Paranoia and panic attacks after smoking weed

For years I smoked without any problems. This all changed one day when I clearly had a little too much to smoke although, at the time I didn't think it was possible for me to smoke too much. Within minutes I announced that I "thought I was dying", stumbled into the bathroom, whacked my head on the sink (didn't pass out) then crawled to bed. My friends came in and I started blacking out. At one point I had my one and only seizure ever. It was terrifying. I did not go to the hospital that day but did have extensive testing done for the seizure afterward. To this day, I'll swear there was "something else" in the weed. Since then, almost every time I smoked, I experienced a panic attack. I would try to talk myself out of it, however, it's just not possible sometimes. I agree with another post I saw: watching TV sometimes makes it worse. Once I was high and watching a documentary on the "Flying Karamazovs", a highwire act. All was well and good until it showed one of them falling off the tightrope and dying. Hellloooo panic city....That was it for me. As an older adult, I rarely smoke anymore. Maybe once every 6 months. I try to take it super easy, i.e. one toke at a time with about 20 minutes in between. I already know I have control issues so I think my brain just puts the brakes on when it realizes I'm smoking. Just remember: Cleansing deep breaths, try talking with someone who has the ability to remain calm and, as far as I know, no one has every died solely from smoking

This just happened to me last night and I am still barely getting over it this morning. This was not my first time smoking weed, but its was the first time I combined brownies with vapourizing. I had the worst panic attack of my life; it started of with paranoia after I thought I breathed in a piece of ground weed. I started losing control of my breathing and my heart rate spiked like never before. I could get up, I walked around, I looked at other people and then I could breathe normally again. I sat down to watch a movie my friends were watching, and then it started again. I ran upstairs and poured water on my face, I started drinking water frantically from the tap (as if my life depended on it)...it seemed to help for a while. Then it happened again, the increasing heart rate and rapid breathing my mind was thinking about 3 to 5 things in complicated detail at any time. I layed down and put my legs up because I thought I would pass out. I had to mentally fight this effect to relax and I had thoughts of dying and was imagining what would happen if I died. Then I was seeing things and I though I was being tested by a divine being. This spiral of paranoia and panic continued for hours and I actually fell asleep several times. After this experience I will never use marijuana again.

Yo imma 26yrs old male. I have been smoking weed since i wuz 15 yrs old. 2 weeks ago i prayed to God to deliver me from this drug.(i dont care wut people say about weed, unless u have glocoma, then weed is also a natural drug). I had my first anxiety/panic attack a few days ago and i really thought i wuz at the end of my life. I wuz driving and all of a sudden my hands and arms just went numb. I hopped out at the nearest corner store and i seen a police officer. Immediately i grabbed the cop by the shoulder and told him i thought i wuz having a heart attack. Its the scariest feeling in the world and u really think u r about to f*****g die. As i am typing rite now i am having a mild panic attack. I figured if i can talk to yall it would keep my mind off of it. When u have been smoking as long as i have, ur brain is used to it. So me i stopped cold turkey. your brain is trying to understand and come back to normal. Everybody is different as to how long u can have an anxiety/panic attack. it could last from a week to 6 months. it just depends, and in my situation i have not been to the doctor for help, im trying to fight it on my own. I will be making an appointment sumtime this week. u neva take it into consideration that u can have an attack until it happens. I thought i could just quit and everything be just fine. Please if u r having these attacks please go get sum help. They have good medicine to help u get off this sh*t if u really want the help. it will make your life a whole lot better. I will never pick up weed again in my life, its really not worth it plus u increase the chance of having a real heart attack if u r not careful. Now if u think a panic attack is bad from smoking weed, just imaging wut crackheads and heroin addicts go thru just to kick their habit. its a ruff road but put your mind to it and u can do it. I have alot to say becuz i neva thought sumthin like this could happen to me and it did. So if i can touch someone with my words i will do that. I have read alot of your comments and i will say alil prayer for u becuz u only get one body, one life to live. U dont think about it until u really think u r about to die. Me personally, I smoked weed, took alot of epills, sniffed powder, medicine pills and alot of liquor from time to time and God answered my prayers. u mite not believe in God but Believe in yourself and make up your mind that u wanna get off that sh*t and go get sum help. U can do it. I go to school and work full time, but if anybody needs sumone to talk to, My name is Bmac(my nickname) ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed **
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, even if it takes me a day to respond i will respond cuz now i understand how serious and precious life is. God bless..............................................

I myself am a 18 year old college student and I recently smoked marijuana, and had the worst panic attack. I had done it a couple times prior but with no problems at all. I was fishbowling and suddenly I felt like a couldn't breathe, so I relaxed, and stepped out of the car. I sat down on the side of the road and tried to collect myself. I got back in the car after they finished, and the panic attack started. I felt like they were against me, I didn't feel alive. I was looking around, and they told me I would close my eyes and breathe extremely softly, tensing my whole body to the point where you couldn't move me anywhere. When I look back the times where I closed my eyes were the times where everything was spinning, and everything was repeating, or going extremely fast as if my life was being played in fast forward. But they got me to open my eyes and everything seemed normal, until I thought that I was going to die. Once these thoughts came into my head I literally wanted to throw myself out of the car to put an end to it. I tried begging them to call an ambulance or do anything I possibly could to feel normal again. I tensed up like 6 or 7 times after that, and I have no clue what happened when I did tense up. But it all felt fake, I felt dead I couldn't feel my heartbeat and I felt no pain at all. Ever since then I've been a complete control freak, and the second I don't feel normal, I panic. Haven't smoked or drank anything since and it has definitely solved my problem.

I would like to say thank you to you all that have posted your anxiety experiences while under the influence of cannabis. I too myself have had panic attacks when I smoke. I used to love smoking marijuana and still crave to smoke. I even have a half of the so called cheesel<--SP? Anyway... I really want to smoke some and I was told this strain is good for those who have anxiety or panic attacks while under the influence. I am hesitant to smoke some and instead I grow it for others for free because it's the only thing I can do that makes me feel good for something I can't do anymore.

So I'm only 15 and I just started smoking this year. I've only smoked three times so far, but each of the three times I've flipped the f**k out. Honestly, going through and reading all this makes me feel so much better. I thought it was just me who went through this. When I explain it to my friends they say I'm crazy, they're never smoking with me, and they've never heard anything like that before. They obviously don't understand the state of mind a person gets in when they're like that. The last time I was fine until I called my best friend and he said he couldn't talk to me and then it just hit me. It all started, like my vision was spinning and I couldn't breathe enough and my heart rate was so loud and fast. I had to lay down for about four hours texting him to calm me down, which still didn't work. Finally he called me and I calmed down just like that. Him and a few others have told me not to smoke again, but don't get me wrong, the feeling after is pretty good. I think it's only going to be a every two months thing for me.
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hi everyone! i had the  same problem about a year ago now i was with my boyfriend and i had about 3/5 goes on a bong it was like my 3rd time i tryed it, i was fine one minnute then wen we started to play football i started freaking out it was like everything went black all i could see was the ball going bk and forth and all i could hear was my breath, i got really scared i didnt no wat i was doing so i just turned around and kept saying am going home am going to die i could feel my legs buzzzing and my heart pounding so hard i really thought i was guna die, it waas the most scarist times of my life i hate it now ! i tryed it agen then bout 2 months later just to see  if i would be ok on it but when i thought about it i started to freak out again so i am never doing it agen since then i have been so paranoid and panicy i dont no why does any1 no why i stil feel starnge sometimes without smokeing it ( i also found out i got anxity not long ago though) thanks and sorry its so long

ok so i had the same experience. i cant even smoke weed anymore because it is the SAME EXACT FEELING every single time. it still messes with me to this day. I used to smoke with my sister and friends all the time, and one time i wanted to see how fast i could smoke it, so i took hits over and over. Then out of nowhere it hit me, and i was like..in some trance. i remember thinking that some chick i pissed off probably was a witch and put me in a curse and i thought i was going to be like that forever! i had constant thoughts going through my head as to what was going on and why it was going on and i was doing the same exact thing over and over again. if you do this, then you will know what i mean -- STARE STRAIGHT NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, AND JUST WALK. DONT MOVE YOUR EYES BUT KEEP THEM STRAIGHT. its as if i was walking in the same direction no matter which way i went. i felt like i my whole body was looking through my eyeballs. i thought i was in hell, and thats what hell was and i would be there forever. then it was me praying and asking god for help. it was basically a battle of heaven and hell in my head. I EVEN SLEPT HIGH. it was the most scariest moment of my life, and every time i smoke pot i get the same exact feeling, even if i smoke a little REALLY SLOW lol.

now i have panic attacks and think im going to die everyday. i went to a psychologist about it, because i had the fear of getting old because i didnt want to die. Now im worrying if im even going to make it to the next day, and since i analyzed that i think im going to die all the time. Im a hypochondriac and think that if my head hurts, i have a tumor or just anything. its horrible and honestly ruined me. 

If there is anything I've learned from being a weed smoker, is that people react differently to it. You have to test it to see if it's for you. I have had 1 or two panic attacks in my life time and the number one thing to get the high feeling away while still enjoying it is playing nhl 10 for the ps3. But that is just me. You also need to smoke in places where you feel comfortable with the people and scenery. I am pretty sure I would have way more panic attacks if I didnt know how to deal with it. Fist thing you have to do is realize that your high. second is you need to think of your happy place, and just take in the scenery. third, is do things that make you happy, laugh, listen to music, pleasure ones self;). The person I am is very controling and very thoughtful of my surroundings so weed is not really my cup of tea. Sometimes you get caught up in it and you need to ask youself why am i smoking cannibis. Personally i don't like the feeling at the time at all but the food, the orgasms, the music is just sooooo much better.

im glad im not the only one.  i had this expierence a few days ago going to the casino, i was fine then all the sudden i felt funny and my heart started racing, and my chest was pounding, my head was going nuts, i liteally felt like i was going to die for like three hours.  it was the scariest time of my life. i want to smoke again bc that was the first time in like over three hundred times of me smoking that that happend but im not sure.  maybe il try it again bc i know how it will be and i just gotta know it will pass if it does happen. just gotta remind yourself that no one in the history of mankind has ever died directly from marijuana.  stay strong my friends.

IVE ACTUALLY HASD A COUPLE OF PANIC ATTACKS SINCE THE LAST TIME I SMOKED SUM GANJA...WORST FEELING IN MY LIFE...I HAD DHE IDEA AS IF I WAS GOING TO DIE...I FELT LIKE EVERYTHING WAS CLOSING IN ON ME ND MY HEART WAS JUST GOING TO STOP...I NEED HELP I DNT NOE WAH TEW DO ND ITS DRIVING ME NUTS...EVEN WHEN I DNT SMOKE I STILL CATCH THEM ND I WASNT DIAGNOSED WITH PANIC DISORDER...CAN SUMONE GIVE ME ANY IDEAS ON WAH TEW DO ABOUT MY PANIC ATTACKS

i had the exact same thing over a week ago.. i honestly thought i was gonna die.. :( and i started praying to God that im sorry and to help me survive lol i smoked pot before and i always had a great high. that day i also smoked a joint in half with a friend and we decided to go to mcdonalds lol we both had an awesome time laughing like crazy! after like 2 hours it passed and we decided to smoke some more out of a bong. I smoked a lot cuz i usually feel the high right after a hit and that time i wasnt feeling anything so i smoked about maybe 15 hits in a short time. i didnt feel much really and we went to the library to study. suddenly i felt my heart pounding! i got so scared.. i told her to touch my neck(the artery) cuz i felt it poundidng but she said that i should relax. my heart started pounding in my chest and my chest was warm and i was sure im gonna die and my heart is gonna stop. i went out because i was scared im gonna faint. my heart was bothering me so bad that i started running to not feel it. i was freaking out and had no clue it could be a panic attack. i wanted to call 911 but decided that if i die then it was supposed to be that way and just gave up kinda. my mom was at home so i had to act normal. i watched tv and later went to sleep but my heart still seemed weird the next day and i went to the doctor. my blood pressure and heart rate were high but she told me i smoked too much and it just needs to come out. it went away after a couple of days but now im constantly scared it will come back... i want to go to a doctor to talk about it but im not sure what he could do. i dont wanna give up smoking pot because i really enjoyed it untill the last time :( im just scared to smoke again because it might come back and i dont want that for sure.. i dont know if i got it because i smoked too much or because i went to the library where a lot of ppl where or maybe both? id like to know what really causes the attacks? wow i wrote a lot.. thanks to everyone who bothered to read it :) and DID YOU SMOKE AGAIN AFTER THE PANIC ATTACK??? im not sure if i can so please answer what you think!  thanks :) 

Got to say all you people once you have a panic attack its a long way back from there. I had smoked weed for 7 years every day for 4. I was quitting anyway but then caved in after two weeks. Had a spiff with my mates then 2- 3. I was lean as a bean and then my friend said skin up the forth. My brain told me i shouldnt because i was stoned enough already but i ignored these thoughts rolled it and smoked it anyway. Half way through i started to feel a bit odd and had to leave the room, what followed after that was an intense 5 hour long panic attack, no joke, tried everything i could to stop it- eating-drinking going outside. But i couldnt stop it. when i eventually passed out in my bed a shaking and physical wreck I had a half hours sleep, and when i woke up for everyday since then i have felt anxiety. At first i didnt know what had happened and a fewdays later smoked again but after two tokes i was back in the same place. the first couple of months after this happened were horrible, i was seriously ill lost a stone in weight, and anxiety ruled my whole life, couldnt drink alcohol, see friends, even walking out the door was a struggle. since then iv found that everyday you feel a tiny bit better, the main things that have helped me are exercise which is a MUST and antidepressants which have sped the recovery process up. I think councelling also really helps. The linden method which is an anti anxiety booklet/ cd helps and is downloadably on torrent and is very helpful just to read to understand why you are experienced panic attacks/anxiety. 

I am almost back to perfect actually feeling better than i ever remember myself being while i was smoking, and occasionally I have a couple of cheeky tokes and i feel alright just extremely stoned cos its high grade lol but if you are going to smoke again only start in small doses toke by toke work your way up. Dont start until you know you have recovered and are no longer anxious about it or generally.You will be able to smoke again if you really want to when your recovery is complete but if your having panic attacks you have anxiety issues which must be addressed and if you let panic attacks and increasing anxiety  continue without addressing it you could well end up in hospital and no ones wants that

Me, im not ever going to go back to smoking everyday, if makes me laugh to think about the thousands of pounds i spent and how many years of my life were half arsed with no sense of direction or motivation. But your not me so if you want t go back to smoking it go for it, but I suggest you take my advice

best wishes

Michael

about  three days ago i had a panic attack after smoking some "good stuff". my sister and her room-mate were there and thankfully the room-mate knew what was going on.

i was laying on the bed waiting for it to kick in. i remember staring at the wall and my eyes moving around in circles a lot and then i started shaking like i was having a seizure or something. my whole body felt numb and i started having fears that i would be paralized for the rest of my life. i tried calling my sisters name but i could only hear half of it coming out. then i remember sitting up with my sister holding my shoulders while i was still shaking and having trouble breathing and the room-mate telling me that i was having an attack and to just breath in and out, in and out, in and out and it finally started to subside.

i looked up other stories about peope who have done/do weed and have had a panic attack and it seems to be the "good stuff" that causes it. as for me, i probably wont do it again for a long long time.

its probably just not my thing lol

im 17 years old an ive been smoking weed for bout 2 years now. ana couple weeks ago i decided to smoke with a few of my friends an my brother, who is my twin. an i remember this girl ther saying how wierd like spiritual stuff an other wierd things happen when twins get high together. an thats wat happened. but i also remember arriving at tht house an finding my brother already high an i gues i didnt like seeing him confuzed an niave. bcuz we never smoked 2gether and i think thts wat drew my panic attack. i only took 1 huge hit an 5 min. later it felt like i waz stuck inside my body. sounds wierd but yeahh. felt like i waz trying  control myself while being inside myself. i could think clearly but everytime i tried talking id stutter an sound stupid an end up laughing even tho the me tht waz inside me waznt. all i could really do is stare n2 space cuz i didnt wana look orsound stupid n front of everyone else. an 1of my friends noticed an asked me if i waz ok. an i tried to talk but i couldnt. it felt like all the nervousness and my heartbeat and my concentration amplified. an i finally got up an went outside. i dnt remember how i ended up n the grass, but i waz crying an hugging 1 of my friends an asked where my brother went an tht i wanted him. i didnt even know those words were coming out ofmy mouth. but i ended up having a panic attack several times throug out the high. an it litterally felt like the life waz being sucked out of me. like someone took a vacuum an waz trying2 suck all the air out of my body. it waz so hard 2 breathe. an the worse pain any1 could ever imagine inflicted on my whole body. the pain waz so bad i wantedto die. it seemed impossible for a human to feel that kinda pain and live. and everytime id have that pain id scream like a banchee. my brother said itsounded like i waz being murdered and that i couldve shattered glass it waz that loud. i couldnt stop myself from screaming at all. it waz like i waz in my own hell and it took over my body with full control and left me to witness everything. but it gets more wierd cuz once i started my whole wierd creepy high my brother started acting wierd. hed get angry and start yelling like the devil waz inside him. it waznt even him. he waz even seeing things that were intimidating him on purpose. and everytime hed yell it would hurt me with that pain. and i remember feeling like i waz ina ball of emotions and feelings and couldnt see anything except colors swept together and i could hear everyone talking and doing wahtever their doing. and everything they would say i felt. but it felt like i waz being tortured. my brother yelled at one point and i heard him slam a door and my friend waz trying to tell him to calm down. meanwhile to me i felt like a litte girl ina corner bcuz her mom and dad are argueing and thier voices amlpified right next to my earz and the yelling made my body vibrate. evn at one point my brother waz all calm and outa know where he starts yelling and saying "this is all that boys fault! he did this to her! ima take a knife and stab him ima kill him!" i waz just laying there too exhausted and when he said that my body went into full panic mode and actually made me feel like i waz being killed. when this stuff would happen to me i waznt able to see only hear and feel. and id have moments id snap back into realityy and start laughing cuz i thot it waz so stupid and everything would seem normal for the moment. but then i all of a sudden felt like i waz being snaped into reality again. and it would keep happening and it scared me to deathh. i thot going through all that would be the rest of my life. i remember at one point i waz laying on the ground gasping for air and seeing everyone above me crying. it waz the saddest thing ever to see. i hardly ever saw my brother cry and seeing him at his weakest point ever broke my heart. i actually thot i waz dieing. it felt and look like something out of a movie. and as everyone waz crying i remeber gasping for air and looking up and seeing a white light. waznt no light bulb or anything. and i actually thot i waz gona die. ive nver had that ind of experience in my life. i thot i waz the only person to ever go through something like that. it haz screwed wit my mind a little and i think so deep about life. its very confuzing too. i havent smoked weed since (which iz only bout 3 weekz). i know if i ever d smoke weed i wont do it with my brother. yett still im afraid to smoke anddont know when or if i will.