Marijuana and the heart

[Ciph3r]

So recently, as in the past year or so, when SWIM smokes more than two bowls or a few joints SWIM gets this pain in my chest and my left arm gets tingly. Has this ever happened to anyone else here? SWIM has talked to friends of mine about it, and they don't get it. I've heard people with high blood pressure shouldn't smoke, but I wasn't sure how cautionary that statement is, I mean, it's not actually that dangerous is it? It sucks, SWIM can't get as high as I used to

Reputation Comments on this post:

Hope it gets better...

[Lehendakari]

Swim also finds mj a bit stressing to the heart and lungs. He got his chest checked because of this. Actually he got pretty paranoid and he felt this pain all the time during exams. Clearly not the best time to be smoking weed.

It turned out his lungs and heart was in perfect conditions. He had a panic attack, the doctor said. His pulse rate was a bit high and he was doing exams so he got prescribed benzos that never took.

He felt relieved as the tests confirm he was ok and the exam period ended.

Although the pain he felt was muscular due to bad sleeping, swim still feels when he smokes weird sesations on the chest and always checks it's blood pressure rate and breathing.

If swiy breaths ok and swim's heart/blood pressure is fine Swiy should not worry, mj can produce tachycardia and broncodilation but it's mild and it shouldn't be a problem if swiy doesn't have a heart condition.

Or swiy could stop smoking and assure the good health of his heart/lungs

[wellhelm]

Chest pains and tingly left arm are the symptoms my grandfather had right before his heart attack! I'd get a check up if i were you and had those symptoms just to be sure

[Praxis]

Im gonna have to go with Willhelm on this one, although SWIM gets sorta "controllable" odd feelings when high.

[Money]

Originally Posted by Praxis

Im gonna have to go with Willhelm on this one, although SWIM gets sorta "controllable" odd feelings when high.

I get this bubbly lump feeling in my chest if i smoke weed alot. I ususally hit myself lighty in the chest to make it go away. It sometimes feels like an air pocket. The doc said everything looked ok but it still sucks that it happens. I dunno what the hell it is

[Psych0naut]

Originally Posted by Money

I get this bubbly lump feeling in my chest if i smoke weed alot. I ususally hit myself lighty in the chest to make it go away. It sometimes feels like an air pocket. The doc said everything looked ok but it still sucks that it happens. I dunno what the hell it is

Before proceeding to post in these forums, you MUST first familiarize yourself with the rules here. Pay close attention to the rules regarding self-incrimination and learn to use SWIM (Someone Who Isn't Me) or equivalent. Proceeding without abiding by our rules can and will get you banned.

The rules can be found here:

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[augentier]

SWIM came to this forum today to ask this very question. For the past couple months, SWIM has been getting this very heavy tension on her left side of the chest. Her pulse seems regular and fine, and when she is sober, she feels normal. However, after smoking weed, this feeling persists and she becomes EXTREMELY paranoid, thinking she'll have a heart attack. She is only 20 and is fairly healthy, so this is a strange feeling to have and to think she could have a heart attack at such an age.

The strangest thing is - when she is high and sitting down, the tension is strongest. When SWIM stands up and walks around, or goes on a walk, the tension goes away. Weird??

[pigmoose]

Marijuana helps lower blood pressure and the risk of atherosclerosis (heart disease). Medically, you have nothing but benefits to gain from weed.

Personally, I would say that the pains are a sign of problems that are brought to light because of the weed, not a cause of the weed itself. You may need to figure out the cause of this (cholesterol, heart problems, etc)

[darawk]

SWIM has had this happen once to him too. He got *extremely* high one night, because he was coughing so much but suppressed it, so ended up holding the smoke in on each for for a very long time and semi-coughing while holding it, so it really got absorbed quite thoroughly. He smoked 3 bowls that night - by himself. When he came back inside afterwards, he felt extremely disoriented and he felt like his heart was literally going to explode. He layed down and felt like total shit for a couple of hours and ultimately went to sleep. He was fine the next day though, but he thought he might be hypersensitive to weed or something - good to know that he isn't the only one who has these symptoms.

[darawk]

SWIM is also hypersensitive to marijuana, or at least, that's his theory. Whenever he smokes more than a tiny bit of weed, he gets almost a psychedelic dissociative trip from it, and he feels like his heart is literally beating faster than a hummingbird, this illusion persists even if he puts his hand to his chest. SWIM isn't sure how exactly the MJ is deceiving two separate forms of perception in the same way - but he has had friends feel his heart rate while he feels like this and they say that it is slighlty elevated, but not super high.

SWIM's rule is pretty much now that he doesn't smoke weed unless it's in combination with another drug that will overcome the unpleasantness of his hypersensitivity to it(e.g. E, coke).

[mouthwater]

Originally Posted by Ciph3r

So recently, as in the past year or so, when SWIM smokes more than two bowls or a few joints SWIM gets this pain in my chest and my left arm gets tingly. Has this ever happened to anyone else here?

Marihuana is known to cause panic-attacks, and SWIY is experiencing anxiety symptoms. SWIM experiences anxiety when smoking, and has had panic attacks before (even though SWIM had smoked for years before this all began).

Common side-effects of anxiety/panic-attacks are heart stress/palpitations, tightness of chest, difficulty breathing, numbness, lump in throat, random twitching, thought loops, among others. SWIY might want to stop smoking, or smoke less to avoid bad anxiety.

Benzodiazepines are known to alleviate these symptoms.

[Alicia]

the best thing to do is just relax and change some to your surroundings ,the more u worry the more it eat at u. go with the flow.

[AntiAimer]

The best thing would to be, just dont smoke it. Smurf know's it's not that simple on a tight budget, but any form of smoke is very very bad for you. Also when Smurf'ET does smoke, try not coughing may bring up the high, but all that stress is bad for the heart and lungs.

Also take vitamins and eat healthy. Like fruit smoothies...mmmmmmMMMmm. Also you make the high...Smurfs high has changed so much, from what it was when he was little. You have to except the feelings, just like with any drug. You can have one bad trip and the rest of the times you try it there after will happen the same way. Dont smoke if it's not the high you want....?

All sound like VERY common side-effects, but Smurf is no doctor. Panic attacks and paranoia can make your mind believe anything. If it only happens after smokeing, then....

Here's a few from erowid

NEGATIVE

• nausea, especially in combination with alcohol, some pharmaceuticals, or other psychoactives
• coughing, asthma, upper respiratory problems
• difficulty with short term memory during effects and during periods of frequent use (Ranganathan M, D'Souza DC, Psychopharmacology, 2006)
• racing heart, agitation, feeling tense
• mild to severe anxiety
• panic attacks in sensitive users or with very high doses (oral use increases risk of getting too much)
• headaches
• dizziness, confusion
• lightheadedness or fainting (in cases of lowered blood pressure)
• paranoid & anxious thoughts more frequent
• possible psychological dependence on cannabis
• clumsiness, loss of coordination at high doses
• can precipitate or exacerbate latent or existing mental disorders

At overly high doses, the effects are often likened to other psychedelics and panic and dysphoria (bad mood) are common. High doses, especially when taken orally, can sometimes result iin difficult experiences and trips to the emergency room in response to racing heart, extreme confusion, short term memory loss, and panic. After high dose experiences, especially among those who are not regular users, after effects can last 1-2 days.

[Cman1732]

Ok, look SWIM. When to much marijuana is smoked, the lungs go into an odd state, where they literally cant take it, and dont want any more. When this point is reached, the tingly sensations and sometime difficulty breathing follows. This is pretty bad for SWIM when it happens, if this happens to SWIM with 2 bowls, SWIM recoments staying under that marker. SWIM reccomends Hydro if u have the money for it. Quicker and doesnt do that to lungs.

Be safe )

[mouthwater]

From wikipedia, to help SWIY understand the affects of anxiety and panic-attacks.

Anxiety
...an unpleasant complex combination of emotions that includes fear, apprehension and worry, and is often accompanied by physical sensations such as palpitations, nausea, chest pain and/or shortness of breath.

Panic-Attacks

...a period of intense, often temporarily disabling, sense of extreme fear or psychological distress, typically of abrupt onset. Though it is often a purely terrifying feeling to the sufferer, panic attacks are actually an evolutionary body response often known as the fight-or-flight response occurring out of context. Symptoms may include trembling, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain (or chest tightness), sweating, nausea, dizzinessvertigo), hyperventilation, paresthesias (tingling sensations), vomiting, and sensations of choking or smothering. During a panic attack, the body typically releases large amounts of adrenaline into the bloodstream. Many first time sufferers of a panic attack believe they are dying or going insane. Many say panic attacks are among the most frightening experiences of their lives.

[mouthwater]

Because I can't edit posts yet, or find the button, I forgot to add this (from wikipedia panic attack):

In some people, using marijuana can trigger moderate to severe panic attacks in its users. Panic attacks induced by marijuana usually influence the user to seek medical treatment, where they are then released as having a panic attack. It seems to be genetic as to why some people react this way to drugs such as marijuana and some medications.