I have been smoking since I was 16 and just over a year ago I had my first panic attack. I thought my husband had caught me since he didnt know that I started back after I had our son. He didnt catch me but it didnt matter. The attack continued... I guess that is what a stroke or a heart attack feels like. But with mine, I couldnt stop throwing up. It lasted about an hour, in a public place, which doesnt help. I didnt learn of the deep breathing until later. That helps so much. I try to not let stress overwelm my life but I guess my mind is storing it all up subconsiously. Weed use to be my Prozac. It helped me calm down, to relax. Then it turned all of that around. I only got shaky and threw up after I smoked even when all I ever have done was take a few small puffs at a time. Now, after about 11 months of not smoking, things really havent gotten that much better. I dont throw up but I do get the panicky feeling when I get in crowded places sometimes. I was never scared of heights, sh*t, I use to want to be a pilot! I never was scared of small spaces or death or crowded area, but now I am. It really sucks. I too thought to myself, "If this is the way its gonna be for now on, I dont wanna live.." But as time goes on, I do miss my friend Mary Jane but I know that it would only get worse if I let her back int my life. I just take it as this... I am a believer... I wasnt meant to smoke and it had to take a harsh reality check for me to finally get it! So, to all my friends out there that still have a wonderful experience, have at it. Its just not meant for some of us. Hope this helps, kinda like therapy writing about it.
I suffer from panic attacks as well but I have noticed something. After experiencing the first panic attack the memory of it is always in your mind making it very difficult to be relaxed enough to enjoy other times smoking weed because you are probably thinking of the bad trip. RELAX. Take it slow one hit at a time. Literally. Wait a while after each hit and allow your body to get back accustomed to the feeling.
If you have experienced when your high, a spinning feeling like when your walking everything almost seems to repeat (youll know what I mean if its happend to you) and if you start shaking and your heart starts beating fast and you feel a panicing feeling then your not the only one and just remember your gonna be ok and it will all pass in time, this sort of thing happend to me when I smoked pot, the first 3 or 4 times it was a good feeling but about the 5th time it did it, I got those symptoms and I thouhgt the weed was just laced with somthing so I tryed it again a few weeks later and the same thing happend, the feeling is horrible and you get negative emotions along with it as well, I just want you to know, if this has happend to you that youll be fine overtime but you should stop somking it. If you get these feelings you can be at more risk to feel an addiction for it as I read getting concernd about it. You might feel depressed for sometime after you have smoked it, even a month later sometimes. Just know that its gonna pass as it did with me and many others and dont get yourself psyched out about it, just know that your life will move on and STOP smoking it because it WILL get worse if you do. Everytime you smoke it and have felt this, you increase the chances of developing mental illnesses as I have found to be true while looking into the problem.
I used to be a very frequent marijuana smoker. One night we were hitting the bong and I had a really bad panic attack, and after that severe anxiety.
But I will smoke it every so often. I truly believe it's mind over matter. If you suffer from panic attacks normally you know that you just have to relax and control it.
If you are having a bag high I suggest to try and calm yourself, knowing that you CANNOT die from a panic attack, it will be over soon, and you are around your friends. Enjoy the music and just ride the waves over.
It's incredibly common to have a panic attack every once in a while. Start back by not smoking so much and gradually ease yourself back into the highs. It's okay! Marijuana is not your enemy!
But I will smoke it every so often. I truly believe it's mind over matter. If you suffer from panic attacks normally you know that you just have to relax and control it.
If you are having a bag high I suggest to try and calm yourself, knowing that you CANNOT die from a panic attack, it will be over soon, and you are around your friends. Enjoy the music and just ride the waves over.
It's incredibly common to have a panic attack every once in a while. Start back by not smoking so much and gradually ease yourself back into the highs. It's okay! Marijuana is not your enemy!
I've been experiencing panic attacks for 6 months. I think marijuana triggered them. They are horrible and last till i go to sleep for hours. What Ive discovered is taking 3mg of Ativan and a little rest trying to keep my eyes closed makes the panic attack completely go away. The racing thoughts start to slow down, my heart rate stabilizes, and breathing becomes easier. Maybe a half hour later I'm completely fine.
Take it from someone who has horrible, long, and intense panic attacks twice a week it works.
Take it from someone who has horrible, long, and intense panic attacks twice a week it works.
Regarding the post from "guest" dated 1/8/08- Your "experiance" doesn't sound "normal" If what you say is true your 'weed' had another drug in it...crack,coke,pcp,embalming fluid,meth - something- OR you are very prone to hyper-paranoia...unrelated, not actually from the weed itself....Dont get me wrong, although I was known to smoke some in high school and college years I am not a "pot smoker" these days..But, I do know the drug very well, not just from personal experiance but from working with addicts and from research....Weed itself cannot kill you. What its laced with is a different story, or maybe the lung cancer it could cause from years and years of smoking could affect you but the weed can't...just not possiable...your experiance sounds more like a bad acid trip...that made you think you were dying.
This has happened to me as well. This has also happened to quite a few of my friends (all in the 30+ age category), including some pretty diehard pot smokers who've been lighting up since their teens.
The first time I ever experienced a pot-induced panic attack was in 2002. Absolutely horrible experience. I had one more in 2004 during a poker game, and most recently at a Metallica concert where I had two very large hits off a pipe while in the pit. I actually had to leave.
You literally feel pure 'terror'. You feel extremely faint, weak, shaky. You feel like you can't breathe and your mind is totally overhwelmed with negative thoughts. You very well think you might not come out of it.
If absolute unrelenting fear can be encapsulated, then this is it. Of course, the question everyone wants answered is WHY?
Sure, people say "oh, it's all in your mind. You just need the right mindset.". That might play a very trivial role, but I think it's much more medical than anything.
Some time after the 'concert' incident I decided to do a test. I know that two good-sized hits will send me into a tailspin. I had a friend sit with me who would put up with my c**p for a few hours. I took two large hits from a bong and waited. I was in my comfort zone. Calming, silly music, everything. While I was riding the 'wave' up, I felt like you feel when you get 'high'. Stupid, laughing at silly c**p, saying 'far out, man' and all that other stuff.
And then the terror hit me. Very quickly, I might add.
My friend brought over a personal blood pressure monitor and we strapped it on and took my blood pressure reading. My blood pressure had plummed almost 70 pts systolic and 40 points diastolic. To make matters even more colorful, my pulse rate had skyrocketed to nearly 200 beats a minute.
The active ingredients in THC cause a thinning of the blood. This well-documented. I am suspecting that as we age, or if we're born that way, we can become more sensitive to the blood pressure drop. Since there are less blood cells to carry oxygen to the body, the heart starts pumping blood faster.
The 'terror' we are experiencing is the sensation of oxygen starvation coupled with extremely rapid heartbeat, in my humble opinion.
I have heard of people taking Xanax when they smoke up, but that seems ridiculous. Taking a tranquilizer to ingest a depressant. Lovely.
A very interesting experiment would be to smoke the same amount, and then switch to breathing oxygen through a mask to see if the 'terror' feeling subsides, but I can't see a way to pull that off (and it still doesn't solve the original problem.)
Now it's entirely possible that the weed making it's way through circulation has been laced, or the concentration of THC in certain strains is far too high (no pun intended), but I haven't seen any evidence to back that up, nor would I know how to test for that.
Others have made the following suggestion and I'd like to add my voice to it as well.
The first thing to do is, if you're a person who smokes with friends, tell them what is happening to you so they KNOW. You will hopefully have enough of a bond of trust that they won't exploit it to be mean.
The second thing is, when you decide you want to get stoned, start out with the most pathetic little 'pinner' hit you can think of. And I mean 'tiny'. A little, itty bitty puff and breathe it out fairly quickly. Typically, the panic sensation, if it's going to happen, will take 15-30 minutes to kick in. Remember, it happens right after the first few moments that the drug is taking effect.
if you have that little pinner hit and you're 'high enough', STAY THERE. Wait at least an hour before trying another.
If you take that little pinner hit and you feel no 'high' and no 'panic' after 15-20 minutes, you are safe to try another one of the same size.
If you take that little pinner hit and you feel the faint edges of terror kicking in, STOP. Wait at least an hour before trying another.
All you really have to accept is that your days of clearing an 8-foot Grafix pipe are over. Just accept it.
However, if you're able to get a nice, calming high off 1 little hit (or 2 little hits) of grass, christ, think of all the money you'll save! You can get just as baked as your friend over there but you didn't have to smoke 4 bowls to do it!
Be easy on yourself, and I hope this advice helps.
The first time I ever experienced a pot-induced panic attack was in 2002. Absolutely horrible experience. I had one more in 2004 during a poker game, and most recently at a Metallica concert where I had two very large hits off a pipe while in the pit. I actually had to leave.
You literally feel pure 'terror'. You feel extremely faint, weak, shaky. You feel like you can't breathe and your mind is totally overhwelmed with negative thoughts. You very well think you might not come out of it.
If absolute unrelenting fear can be encapsulated, then this is it. Of course, the question everyone wants answered is WHY?
Sure, people say "oh, it's all in your mind. You just need the right mindset.". That might play a very trivial role, but I think it's much more medical than anything.
Some time after the 'concert' incident I decided to do a test. I know that two good-sized hits will send me into a tailspin. I had a friend sit with me who would put up with my c**p for a few hours. I took two large hits from a bong and waited. I was in my comfort zone. Calming, silly music, everything. While I was riding the 'wave' up, I felt like you feel when you get 'high'. Stupid, laughing at silly c**p, saying 'far out, man' and all that other stuff.
And then the terror hit me. Very quickly, I might add.
My friend brought over a personal blood pressure monitor and we strapped it on and took my blood pressure reading. My blood pressure had plummed almost 70 pts systolic and 40 points diastolic. To make matters even more colorful, my pulse rate had skyrocketed to nearly 200 beats a minute.
The active ingredients in THC cause a thinning of the blood. This well-documented. I am suspecting that as we age, or if we're born that way, we can become more sensitive to the blood pressure drop. Since there are less blood cells to carry oxygen to the body, the heart starts pumping blood faster.
The 'terror' we are experiencing is the sensation of oxygen starvation coupled with extremely rapid heartbeat, in my humble opinion.
I have heard of people taking Xanax when they smoke up, but that seems ridiculous. Taking a tranquilizer to ingest a depressant. Lovely.
A very interesting experiment would be to smoke the same amount, and then switch to breathing oxygen through a mask to see if the 'terror' feeling subsides, but I can't see a way to pull that off (and it still doesn't solve the original problem.)
Now it's entirely possible that the weed making it's way through circulation has been laced, or the concentration of THC in certain strains is far too high (no pun intended), but I haven't seen any evidence to back that up, nor would I know how to test for that.
Others have made the following suggestion and I'd like to add my voice to it as well.
The first thing to do is, if you're a person who smokes with friends, tell them what is happening to you so they KNOW. You will hopefully have enough of a bond of trust that they won't exploit it to be mean.
The second thing is, when you decide you want to get stoned, start out with the most pathetic little 'pinner' hit you can think of. And I mean 'tiny'. A little, itty bitty puff and breathe it out fairly quickly. Typically, the panic sensation, if it's going to happen, will take 15-30 minutes to kick in. Remember, it happens right after the first few moments that the drug is taking effect.
if you have that little pinner hit and you're 'high enough', STAY THERE. Wait at least an hour before trying another.
If you take that little pinner hit and you feel no 'high' and no 'panic' after 15-20 minutes, you are safe to try another one of the same size.
If you take that little pinner hit and you feel the faint edges of terror kicking in, STOP. Wait at least an hour before trying another.
All you really have to accept is that your days of clearing an 8-foot Grafix pipe are over. Just accept it.
However, if you're able to get a nice, calming high off 1 little hit (or 2 little hits) of grass, christ, think of all the money you'll save! You can get just as baked as your friend over there but you didn't have to smoke 4 bowls to do it!
Be easy on yourself, and I hope this advice helps.
This happened to me just once, two days ago. I've been smoking pot for 6 weeks now, 2 or 3 times a week. I'm gonna describe it in steps, marked by the time of how it happened.
20:00 I had like 2oz tequilla and coca cola.
21:00 Finishing my drink with my friends.
22:00 Baby bcak ribs at Portillo's (yes, i live in chicago)
23:00 TV Saturday Night Live. (with a glass of wine)
00:00 Me and 2 friends share a blunt. Till it gets really small ( =)) )
00:30 We got really hi, and I came u with the ideea of staying that hi for a long time, so the only way to do this is smoke some more. so fe light the pipe.
00:35 The second smoke from the pipe was a really BIG one. It sent pe pucking my guts out (ribs). The feeling of pucking was really really intense, not like when ur drunk. The gastric acid burned my esofagus in such a way that i thought i had swallowed the puke into my f...ing lungs, and now I was unable to breathe.
00:40 I ran to the kitchen , hoping i would feel better if i had some air.
I tried to hiperventilate, breathing really fast, only that there was no air going to my lungs. My throat was burning me like HELL, my lungs were full of puke, my stomach was ACID. I , then, tried to cough the puke out of my lungs. I used to smoke tobbaco for a long time (10 years....i'm 25 now). I coughed as hard as i could and i "pucked" (that was how i felt) my f...ing LUNGS out. That's exactlly what i thought i was seeing. my lungs were in the kitchen sink. I felt terrible.
So don't u say i didn't halucinate cause of marijuana, cause if u say that , it means those were really my lungs, even tho, my friends assured me they were not.
I was such in a bad pain, i began to feel like dying. No air. I had no f...ing air to breathe.
00:50 Went outside to get some fresh air. Still nothing. I was feeling like this for like 5 minutes now, wich means i should be dead allready if I really had no air. But that means i had some, not enough, but i could get some air in. I thought the gastric acid f...ed my eshopagus and trahee really bad, so I MUST go to the hospitall. My friends were laughing really hard at me, making me feel even worse (good friends ehh...). I went back in the house and told everybody "I AM GOING TO DIE RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE" "TAKE ME TO A HOSPITAL". No! my friends were saying, u're going to make a full out of yourself, it's just the drug, nothing more, you should enjoy this kind of feeling. "WHAT?!?!? Enjoy dying?, no way!" i thought. So I asked them to take me home (i have a wife and kid), my wife would know what to do.
01:00 In the car... I wasn't feeling any better (maybe worse). My thoughts were about surviving tonight, my friend (nonsmoker who drove me home) was laughing at me, but I could only hear one thing, even though i've heard everithing he was saying, it all didn't make any sense to me, he was saying everithing and nothing at the same time ( only now it wasnt funny anymore, I could not laugh at what he was saying (as expected with marijuana)). I was affraid i'm losing my mind. "What if I will never get over this feelings"."What if I'm going mad". "What if I'm going mad". "Could I go crazy now? And stay crazy forever?". "I only wish I get over it soon,... if i don't die from it tonight, of corse."
01:15 I get home, and go in the house with my frined. My wife comes with us in the kitchen, where i explain what happened. My friend can't stop laughing at how hi I am, and paranoic. I explained the "dying" feeling. My wife takes it more serioussly, and tries to help me. No f...ing change.
I got even more scared that noone can help me. I was sure I'M CRAZY AND THERE'S NO TURNING BACK. There's no point in trying. I coughed again to demonstrate i was not crazy, to show them I was "pucking" my lungs out. It looked like lungs to me with blood, but my wife and my friend could not look at it, it was to grose, and they still said it's just ribs. (right) " then why dont u look at it? "
01:30 I told my wife to come with me to sleep (hoping that i could cheat death, and just go to sleep, instead of dying).
When i got in the bed, (beeing sure i was a crazy person now, and there's no turning back) I made my mind to help my lungs breath and my heart beat, as it was not a unconscious, involuntary action anymore, but a really hard to do job. I managed to do it for 5, 10 minutes, i dont know, cause the time was f...ed up. All of a suden I felt like falling asleep, and at the same time, I felt my lungs, and heart STOP. Tickling sensations covered all my body, like when ure arms go numb, only this time it was my entire body. Head, eyes, tongue, ears, nose, limbs, body, everything, gone, dead. Heart stopped, lungs stopped. WTF! I'm dead. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wake up, wake up, breathe, breathe. And I did!. I was alive again!
02:00 When I watch the snooze radio we have in the bedroom it was 02:00 in the morning. C'mon, I can do it, I just have to stay alive until the THC leaves my body (even tho that could take a wile), and then I can go to a pshichologist or shrink or something to medicate me back to normal if there's such a thing, or just give me meds so I can be a veggie the rest of my life, CAUSE I HAD POT ONE NIGHT WITH MY FRIENDS!!!.
03:00 Died again!
04:00 Died again!
05:00 " This is it, I can't take it enymore!" I'm gonna go to sleep, if I die, I die, it was ment to be, but I cant go on like this anymore, it's to hard to breathe like this, when everything hurts so bad, and on top of it, I'm gonna be Hannibal the rest of my life.
So, I let myself fall asleep, I go again thru the same feelings, until I get at the part where my heart stops, and my body goes numb.... .... .... And I pass it, now i'm really dead, (i'm thinking). Then all of a suden, my heart keeps beating by itself, normal this time.... I got over it, I'm thinking, and then I fall asleep.
Next morning I wake up at around 2pm (not morning anymore) and very anxious to see if I'm still crazy... To my surprise, YES, i was still crazy, but different this time. I understood all that was happening around me, but it was all too "sinister", unhappy. Funny movies felt odd, like they were horror movies, all waiting for something bad to happen, all waiting for too long, like a scene was never gonna end, and if it will it will surelly end bad.
At 3:30 pm, i go back to bed, and sleep until 7:30pm. Still the same... I was a f...ing crazy person. I go to sleep at 11:00pm.
Next morning, I wake up, I feel ok, no more Hannibal, i go to the Kiddie Land, with my famillie, I have some fun, with try out all the rides, .... life is finally back to normal. I just felt a little agitated and stresed, cause after what happened 2 nights ago, I quit smoking tobbaco ALSO.
I am NEVER going to smoke again, NEVER in my life am I going to do drugs again(any type of drugs). No more weed, no more tobbaco. And I will only die agin for the last time, hoppefully after my 80th b-day. If I were a kat(and have 9 lives) , this would definately be my 3rd one. Btw, I am still coughing, I hope is nothing serious, and it will pass.
20:00 I had like 2oz tequilla and coca cola.
21:00 Finishing my drink with my friends.
22:00 Baby bcak ribs at Portillo's (yes, i live in chicago)
23:00 TV Saturday Night Live. (with a glass of wine)
00:00 Me and 2 friends share a blunt. Till it gets really small ( =)) )
00:30 We got really hi, and I came u with the ideea of staying that hi for a long time, so the only way to do this is smoke some more. so fe light the pipe.
00:35 The second smoke from the pipe was a really BIG one. It sent pe pucking my guts out (ribs). The feeling of pucking was really really intense, not like when ur drunk. The gastric acid burned my esofagus in such a way that i thought i had swallowed the puke into my f...ing lungs, and now I was unable to breathe.
00:40 I ran to the kitchen , hoping i would feel better if i had some air.
I tried to hiperventilate, breathing really fast, only that there was no air going to my lungs. My throat was burning me like HELL, my lungs were full of puke, my stomach was ACID. I , then, tried to cough the puke out of my lungs. I used to smoke tobbaco for a long time (10 years....i'm 25 now). I coughed as hard as i could and i "pucked" (that was how i felt) my f...ing LUNGS out. That's exactlly what i thought i was seeing. my lungs were in the kitchen sink. I felt terrible.
So don't u say i didn't halucinate cause of marijuana, cause if u say that , it means those were really my lungs, even tho, my friends assured me they were not.
I was such in a bad pain, i began to feel like dying. No air. I had no f...ing air to breathe.
00:50 Went outside to get some fresh air. Still nothing. I was feeling like this for like 5 minutes now, wich means i should be dead allready if I really had no air. But that means i had some, not enough, but i could get some air in. I thought the gastric acid f...ed my eshopagus and trahee really bad, so I MUST go to the hospitall. My friends were laughing really hard at me, making me feel even worse (good friends ehh...). I went back in the house and told everybody "I AM GOING TO DIE RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE" "TAKE ME TO A HOSPITAL". No! my friends were saying, u're going to make a full out of yourself, it's just the drug, nothing more, you should enjoy this kind of feeling. "WHAT?!?!? Enjoy dying?, no way!" i thought. So I asked them to take me home (i have a wife and kid), my wife would know what to do.
01:00 In the car... I wasn't feeling any better (maybe worse). My thoughts were about surviving tonight, my friend (nonsmoker who drove me home) was laughing at me, but I could only hear one thing, even though i've heard everithing he was saying, it all didn't make any sense to me, he was saying everithing and nothing at the same time ( only now it wasnt funny anymore, I could not laugh at what he was saying (as expected with marijuana)). I was affraid i'm losing my mind. "What if I will never get over this feelings"."What if I'm going mad". "What if I'm going mad". "Could I go crazy now? And stay crazy forever?". "I only wish I get over it soon,... if i don't die from it tonight, of corse."
01:15 I get home, and go in the house with my frined. My wife comes with us in the kitchen, where i explain what happened. My friend can't stop laughing at how hi I am, and paranoic. I explained the "dying" feeling. My wife takes it more serioussly, and tries to help me. No f...ing change.
I got even more scared that noone can help me. I was sure I'M CRAZY AND THERE'S NO TURNING BACK. There's no point in trying. I coughed again to demonstrate i was not crazy, to show them I was "pucking" my lungs out. It looked like lungs to me with blood, but my wife and my friend could not look at it, it was to grose, and they still said it's just ribs. (right) " then why dont u look at it? "
01:30 I told my wife to come with me to sleep (hoping that i could cheat death, and just go to sleep, instead of dying).
When i got in the bed, (beeing sure i was a crazy person now, and there's no turning back) I made my mind to help my lungs breath and my heart beat, as it was not a unconscious, involuntary action anymore, but a really hard to do job. I managed to do it for 5, 10 minutes, i dont know, cause the time was f...ed up. All of a suden I felt like falling asleep, and at the same time, I felt my lungs, and heart STOP. Tickling sensations covered all my body, like when ure arms go numb, only this time it was my entire body. Head, eyes, tongue, ears, nose, limbs, body, everything, gone, dead. Heart stopped, lungs stopped. WTF! I'm dead. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wake up, wake up, breathe, breathe. And I did!. I was alive again!
02:00 When I watch the snooze radio we have in the bedroom it was 02:00 in the morning. C'mon, I can do it, I just have to stay alive until the THC leaves my body (even tho that could take a wile), and then I can go to a pshichologist or shrink or something to medicate me back to normal if there's such a thing, or just give me meds so I can be a veggie the rest of my life, CAUSE I HAD POT ONE NIGHT WITH MY FRIENDS!!!.
03:00 Died again!
04:00 Died again!
05:00 " This is it, I can't take it enymore!" I'm gonna go to sleep, if I die, I die, it was ment to be, but I cant go on like this anymore, it's to hard to breathe like this, when everything hurts so bad, and on top of it, I'm gonna be Hannibal the rest of my life.
So, I let myself fall asleep, I go again thru the same feelings, until I get at the part where my heart stops, and my body goes numb.... .... .... And I pass it, now i'm really dead, (i'm thinking). Then all of a suden, my heart keeps beating by itself, normal this time.... I got over it, I'm thinking, and then I fall asleep.
Next morning I wake up at around 2pm (not morning anymore) and very anxious to see if I'm still crazy... To my surprise, YES, i was still crazy, but different this time. I understood all that was happening around me, but it was all too "sinister", unhappy. Funny movies felt odd, like they were horror movies, all waiting for something bad to happen, all waiting for too long, like a scene was never gonna end, and if it will it will surelly end bad.
At 3:30 pm, i go back to bed, and sleep until 7:30pm. Still the same... I was a f...ing crazy person. I go to sleep at 11:00pm.
Next morning, I wake up, I feel ok, no more Hannibal, i go to the Kiddie Land, with my famillie, I have some fun, with try out all the rides, .... life is finally back to normal. I just felt a little agitated and stresed, cause after what happened 2 nights ago, I quit smoking tobbaco ALSO.
I am NEVER going to smoke again, NEVER in my life am I going to do drugs again(any type of drugs). No more weed, no more tobbaco. And I will only die agin for the last time, hoppefully after my 80th b-day. If I were a kat(and have 9 lives) , this would definately be my 3rd one. Btw, I am still coughing, I hope is nothing serious, and it will pass.
I've experienced crippling panic attacks from weed, horrible experiences like lots of people here have described. But I can tell you from years of experience that you WILL be okay, I promise.
Like a lot of people have already said, if you're having panic problems, lay off for a little while and start back very slowly. Some other good things to try:
Drink some juice (another poster correctly stated that boosting your blood sugar helps a lot--if not juice, a piece of candy or a tablespoon of honey)
Burn some of your favorite incense
Put on music that you find relaxing
But the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to get control of your mind...gently remind yourself that you are going to be fine, you're not going to die, and what a shame it would be to waste your experience panicking! Talk to your friends. If you have really nice, understanding friends, human contact is very helpful too. Get a friend to rub your shoulders or your back for a few minutes. Once, I was having a horrible panic attack, with all of the scary symptoms described in the above posts, and my friend put her hand on my shoulder and asked if I was going to be okay. The warmth from her hand spread throughout my body and my panic just vanished as quickly as it had appeared. This was not only an amazing experience in itself, but it also proved to me that the panic, as terrifyingly physical as it feels, is 'all in my head', for lack of a better term.
Now, whenever I smoke, I remember that...if I start to feel panicky, I can easily talk myself out of it. I only smoke occasionally these days, but when I do, I want it to be a great experience!
Like a lot of people have already said, if you're having panic problems, lay off for a little while and start back very slowly. Some other good things to try:
Drink some juice (another poster correctly stated that boosting your blood sugar helps a lot--if not juice, a piece of candy or a tablespoon of honey)
Burn some of your favorite incense
Put on music that you find relaxing
But the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to get control of your mind...gently remind yourself that you are going to be fine, you're not going to die, and what a shame it would be to waste your experience panicking! Talk to your friends. If you have really nice, understanding friends, human contact is very helpful too. Get a friend to rub your shoulders or your back for a few minutes. Once, I was having a horrible panic attack, with all of the scary symptoms described in the above posts, and my friend put her hand on my shoulder and asked if I was going to be okay. The warmth from her hand spread throughout my body and my panic just vanished as quickly as it had appeared. This was not only an amazing experience in itself, but it also proved to me that the panic, as terrifyingly physical as it feels, is 'all in my head', for lack of a better term.
Now, whenever I smoke, I remember that...if I start to feel panicky, I can easily talk myself out of it. I only smoke occasionally these days, but when I do, I want it to be a great experience!
I really think there is a lot of 'bad weed' out there (at least in my area). I stopped smoking because I was suffering from panic attacks afterward and thought that maybe what I was smoking wasn't just weed. Marijuana very well could be a "gateway drug" if it is used as a vehicle for other drugs. Pretty simple stuff, you think you're just buying weed, but the dealer is fronting and the majority of his profits come from something else. So, the dealer laces the pot and if you keep coming back he may introduce you to what it is he was really trying to get out of the door. By then you'd have built up a tolerance for it and he'd be rolling in the profit. The cycle continues... Not to say that everyone selling weed is doing this, but who knows? A lot of weed comes out of Mexico. It could have been in some Mexican's ass before you smoked it and you would never know.
What I'm saying is, be wary of who you're smoking/buying from. Even if you trust them there's no way to be 100% sure what you're about to inhale is just pot.
It would be nice if we could at least grow the plant legally here in the US. I don't see any justification in laws that prohibit me from certain actions (actions that harm no one), on my own property. It's not as if I'm building a dirty bomb and preparing to drop it on a kindergarten full of innocent little kids while they're napping. Just look at what the prohibition of alcohol (a drug argued to be more harmful than marijuana) accomplished... Absolutely nothing. It did more harm than good and there's no reason to think otherwise for Marijuana.
Anyway, that got messy... If you're going to smoke, take a small hit and see how it sits with you. If you feel a panic attack coming on, don't smoke anymore of it.
What I'm saying is, be wary of who you're smoking/buying from. Even if you trust them there's no way to be 100% sure what you're about to inhale is just pot.
It would be nice if we could at least grow the plant legally here in the US. I don't see any justification in laws that prohibit me from certain actions (actions that harm no one), on my own property. It's not as if I'm building a dirty bomb and preparing to drop it on a kindergarten full of innocent little kids while they're napping. Just look at what the prohibition of alcohol (a drug argued to be more harmful than marijuana) accomplished... Absolutely nothing. It did more harm than good and there's no reason to think otherwise for Marijuana.
Anyway, that got messy... If you're going to smoke, take a small hit and see how it sits with you. If you feel a panic attack coming on, don't smoke anymore of it.
I really think there is a lot of 'bad weed' out there (at least in my area). I stopped smoking because I was suffering from panic attacks afterward and thought that maybe what I was smoking wasn't just weed. Marijuana very well could be a "gateway drug" if it is used as a vehicle for other drugs. Pretty simple stuff, you think you're just buying weed, but the dealer is fronting and the majority of his profits come from something else. So, the dealer laces the pot and if you keep coming back he may introduce you to what it is he was really trying to get out of the door. By then you'd have built up a tolerance for it and he'd be rolling in the profit. The cycle continues... Not to say that everyone selling weed is doing this, but who knows? A lot of weed comes out of Mexico. It could have been in some Mexican's ass before you smoked it and you would never know.
What I'm saying is, be wary of who you're smoking/buying from. Even if you trust them there's no way to be 100% sure what you're about to inhale is just pot.
It would be nice if we could at least grow the plant legally here in the US. I don't see any justification in laws that prohibit me from certain actions (actions that harm no one), on my own property. It's not as if I'm building a dirty bomb and preparing to drop it on a kindergarten full of innocent little kids while they're napping. Just look at what the prohibition of alcohol (a drug argued to be more harmful than marijuana) accomplished... Absolutely nothing. It did more harm than good and there's no reason to think otherwise for Marijuana.
Anyway, that got messy... If you're going to smoke, take a small hit and see how it sits with you. If you feel a panic attack coming on, don't smoke anymore of it. It could be the weed, could be you, there are multitudes of factors.
What I'm saying is, be wary of who you're smoking/buying from. Even if you trust them there's no way to be 100% sure what you're about to inhale is just pot.
It would be nice if we could at least grow the plant legally here in the US. I don't see any justification in laws that prohibit me from certain actions (actions that harm no one), on my own property. It's not as if I'm building a dirty bomb and preparing to drop it on a kindergarten full of innocent little kids while they're napping. Just look at what the prohibition of alcohol (a drug argued to be more harmful than marijuana) accomplished... Absolutely nothing. It did more harm than good and there's no reason to think otherwise for Marijuana.
Anyway, that got messy... If you're going to smoke, take a small hit and see how it sits with you. If you feel a panic attack coming on, don't smoke anymore of it. It could be the weed, could be you, there are multitudes of factors.
Reading all these comments, it really is true that we all suffer from a similar problem. I miss the days when I was carefree and could smoke and not worry about having an attack. I quit for a few months, started exercise, quit cigs and drinking, but eventually the vices caught back up with me and I started getting attacks again. Now its coming between me and my friends, I usually have to leave early when I have an attack because the conversation feels so distorted, I felt disconnected and a sense of doom, like the world was ending, or I was going to die. Sometimes when I'm alone and smoke to "enhance" some activity its alright, but large groups of people and social settings sometimes can be terrifying. I suggest smoking in moderation, and eventually pursue a more healthy lifestyle. I emphathize with all of you who suffer with this and wish the best in your recovery.
A lot of people don't take marijuana as seriously as they should. Let's all remember it is a psychedelic substance. People are different and will react differently to different dosages.
I never got a panic attack from marijuana for the first year I used it. Then I tried smoking Salvia Divinorum, which is probably the most potent naturally occuring hallucinogen there is.
The Salvia trip was like an LSD trip, but only lasted 15 minutes. I won't go into what I saw, but it was the most FEAR-FILLED thing that ever happened to me. I was disturbed by the Salvia trip for days after and I only came out of it with the help of a good friend. I really thought I was on the edge of losing my mind to complete insanity.
The first occasion AFTER that Salvia trip that I smoked marijuana, I did NOT get the pot high but was thrown head-first into what is called "Salvia-Space." I tripped like I had smoked Salvia! The time interval from the Salvia trip to once again smoking pot was one week. A lot of people I talked to said the same thing happed to them and it's frightening because it is NOT expected.
Anyway, the pot thing is very real and I have had anxiety attacks because of it, but ONLY after smoking the Salvia.
If you're going to smoke pot, I say take it "seriously." What I mean is, you have to plan ahead.
Choose when is the right time to do it. If you're like me, with a lot of life's worries really bothering you, then you're in the wrong "mind-set" or "set" to get high. These negative worries could very well come up during your pot high and it will NOT be what you're looking for.
Choose WHO you will smoke with. Too many times, I think especially with young people, you get guys who play "tough" and minimize what they are doing. You are injesting a psychedelic substance even though it's "just pot." Everyone has got to look at it with the right attitude.
You must be comfortable with WHERE you're smoking. Ideally, you should be in a place that is relaxing, and where you can get outdoors if you need to walk off any rough experiences. This is called "SETTING" and also includes the people you are with. If you're smoking with others you must be around people you know and who will take care of you if things go in the wrong direction. The stories I've read here of people being in all-out panic and then being laughed at, are terrible.
I have had friends cry on my shoulder, and I've done the same. There was NO EMBARRASSMENT in this because we are all real friends and we knew this could happen. (More so with other drugs like LSD and mescaline, but very possible with pot also.) You must be willing to help others if they need it, too. Basically, you should only smoke with people you know you can trust. If you're smoking with a bunch of strangers, or if they're just a bunch of jerks, you are in the wrong place and should NOT get high.
I also wonder sometimes what's in the pot. If you dis-associate (meaning you lose your sense of identity and everything looks surreal, then there is probably something in the pot. There are jerks who will lace pot, because they think you'll give them more business because of it. If you have a bad experience, NEVER get anything from that suspected un-dependable source.
It is unfortunate that laws in the U.S. are not more reasonable. If you could grow your own plant legally that would be ideal. I also believe that in nuturing the plant, by raising it, that you become better connected to everything and will get the best experience from it.
Well, those are my views. Hope they are of help to someone out there!
I never got a panic attack from marijuana for the first year I used it. Then I tried smoking Salvia Divinorum, which is probably the most potent naturally occuring hallucinogen there is.
The Salvia trip was like an LSD trip, but only lasted 15 minutes. I won't go into what I saw, but it was the most FEAR-FILLED thing that ever happened to me. I was disturbed by the Salvia trip for days after and I only came out of it with the help of a good friend. I really thought I was on the edge of losing my mind to complete insanity.
The first occasion AFTER that Salvia trip that I smoked marijuana, I did NOT get the pot high but was thrown head-first into what is called "Salvia-Space." I tripped like I had smoked Salvia! The time interval from the Salvia trip to once again smoking pot was one week. A lot of people I talked to said the same thing happed to them and it's frightening because it is NOT expected.
Anyway, the pot thing is very real and I have had anxiety attacks because of it, but ONLY after smoking the Salvia.
If you're going to smoke pot, I say take it "seriously." What I mean is, you have to plan ahead.
Choose when is the right time to do it. If you're like me, with a lot of life's worries really bothering you, then you're in the wrong "mind-set" or "set" to get high. These negative worries could very well come up during your pot high and it will NOT be what you're looking for.
Choose WHO you will smoke with. Too many times, I think especially with young people, you get guys who play "tough" and minimize what they are doing. You are injesting a psychedelic substance even though it's "just pot." Everyone has got to look at it with the right attitude.
You must be comfortable with WHERE you're smoking. Ideally, you should be in a place that is relaxing, and where you can get outdoors if you need to walk off any rough experiences. This is called "SETTING" and also includes the people you are with. If you're smoking with others you must be around people you know and who will take care of you if things go in the wrong direction. The stories I've read here of people being in all-out panic and then being laughed at, are terrible.
I have had friends cry on my shoulder, and I've done the same. There was NO EMBARRASSMENT in this because we are all real friends and we knew this could happen. (More so with other drugs like LSD and mescaline, but very possible with pot also.) You must be willing to help others if they need it, too. Basically, you should only smoke with people you know you can trust. If you're smoking with a bunch of strangers, or if they're just a bunch of jerks, you are in the wrong place and should NOT get high.
I also wonder sometimes what's in the pot. If you dis-associate (meaning you lose your sense of identity and everything looks surreal, then there is probably something in the pot. There are jerks who will lace pot, because they think you'll give them more business because of it. If you have a bad experience, NEVER get anything from that suspected un-dependable source.
It is unfortunate that laws in the U.S. are not more reasonable. If you could grow your own plant legally that would be ideal. I also believe that in nuturing the plant, by raising it, that you become better connected to everything and will get the best experience from it.
Well, those are my views. Hope they are of help to someone out there!
Well, here's my story:
I am a 32 year old male and have been smoking off and on since high school, age 17. Sometimes it was every weekend, sometimes every night. Sometimes with big breaks in between, up to 6 months. My first attack was almost one year ago, on July 4th, 2007.
This was at a time I was a daily smoker, and only one or two hits of the good stuff, because that's all I really needed. I would just get on the net, listen to music, and eat me a whole box of Cinamon Toast Crunch, you know how that goes.
(A side note here. I had, previously, a couple incidents before this one which might be classified as very minor attacks. For example, I was a little short of breath, etc. I did not think anything of this however.)
So I had just gotten home from visiting my parents. It was July 4th. Went into the bathroom, got my smoke on. As I was walking out of the bathroom, my heart started beating faster and I just got real paranoid. I can and do get paranoid after smoking, for no reason, if I let my mind wander. Apparently, this time, my heart beating faster triggered it. I was also having trouble breathing. I laid down. I could feel my heart beating faster and harder. I did not know what was happening. That's what really freaked me out. I did not know what was happening or why, although I was making a loose connection to the weed. At the same time, it did not make sense.
So there I was laying on my bed, freaking out, literally thinking I was having a stroke or a heart attack or something. I got up and paced around my room, breathing deeply, trying to not think about it. I got on the net and tried to surf and take my mind off it, but it got to be too much that I had to go back to the bed. Sitting on my bed, this time in a lotus position, just trying to meditate, I told myself I would never smoke again if I got through this (which I have not). However, nothing seemed to work. I kept breathing deeply, in and out, drinking lots of water and pacing around my room. I really thought I was gonna die. This was it. I actually flushed away all the weed I had, because when they found my dead body, at least they would not find any drugs nearby and my parents would be spared the knowledge their son was after all, a drug addict.
So, I am not sure how long it lasted, but eventually it went away, and by this time it was time for bed. Of course I did not sleep more than two hours that night, since I was on the net, trying to figure out what the hell happened to me. I was looking up stuff on wikipedia about heart attacks, strokes, blood pressure, etc. I never even thought to look up panic attacks. I was focusing my attention on the fact that I had high blood pressure and the weed made it go even higher and I almost had a heart attack or something. All the while, it did not make any sense.
So, after a couple hours of sleep, I got up and went to work. Everything was fine during the day, although I was dead tired and still freaked out about what happened. That night, before I went to bed, I had another attack!!! I could not believe it. I did not smoke either. Looking back now, I believe that one was brought on by the simple fact of me worrying about having another one. No weed necessary.
So, the next day or so, I called and made an appointment with my doctor to see if he could shed some light. I even got my parents at-home blood pressure test and decided to record my pressure throughout the next week or so, which I did. Sometimes, it was normal, sometimes it was high.
I eventually learned that what happened was that I had a panic attack. I did not tell the doc I had smoked prior to the attack, but he gave me some Xanax and some high blood pressure medicine. I have not taken either of them.
I have not had any attacks since then, almost a year ago, and have not smoked since then either. Are the two directly related? Hard to say. The first attack seemed to be "triggered" by the weed, and the second, apparently invoked by simple worrying about having another one.
I found this thread because I have been having the urge to smoke again. I really enjoy it. However, the panic attack is a real doozy, something I would not like to repeat. One factor I think might help is knowing what is happening is a panic attack. I had no idea what was happening to me, which probaby contributed to the attack. Knowing what is happening would definitely help.
Anyways, just thought I would share my story. If I decide to smoke again, I will let you all know how it goes. It would be interesting to start a blog....
I am a 32 year old male and have been smoking off and on since high school, age 17. Sometimes it was every weekend, sometimes every night. Sometimes with big breaks in between, up to 6 months. My first attack was almost one year ago, on July 4th, 2007.
This was at a time I was a daily smoker, and only one or two hits of the good stuff, because that's all I really needed. I would just get on the net, listen to music, and eat me a whole box of Cinamon Toast Crunch, you know how that goes.
(A side note here. I had, previously, a couple incidents before this one which might be classified as very minor attacks. For example, I was a little short of breath, etc. I did not think anything of this however.)
So I had just gotten home from visiting my parents. It was July 4th. Went into the bathroom, got my smoke on. As I was walking out of the bathroom, my heart started beating faster and I just got real paranoid. I can and do get paranoid after smoking, for no reason, if I let my mind wander. Apparently, this time, my heart beating faster triggered it. I was also having trouble breathing. I laid down. I could feel my heart beating faster and harder. I did not know what was happening. That's what really freaked me out. I did not know what was happening or why, although I was making a loose connection to the weed. At the same time, it did not make sense.
So there I was laying on my bed, freaking out, literally thinking I was having a stroke or a heart attack or something. I got up and paced around my room, breathing deeply, trying to not think about it. I got on the net and tried to surf and take my mind off it, but it got to be too much that I had to go back to the bed. Sitting on my bed, this time in a lotus position, just trying to meditate, I told myself I would never smoke again if I got through this (which I have not). However, nothing seemed to work. I kept breathing deeply, in and out, drinking lots of water and pacing around my room. I really thought I was gonna die. This was it. I actually flushed away all the weed I had, because when they found my dead body, at least they would not find any drugs nearby and my parents would be spared the knowledge their son was after all, a drug addict.
So, I am not sure how long it lasted, but eventually it went away, and by this time it was time for bed. Of course I did not sleep more than two hours that night, since I was on the net, trying to figure out what the hell happened to me. I was looking up stuff on wikipedia about heart attacks, strokes, blood pressure, etc. I never even thought to look up panic attacks. I was focusing my attention on the fact that I had high blood pressure and the weed made it go even higher and I almost had a heart attack or something. All the while, it did not make any sense.
So, after a couple hours of sleep, I got up and went to work. Everything was fine during the day, although I was dead tired and still freaked out about what happened. That night, before I went to bed, I had another attack!!! I could not believe it. I did not smoke either. Looking back now, I believe that one was brought on by the simple fact of me worrying about having another one. No weed necessary.
So, the next day or so, I called and made an appointment with my doctor to see if he could shed some light. I even got my parents at-home blood pressure test and decided to record my pressure throughout the next week or so, which I did. Sometimes, it was normal, sometimes it was high.
I eventually learned that what happened was that I had a panic attack. I did not tell the doc I had smoked prior to the attack, but he gave me some Xanax and some high blood pressure medicine. I have not taken either of them.
I have not had any attacks since then, almost a year ago, and have not smoked since then either. Are the two directly related? Hard to say. The first attack seemed to be "triggered" by the weed, and the second, apparently invoked by simple worrying about having another one.
I found this thread because I have been having the urge to smoke again. I really enjoy it. However, the panic attack is a real doozy, something I would not like to repeat. One factor I think might help is knowing what is happening is a panic attack. I had no idea what was happening to me, which probaby contributed to the attack. Knowing what is happening would definitely help.
Anyways, just thought I would share my story. If I decide to smoke again, I will let you all know how it goes. It would be interesting to start a blog....
I smoked weed and since have been depressed and have had panic attacks from it. My doctors confirm this was the cause. Allot of idiots online will tell you weed is fine and a safe drug they are 100% wrong, and there are more and more new studies coming out saying how bad it is, the THC rate is much higher then when you parents would have done it
My advice DONT DO IT! ever. For the people who say you smoke all the time and are fine and everyone else is just dumb. I really hope it does not happen to you one day it could happen at any time.
If you are having the panic now looking online for why this is happening stay strong there is nothing you can do about it it is a PANIC you are not dyeing . see a doctor you may need meds. take VITS.
My advice DONT DO IT! ever. For the people who say you smoke all the time and are fine and everyone else is just dumb. I really hope it does not happen to you one day it could happen at any time.
If you are having the panic now looking online for why this is happening stay strong there is nothing you can do about it it is a PANIC you are not dyeing . see a doctor you may need meds. take VITS.