Marijuana & Anxiety attacks?

[ccortex]

anyone have any thoughts/experiences with this?

I have been a regular/daily pot smoker for about 10 years now, smoked casually for a few years before that. I have NEVER had any problems handling my high, no matter how much i smoke, how strong, etc....i looovvve my weed and everything about it. Recently (last 2-3 weeks) i have had the odd mini "anxiety attack" i think. My mind starts racing and my heart beats faster and the thoughts that race through my head are usually ones of distress or anxiousness. It hits me most at night, and i've found that alot of nights i don't want to go upstairs to join my wife in bed(i go to bed much later) because i'm afraid of the deathly silence when i do, and my mind starts going, and i end up more awake - Lately i just pass out to the TV. Alot of days i wake up at 4 or 5 am and though i am super tired and want to sleep, i close my eyes and i start to get these panic attacks....so i need to turn the TV on again just for the noise, and i fall asleep to that again.

I am wondering if my use of pot has kicked these attacks into gear? I read in Jay Mohr's book about Sat. Night Live people who suffer from panic attacks should not smoke pot - it's a common misconception that smoking pot calms you down. I am 33 years old, so i would have thought i might have had some kind of attack before this....or does it set in at older ages? Anyone??

Like i said, i have been relatively normal in regards to the old noggin'...no depression or psych problems in family. Maybe it's just the January SAD disorder blues, or maybe it has nothing to do with the weed....but if anyone can relate any thoughts, i'd like to hear them.

[houze-kitty]

hey ---i know exactly how you feel--the same thing happened to me, and just got progressively worse as i got older and i eventually stopped smoking altogether becuase it got to the point where i didnt enjoy it anymore....except for the occasioanal "one toke choke" and thats after i have been drinking A LOT. Its the only way i can handle it now. (im 34 now). I suggest to lay off for a while or down your crippy to regz/less strong smoke. Your not alone in this. It affects every person differently. Hope you work it out!

[funeralhome]

it's happened to me, it's happened to a lot of people i know.. and i'm sure it happens to countless others; i had no anxiety or paranoia or discomfort whatsoever when i first started smoking and this lasted maybe 5 or 6 years until i DID start feeling really ill emotionally from it. it just progressivley got worse and more irritating that i had to stop smoking completely. i DREADED what you're feeling right now.

i think i havent smoked pot for about 5 or six years now and i SKIEVE it because of those nauseating attacks..maybe you should quit for a while, until you feel ready to go back; it might not even be worth it then.

[howardstone]

you need to smoke MORE

[bumpdaddy]

Its actually very common... weed increases your heart rate immediately after smoking ...if you're someone who's prone to panic attacks, theres a good chance that smoking weed will trigger you.

[SuGaRNSpIcE]

yea that happens to me too, i hate that

[crowina]

.....

[therunner]

This hasn't happened to me cause I never was a big pot smoker, however, my brother was/is and he suffers from anxiety attacks when he smokes sometimes. He said he's actually had to cut back on smoking because they get so bad sometimes.

[opticrush]

maybe the stuff ur smoking is wet...

[howardstone]

xanax

don't you love it.

[ladyshady]

used to get anxiety attacks in high school from doing a lot of ecstasy

pot? i dunno about that. might be related to stress, things going on in your life. if the porblem persists...see a doc. or just quit smoking( )

[mattymeatballs]

happend to me and company years ago put some tunes on and in no

time it will go away, just rember the more you think about it the worse

it will get. it's just in your head

[trigger55]

weed on its own increases my heart rate quite a bit but I never get anxiety attacks.. but if I do weed and coke at the same time I do get a bit anxious, it only lasts a few minutes though and I try to be cool about it . Like someone else said, its all mental.. first thing I do in that situation is tell a close friend that I'm not feeling too well just for my own piece of mind, then after a glass of water I'm over it. Being with people you trust helps a lot though, you'll feel a lot more secure... if you're on your own or with strangers you can easily freak out and get worse.

[jtk4]

just watch tv or a movie. I tend to forget everything else and focus on the discovery channel or some shit like that.

[prplhz]

Yes, this is something that has happened to me too. So badly in fact that I thought I was going to pass out from it. It sucks but it's a side effect of smoking weed as everyone has said. Cut back for a little bit, but if your addicted as I am it might be hard but give it a try it helped for me. Also, when this does happen to you the best thing that you can do is to take a couple of deep breaths and try to relax, think about your body and how you feel. Try and take slow monitored deep breaths and see if that helps you.

[jtk4]

or run around thinking of how much you owe in credit cards/ student loans and shit like that.

[majinbuu]

music helps when this happens...also you might want to change the type you are smoking. some buds are different than others....

[cman123]

I get real paranoid when smoking pot, that is why I quit. I just hate it.

[girlwnoregrets]

i have the opposite problem. For many years i had anxiety and post traumatic stress. Panic attacks like crazy tony soprano style. Smoking has done wonders. Its really helped me. Im off the anti anxiety pills and im more chilled out. Panic attacks sometimes just happen. If you associate it when something (even if its not the case)....everytime u do that..you will have an attack because your mind is convinced thats what causes it. Ive learned to deal with many of these things over the years.