me and now I'm pretty bad. Panics are back prob due to work and friends/fam die on me. Never see a GP for mental probs-they just don't know. I see someone said drug seeking --thats BS--take your meds as prescribed and if you need more talk with your doc. Also therapy does help so get at it.. In the beginning you said the coke caused the panic attack prob yes -- but you were going to get them anyways without coke. And you don't have brain damage. by the way the most xanax ive been on was 5mg a day but now im back down to 1.5 again. learn to laugh at your probs and it makes me feel better but some just can't get to that point yet-- I was stuck in my house to but you have to say **** it and take the pain of fear and get outside its like learning to walk again but you can do it--wish all of you the best and kick the panic/phobias/anxiety in the *** !!

[adam503]

sorry to hear you are dealing with that. it sounds like you are having panic attacks that were triggered from using cocaine. the thing is you may have been using cocaine to deal with life/stress/anxiety so the drug starts to make it worse after time. also your chemicals get out of balance in your body when you depend on something for a good amount of time like 7 months. your body needs you to look at what is triggering your anxiety and deal with the root of it. making big changes to your diet, exercising, using stress reduction techniques can get your body on the right track to rebalance things. i've been there and know what you're going through, so i'm suggesting what i have learned. take care

[LawALZ]

stay away from ANY drugs, in the end they ALL change YOUR body chemistry!!!!   I was trying coke for the first time and I said, "hey this is great", then I started doing it EVERY night almost 1 gram a day almost every day for about 7 months.  then one morning i thought i was ok ALL of a i sat on the ground and told my mom i was going to or about to die, my heart couldnt stop beating fast, i felt like no vitality left in my body anymore, literally like i was becoming a corpse, i felt sweating and cold, as a result my body temperature never returned back to the healthy 37 degress celsius (98.6 F)  all drug abusers have a low body temp, and a low body temp is a n opportunistic environment for disease and heart disease.  i have never felt the same even though ive been clean for a year or so now.  body temperature is so low , like 36 celsius if im lucky, seratonin and endorphins are all over the place some days really low and depressed, MASIVE anxiety that creeps up, mind starts racing , turning white like body is about to decompose, and stress hormons always high. yeh i screwed up the perfect body god made me... now its a battle to re-coupe what was lost.. its scary, every 2nd or 3rd day i feel like im about to die, every thing slows down , when people talk everything is linked to karma, feel so sick and just like any day is the karma day for me to die both mentally and physically.. im seeing a doctor, the old anti- depressants and clopazpam or somehting called like that :-(((((((((((  cocaine-- which that night i mixed with weed and alcohol... scary as **** and it keeps creeping :-((((((((((

[MichaelJ8i]

I too suffer from panic disorder caused from one time cocaine use (well not one time, but over a ten year period I have done cocaine 30 times or so, so 3 times a year, not much).

This happened 6 years ago. In some ways its gotten better, less frequent, but in other ways its worse, the panic is much more intense. Exercise also seems to trigger the worst panic attacks for me.

I am seeing a osteopath(D.O) right now, he is going to try to nutrition route as he thinks I have gluten intolerance which does not allow me to absorb nutrients properly. I had a urine nuerotransmitter test(which is contraversial) but out of 12 nuerotransmitters tested for I was in the bottom 2.5% of 9 of them. I hope this works, but we will see.

I did find these really good articles on cocaine induced panic attacks:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2912249
and
http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/bps/article/0006-3223(91)90227-D/abstract
full text of the above link can be found by clicking the pdf link.

Basically, clonazepam seems to be the best treatment, but these are older articles, but the best ones i can find.

[hey_you_nobody]

I had the same exact experience and this happened back in 2003 for me. I actually have gotten much worse and I no longer leave my home. I am embarrassed by my panic attacks because they have gotten to the point where the shaking has effected my speach and is so noticeable. Also I have developed lots of fears of things because I think because I can't control or stop them from happening. If you find away to stop it please share. I have spent years in therapy, been on all kinds of meds, got brain scans and all kinds of tests, yet NOTHING has worked. I have given up hope really. But I never touched coke or any illegal drugs again. I can barely take asprin without freaking out because I am so scared. All from that one bad experience with coke. I had done coke before. Lots of times in fact, but that night I did a LOT and had the same EXACT reaction as you did. I cried reading this because I felt like someone was talking about me. I hope you find a way to become normal again, because 10 years later I sure haven't.

[txQC]

I had the same bad experience with cocaine... panic attacks who last for several hours in a row and days after I stop it...

I think that street drugs in general have a big tendency to trigger panic/anxiety in a lot of peoples who are biologically predisposed or prone to panic and anxiety...

When I was a teenager, I was used to smoke weeds everyday at school and also before going to bed, I smoke weeds from 14 yo until 19 yo, and I never had a panic attack while I was smooking weeds... but at 19 yo, without knowing anything about the panic/anxiety thing, I took a LSD pill and smooke a lot of weeds to start the LSD trip and I had a 12 hours in a row of rapid heart beat, sweating, I wasn't able to breath, it was the first time of my life that I experience a panic attack without knowing it was a panic attack in fact...

After that night, I start having panic attacks everytime I was smooking weeds... and one day I had a panic attack without smooking anything. I remember that I goes to the emergency and they told me there that it was a panic attack and I ask them what was a panic attack cause it was new for me and they explain it to me...

I saw a PDoc at the time and he RX the Buspar first and it fail to stop the panic so he RX the antidepressant Paxil and my panic disorder stop in less than 2 months...

So for me, drugs trigger the panic disorder on me...

And like nursegirl said, stay away from drugs and continue the antidepressant med, you will be free of panic soon you can trust me on that!

[TellMeSomethingNew]

I had the same symptoms as you for months and months in high school. Stay away from marijuana and all other drugs and stay on your anti-depressant. You'll be feeling better soon.

I went through the EXACT same thing.

[Ki3r]

yh thanks v much for ya comments.. and i am on recover medication for the 1 who sed an anti drug is possible i am on 3 kinds they have taken a lot of doing to get were i am well 5 weeks but its the side effects are not good at all ! but yh Hopefully its nowt bad . just anxiety the doctor i have got is brilliant tbh. depression and anxiety does run in my fam tho . but luckly my brother who has done what i have when he waz young he had same probs and went for a MRI what ever a brain scan i dnno and hewas fine i always hear complains about anxiety but what i dont understand is how can it corse Physical problems when it is a mental issue ?? ... the fact is iv dont coke and that prob worries me if it just came on me if i wasnt useing drugs etc etc i dont think i would be as worried as i am becuase i have done um do you get me ??? but yh thanks v much for ya commemts hopefully soon il get my self off this and reading like mad ha. Not good !

[nursegirl6572]

I would seek out the opinion of another doc since you said this one has attributed everything to anxiety (which may very well be true!).  Are you still having the symptoms you described?  If you ARE, it wouldn't hurt to visit an ER...not necessarily b/c I think you require emergent attention, but b/c with persisting symptoms...the medical team could do a thorough work-up with bloodwork, CT Scan, etc...if necessary.  If the symptoms are gone...I would seek out another opinion from another PCP.

Usually one has to partake in regular, chronic and heavy coke use to be in a danger zone...but again, it can happen depending on the quality of coke, what it was cut with, and the route of administration.  Cocaine increases your heart rate and BP, which can lead to cardiac and neurological events.

Sincerely, I'm also thinking that your symptoms are probably anxiety related, but the nature of what you explained (headache, blurred vision, weakness in an extremity) would have me concerned enough to rule anything medical out...namely a Neurological issue.  It's just that those complaints raise a few red flags that are worth exploring.  Especially the nurse in me...lol.

You're probably absolutely fine...but I know you'll feel better once you know that for sure.

[erin626]

The first time I ever did coke I had a horrible panic attack. I was sitting on the steps of my apartment building just freaking out. It was very scary. I coldnt breathe properly, I was shaking, nauseous, dizzy, and had chest pains. The next day I was fine. I did coke after that for whatever reason and would be fine while doing it but the next day I would wake up in a horrible panic state. But coke really won't hurt your brain after recreational use...it can cause panic and anxiety but no long term lasting damage. In prolonged regular use of cocaine it can damage your heart and heart muscles but you'd have to be using coke regularly for years. I'm in school to become a drug and alcohol counselor and during my internships I've met quite a few people with cocaine problems and their chief complaint is anxiety and panic while quitting cocaine. Its such a huge stimulant...coffee can cause anxiety because of the caffeine..so imagine what coke will do.

The anxiety now is probably just in response to the scary experience you had from doing the coke. But again...its not any actual damage to your brain. Ask your doc to try you on klonopin maybe. Its an anti anxiety that stays in your system longer so it controls anxiety for longer periods of time.

[Ki3r]

yh thanks for you comments thats the thing what is terrerising me if i have damage.. people say if you had dameage you couldnt do what you do etc etc .. i am realy confused right about now. iv kept away from alcohol and all just a life as a nightmare atm .. im going back to the doctors tmoz but i think hel just tell me its axiety again lol .. what will i need to do to find out its not damage ?? and its just anxiety ? how will people know for example i tell um what iv done in past and they can only think it is or can they do tests so show its anxiety ?? sorry for all the questions but just need a littleeeee bit of piece of mind thats all reply if you can thanks

[nursegirl6572]

I couldn't say for sure that the culprit is anxiety...it depends on a lot of things...how heavy of a user you were, what you were using in terms of amounts and purity, etc.  Certainly the symptoms you described were worrisome enough that I don't think getting a thorough work up to rule out any issues would hurt...plus if you are dealing with anxiety and health worries as a result, it may give you some peace of mind.

Are you still having the numbness, weakness and headache kind of symptoms?  Were they short lived or have they persisted?

I'm NOT saying I think you have done some kind of damage or have a serious medical concern....I AM recommending that if your symptoms have persisted and *I* was in your shoes, I would be getting a thorough medical exam...just to err on the side of caution.  If your symptoms have resolved...then it's much more likely that anxiety is your problem.  Again, getting an answer either way will help you.

THEN once you get a clean bill of health, you can address your issues as anxiety.  

Again, I'm not trying to frighten you, but we can never be too careful with our health, especially when it comes to drugs.

[Ki3r]

Yh thats all what is worrying me tho .. Thinking my brain is damaged lol sound stupid i know but wen i had pains in my so do you persanally think its just anxiety ??? can these symtems come on all the time with anxiety IE heads pains all dizziness feel ditached and wired all the time ?? iv been on a diffrent web and it say coce can only corse depression and bad anxiety all the time in rhe long run. if i know for 100% sure it is anxiety i will try and cope with it 2 docs did say it is tho, i dno what to do worried lol .??

[nursegirl6572]

It's not uncommon for someone to experience their first panic attack/anxiety after a night (or more) of drug use.  It acts as a trigger.  In the world of cocaine and meth, it's even more common, being that those drugs are strong stimulants and actually CAUSE anxiety and panic symptoms.  If you've had a thorough medical work-up, you can rule out any kind of "damage", which for the occasional user, is rare.  However, chronic or heavy coke users DO place themselves at risk for serious medical problems...which I won't get into as to not cause you any further worry.  Again, if you've been evaluated medically, you can put that worry to bed.

The fact that you stated the antidepressant was already helping is a strong indicator that the anxiety/panic is starting to respond to the medication and that your fear of some kind of "damage" being done is likely just that, a fear.  YOUR job is to be patient as relief takes time and work.  Also, I STRONGLY recommend therapy for you...in addition to the meds, it can offer a lot of support and comfort, not to mention educate you about anxiety and what kinds of coping mechanisms you can use to help yourself along.

Any drug, and alochol will exacerbate anxiety bigtime.  Anyone suffering from anxiety would be wise to stay away from those things completely...or really...you are just undoing any progress you may have made with your anxiety treatment.

Best of luck...let us know how thinigs are going!

[Ki3r]

YH this is a good site really il start im 20yr old male always done negative things for agers .. but i drink and take coceain at weekends. i always the day after feel serious anxiety paranoid but i was used to all that and i new it would go when i sleep etc etc .. 6 weeks ago i went out on a night out and had some coce and vodka all noght long happy chatty as you do ..well i got a head pain shooting pains in my brain i got worried to death was walking round the next day panniking thinking i have damaged my brain no way what to do with my life its over !!!! i realy honesly thort i was gonna have brain damage my whole head went numb compleatly and my vision is blurred and im dizzy weak . i couldnt help but think i waz messed up from it realy.. days went on and it was geting worse and worse i couldnt sleep because i was so paranoid and worried and my head was killing (not a headache) something diffrent. i went to the doctors and told him everything i have he told me a was a wreck.. meening broke down from depression and anxiety .. i told him i use drugs could that whats done it ?? he sed no its like its self but i didnt feel depressed befor at all. so told him he ensured me its anxiety 100% iv been on antidepressants for 4 weeks now i think slowly i can see the light. also sleeping tabolots etc . but till this day i think something ios wrong with my brain i can not get it out my head . because the fact is y isit numb ? y am i dizzy ? y carnt i consntrate ? why do i wake up in the middle of the night WORRIED i am Highy worried still. do you lot feel like this at all ?? its bassically F**** my life up ! dont want to do anything just sit thinking about it. look symtems up and think no thats me brain damage etc then more worry. i just feel spaced out zoozey all day every day ????? i hate what iv done but i just Hope its nothing serious ????? and will it get better ?? any of you at all like this ??? reply on here and let me know please

[MrGreen]

Found this and thought it was interesting to what you asked at the end of your post.

While the true causes of Tietze's Syndrome are not well understood, it often results from a physical strain or minor injury, such as repeated coughing, vomiting or impacts to the chest. It has even been known to occur after hearty bouts of laughter. It can occur by over exerting or by an injury in the chest and breast.

[crazyhayz]

Thanks guys, I do feel alot better now after reading your responses. Im going to go to my doctor and ask to be referred for therapy and im guna try a higher dose of tablets and take them as and when needed, as maybe its coz there not strong enough why i still keep getting the panic symptoms. I do need to accept theres nothing wrong but its so hard when its all so physical!! :( its horrible.. Good thing is though ive complrtely quit smoking (havent smoked since all this began!) and i dont touch alcohol (yes i did drink with the coke stupidly yes). So my body is obviously guna benefit from that alone anyway. I just need to gain control of myself and tell myself i wont let it beat me. Thanks again guys, real help :) I will keep u updated about my hopeful therapy, ihave a lovely GP so im sure he'll understand. I rly do believe some sort of therapy would help me :) Justwant to ask one question though: Ive been diagnosed with Costochondritis/Tietze Syndrome recently, which apparently is caused by some sort of injury tothe chest...but i havent injured it in any way, im sure of that. i dont lift things and ive never had issues with my chest muscles/bones before....could my panic/anxiety/cocaine be linked to this?? My doc thinks it could be my panic attacks but isnt entirely sure. Any thoughts?

[RubyWitch]

There's not much doubt that you are dealing with some pretty heavy duty anxiety/panic here. If you say you never had these episodes BEFORE the night you did the large amount of coke, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that your anxiety stems from that night. (When you did coke before, I'm going to assume you didn't have this same reaction) Otherwise I can't imagine you'd do it again.
It could have been the coke itself that brought on these symptoms, an elevated heart rate is to be expected with a strong stimulant, and depending on the quality of the coke, it may have been stronger..........more "pure" than what you'd had in the past. But it's also a good possibility that it was what the coke was "cut" with that brought on your nasty symptoms.
The elevated heart rate and shakiness are common with coke use, but your other symptoms are not.
Were you also drinking while doing the coke? It always seems like a good idea at the time, but alcohol is a depressant and coke is a very strong stimulant, so mixing the two, especially in large quantities, will get your brain going in two directions at once. A coke and alcohol hangover is the very worst and it doesn't surprise me that the next morning you had some pretty horrific symptoms. Your anxiety had already begun the night before and when you woke up with chest pains and dizziness, it's easy to see how your anxiety got away from you. But two days later you were STILL not feeling right and this brought on a huge panic attack, fears of a heart attack and you went to the ER. (I will assume you were honest with the doctors and told them about using the coke) They checked your heart, which was fine, and you were sent on your way with a dx of panic attack. Since then you've had 3 more ECGs which have all come back negative. So lets just accept the FACT that your heart is OK. Let THAT fear go. It is too late now to try and isolate what the coke may have been cut with. If they had taken a urine sample the first time you went to the ER, toxicology might have been able to figure that.
If your friends are OK, not having any of the symptoms you are, then I'd say it was your personal response to the coke that has, apparently, triggered an underlying anxiety in you. Which is my totally non-medical opinion.
Your doctor prescribed diazepam, a mild anti-ANXIETY medication which has no affinity for panic, and is obviously not helping you much..........even though you state it is. Which surprises me. But the fact that you are taking more of this medication than was prescribed for you should send up some red flags. I understand you are taking more than the prescribd dose to try and make yourself feel better, but in medical jargon what you're doing is "abusing" the drug. It was given to you on a prn (as needed) basis and your almost out. I doubt he will think your "addicted." It would take far more than one script to make you "addicted" to diazepam, but he may very well stamp your chart with a big red "DRUG SEEKER" stanp. You do NOT want this on your chart, trust me. But, unfortunately that is what it's going to look like. Maybe it's different in the UK, but if we go to the ER, we see an ER doc, and if we need any follow up, we must see our regular care giver.
But no matter the possible differences, what I believe you need to do now is see your primary care doctor and explain exactly what is going on and be totally honest. In my humble opinion, he should give you something stronger for your panic, but I worry that if you think this is not making you feel perfectly "normal" either, you will take more of this drug as well, which COULD be a fatal mistake. Persoanlly, I think you have worked yourself into such a state of anxiety and panic about this, your very best bet would be to get in front of a therapist or preferrably a psychiatrist who deals with drug issues and take it from there. You can take all sorts of medication for your symptoms, but all they will do is mask them. You need to dig into WHY you are now having panic attacks. Sadly, most primary care givers just don't have the training to deal with these issues which is why I believe you need to see someone else.
I don't believe you have permanently damaged your brain, but you do seem to have opened the barn door..........and something got out.
Considering that it has been probably close to 2 months since this all began and it's not going away, please get yourself some help.
And pleae only take your meds as directed!
Let me know how you're doing, OK?
Peace
Greenlydia