Marijuana caused panic attacks

Pot made me have a major pychosis breakdown, I had to completely rework the way I thought.. If you're suffering after a server panic attack I suggest easing yourself into situations and don't push yourself before your ready or you will revert.. Just last weekend, Friday, I tried to smoke pot for the first time in nearly 6 months it caused me to have a panic attack once again, this time I was ready and much more experienced with dealing with them, I realized it was a panic attack and just had a major trip to be honest..(Atleast that's what disillusionment feels like)

Being the id**t I am I decided to smoke pot once again on Saturday to end my marijuana experience in a positive way, I was fully ready for it and kept telling myself not to get paranoid and to just keep calm.. After the first three hits I felt great, it was on my 4th and final hit of pot ever my 5th that I really started to struggle with control of my mind, I started to feel extremely disillusioned, luckily one of my best friends with whom I trust with my life was with me and was willing to drive around for a couple hours around town with me, If it were anyone else in the car with me I probably would've hit them(Pot makes me a paranoid wreck, it causes me to 'Trick' my mind into believing something that isn't true and that is what causes a panic attack.. For me I think that someone has laced it and once I think that thought just once or get sketched by one person it sends me off.) You'll come out of it, you might feel bad or weird for a few days but you'll be fine, a nice cold shower will do anyone good and just clear your mind of all the clutter, sit back and relax try to stay with reality and the present.)

For those that have had it really bad like my first time having a major panic attack I suggest this read

http://survivingpsychosis.wordpress.com/articles-on-psychosi/recovery/

This is one of the greatest stories I ever read and it helped me towards the end of my recovery proccess and it made me fully understand just what pot can do to a person and what had happened to me.. I have underlying mental illness in the form of Border Line Personalliy Disorder so that it what brings out the major Paranoia in me... Just remember hard times will pass... I suggest working out and getitng into the habbit or good health, It helped my recovery proccess to an extreme that I can't even phathom..

Good lukc to alll and I really do suggest that read to EVERYONE, anyone that has suffered a panic attack from Pot and who is just having a really hard time coping with what's going on....(I thought I was a magical creature or a god of some sort, so if you get that bad you're in for a long road to recovery)

Ahhh dam man that really sucks., I'm glad my post helped even if it was just a bit. Well at least you've gotten thru the worst of it. You'll be fine. Time will heal everything.

What has messed me up mostly is the fact that I've been getting the attacks without even having weed, as I thought it was just the weed itself that brought them on. So it's making me feel like they will never disappear (even if it happens once or twice a year, that's still too much for me to deal with). Wouldn't be so bad but I've only tried weed properly 2-3 times!!! as apose to smoking it every day for say 20 years?? I guess it effects everyone differently though!

I still have the horrible uneasy feeling that I'm never gonna be able to stop them and feel that when I do feel great again it's just gonna happen again (without weed) leaving me at square one again..

I've not been back to college since it happened last week, which is not the right way to go about it cos I'm just gonna get more behind with work then what I already am causing me more stress, but I just feel that I want this sh*t out the way before I continue my life.... I feel alone alot of the time as well feeling that millions of people will never have to worry about going through this kind of stuff let alone having it reoccuring to them.

dammmm I should really start shortening my posts this was only meant to be a few sentences at first! o.O

I've been smoking weed for almost 20 years. About 4-5 years ago, I suddenly started these frightening episodes. Before that, I could smoke as much as you put in front of me and then ask for more... but now, I can only take 2 tokes or else I'll have these horrible symptoms... and I'm not so sure these episodes are "panic attacks" or "anxiety attacks" because its not triggered by negative thoughts. After smokin', I'll be sittin' there laughin' at a funny movie or just chillin' out ...and my chest will start feeling uncomfortable, my hands, nose and lips will be tingly, it will feel like my breathing pattern is abnormal. Only THEN do I begin to get anxious, panicky and have negative thoughts (like I'm gonna die). The reason why I get paranoid is because the symptoms I'm having make me afraid that I'm gonna die. So, I wonder if these ARE panic/anxiety attacks since they don't begin with negative thoughts.

a couple nights ago i had a panic attack. before i got that real one, in tough situations i would always feel sick to my stomach and nervous, and i thought those were real panic attacks. but it was nothing even close.
so i got really high that night, and we ended up smoking a gram. i was unsure of the stuff i got because i didn't get it from people i knew, but it turns out later it was just normal weed. so my friend left and right after she was gone, i was more high than i had ever been in my life. i was watching tv and suddenly i just didnt wanna listen to it anymore, so i somehow turned it to some infomercials just so i could have some background noise.
(at this point i was watching my dog walk away.. say the human eye can see in 50 fps, i dont know the real one, i was seeing 2-3 fps. it was so weird.)
thats when i started really panicking. i stood up suddenly and walked over to the middle of the room and i think i might have stood there for like 5 minutes and it felt like 10 seconds.. somehow my thumb found its way to my mouth lol, and then after awhile i realized, f**k, im sucking my thumb. my mind was going through so many thoughts i just wanted it to stop. my head was throbbing and i could feel my pulse in every part of my body. i felt like i was "reverting" back to basic human instincts.
i was suddenly so cold at that point. i went and curled up in the corner on my couch, then i started shivering and i covered myself with a blanket. i was so high that getting a blanket around me was so hard lol. i couldn't stop shivering and my body was twitching in random places. i couldn't feel my pulse though my body any more at that point, so i went to feel it in my neck and i started to panic alot more, my pulse was so f*****g high. i started to think i might be having a heart attack, and then my arm started to feel a pain and my chest too (i think that was my brain playing tricks on me... because i read that arm pain = heart attack blah blah)
and then i thought i was dieing. my mind was processing so many things. i was thinking about the universe and sh*t, and i thought it was all going to die on me.. and my cat came over to me and lay down near me, and i started to think that this must be how animals think.. how do they deal w/ it? lmao. i was thinking that when not high, my thoughts are so clear and peaceful, but my mind was being bombarded with just random philosophical sh*t constantly. i started to think i would be like that forever, but the whole time i was also telling myself i would get through it, i knew i would but i was also doubting it. i was so scared and just vulnerable, if anyone came and saw me they would think i was dieing. by the end my thoughts were going through so much that it all just stopped and suddenly i was thinking in one word thoughts. like "food", "scared", "wtf"... stuff like that. that only lasted like 10 mins.

that whole time, the infomercials in the background, whatever the girl or the guy was saying was being turned into something else. at first, one every 10 words was complete nonsense. like, if someone said, "wanna come to the park with me tonight?" it would be "wanna come to the tabby with me tonight?" eventually it got up to one out of every three words i heard was that. it was all that same word too.

it was the scariest sh*t ever. it was around 2:30am that i smoked it, and around 5:30 when it started to die down. i don't remember this, but i got up to bed and fell asleep.
when i woke up i felt like c**p. i thought i wouldn't have the same personality again, but i already feel pretty normal.. aside from a few things.
the next day, i think this morning, i woke up and i felt it coming again. my mind went into the worst state ever but then after like 10 seconds i realised that i hadn't even smoked weed an i was okay.

overall it was the worst 3 hours i've ever felt. im scared that it will happen again but i going to try to ease back into weed because i just love it too much. it was kind of an interesting experience too though. im kinda happy it happened, just so i could experience it. now i know what people go through when they say they're having a panic attack.

lol sorry for the wall of text.

Six months ago I ingested cannibis mixed with butter in a tea. Before that I had smoked once a year when visiting friends who did it. I did not find it a desirable sensation in general, just a little weird. The tea totally disconnected me from reality. I screamed, I vomited for three days, I smeared poo on my friend's nice clean wall and on my own wrists (so that I could prove I'd been there, done that). I had some sort of eternal vision that nothing I'd ever done was real and that I was in Hell and that I couldn't trust that my husband and beloved daughter wouldn't just cease to have ever existed in the next moment. I felt like everything I experienced was just an illusion. This lasted for four whole days. I called an ambulance on the second day hoping they could pump my stomach or something, but they said it wouldn't do anything.

This completely unsettled me and I started counting time from the day I recovered. As in, my life consists of the time that has passed since then. I got a kind, sympathetic therapist but find that talking about this experience with her revives all those doubts and makes me extremely fearful that I am not in a real place. I can't watch any sci-fi movies anymore or think about the afterlife because they seriously scare me to death. What really alarmed me is that these feelings of unreality have resurfaced almost full strength (minus the time distortion) because I can find no explanation for what I experienced other than that it must have been real and that my life is a hoax. I did have a few months of normal living without doubts ( I even got a part in a play) but I can easily fall into the state where I doubt absolutely everything and am afraid to close my eyes lest everything disappear permanantly. I have been that way all this weekend and I am so scared that it is continuing without drugs of any kind. Other sites have said that I am giving myself panic attacks by worrying about it and the attacks repeat the symptoms I fear. Ironic. The solution the site gives is just to ride the anxiety attack out without adding the fear of fear to it and the calm acceptance will lessen the reaction.

Weed helps you lose perspective and worry inappropriately about loads of things in the end, it gets many of us. This is because it softens the boundaries between self and outside world, which is what is good about it - it makes us very sensitive, and receptive to things like music, colours. The world enters into our constructed adult boundaries. This is liberating, also we feel mellow.

This is not sustainable though, the adult boundaries are there for a reason, to enable us to function in the world. The only way of regaining a solid personality once you've unlocked the fear is to cease weed for good and rebuild your personality with nourishing techniques. Two years of tai chi, and no weed, and your boundaries will be back in place, you will walk tall down the street again, and you won't be paranoid, panicking, worrying about every last thing.

I remember sitting in a room full of my closest lifelong mates, we were all stoned, I was suspicious, I thought they were all talking about me, I thought they were mocking me, I felt like I was looking through a telescope, I was shrinking, vulnerable, fragile, terrified. it was TRUST. My trust had broken. If this rings a bell with you and you smoke pot, don't worry, this is simply the impact of the weed, it happens to loads of us, and when we leave it behind and get into nourishing things rather than toxins, then we get better.

Don't believe that BS the potheads tell you. Look at the colour of their faces, look in their eyes, do these look like healthy balanced people to you? They've got the midnight tan. We didn't evolve to live on this much pot. Occasionally maybe, (a few times in a lifetime?). We evolved to live on food and sleep and outdoor walks, that is what makes us humans flourish.

The reason you get the fear and the fretting neurotic worry like this is kind of obvious when you reflect on it, it's the flip side to all that mellowness. Stress can't enter the pot-filled mind, it's not allowed in there. So where does the stress go? It's not disappeared, when you get a red bill in the mail, or you get mugged, or your friends argue, or you get burgled, the pot doesn't resolve this issue. Your mind knows you are in trouble though, deep down. You gotta deal with it. Pot prevents you from resolving genuine stresses because it fools you into thinking you are safe and well regardless. Those feelings are not related to what work you have done to solve it though, but to how much pot you've taken! SOme people can carry on like this forever, they are fine. Maybe they have other ways of dealing with the stress and resolving problems.

For many of us though, all those little stresses become ticking little bombs, hidden away, swept under the carpet, monsters squashed in the closet, masked by the smoke of a youth full of weed. They start tapping on the window don't they? They try and creep out, get out into the daylight.

This is where you start to get paranoid, and this can lead to psychosis quite easily if not checked (psychosis is stronger delusions, strange ideas, full blown madness really). The other reason this happens is that pot is great at making lateral links in the brain - it is why is so creative and expands your mind, and makes you have great revelations and amazing ideas; it is firing up connections that don't normally exist.

THink about it, this is what paranoia is. It is the same for psychosis. You find a link that isn't there. and often the link is YOU. Those people are talking about ME. THat billboard is talking to ME, that wasn't a coincidence, I'M SPECIAL, I'm Saving the world, Everything is coming together around me, or conspiring to kill ME, i';s all linked.

THis is just the pot talking guys, all these things you've experienced discussed here, loads of us have experienced as a result of cannabis. Here I could give you some terrible screwed up examples of how dark it can get, but trust me, you don't even wanna go there. Take a lesson from an old pro. Stop smoking pot and get down to your local tai chi class and get on with your life and come back to happiness and wellbeing.

OK, this has turned into a rant. Anyone who doubts I know what I'm talking about ask me a question; I know this sh*t inside out. I've come back from places you don't even know exist, and I'm just trying to spare some of you from finding this out. I care about you because I have been exactly where you are. It's just fear, it's just fear fear fear.

Fear and pot are a lethal combination, you are spinning it. When you get fear and pot coming together, it's time to stop. there is no route back once that door has opened. It's simple though, you don't feel this way naturally. Being stoned is not the natural state of affairs. Just quit the weed and it all settles (with a bit of extra work).

Fear is an essential animal impulse. Every being has an infinite supply. The last thing it needs is your imagination drawing out of that supply though, pot fires the imagination, fear is like a reservoir we all have, being mellow, being chilled, that is like the total absence of fear. So you can see pot and fear are intrinsically connected. Being on a good high is the absolute absence of fear. Fear fights back though, it doesn't like being ignored. It's like UPS, it has a message to deliver and if you aren't in it will come back, leave a note, it will keep coming back to give you this message until one day your door will be open and the UPS guy will come in and dump this sh*t all over your hall. Maybe it's more like the bailiffs trying to serve you a notice. You can hide all you want, but they will get in there and serve your papers in the end.

Ok, you get the picture. Stopping smoking pot doesn't shut down the creative imagination, it just allows you to access it in a more sustainable way, not based on an intoxicant, but on nutrition and nourishment.

peace guys and I'm out......

Thanks Emporio, I'm glad it was of help.

I have spent the past 13 years resolving this stuff and I have given it a lot of attention. The good thing about things that are true is it doesn't matter about how you 'argue' it one day, win or lose the argument,or whether you are 'clever'; the truth always supplies you with a new perspective and position. I could take on the counter arguments every single time if I really had to because I have access to some truth which those guys are denied. I'm not seeking a fight with half the youth on this planet though, that's not a sensible strategy. I would rather focus on those who are open to seeing things as they are and can be helped to get better.

I believe we can all get completely better and recover from mental distress, anxiety, agoraphobia, paranoia, nerves, panic attacks, suspiciousness, whatever... even much more extreme unthinkable and terrible stuff (which is where I've returned from). Tai Chi is an ancient martial art, there are other ways of getting better but this is the most powerful and profound I've found, and it works. like doing the washing up f*****g works. Therapy and talking has helped me too, but the 'Chinese internal martial arts' of which Tai Chi is the most common, are on another level. I don't believe there is anything better at straightening you out again and getting you back to and then surpassing normal. One class a week, one year later you will be changed. It's like a piece of glass on the sea shore. It takes time - just get into a rhythm.

Today my perceptions hum with the vibrancy of the sunset, the shimmer of a guitar lick sliding off a piece of vinyl, the calm of a sunday morning infinitely more smoothly than they ever did on pot. Dope is quite a fractured waveform, we need smooooooth, like the tree growing from inside its sap. Put some effort in, and the insight coming from cannabis will seem like a joke.

A lot of what you said emporio made me think you would appreciate the website that is linked earlier in this thread, there is a whole section on agoraphobia and one called 'fear without boundaries' which I think you might relate to.

Peace my friends. Be well.

My first time smoking pot was realllly fun, but the second time, and times after that I got all the symptoms explained in the thread above and had the worst panic attack ever and was convinced I was going to die. But I knew that it was a panic attack the second time and third etc. it happened and found that playing video games gets your mind off of it and calms you down.

Hi guys, just wanted to say that I know exactly how you all feel and sympathise. But trust me, it is competely on our minds and hasnt got anything to do with dying or dont know what else. Just think positive and let your ego relax a bit. As a guy in the previous thread mentioned it is can be really spiritual.

Good luck to all of you, just remember that soon you will all be better!!! :-D

It's been beaten to death already I think. If you smoke weed, you make yourself succeptible to anxiety. Anxiety is a distortion of thought and is considered a mental disorder. This does not however mean that it cannot be cured and in fact it can. I suffered anxiety attacks when smoking. The final 4 times that I tried, the first two, while frightening, went largely ignored. The third however was debilitating to the point it affected my whole life. I was depressed, I literally "felt" unwell. Not a sickness either, a feeling of unwellness. A couple days later I went to the hospital and was prescribed asthma medication to ease air flow and reduce breathing-based anxieties. This did not help at all, and in fact only temporarily relieved my symptoms. As soon as I had my first attack, the solution was ineffective. I tried one last time and while I faired a bit better, I still suffered. I then went to see a counsilor which largely helped. I learned the nature of my disorder and what could be done to combat it.

Essentially, those who suffer from this are afflicted with a skewed perception which is onset by the marijuana. It's affect on your perception of reality and your environment cause you to become inappropriately fearful and initiate your flight-or-flight survival response. This false trigger prepares your body for strenuous activity, or for rendering you unconcious. The former is what creates palpitations, sweating, and other physical effects. If you play into the anxiety, your body will eventually shut you down, an overload almost, and reboot you. The mental symptoms are simply a negative feedback loop, ie. was that a feeling? yah it was... but was it bad? what if it was bad? what if it's really bad? what if I die? wait, yes, I'm gonna die. Each person experiences these episodes differently, however, each symptom is relatively similar.

Treating this is a matter of reforming your perception. This sounds very difficult at first, but as you start to do it, over time, you benefit from it. A counsiler can also help you through this particularly tough period. In order to reshape your perception, you have to think positively. Positive self-talk is a great aid. Qualifying your negative thoughts and trying to justify why they cause you to feel bad. This method is marginally effective as, and we all know this, when you're having anxiety you're irrational. However, when combined with positive self-talk, positive outlook, and an acceptance of your situation, you'll be able to work out of it.

Just about two days ago I had another attack after nearly 2 months symptom free. This last attack has left me feeling mentally fatigued, and anxiety "hung-over" I've been very paranoid about the feelings all over my body. I've developed a slight case of RLS and have been anxious ever since although I've only had 2 attacks.

As I said, despite this I know I'll beat this. Anxiety is a mental perception. This can be changed, ALWAYS. This means anxiety CAN be treated. The best solution is to accept the feelings, try to relax, distract yourself if possible from the scary thoughts, and realize that you're experiencing something normal, although largely exagerrated. If worst comes to worst, an anti-anxiety prescription can help you cope. Some people require this while they work to reform their perception.

Just remember, healing takes time. While one bad joint can leave you feeling severely panicked and anxious, it doesn't mean it's the end for you. Be thankful that in this situation, there is hope, there is the ability to overcome it. Dedicate yourself to your own cure. Give yourself the time you need to relax, to learn to manage stress without anxiety, to learn to deal with the random panic attacks; because believe it or not it will happen. Like a pop quiz, and if you feel, just start all over, like me. I failed my first test but I'm proud that after only 4 - 5 months of first experiencing these issues, I am overcoming them.

So no, there's nothing to be afraid of. While yes, it SUUUUUUCKS, it's a lot better than having something real, like cancer, or a REAL heart attack. Be thankful. Look to your family and friends for support, be open with yourself and others, and most importantly, stop smoking, stop drinking, stop living a sedentary life. Get out there, excercise, build a healthy diet, engage yourself in school, and live your life. Do things that make you happy. Even none smokers get anxiety. How you deal with it, and BEAT it, is entirely up to you.

So if it sucks, why have it? Fight it. Use the resources I've given you and the ones you have in life and I guarantee you, like myself, you will be CURED. 100%.

Only certain types of weed will cause this to happen. Usually it is marijuana that has been sprayed down with chemicals. If this has happened to you (especially if it continues after quitting) then stop smoking or get it from elsewhere.

I have now dealt with several cases of people who went from normal lives (granted, they smoked mirijuana heavily) to lives of pain and suffering. Note that many had smoked marijuana for 10+ years with NO problems. In each case I had them cut marijuana off completely. All but one of these cases was fully recovered after 6 months.

I live in Amsterdam, so fresh marijuana is something that can be grown. In all cases (after 6 months) each person could smoke fresh marijuana with absolutely no problem.

Case and point... Know where your greens are comming from. This problem has only presented itself only in the past few years and I personally believe it is irresponsible cultavists.

So I've been done smoking green for about 3 months now(smoked for 2 years), but I still have the symptoms once in a while, especially before I go to bed, prolonging sleep for a couple hours. Do you guys still have panic attacks years after quitting?

look, i know exactly what u went through, it's hard for anyone who hasnt been through it to understand... ive never smoked alot of weed but one day i had some and something just switched in my brain, and i become out of touch wih reality. my body was shaking and seizing up, i felt like my heart was racing too fast, and while these sound like normal symptoms they were FAR too intense to be 'normal'
and no matter how calm i tried to approach it the sympoms wouldn't subside or lesson, part of me wanted to go to emergency but everyone in the room who were also smoking weed thought i was just over reacting.... it lasted a good hour at high intensity and scared me for life.. i couldn't see the world normally and it was nothing at all like any other time i had been stoned. my guess is that is the reaction and symptoms of an anxiety attack while on weed...your heart rate is so all over the place your brain finds it hard to cope and keep up at normal pace there for the slight out of reality experience, and freaked out thoughts?

I was a daily 24/7 toker for 10 years. I'm 27 now. This last year I was smoking 2 grams a day of medical marijuana. All types of kushes. I decided to stop because my unemployment ran out so I had to find a job. I was on my 3rd day clean when I had a full blown panic attack. The night before this happened I had a bunch of beers to cope with withdrawal because my cat of 15 years died. I was devastated. Well the morning of the 3rd day I woke up depressed I had my usual cup of coffee. Then I decided to get on the treadmill, I ran 2 miles. I started walking it off when all of a sudden bam my heart just started racing and I got clammy I started getting cold. My heart started racing so I quickly got of the treadmill and tried walking off my heart rate, I sat down cuz I started getting the chills lightheaded I seriously thought I was having a heart attack! I went into my house (I was in the garage) and told my brother I didn't feel right he told me to lay down but I couldn't I was scared. After 5min went by I told my brother to take me to the E.R. He kepted insisting it was nothing to relax. I started thinking it was because I hadn't smoked any weed, so I told my brother to pack me a bowl in the pipe. I took 3 small puffs, but I started feeling more like sh*t, my heart began to race again. At this point I was so scared that I got in my car and went to the emergency room. they took my blood preassure and gave me a ekg. The doctor told I was fine that I had experienced a Panic Attack. They sent me home with a prescription for anxiety called Ativan. I just couldn't believe that weed was making me feel like sh*t, usually I would be relaxed and lazy. the next day i got some new stuff (weed) and decided to roll a joint to ease my mind from the other day. i felt ok for lke 10min but my heart started racing and I stated getting tingly sensation on my fingers than my arms, sweating it was weird. I started crying to my mom (imagine that i'm 27) telling her I was scared. this is when I decided to just quit cold turkey no more weed. I was feeling like sh*t on it and off of it. I was so confused :'(

As the days went by i still felt uneasy weird just waiting for a freakin another panic attack. i started going to church too, I hadn't went to church for 8 years. that's how scared i was, I just didn't know what was going on with my body. i kept asking myself where is this coming from am I being punished for being such a stoner? let me just say this was the worst withdrawal from cannabis ever! It's been 3 weeks since all this happened. I'm feeling better but not 100% I'm still dealing with depression, but the anxiety seems to be almost gone, I'm eating now and getting more sleep. I never in a million years thought this was how I was going to quit smoking weed. So far I never want to touch weed again with these horrible withdrawal symptoms, Now it's like I'm on a new path. I feel weird at times going from 10 years smoking to not smoking at all. But I guess if it wasn't for that panic attack I would have never stopped. That panic attack scared the c**p out of me, I loved weed I was such an advocate, But I like feeling good way better even if that means no more pot forever

i'll keep posting updates every so often

i really thought i was the only one this happened too. All my friends tell me that im crazy and its all in my head, but clearly it is far more common then i had thought. I was an avid smoker about 6 years back and i had to quit because i got into some trouble.I am 19 now. But about 3 years ago i had my first panic attack, i had to have my boyfriend take me home and my mom take me to the hospital. After that first one i can no longer even be in the same room as people smoking pot because even just the smoke alone will trigger one. When i am i feel like im going to die. I cant breath, i start shaking, my heart feels like it is going to beat right out of my chest and i cant even think right. So now i have to avoid all things marijuana. It just sucks because everybody i know smokes. Since all this began though i have been diagnosed with anxiety and agoraphobia(which i have just recently overcome!) They had put me on Xanax 3 mgs anfd it helped while i was on them but i could not really function normaly while i was taking those either lol If there is anyone who reads this post that has come up with a way to overcome this annoyance then please contact me, The best way to contact me is on my Myspace which i check daily. :-) im just glad to know that im not jut crazy!