Marijuana and panic attacks

I am 19 years old and have been smoking MJ for about 3 years now on and off; within the past year I've begun experiencing mild to severe anxiety attacks like you desribed. The experiences I've seen described on this forum essentially sum up the experience; it begins with tingling and numbness of the extremities followed by nervousness spiraling into an intense and undeniable fear.

I've heard people say it feels as if someone is "sitting on your chest" which I find very true... my chest becomes extremely sensitive and breathing hurts while sitting down or standing still brings on physical pain. I pace uncontrollably and in the worst incident I've ever I experienced I made the horrible decision to go outside for a cigarette during this period; as I was pacing down a sidewalk dragging off my cig I was suddenly flooded with a fear of death (inspired by leaves falling off a tree) and this is where I entered a personal hell.

My extremities immediately felt dead numb and I felt a pain like needles traveling up the skin from my hands and feet into my chest and back. My muscles began tremoring all over and I felt like my heart was being crushed suddenly as if it were inside a closing iron maiden; a powerful pressure then built up and my vision began turning white as the pain became unbearable and traveled up my spine into my skull; I heard a pop and knew I was about to lose consciousness...

I immediately broke into a full sprint to try to reach my house and literally wondering if I was going to make it or if it would matter if I did. The white pain began pulsing slower and settled into a pain which rippled across my heart back and forth along with a sense of impending doom... my heartbeat was racing but felt extremely irregular and I started crying and freaking everyone out; I was shivering and tremoring and couldn't stay warm. I had them call an ambulance and the pain continued there though the staff pretty much just blew me off since my vitals were fine... they kept assuring me I was fine but I was scared sh*tless. They wound up giving me some anti-anxiety medicine and sending me on my way. Needless to say I don't smoke weed anymore but I believe my problems started when I stopped taking Lexapro...

I will tell you - when my husband smokes weed it does build up his anxiety - he is also bipolar though - so don't know if that plays a part in it or not.

i've smoked weed for 4years now on & off (im now 19) recently ive had 2 severe panic attacks. my heart beats so fast booming in my ears, i get numb hands, dry mouth, pins + needles, cramps, nausea, breathlessness, until i pass out & then sleep it off for a good 12hours. i duno why it's started happening now? i dont smoke more than i used to - maybe its stronger? is it because i've lost weight? help!

i do have some tips though....

PANIC ATTACK ADVICE: the medic who came from the ambulance crew when id first passed out said:
*to drink lots of water, it will hydrate your body, get rid of dry mouth, help you feel refreshed and less lethargic, and get your breathing in a regular pattern.
*he also said lie down and put your feet higher than your head if you can to get the blood to your head, that's why your body faints in order to get blood to the head.
*breathe slow short breaths too, not deeply, you panic and pass out coz your body is over oxygenated, so you musnt hyperventilate - if your feel yourself getting like this breathe into a paper bag or your cupped hands.
*get out of crowds that will fuss over you, but stay with someone, talking forces you to stay concious and aware and help your breathing too. the person will normally act responsibly and calm you down. i rang my sister during my last one and it helped the panic attack from developing fully and i was calm and back to normal within half an hour.

All these stories seem very closely related to what happens to me. So heres my story...

I started smoking pot when i was 17 and have smoked on and off since then(im 21 now almost 22) for periods of everyday for weeks at a time to every weekend to parties and i can go months without smoking. Recently, ive started having these crazy scary incidents.

Since i go to college away from all my pothead friends from back home, i dont really smoke with anyone anymore, just tend to smoke by myself at night. I like to just surf the internet, listen to music, watch tv/movies, eat-just normally activities ive always done when im high. I love to watch animal planet and nature things when im high. After i smoked the other week, i started watching tv, and suddenly my heart began beating really fast and irregular. My left side of my chest felt like it had all this pressure and i wasnt even that high. (i had taken 3 or 4 hits out of my homemade apple pipe-yea i broke my real pipe and never replaced it lol) Anyways, i laid down for a second to try to breathe calmly, only realizing i couldnt sit still, i had to pace around my room. My heart was pounding and i really thought i was going to have a heart attack and die. I was like who has a heart attack and dies at age 21?? Im really healthy and fit so this was crazy to me. I fell to the floor to try to steady my heart and calm down...nothing helped. I fel to the ground and i felt my heart actually tense up and was having a heart attack, i was dying. After 10 seconds of this horrible pain to my heart I got up and looked at my tv and there was a local hospital commercial on showing signs and symptoms of a stroke...these fit somewhat to what i was feeling and at the end of the commercial it said that every second counts. This really scared me and after about 5 minutes of indecisive decisions in my head i convinced myself to drive me to the ER. I checked in and told them i saw the commercial and they said sit tight and within 5 minutes i was in the back as i bypassed 5 other patients that had been sitting there. The doctor looked skeptical about me having a stroke because she said people that are having a stroke normally cant drive themselves to the ER. She took my BP and it was 210 over 130. I was shocked and she said this was hypertension and could lead to a stroke. She called in a nurse and wheelchaired me to the backroom where they took alot of tests and scans on me( i was still pretty high at this point). the doctors said everything was fine but i knew that there was something wrong, i just felt like i was going to die-it was horribly scary.

I love being high and i wish i could go back to the days where me and my friends could smoke and everything was alright. I didnt have many cares in highschool i think thats what it is. Anyways, 3 weeks later, i wanted to smoke again, convincing myself to only hit it 1 or 2 times. Everything was alright and then i felt it coming back-i started freaking out and that made it worse. I fell to the ground. Let me say this. It wasnt as bad as the first time but it still felt like i was going to die. I firgured out some things that make me calm down. Water does help me, but taking walks through the local trails around my house helps me, listening to my ipod-mostly calm music like jack johnson and sublime are my favorites (reggae) to listen to when im stoned. But the thing that helps me most- is talking to God. Whenever im not stoned i dont know if i really believe in a "God" but when i get stoned its like God is punishing me for ignoring me and if im truly 100% sorry and apoligize for my sins-my heart will immediatly start beating normal and i stop freaking out. The second where i start thinking that its all in my head and think that god doesnt exist-my heart starts pounding and i start to freak out again. I havent smoked since and i wont until i have a less stressed out life. After all, even though it is just pot-it is still a physchedelic and you hallucinate with it-and if you freak out, or in the wrong setting, or are stressed-it can be a nightmare.

Hey please help me out here, i had a sever panic attack 2 months back when one of my friend came up to me with a topic regarding my friend in an accident when i had smoked pot! It freaked me out i was completely taken into it, i felt like i was being dragged to hell and i started convincing myself that i had over dozed and was going to die. The experience was terrible and never would i want to experience such a thing again! i am soo scared of it now that even today, i get acute panic attacks and i feel i am going to end up again in that trip! i dont know why this is happening even after 2 months! it happens only when i start thinking about it ! but i am not able to get these thoughts out of my head! the thoughts of me freaking out and it coming back ! someone please help me out here! i wanna get rid of this!

Hey! i had a terrible experience with pot, this happened 2 months back when i freaked out because one of my friend came up with a topic (when we were smoking pot) regarding another friend of mine in an accident! It freaked me out, i was not aware of anything around me and i was screaming! I started to panic very badly! i was CONVINCING myself that it was an overdose and i was going to die! it was the worst i had ever experienced! i was tripping my head out! it stopped after like 7 hours of intense tripping! but what i want to know is even after 2 months of quitting weed!! ! Whenever i think about it i feel like its coming back and i am sooo scared of that terrible cycle starting all over again! i still get these acute panic attacks when i start to think of it! and trust me i have tried all possible ways to get these thoughts out of my head! but they dont seem to go! i am really scared of it happening again! thats why i haven laid a finger on a joint in 2 months, i feel it may erupt if i smoke again cause i am alll the time panicked of it happening again! SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO GET RID OF THESE ACUTE PANIC ATTACKS WHICH FREAK ME OUT ! AND WHY ARE THEY STILL THERE WHEN I HAVE STOPPED SMOKING POT!

sh*t sucks. I am a healthy, fit (although I have put on a few pounds since my hayday), and am in general an extremely hearty guy. Not much phases me, I actually perform everything much better under a decent amount of pressure. I have always drank more and smoked more than anybody I knew, living my life in a perpetual hangover to the point where it was normal to do so. I felt weird being sober.

That said, I went to Deadwood, SD for St. Patty's day this year. This is my favorite holiday of the year, and I missed it because I had what I believe was my first panic attack. It started when I was absolutely hammered at around 9:30 in the morning, and very few doors were open for the day. One was an alternative smoke shop, where I tried to get some weed from the guy working. After he insisted he had none, or could not help me, I ended up buying some herbal stuff called K2: Summit Blend.

It had been an extremely rough day, as I had drank myself stupid the day before. I had a half a chicken sandwich, and a couple glasses of water from the time I came to (11ish in the morning) until about 6 pm. I then found in my pocket that K2 sh*t I had bought. Knowing full well it would not work, I loaded a huge corn cob pipe bowl, and had about 8 - 10 rips from it. A couple minutes later, I was feeling more stoned than I ever have, and from there it went down hill. I was jogging circles in my hotel room, couldn't breathe, thought I was dying, sweating even though I had the thermostat at 54 degrees, etc. THE worst experience of my life, bar none. I called 911, they called back, and I called again. I was scared to go as I am uninsured. Eventually, I took a cab there, missing my favorite night of the year which is something I never would have seen coming. They said it was because it was a synthetic stimulant, and you aren't supposed to smoke it.

I felt some sort of effects throughout the next week. This last Wednesday I decided to try smoking for the first time since then, and I had three puffs (I usually smoke a quarter pack a day, and chew half can a day), got the shakes, and started to go into panic attack mode (or so I think). I went to the gas station and bought some food and gatorade, and eventually it went away before getting very serious.

I have been smoking pot since I was 14, and have never had a problem. In fact, lately I have actually not been nearly as much as the drinker I have been in years past, because I started to enjoy weed much, much more. The last couple months I have been smoking about a quad a week. Anyways, for the first time since the incident a week ago, I tried smoking pot. I knew there was a chance something might happen, but I had been smoking cigarettes while drinking the last couple days, so I figured I was fine if I took it slow. I had, mark my words, one small hit. Before the bowl was passed back to me, in a circle with three other people, I knew something wasn't right. In the back seat of a car, with the windows down and around 40 degrees outside, I started pouring sweat as my heart pounded. I started shaking uncontrollably, thinking to myself that I am dying right now. I called the ambulance from the back seat (at this point my friends who initially made fun of me were starting to get scared, and the driver was going 70+ through town to get me to the hospital) and when they started talking, I threw my phone to the passenger. He told them we were on our way. I have never felt worse in my life, not one time. Upon arriving at the hospital, I felt as I was on the verge of passing out. As I got out of the car, I felt much better, though still very terrible. Again I am uninsured, so I paced for an hour or so in the waiting area. I told my friend that had stayed with me to go out and have a good time, I will be fine since I am here. I eventually convinced them to leave. I felt better after a while so I booked a hotel across the street from the hospital. I didn't even have time to turn the tv on in the room before the symptoms started up again. I walked back to the hospital, paced for a few minutes worried about the costs, and convinced myself that I was dying and that I need help. They checked me in, almost mocking me by saying I am fine and am just breathing too fast, and to go have a seat and they will get to me when they get the chance. I was not happy about that. Eventually, they took all my vitals and said I was fine. They took a blood test, vitals test, Cardiogram, and a few other things. They said that pot has different affects on people and that I should not smoke it. That angered me because I have been smoking for years, and my friends were just fine, not to mention the same thing happened last weekend. Surprisingly enough, I found out about these panic attacks on my own as between two hospitals, two doctors, and like six nurses, not one mentioned a panic attack. I am starting to believe that that is all they are. I am on a heart monitor as I type this, and will be returning it around midnight. As much as a guy like me hates to quit anything fun, I guess this is the time for me to grow up and quit smoking pot because I refuse to go through that again.

The only thing I worry about now is that I have read that once a panic attack is triggered, they may trigger randomly even without smoking or whatever brought it on in the first place. I f*****g hate not having control over situations, especially ones where I think I am going to die. Like I said before, I perform better under pressure and am hoping that since I know what is causing it and ways to stop it, I will be able to calm myself down if it happens again.

Heres to all the years of pot smoking... it will be greatly missed :-(

FYI to everyone! When these intense panic attacks occur there is usually an underlying cause. I suffered from debilitating panic attacks for years, I myself have been hospitalized at least a dozen times having experienced the same terrifying symptoms, but after suffering many times from these episodes Ive learned some important things # 1. Unless you are driving a car and pass out, a panic attack will not harm you. #2 panic attacks are fueled by fear, the more scared you get; the longer and more intense the attack will be. You should try an aggressive approach to these attacks, welcome them when you sense them. challenge them even! Once you realize they cant hurt you there really is nothing to fear aside from the discomfort the attack produces. A very intelligent man taught me an effective way to deal with theses attacks, as i mentioned before challenge them. For example when i feel an attack coming on now, I will try to get myself as pissed off as possible at the attack, go somewhere private and scream " i know you cant hurt me, so lets see what you got b***h" welcome the symptoms but show no fear and do your best to continue with anything that will keep your mind occupied. it may sound crazy but a lot of us know that anger is a much more useful emotion than fear. If you can learn to do this the panic will literally fizzle in minutes. #3 once you associate any experience with these attacks, it will most likely cause another attack if you find yourself in the same situation, for ex. if you had a severe panic attack while smoking weed, a mere recollection of this fact while smoking again will inspire another attack. If you truly desire to smoke comfortably you must train yourself not to associate panic with weed, I suggest taking one small hit, you may get a lil tense but you will not have a full blown attack. slowly you may learn that its not the weed but rather your mind creating the symptoms and you may even be able to smoke again regularly. #4 Try to determine the underlying cause of this attack. maybe you've experienced a loss or witnessed a traumatic incident that you've been tryin to suppress, these things build up and are definite causes of panic attacks. Personally I found my girlfriend of 5 yrs dead in my bathroom from a drug overdose & I didnt even know she had a problem. These things stick with you, I still think of her everyday. But through counseling and medication my panic attacks have disappeared entirely. Also, stress can manifest itself in many different ways. Ive suffered from chronic pain ever since my incidents, and i ve been tested for everything and was even subjected to a full body MRI which discovered nothing. through stress management I now live a normal and successful life.

I offer this info in hope that it helps some of you, good luck

I know exactly what the problem is. People are spraying c**p on the bud. It may not be who is giving it to you but it may be. It might be the grower. They don't make things like they use too, even bud. You are doing permanent damage to your lungs. STOP SMOKING!!

Ive had similar problems, when i smoked weed for the first time I felt a combination of the worst feelings imagineable, anxiety, hopelessness and cold flashes. The best way to avoid a bad trip from weed is to keep yourself in a postive emotional state before you smoke the weed (if this doesnt work then your not cut out for weed). I stopped smoking weed over 6 months ago as the bad trips continued and feel better for it.

I call it the minor OD associated with pot. When you have had enough your body lets you know. When it happens to me I just sit on the toilet like I am about to go poo and the feeling passes in about 5 minutes. In my non-doctor opinion on the feeling you are explaining is the fat in your body is fully saturated therefore your body releases best it can with sweat. The other symptoms seem specific to your body type.

The only way pot could go bad is mold (in my opinion). When that happens I get short of breath like an asthma attack but a drink of something has that pass in a few minutes.

Hey I had first panic attack too after smoking weed and had no clue what it was and was scared to death. I thought I was going to die. I had a few more panic attacks after that without being high but now I've learned how to deal with them.  I want to do it again but am afraid of panic attacks.  The first time I did do it I was paranoid someone would catch me do it so you have to be happy in a good state of mind when you do it.

i,ve been smoking for about 6 years i am now 18 and just resently started having these attacks only wen i smoke though wen they first started i thought i was goping to die but then i relized by my self that i was fine it would go away and lately they dont pop up aS  much wen i smoke but i have been smoking less and drinking lotz of water i think it's becuase the first time it happened was on spice and i had horrible feeling that i was going to do something to those i love and felt like killing my self shortly after these attacks have been coming but like i said ive been staying hydrated and telling myself im in control on my way to smoke before work so i'll do what i always do tell my mind im fine and yes i am going to the doc to get proffesonal help but i really do not want to quit weed but if i have to i will make shour i do or seek help to .

You guys between 16 and 22 need to smoke less. Your brains are going through drastic changes during this time in your life and the results are unpredictable. Also, some buds are stimulants. Don't smoke those at night. Take deep breaths. Get some exercise.