Side effects - Swim cannot enjoy cannabis anymore. PLEASE HELP.

[Revolver123]

Swim can't take this anymore. It's killing him. Swim used to love smoking trees, getting high and going into another reality where visuals and sounds would remind him of good moments from his past. He was smoking cannabis almost daily and some days he'd get really fucked up. It was highly enjoyable.

One day Swim's roommate brought some Ecstasy pills back from NY.. Swim took them and the pills weren't even real E, they were BZP + amphetamine + other shit. Swim also hit the bowl almost 10 times which contained some really potent shit. After the approx 10th hit off the bowl Swim felt like he was going to lose conciousness and die. He started to repeat scenes he'd seen in movies where people OD on drugs, pass out on the floor and have no pulse. He'd also imagine scenes where someone would be in the hospital bed and people would say "hold on! don't go to sleep or you will die!" and the person would have to fight to stay awake so he or she could live.

Nonetheless Swim started fighting for his life to stay awake and damn near lost conciousness several times. He was having repeated panic attacks and high amounts of anxiety. This lasted about two hours. It was a horrible horrible trip and Swim still gets minor flashbacks of the terrible experience.

Ever since then, everytime Swim smokes cannabis, he feels his heart start to hurt and the pain extends all through his left arm. He has had many anxiety attacks after smoking...

Swim decided to take a five day break and smoke again. He smoked two nights ago while watching Requiem of a Dream and reassuring himself that the heart pain was just panic attacks. Nonetheless, that movie really fucked with Swim while he was high and the thoughts of fainting or ODing scared him shitless.

So Swim took another two day break and is currently somewhat stoned right now. His roommate brought back some good trees two hours ago and Swim decided to dose real lightly and take two good hits off the bowl. Swim isn't stoned out of his mind but he's pretty stoned lol. But he can't enjoy it! Everytime he starts to lose touch with reality and encase himself in the music or flashback emotions, he gets scared and tries to snap himself back to reality. He simply isn't able to enjoy the high even though his heart isn't hurting this time. Swim is also having minor hallucinations such as thinking he sees his cat but its really the stereo speaker.

What can Swim do here? Please please please help. Swim wants to enjoy trees so bad but some kind of subconcious mental block is stopping him from doing so.

[Harryy]

Originally Posted by Revolver123

Swim can't take this anymore. It's killing him. Swim used to love smoking trees, getting high and going into another reality where visuals and sounds would remind him of good moments from his past. He was smoking cannabis almost daily and some days he'd get really fucked up. It was highly enjoyable.

One day Swim's roommate brought some Ecstasy pills back from NY.. Swim took them and the pills weren't even real E, they were BZP + amphetamine + other shit. Swim also hit the bowl almost 10 times which contained some really potent shit. After the approx 10th hit off the bowl Swim felt like he was going to lose conciousness and die. He started to repeat scenes he'd seen in movies where people OD on drugs, pass out on the floor and have no pulse. He'd also imagine scenes where someone would be in the hospital bed and people would say "hold on! don't go to sleep or you will die!" and the person would have to fight to stay awake so he or she could live.

Nonetheless Swim started fighting for his life to stay awake and damn near lost conciousness several times. He was having repeated panic attacks and high amounts of anxiety. This lasted about two hours. It was a horrible horrible trip and Swim still gets minor flashbacks of the terrible experience.

Ever since then, everytime Swim smokes cannabis, he feels his heart start to hurt and the pain extends all through his left arm. He has had many anxiety attacks after smoking...

Swim decided to take a five day break and smoke again. He smoked two nights ago while watching Requiem of a Dream and reassuring himself that the heart pain was just panic attacks. Nonetheless, that movie really fucked with Swim while he was high and the thoughts of fainting or ODing scared him shitless.

So Swim took another two day break and is currently somewhat stoned right now. His roommate brought back some good trees two hours ago and Swim decided to dose real lightly and take two good hits off the bowl. Swim isn't stoned out of his mind but he's pretty stoned lol. But he can't enjoy it! Everytime he starts to lose touch with reality and encase himself in the music or flashback emotions, he gets scared and tries to snap himself back to reality. He simply isn't able to enjoy the high even though his heart isn't hurting this time. Swim is also having minor hallucinations such as thinking he sees his cat but its really the stereo speaker.

What can Swim do here? Please please please help. Swim wants to enjoy trees so bad but some kind of subconcious mental block is stopping him from doing so.

Think the arm pain thing is one of the signs for having a heart attack

[BudGreen18]

Heres what is probaly happening. THC is probaly one of the most random and mind altering substances out there, and in swim's opinion swiy gets these panic attacks because of past experiences. THC works on whatever is already present in a persons brain, so with swiy, everytime swiy blazes up, the memory of the bad experience comes to life once again, as for the tingling in swiy arm, that may be just a paranoid thought as when panic sets in, swiy may think that they are getting heart attack symptoms. I would recommend to anyone going through something like this that they take a break from weed.

[typesh05]

SWIM also was not able to enjoy trees after taking E for the first time. He would get uncomfortable around other people, and start thinking about very serious life issues and it would ruin the high. SWIM hasn't smoked in 2 years (where he used to smoke almost every day for 5 years straight).

SWIM doesn't know if there is any correlation with taking his first bomb, or if it was just coincidence.

SWIM does have the urge to try smoking again, but why start up again, if he has been able to abstain for so long?

[vtheree]

SWIM has also experienced panic attacks from smoking marijuana after taking e for the first time. SWIM believes there is connection between the marijuana and ecstasy, and experiencing panic attacks. SWIM decided to stay completely clean for about a month and then try smoking a very low dose of THC (one bowl) two see how it effected him. To SWIMs surprise he could now enjoy his trees like he could before. So SWIMs advice to SWIY is stay clean for a little while. Sobriety never hurt anyone, and it might even help your problem, as it did for SWIM. Good luck.

[Spinner]

SWIM doesn't believe he's ever experienced what you have on marijuana. SWIM has noticed that it doesn't give him the great feeling he used to get, but really only makes him rather anxious. SWIM has also had that panic attack feeling while stoned.
SWIM used to take a lot of ecstacy, but one day it just stopped working. Now, it just puts SWIM to sleep every time he takes it. He has no idea why, or what changed, but he knows it's a waste of good money to even attempt it. It tends to ruin the night, since SWIM can't stay awake.

SWIM can tell you that quitting smoking weed for at least 6 months will do wonders for your tolerance. SWIM was forced to take drug tests for awhile, years ago, and he quit smoking it for that period. When SWIM was able to smoke it again, he was pleasantly surprised what a lightweight he was, for the first time in years!
Now, SWIM only takes a toke or two, and never more. If you're careful, you can keep your tolerance down and never need to smoke more than 2 tokes to get as high as you're going to get anyway. Now SWIM buys the really expensive and tasty stuff, since a quarter lasts SWIM a few months these days.

SWIM laughs at people who smoke pot all day long, every day. He knows many of them. They can't even really get what SWIM would consider to be "high" anymore, and they smoke 10 times as much, if not much more. I mean, seriously...you can only get so high on pot. After that, you're just wasting your stash if you keep smoking it. If they really can't get high enough, they should really consider just using another drug.

[Greenport]

THC is known to speed up the heart rate. If swiY is having heart issues (say from those nasty -_- pills) maybe swiY should get that checked out. But otherwise, swiM's top suggests using less potent pot, which has a more equal proportion of Cannabidiol to THC, and seeing if that helps.

SwiM's top has had some pot that was just too potent for its own good before, it can cause anxiety like that.

But not until swiY is sure that he is in okay medical condition!

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good advice.

[yolbit]

SWIM really believes that smoking pot is a bit of a pathway to bringing SWIY're subconsciousness to the forefront of your mind (if SWIY believes in that kind of thing)

Often when SWIM smokes pot, if there are things that have have been on his mind that he has been ignoring or putting off, these things will coming flooding to the forefront of his mind and he will overthink them untill the anxiety and paranoia become too much for him to deal with. Perhaps you are feeling something similar.

SWIY may also be experiencing something called "Pavlovian Conditioning", or more specifically in your case "Backward Conditioning". Ivan Pavlov (a famous psychologist) suggested that when one stimulous is presented, then immediately followed by another, the mind will condition itself to associate the latter stimulous with the first (to varying degrees of response and strength of stimulous).

SWIY associates the terrible trip SWIY experienced with smoking pot. Therefor when you smoke pot, even though you would normally feel good, you subconsciously remember that near death feeling you previously had, and that anxious feeling you orginally had. This response is somewhat similar to taste aversion (ie. getting terrible food poisoning from a hotdog, later the thought of action of eating a hotdog seems unappealing or sickening)

Although this is just a theory, it is widely a accepted one. SWIM doesnt know if there is a "cure" per se. But perhaps try a bit of positive reinforcement when smoking pot, SWIM doesnt think watching Requiem for a Dream would have helped with this kind of thing. Maybe go to a nice place like the park on a sunny day, or the beach. Or do something really fun and have a smoke. Learn to have fun while smoking again.

Never underestimate the power of the mind to keep SWIY alive, if it gets the idea that smoking pot is going to kill SWIY, it probably wont like SWIY doing it much.

[fuckthepolice]

i have experienced what you have... i think ecstasy is fine with weed... but like other weird drugs like bzp and certain legal highs really dont mix well and i suggest that when u feel anxious , bad heart ect you take a walk outside ... helps me

[Demian]

Obviously SWIY should take it easy... going at it as hard as he seemed to is asking for trouble.

Also, SWIY should know that a heart attack will always cause chest pain right in the middle of the chest, in the sternum area... if the chest pain is on the left side, where the beating of the heart is, then you are having a muscle pain probably related to a panic attack.

[Lady Codone]

While it can be dangerous to mix cannabis with stimulants (both increase heart rate, bp, etc. to some degree), it's most likely a bad panic attack you experienced, not a heart attack. Panic attacks cause feelings of extreme fear/dread, thoughts of dying, and physical symptoms like chest pain that feel very much like a real heart attack and are very traumatic. People with panic disorders often are so preoccupied with avoiding another panic attack they spend every waking moment in fear, which says a lot about the severity of panic attacks in general.

Marijuana is known for causing feelings of anxiety and paranoia randomly, even in experienced smokers. For this reason, people with a tendency toward mental illness/instability shouldn't use it. If you're in a bad mood, depressed, nervous, angry, or otherwise unhappy, smoking weed will likely intensify these emotions the same way a hallucinogen like mushrooms would. I suggest you examine your fear of overdosing in a sober state of mind and sort out its origins before smoking again. Do some research on the effects of marijuana. You'll find that no deaths have ever been recorded from using marijuana alone, that it's impossible to overdose on, and is completely non-toxic save the irritating effects of smoke on the respiratory system.

Anti-drug propaganda, and anti-marijuana propaganda in particular, is so ingrained in our collective psyche as Americans that even the most adamantly pro-pot advocate among us is subject to feelings of fear, guilt, and a sense of being a loser or somehow "less than" from time to time. It's important to learn to discern fact from myth when it comes to cannabis, which can be hard to do. I suggest reading "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer, which will undoubtedly change your views on marijuana, whatever they are.

If you continue to get these negative effects from marijuana even after working through your fears, maybe it's time to move on. There's no sense in doing something that causes more stress than enjoyment. All too frequently, experienced potheads report negative effects suddenly creeping up for no good reason (SWIM included), so it may just be that it's served its purpose in your life and you've outgrown it.

Reputation Comments on this post:

useful comments, some thought went into it

[typesh05]

Originally Posted by Lady Codone

While it can be dangerous to mix cannabis with stimulants (both increase heart rate, bp, etc. to some degree), it's most likely a bad panic attack you experienced, not a heart attack. Panic attacks cause feelings of extreme fear/dread, thoughts of dying, and physical symptoms like chest pain that feel very much like a real heart attack and are very traumatic. People with panic disorders often are so preoccupied with avoiding another panic attack they spend every waking moment in fear, which says a lot about the severity of panic attacks in general.

Marijuana is known for causing feelings of anxiety and paranoia randomly, even in experienced smokers. For this reason, people with a tendency toward mental illness/instability shouldn't use it. If you're in a bad mood, depressed, nervous, angry, or otherwise unhappy, smoking weed will likely intensify these emotions the same way a hallucinogen like mushrooms would. I suggest you examine your fear of overdosing in a sober state of mind and sort out its origins before smoking again. Do some research on the effects of marijuana. You'll find that no deaths have ever been recorded from using marijuana alone, that it's impossible to overdose on, and is completely non-toxic save the irritating effects of smoke on the respiratory system.

Anti-drug propaganda, and anti-marijuana propaganda in particular, is so ingrained in our collective psyche as Americans that even the most adamantly pro-pot advocate among us is subject to feelings of fear, guilt, and a sense of being a loser or somehow "less than" from time to time. It's important to learn to discern fact from myth when it comes to cannabis, which can be hard to do. I suggest reading "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer, which will undoubtedly change your views on marijuana, whatever they are.

If you continue to get these negative effects from marijuana even after working through your fears, maybe it's time to move on. There's no sense in doing something that causes more stress than enjoyment. All too frequently, experienced potheads report negative effects suddenly creeping up for no good reason (SWIM included), so it may just be that it's served its purpose in your life and you've outgrown it.

Lady Codone; great post! Swim can't agree more with what you said, especially the part in bold. Although swim decided to smoke again for the first time in 2 years out of curiousity, swim has realized that he has certainly just outgrown it, and will move on with his life.

[10001110101]

dude, you just need to chill.

take a break from smoking for a while, go get a hobby.


then when it's time you'll know and you can come back to your old friend. you got freaked out and now everytime you smoke you're gonna be reminded of that experience. its' all in ur head bro.

[nitrogen]

swim went through something very simular, swim had a bad mushroom trip that was hell to him, and after that every time he gets really intoxicated on certain drugs he get's flashbacks and has a bad trip everytime. his days of total intoxication are over..

but he went from not being able to take 1 puff of weed, to being able to take 5-6

but i still don't think he can ever get high the way he use to, maybe it's a good thing? i don't know but he feels the same way

[Ricochet]

I think maybe your just over thinking it man, I have a mate who was never a big smoker always profered something stronger. One day hes taking E and a few of the other lads are just smoking so he joined in and ended up smoking a shit load of weed then just started to freak out.
After that he didn't smoke for a while then when he did the same thing happened, He never smoked after that.
To this day i'm convinced he was just bugging out and if he had just relaxed and took it easy then he'd have been fine.

[Uncle Getafix]

Hey Man,

Yeah watching Requiem for a Dream isn't going to cheer you up much!! Its a pretty grim movie, ripe for a bad flashback.(try watching Labyrinth followed by Requiem for a Dream..thats a fuckin experience!!)

Pots a psychedelic, so you're basically putting yourself back in to your bad trip until your mind has had enough time to clean and clear that experience.

For instance, if you have a bad LSD trip, you don't spend the next week taking LSD every day to recover.

Would reccommend taking a break until you feel good about everything, and then when you are in a good mood have a small toke and build from there.

Give yourself a few months break and do some positive stuff and use returning to smoking weed as your reward.

Yeah that BZPs crap, definitely not an E, and likely to have given you a bit of speed psychosis type thing which spun you out. BZP increases heart rate, anxiety, etc in large doses.

I'd take a break and then come back with mild doses of pot, if you feel like it. Rock on.

[EscapeDummy]

Originally Posted by Uncle Getafix

Hey Man,

Yeah watching Requiem for a Dream isn't going to cheer you up much!! Its a pretty grim movie, ripe for a bad flashback.(try watching Labyrinth followed by Requiem for a Dream..thats a fuckin experience!!)

Pots a psychedelic, so you're basically putting yourself back in to your bad trip until your mind has had enough time to clean and clear that experience.

For instance, if you have a bad LSD trip, you don't spend the next week taking LSD every day to recover.

Would reccommend taking a break until you feel good about everything, and then when you are in a good mood have a small toke and build from there.

Give yourself a few months break and do some positive stuff and use returning to smoking weed as your reward.

Yeah that BZPs crap, definitely not an E, and likely to have given you a bit of speed psychosis type thing which spun you out. BZP increases heart rate, anxiety, etc in large doses.

I'd take a break and then come back with mild doses of pot, if you feel like it. Rock on.

Getafix really hit the nail RIGHT on the head there. It's easy to smoke weed up to several times a day. However, realize it's still a drug, and a psychoactive one at that.

[vantranist]

SWIM gets panic attacks when he mixes Cannabis and Cocaine, twice in fact.

SWIM never gets a panic attack when using just one or the other, just when they mix.

[CrookedEye]

Small doses with regularity can decrease the anxiety from cannabis, and soon one can start to smoke more. At least this is SWIM's experience, but with the arm pain and such, one may want to get checked by a doctor, because the pill could have caused some damage exacerbated by cannabis smoking. SWIM finds as long as he smokes within 8 hours or less he doesn't experience the anxiety or paranoia, but smoking a few hits (enough for a light buzz) every couple hours will help reduce the anxiety much faster..

[purplehaze]

Phaze would do something that is probably against most logic. He would smoke constantly through-out a week, this would both raise his tolerance for weed and make him more aware of its effects in turn making the whole experience more enjoyable rather than being on edge. He would assume that smoking blunts back to back for 2 days would raise his tolerance considerably and start to smoking whenever he wanted to after a week.

The reason phaze chooses this opinion is because he has seen novice smokers want to punish themselfs by smoking too much and having panic attacks and flipping out, if they continue to do it after about 2 days they calm down and get more used to it and by a week they usually start to smoke and act like normal people.

If this isn't entirely a mental issue and OP has heart related problems smoking and raising the blood pressure and bpm of the heart is not advised. Although phaze has smoked with people with heart problems before if the anxiety attack causes swiys heart to speed up and he knows he has heart problems it would be bad logic to continue trying.

Also, as greenport was saying the cbd to thc ratio does have a impact on the high experienced. As does indica and sativa have differing effects. It also couldn't hurt to smoke less potent weed, and if possible choose a strain based on an informed opinion of the effects. OP knows he is going to be uncomfortable if he gets too high but yet he seeks a potent strain? Sounds like the potent strain may be giving off too much of a head high, maybe swiy should try a couch lock strain.

edit:
One more thing, meth can cause psychosis. It's usually temporary Even after the the drug has wore off swiy can have hallucinations. Most of this is caused from sleep deprivation. Be sure to get plenty of sleep and hydrate well, also eat plenty of food as most meth users don't eat.