I was perfectly fine for about 2 months after the first wave of anxiety and panic, but I smoked again and the creeping anxiety is back.
I have a theory based a Phsycologist's experiance's with weed. He got stoned one time and started driving on the free way and suddenly became terrified and trapped. To this day he still can't drive on the free way. He spoke with another Phsycologist that told him that this was a case of state-dependance learning. He learned that freeways were terrifying while he was high, so the only way he can overcome his fear is to get high and attempt to drive on the freeway.
I think this can be said about general anxiety and panic. We first got our panic attacks when we were high, so in my opinion if we can conquor our fear of anxiety from weed by getting high than maybe we can conquer our anxiety.
I have mixed results so far, somedays I have been able to smoke a LOT of good weed and feel awesome, and others I have been on the border of panic. I take Atevan before I smoke sometimes and that always makes for a pleasant high.
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I can tell you im 53 and smoked pot in the 70 s and i had anxiety and still have even though its been 30 years since smoking,i believe its neurological,and some people just cant handle it, my advice is find a sport that requires you to work off the anxiety for instance i picked up cycling and then swimming and had no anxiety at all because the Dopa mine produced by the brain during these sports lessen anxiety totally,sports exercise,good luck kid and its OK to say,no im all set thank you when your at a party and someone offers you to smoke,i still get offered weed and drinking at social events. I never say yes cause i know ill regret it, a sober life is the only life save your brain cells to study and get a good job. Drinking is the Gateway drug first of all course Police will yell you Different cause they all drink.I have a Degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice and all statistics point to drinking being responsible for rapes .murders,domestic abuse, DWI,OUI cheating and much much more, that's the facts drinking sucks as does every other drug, stay sober stay smart and choose your friends wisely
I won't undermine the opinions of anyone posting in this thread, since it seems to be very helpful for others (myself included). I began smoking my freshman year of college, and from that point on I would smoke very heavily for the next 3 or 4 years (I was a bona fide stoner clearing bong bowls in one hit). I never had a single negative experience up until last year-- I took a few big hits from my bong and started watching Cheers (favorite sitcom, don't judge)-- seemingly out of no where, my heart rate jumped up, it was very difficult to breathe, and all of my limbs were getting numb with a tingling sensation. It was pretty terrifying, but I've done enough psychedelics to know that relaxing and going with the experience is the best thing to do. Unfortunately my girlfriend didn't think so. She freaked out and drove me to the hospital where they took me right away (the hospital doesn't mess around when the heart is involved) and did an EKG. They verified that my heart rate was 200bpm with palpitations (not a fun pace) and gave me a bed in the ER. I explained to the doctor that I was just a graduate student who smoked regularly, and this had never happened before. After about five minutes, there were like 12 doctors standing around me watching (which made it even worse), this really nice guy was trying to calm me down at the same time (he had a giant, grey handlebar mustache, so he's pretty memorable for me). Nothing was working, so they hooked me up to an IV and started giving me cardiac enzymes and saline (they also did a blood test and came back with potassium-- it BURNS so much going through the IV, felt like lava in my veins). Still, nothing lowered my heart rate. Next was an IV dose of something called Adenosine-- it was one of the most uncomfortable feelings in my entire life, before it was injected the doctors told me to prepare myself. As soon as it was injected, I literally felt it course it's way through my bloodstream until it reached my heart, at which point my heart rate dropped from 200 to 20bpm instantly, and then it steadily climbed back to 200 again. They gave me the Adenosine injection three more times so that they wouldn't have to reset my heart with the paddles-- there were a few times where my heart stopped altogether for a few seconds. After being monitored like this for a few hours my heart finally went back to normal, but when I say that my heart felt tired beyond belief (I know this is not physically possible) I mean it. I was kept in the hospital for a few days so they could run some tests, but I left early to avoid the massive debt. I was diagnosed with Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia (PSVT), and they told me that my heart was receiving the signal to beat, but they couldn't trace it back to my brain. My body was extremely malnourished (I was dehydrated and had very low potassium levels) and I was taking large doses of a pre-workout supplement (terrible for your body). I don't blame the pot at all, and the doctor's said that it wasn't a panic attack. From a psychological stand-point, I suppose it's possible that my body was extremely out of whack, and the cannabis was a trigger for the episode, and now whenever I smoke my body reverts to the same experience almost like PTSD. I have continued to smoke after that point, the first few times smoking after the experience caused a similar experience, but I found out that it is definitely dose-dependent: the more I smoke, the worse the episode is. Still, I know that the first experience wasn't a panic attack, but I'm very sure that the following experiences are in fact panic attacks. I'm sure there are people on here who might be able to relate to my experience (oh, I can also speed my heart-rate up by concentrating on a sensation in my groin area, one of the doctors said it might be the ability to open up my adrenal gland, maybe other people have this experience too, I know there are a few floating around on the internet). I've done psychedelics since this experience, and my heart has been fine-- I get a slight panic during the come-up of the trip, but after that It's smooth sailing. DMT is a different experience entirely however.
Hey guys, I'm sixteen years old and in August 2012 I had my first and definitely last try of weed. I hadn't a clue what it could do amid definitely a bad call. I was camping with some friends who all had tried it a few times, I was in a tent and me and ahot boxed a joiI also had some of what was beingpassed round which was an 'annihilation'. The tent was smoking with the stuff pretty soon I found myself running outside choking and spewing up outside, then I noticed signs that looked like cats and people running past me who weren't there. I got back in the tent paranoid scared the lot. My friends at this time were laughing like hell at me seeing as they'd all got the giggles. Immediately I got picked up and went home still paranoid through to the next evening. About a week later in school I started feeling poorly and sick but never actually spewed so I went home. Everyday I woke up the same after a week I was no different, I'd tried going in school however just felt worse every time. Altogether I missed two weeks! I went to the doctor who told me I had anxiety who put me through to a psychiatrist who helped me for two months. I had gotten scared of going out the house and doing things staying inside whenever I could avoiding people and frequent panic attacks.
This all changed with the help of the psychiatrist who helped me understand anxiety and how it can be stopped. I tell you now it is the biggest challenge I've overcome.
Im sharing with you what he told me to do and what I did to stop it. Firstly if likgoing you are scared of doing things you once loved even things such as going to the shop! Just get up and go. You will feel like absolute c**p and think why ami doing this but I promise you after a few times it gets easier and easier until it has all gone and your normal again. Wherever you can just push yourself to go and do something.
Another thing I found was doing exercise releases serotonin (the happy hormone) and uses up adrenaline so you are less prone to panic attacks and in general feel more relaxed. Even ten or morminutes more on a treadmill helped me a lot.
In general just gather up all your will and push through that anxiety barrier stopping you doing things eventually it will go and just become more and more manageable.
These are just a few things that eloped me the most personally but if you send mean email I'll gladly dig out some notesheet resources what the psychiatrist gave me.
Nowadaysim feeling much bettemoaned 95% of the time completely normal however i do get a small snippet of the anxiety I experienced but now I can get through it with so much ease !
I hope this is helpful for some body as I know how much it can tear you down. Most importantly this can be helped and don't be afraid to ask for it.
This fast heart rate has happened to me a number of times. Last month it got so bad I truly thought I was gonna die, i was BEGGING my friend to tell me what to do to bring my heart rate down. I was on the verge of tears. But i discovered if i drink alcohol before smoking it reduces or eliminates the symptoms. The more i drink the less i see the symptoms.
So i suggest if you like smoking drink some and smoke a little bit and see how it feels.
But also always make sure to smoke with a good friend who can talk you through a panic attack or always have an emergency phone number to call, like woodstock, they just listen to you and help you calm down. 845-679-2485
Its free and its good people who just listen to you when you are panicking.
I have an advise to give you cause I've been through what you described so well. If you keep trying and trying, you will develop anxiety. At that point, even if you quit, the anxiety will be there with you to make your life so much worst. Just admit to yourself that it is not good for you and your amigdala or your brain. Stop messing with your brain like it's nothing. Your friends feel good smoking, other people don't. If you don't stop you will feel worst that those who doesn't tollerate it right now. Avoid a sad future, you can't smoke because you are physically sensitive to the substance that stimulates the fear, released by the amigdala. Are you really sure 100 % that you are going to win over your natural indisposition to pot? Be careful , you only have one chance to wake up happy. Don't mess with your luck! There is nothing wrong with you, you are perfect the way you are, but please don't follow all faschions. If you really wanna be alternative, be one , be yourself. Have you ever thought that maybe your friends will develop something bad in the future. Most of my friends still smoke and they got nowhere in life or they became Junkies. This is not what will happen necessarily. I am just saying that you may prefer to move into other fields where you get more satisfaction, by being yourself. Many people do not like the effect of pot and they do not smoke anymore. They try, they dislike it, they quit. No explanation, no justifications, no broken dreams. If it makes you feel like a garbage can maybe your body is screaming to you: duuuude please you are damaging everything here I cannot stand this poison. And you instead are like: Yeah but it's cool to smoke! My friends.... your friends are other human beings and you are you. You have to listen to what your body is telling you, otherwise your body will make you understand what means being F... up. Do you want to be like that? How cool will you feel when you will finally feel poisoned. Stop that. Look into another direction and you will see a road that doesn't included feeling crazy, feeling bad, feeling sad, feeling dead, feeling worst. Maybe you have to calm your ego and put your health in front of everything else. Don't be a loser, win this battle. Sometimes the best way to win a battle is to leave the field and go for another battle. Your life is the journey through all these battles, you cannot win all of them. Maybe you need to develop a better life and believe me, it can include also a non-smoking decision.