Panic attacks and marijuana

Hi guys, I sympathise and relate to more or less everyone who has posted something on this thread. I recently started to get severe panic attacks from smoking weed. Ive been off it for around 5 days now and still feel anxious and at times like Im going to have a panic attack. But after consulting my GP, I have realised that this is purely psychological and caused by my excessive weed smoking (every day for 4.5 years). I feel like curling up into a ball at times, but like anything worth while I know that perseverance will pay off eventually. Panic attacks are crippling and they can really affect every facet of your life. For me, peace of mind and happiness are far more important to me than smoking some plant, regardless of the good times Ive had on it. Im 23 now and can honestly say that I never want to have another panic attack again in my life. If i never smoke weed again, then so be it. I wish anybody else trying to quit as a result of this problem the best and remember to stay positive. Good luck

i am glad to hear i am not the only one, i am 31 yrs old, started having panic attacks after smoking weed about a year ago, felt all the horrible feelings yall have previously mentioned, plus sometimes i feel a numbness starting at my hands and going up my arms, my heart is racing out of control, start hearing a ringing in my ears, feel like my legs are going to give out and they are shaking uncontrollably... and i feel like i am going to die for sure, keep thinking "this is it, this is the end"...

my doc put me on hydroxyzpam, dosent work for sh*t really, makes me dizzy and i feel my brain is in a fog, so fatigued i cannot stand up straight most the time.

now the problem is everytime i smoke weed, i am REALLY apprehensive about getting a panic attack, and i cant tell if it is the smoking weed or the apprehension actually causing my panic syndrome

i really really want to smoke weed even at this moment but i am so so scared to have another panic attack that i cannot

i really love smoking it and it makes me feel happy and content and calm, and i feel my brain relax and it feels good for my brain also, and i love to be high. if i am not smoking weed regularly i am an as****e all the time, uptight, and impossible for me to even enjoy anything, and i am impossible to be around...... i feel like this is splitting my soul in half...

well i personally only get the panic right after i smoke (feel very restless as well as panic), then later i feel fine & much more relaxed than before

my friend is going to get me some zanax and maybe that will help but i doubt it.... well i am just decimated from this i dont know if i can go on living this way =(

This is by far the best site i've found regarding this issue, all I can say is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes to every damn reply I read. <<Smoker for 5 years, panic attacks for under 5 months now. I haven't touched the stuff in about 3 months and have only had 2 maybe 3 panic attacks in that time. I'm definitely coming off of it, im still hella anxious and that keeps me down a bit i guess... But i mean, its not like i dont know why, no job, no girlfriend, no more weed.... sh*t kinda sucks right now. Luckily im happy to blame it on my age, im only 20 and im also a firm believer of time fixes all wounds. Like, remember when you were a kid and your mom got real pissed at you and threw away your favorite toy or what have you and you honestly told yourself that you'd never smile again. yeah well, youre over that now, and we'll be over all this soon. Also, i've come to realize that, based on what i read on the majority of these "panic attacks from smoking pot" forums, you can only have a panic attack if you're a relatively smart individual. call me an optimist but i kinda deduced a flip side to all of these panic attacks, yeah my thoughts might race, drive me to convulsions and stupid thoughts about dying, and while that situation is very stupid, the brain power required to perform it is incredibly drastic. You're quite literally creating an entirely imaginative world enveloped in fear to the point where you believe it so well, that you think its gonna kill you! Thats some pretty awesome stuff. Maybe this is just my way of coping but who knows, i just hope all of us collectively start thinking hard about the topic, get philosophical and maybe not so physiological. We all know the symptoms lets work on solutions. We all know its a condition based purely on ones own thought patterns and process during a moment of anxiety, and anxiety in most cases (for us at least) is triggered by SOMETHING (i.e. weed). Maybe we can all have a common anxiety trigger, as well as individual anti anxiety triggers, if you will. Anyone thats ever gotten over a panic attack while conscious (as in, not sleeping it off, as i used to do) knows that, you IMMEDIATELY feel like such an id**t because youre fine now and 30 seconds ago you thought you were slipping into a coma. A few people here have mentioned getting your mind off of the anxiety, watching tv, in my opinion at least, doesnt really help. Watching a show you absolutely love however, does. It seems silly to say but i watch the same show, on my little ipod screen, on its little dock, with its little speakers, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT to go to sleep. It puts the anxious thoughts way way away. Its a humorous show so im sure that helps too. Some nights, like when im really tired (which used to be the nights i was almost guaranteed to have a panic attack) i try to sleep without any visual aids. But then i get agitated, and not so much anxious, and may lay awake, head on my pillow, for HOURS. and then i simply have to wait for my body to just give out and lucky for me, i do eventually fall asleep without actually trying, but forced by my body. Another thing, for the bad nights. When things dont go so well and you end up laying in bed with anxiety riddling your bones and, if youre like me, you start with the severe convulsions all over. Back, legs, arms, chin, abdomen, chest, all of it. It sucks worse than anything else. I assume most of the people reading this are the same people that go, its ok, im not going to die, this happens allllllll the time, man i really hate panic attacks, every single time you get a panic attack. well for the convulsing folk like myself, i found that the simply solution is rather effective. Youre thoughts are so incredibly scrambled when youre having a panic attack that the only way to think of ways to combat them is when youre not having one. and the last thing you want to think about when your not having one, is anything to do with having one. but for me i wondered what would happen if i simply tensed all my muscles, all over my body as tight as i could while i was convulsing? you wouldnt believe it but it was almost INSTANTANEOUS relief of all symptoms. literally seconds later the "real world" came back into focus and i was feeling that common bashfulness of having a panic attack in the first place. In conclusion, its really great that all the people here posted as nicely as they have, just one thing, if you actually took the time to read this long ass story and now you too want to post, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... as dumb as they might sound, or as dumb as you think they are, post your remedies! whether its something you think about, something you do, or whatever. preferably remedies without any drug relation though, because its pretty obvious that the people here having panic attacks want to do with as little as drugs as possible. If we can have a panic attack induced with no drugs, it can be resolved with no drugs, at least thats what i chose to believe, thanks for listening...

I have these problems too. When you are sober, you are great at concealing yourself, emotions, past discrepancies from the outer world. I am fairly certain it's all due to repression. It's depressing, but you have to admit: modern life sucks. We have sooo much potential, but people are still blacklisting things for everyone, just because they don't like it! I'm not sure what is worse, what I just mentioned, or the people who go along with it. It's the same thing with money...US is in a sh*t hole right now, namely because of interest (and the system being flawed in general). We just have too much on our minds these days, but you have to get to a point to where YOU recognize these things, pull through your most painful memories, and overcome them. Being high helps me, I just surround myself with animals and the wind - both speak to me, but it isn't until I am high that I understand it. The only other piece of advice I can offer, Candida and Celiac Disease. Are you munching down on cakes or mixing with beer? I'd look into both those, the body and mind live in harmony - don't play favorites. Take care people.

I Have smoked weed regularly for 15 years, although, I wouldn't have classified myself as a pothead until the last 6 years. Lately, I had the same reaction to smoking weed. Shortness of breath, a rare choking sensation, feeling like a heart attack is coming. I guess it would be the same symptoms as a panic attack. I've taken breaks from smoking, yet, when I return to smoking I get the same results. I've tried reducing consumption down to 2 tokes and it's helped a little, not much. I now find I have symptoms when I'm not high, off and on. It's scary to lose confidence in your body. I really don't enjoy bud anymore. I've come to the conclusion that weed and me are through. I guess the Brain cell's are happy, lol. It's good to know other's have experienced the same thing. Thanks

i had one the night before yesterday i just had got done smoking a l with my uncle and brother i was fine off thatr one but then i wanted to get reallly high soo i had like a liltle weed that i rolled up and smoke afther i was done my heart was racing i didnt know what to but i bugg out i strted shaking and getting chills i i tryd calming down soo my uncle calm me down to me to open the window and take deep breaths afther that i winded upp going to sleep woke upp and was having chest pains i thought it was heart cuz i was on the left side but it wasnt my mom said soo today my chest pain is still there a liltle but the more you worried about it the more it stays there but now my stomach is bothering me but lucky im still here writeing my story to u guys and glad too say that the weed got me tired i feel like i hate it now for what it done to me soo ima try and quit :D

i have had the same outcome! I am 13 and I have smoked synthetic weed (kryp2nite) with my friends because of peer pressure, after the 4th time of doing it, I got a feeling of stuff unreality which we called "the cartoon feeling" my heart beats really fast, and I feal really nervous and couldn't feel my legs when I walked and it felt like I wad in like.... A videogame or something for about an hour in a half... I have done it again (5th time and only about 2 hits) and I had the same feeling and duration... Except this time... After it seared off... I felt it a day later when I didn't even do it!!! It was permanent for about 5 hours (of being awake because I slept a lot) and then now its just off and on, I did it Friday, and right nOw it's Monday.. Should I see a doctor or wait for it to wear off and take antioxidants.. This is what my friends told me because I really don't want to get caught so I asked my grandma to get antioxidants with the excuse of me being sick.. So should I see a doctor... Or wait it out?

i too have been feeling this way, its very strange. i used to love smoking bud, love isnt the word when it came to how much i enjoyed it. i started smoking when i was about 12 years old. i started out smoking it every weekend with my 2 buddies from school. when i got my first real girlfriend when i was 13 i started to smoke it every single day multiple times a day and i was with her for 4 years. we smoked at least 2-4 grams every day and it was good bud even to my standards today, it was just what we did at the time it was something to do that we both really liked doing. after that relationship i continued to smoke every day became really good friends with pot dealers and started smoking alot more everyday. it was free basically id buy the odd bag to bring home and get high by myself but it was always thur. my life revolved around it in a way, from waking up to going to sleep weed was always thur and i always smoked it. all my friends were pot heads its how i met ppl, its what we all did together. i smoked weed every single day for about 10 years straight missing maybe 3 days in a year type of deal and that just because i was outta town or something and couldnt get access to it. i didnt feel any negative effects the whole time i smoked. even the first time i smoked up was amazing for me, most of my friends have told me how much thur first time was horrible. but not me. i really felt as though weed was helping me and still today i feel as though it hasnt negatively affected me. but the last 2-3 years every single time i get high it feels really wrong, like you guys are saying almost an anxiety issue. i start to shake/shiver and im not cold or i get all twitchy in a way like every organ in my body is shivering as well. my heart pounds like crazy... i get a really really tight chest to the point where its extremely hard to breathe at times even to the point of waking up multiple times in the middle of the night after getting high and realize im not breathing and gasp for air... not a fun way to wake up. i get really quiet, introverted almost and that is not my usual self (even being high i was always the center of attention, it never made me anti social before). i get really really paranoid to the point that i think my friends and family are trying to set me up to get hurt, like stupid ish like that runs through my mind the whole time im high and its very unnerving. deep down i keep my cool and know its just the weed doing it to me and go along for the ride but its still very stressful to think that way. this all seems to have happened over night to me and have never experienced this the whole time i was smoking like a chimney. i swear this happend the day i got my h1n1 shot, sounds funny but i got high the night of my shot and ever since then this has happend to me every single time i smoke it. so i have just basically stopped smoking it (even though i have such fond memories of it and still feel as though it will go away... but it never does), i bought myself a high end vaporizer (the extremeQ) thinking it would help with the negative feelings i was getting but it just made the highs even worse to be honest. i really miss smoking bud and wish this never happened. i still feel the love for it and catch myself wanting to get high hoping it wont go back to that same negative high and every time i try it, its the same thing over and over again, i take 1-3 hits off one of my buddies jays and boom instantly i feel like sh*t, its really sad in a way for me because i really did enjoy it that much. i know in some way this is my body telling me to stop you dont need it anymore but i have a funny feeling it had something to do with that flu shot too since i NEVER felt this way before that day. im still addicted to it for sure... i love the taste, the smell, the process of it but its the high, it is not the same what so ever.... maybe one day it will go back to normal but i seriously think its been ruined for me since i get the exact same steady reaction to it every time... its probably not a bad thing that this has happened to me, i understand that, its probably for the best if i put it behind me. this to my guess, is my bodies way of telling me to stop. i just don't understand how this can happen over night like that. which leads me to believe thur is something more to it than just that. id like to know if anyone else has felt this way AFTER they have received their h1n1 shot and not prior. i think it would be quite interesting to find out that i wasn't the only one and is not just a coincidence. thanks for reading and please leave a post if you ever find a conclusion as to why this is happening to us.

Great topic, it helps to hear about other people's experience with this problem.

Hello. I smoke weed more or less regurlarly since August, so its been 5 months, and one time i smoked salvia, and i had a bad trip, like reality is different and people know that reality but never told me so I panic. Now on this new year eve i smoked weed and and a very strong bad trip like i was going crazy and loosing my mind to some other reality stucked in my head. When i got home at 5 am i was all screwed up and feel assleep, when i wake up , the best way i have to explain how i fealt, was like I was that chinese man from the Movie Inception who was in the limbo and wake up on the airplane. I was still trying to clear my mind with that madness that i felt, but then it graddually started to get better. Now I´m feeling better but still have the thought that we dont know sh*t of what happens when we smoke. I promise myself and to all of you I will never smoke again and get back on tracks. I feel good of teeling u my story, and I hope I dont get crazy with such paranoias and crazy sh**s. Thank you

i had a terrible panic attack around the fifth time i've ever smoked weed. i think it may have been due to smoking too much too fast, because i was hastily smoking out my window in the dark (while also kind of exhausted) and i was also nervous because i was doing it in my own house with my parents sleeping in the living room and everything. I actually WALKED OUT OF MY f*****g ROOM AND APPROACHED MY PARENTS and told them i thought i was having a heart attack, and i was completely convinced i was going to die. i kept thinking OH MY GOD I"M GOING TO PULL A RIVER PHOENIX HERE THIS IS GOING TO BE A DAMN MIA FROM PULP FICTION I'M GOING TO GO INTO A COMA OR DIE HOLY sh*t and my heart was racing and slowing and going back and forth and my ears were ringing and my vision was slightly blurred and everything.
right now, a week later, i still feel short of breath. i can't remember if i was short of breath while i was having the panic attack, but i'm p sure that may have caused it. it ALSO may have been because my body isn't used to all this sh*t i'm doing to it; i got pretty drunk on monday, smoked on wednesday, smoked again on thursday, and i've only recently been getting screwed up like this. i don't even know man, the panic attacks scare me and the lingering shortness of breath also scares me but the desire to smoke hasn't fully left me yet. i'm probably a huge dumbass. god damnit can i just smoke tea instead please go away shortness of breath hdfjsguisfweu why can't we have doctors supporting us and researching for us

this post is very similiar to my story, ive smoked for about ten years but recently my girlfrirends ex husband has caused us alot of problems, after my first puff of the day i find myself sweating under my arms out of control i think im having panic attacks ... they happen every day and usually last 3 - 5 hours... i have a constant fear of things and my stomach twists everyday. i havnt seen a doctor im hoping it gets better over time .. but no luck yet... any thoughts anyone ?

Get over it.

Hey guys, reading these stories has made me feel better about what I've been going through. I'm 22 and have been smoking pretty regularly for the past 3 or 4 years and with no problems with anxiety or panic attacks, but for the last few months I have been smoking daily. Then about a week and a half ago I got some OG kush and smoked a couple bowls watching workoholics and all the sudden my throat felt like it was closing up and I became nauseous. I could only dry heave tho and things got worse. I used my inhaler cuz I have asthma and thought maybe it would help open my throat. By this point it felt like someone was trying to shove a broom handle up my throat. My heart had been pounding not fast but very hard and the albuterol probably made it worse. I was trying to convince myself that I was fine and just needed to calm down. My heart started fluttering and I thought, ok maybe I should call an ambulance. I didn't tho and at this point my heart was feeling awful and I was totally panicked out of my mind. I was bent over the toilet and shaking out of control and went limp with exhaustion and just accepted that I was dying and I wouldn't have been able to call 911 anyway so I dragged myself out of the bathroom to try to at least die on my bed instead of the floor. I looked over at the clock and realized this had been going on for over 2 hours and was totally exhausted. My throat still felt closed, heart still hurting/beating weird, needed to vomit, shaking hard, and cold. I passed out at some point and tried smoking again a few times the next few days but had mini attacks each time. Even sober my heart was beating very hard and kind of hurt and I was paranoid that there was something wrong. I stopped smoking and stayed at my parents' for a few days until I felt better but even the day after the last time I smoked my blood pressure was very high (173 over 90, normally 120 over 53) and it took four days for it to get close to normal again. It's been a week now and I'm still having smaller panic attacks, hoping things get back to normal soon. I really liked smoking but I'm taking this as a sign to stop. This has definitely been the most traumatic experience of my life and I really hope to feel better soon. I haven't gone to the doctor yet but I wanna get things checked out. If you're in the same boat make sure you don't drink caffeine or alcohol for awhile (one beer gave me problems, sadly). I hope you feel better too and maybe this is a lesson in moderation. If you wanna talk to someone about this my email is _[removed]_

mind over mattter!