Smoking weed and having panic attacks...

i dont really suffer from anxiety, so does that mean when i smoke some weed/hash for the first time in the next week or so, i wont get a panic attack will i? Im worried now lol.

 

Probably not... this is actually a long term effect. Weed can contribute to it in some ways. Just be sure to be with some nice and experienced people and you will enjoy it.

1 warning tho, once you taste it, you may like it or not. If you like it, well be prepare to have it in your life for a while.

 

hey guys, new to this forum but i was googling panic attacks from smoking and came across this thread and found it to be very helpful and i also have some stories and tips i'd like to share.
i never smoked weed until i was 18. my first time i had a horrible trip, heart was racing, thoughts of dying, time passing really slow etc.. I'm 20 now and i dont really smoke that much because i have anxiety and i do get panic attacks most of the time when i smoke. Some of the things i learned about smoking if you have anxiety
1. Always make sure you have people you know and good friends around you. People that you don't know can somewhat offset the atmosphere and give you a sense of unease.
2. While you start to smoke, go slow. Weed doesnt take very long to hit you, but i believe the slower you go, the better you can get to a nice high without a panic attack occurring. Take a hit, wait 5-10 minutes, if you're doing good, take another small to regular hit, repeat.
3. Try to talk to people while you are doing this. Talk about your favorite subject or a hobby you and your friends share so it will take your mind far away from the fact that you are smoking.
4. When I have panic attacks, i always tried to breathe through my nose taking large, but slow inhalations to try to calm my heart down. It worked to an extent, but while your smoking, try breathing through your mouth. That way you wont smell the pot, thus triggering your thoughts to revert back to remembering you are smoking pot. Also, you can't taste it.
5. Drink something after you take a hit. Something besides water. Preferably a fizzy coke or a fruit drink of some kind to wash the taste of pot out of your mouth before the next hit. I know I can't stand the taste of pot in my mouth while i'm smoking. Also, if you don't taste it, the less you are to realize you're doing it
6. Do WHATEVER it takes to get the atmosphere you are in comfortable to you. Get friends, put some music on, turn on the tv, play a video on the computer, ANY form of entertainment to take your mind off the smoking. Hell, even play a game, whether it be console, PC, or even a stupid board game lol.
7. Last but not least, just tell yourself, "hey, they're enjoying it, why shouldnt I? It's just marijuana, nothing is going to happen to me. There have never been any recorded deaths from this drug."

I think the reason I have panic attacks even when things are going great in my life, is because it feels like I'm not in control. I know when you're high you can usually function normally to a good extent, but the fact that my mind wanders off when I don't even know it, then come back into reality, THAT'S what scares me. I guess some people just aren't able to get high and enjoy it, or maybe anyone can but they just have to meet certain conditions :/
Also, i have noticed that smoking regular shwag makes me anxious WAAAY more than smoking hydro. Hydro gets me verrry relaxed and doesnt make me freak out near as much. Shwag is what makes me freak out and all jittery. Anyway, thats just me, hope this helped someone out

 

Update (yeah again) : Aight... this whole thing is a learning process I guess. I got another panic attack last sunday night, but it was a very different experience. We had a birthday party at some friend's house. The party was pretty average, most people were drinking, I wasn't really in a mood for that. Around 2:00am we (me and my gf) went sleeping at some friends house. Usually the party continues there, we always smoke, listen music and dance. This time, I was more concerned about my panic reactions, but since I was in a good mood and with good friends, I decided to let it loose. That was a bad idea. I started to smoke and it was pretty good, the onset was nice, we were laughing a lot. But as soon as I thought about my panic reactions, it started. At first I couldn't believe it was happening, not with theses friends and not in this situation. The racing hearth wasn't really the headline this time, nope. It was more about, fear, muscle spasms and unpleasent feelings. Unfortunately for me, most of the pain was in my left arm (heart attack!) and in my chest. Sometimes the pain would go in my neck and in my stomach. Strangely enough, it helped me to realize that the pain wasn't a heart attack, which was a good thing. So, the whole thing lasted 3 hours, the first hour sucked the most, the second one was a real fight between me and my body and the last one was the coming down. The funny thing about all this is that NOBODY noticed that I wasn't feeling right lol... I was able to contain the panic for 3 hours. It sucked believe me, but it was far more tolerable then my first and 2nd panic attack that's for sure. I was able to try a few things meanwhile and here is what I learned :

- Standing up is better then sitting. Blood pressure has to do something with this I think.
- Talking to people helps a lot because it draws your attention off your body.
- Music helps too, it also draws your attention off your body.
- Drinking water or eating won't change anything.
- Dancing (or simply moving) helps A LOT because it burn your stress hormone and it's the natural answer to panic.
- Stretching also helps. I had pain and spasms in my left arm and just by stretching it it felt better for a min or 2 after that.
- Fresh air feels good.
- Time is the only real remedy.
- Tylenols or Advils can ease the muscles pains, which is a good thing.

I really thought I would be able to kill the panic when it first started, but the whole process was very hard to stop and deal with once again. Once it started, I couldn't control it, I was just able to live with it (which could be called "progress" in some ways...).

So what now? What have I learned since the beginning?

- Well I guess I'm still too anxious to get really high that's for sure and I must work on this first.
- Being tired and smoke is not a good idea. I think that my natural defenses against stress and stuff are too low when I'm tired. ( my 3 panic attacks happended while I was very tired)
- I can't smoke a lot to start, I must do it progressively.
- Weed is definately a trigger for panic attacks in my case. Actually, racing heart during the onset had been there for a while, but it recently evolved to panic attacks. I'm a LOT more stressed theses days.
- Exercise is the real way to go to fight anxiety.
- Supplements can help, but they aren't the ultimate answer. ( B-complex, GABA, 5-HTP, Valerian, etc.)
- Oxazepam (Benzo...something) can kill a panic attack in matter of 20-30 minutes.
- Once you get your first panic attack, it's over, you will always have to live with this. The problem is, you know what it does and you know how it starts. Being scarred of it only fuels it more. There is no way to avoid it, you can only fight it when it starts. I still believe that you can overcome it, but it's hard.

It really piss me off to think that I will probably be stuck with this stupid condition for the rest of my life. Of course I can work on myself and be more careful so that it won't really happend again, but I can't help myself to think that back in the days when I was younger (20, now 29) I had no problem at all.

Anyway, since I like to get the positive out of everything, at least I learned that I must take care more of myself more.