Side effects - Negative effects of weed on heavy users

[mullet0224]

SWIM used to smoke lots and lots of weed, staying high throughout each and every day.
One day he got a terrible panic attack after smoking weed. It was his first panic attack ever. His heart started racing, he got this terrible uncontrollable feeling of fear, his body started getting hot and then cold, and sweaty. He isn't even 100% sure it was a panic attack, but thats just what everyone told him.

He continued smoking weed like always, but a month or 2 later it happened again. It began happening more and more frequently until he eventually gave up smoking weed because it happened more often than it didn't. SWIM actually made a thread about this awhile back.

But since then, he's read things here and there about it, and a lot of people have said it happens a lot to heavy smokers after awhile.

Is there a name for this? SWIM wants to find out everything he can about it so he can try to start smoking again somehow, he really misses weed... But he doesn't know how to search for it because he doesn't know what its called. He's tried looking for things like "marijuana induced panic attacks", but hasn't really found anything that brings up information on exactly what happens to him when he smokes.

Does anyone here have any info on it, or where can I find some? Or an even better question would be, how can I stop it from happening (if I can), and do you think I'll ever be able to smoke comfortably again?

[rhcpeppers1234]

Erowid talks about it......Its happened to swim a few times. Swim is pretty sure it was a panic attack. It only happened once and swim stopped smoking for like a month afterward. Then he started again but didnt smoke more than once a day. Never again did swim get a "panic attack."

Maybe smoke less often like swim. Only doing it maybe once or twice a day instead of being stoned all day?

[mullet0224]

Yeah thats what I'm thinking.
SWIM might be able to smoke again if he just doesn't smoke constantly all day. He figures maybe now that its been awhile since he's smoked, he might be alright to try again.

The only problem is, the panic attacks he has are so horrible, like a feeling of certain death.
He's afraid to take more than a hit or 2 of weed.

On 4/20 he did smoke some dank. He had a slight panic attack but he thinks it was more in his mind, like from anticipating a panic attack. It didn't feel anywhere near as bad as the ones he's had that made him quit smoking.

[psyche]

That's a common occurance and SWIM has had a few panic attacks himself. SWIY recommends trying melatonine. It seems to help mellow down greatly. Especially the microtabs put under tongue, they take effect fast.

Other than that, SWIY can help it by learning how to relax. Try taking a few deep breaths, it usually helps noticeably.

[mullet0224]

Yeah SWIMs tried the deep breath thing. Sometimes he can slow down his heart beat a little bit, and he's always been extremely freaked out by a fast heart beat so he knows that contributes to the panic attack quite a bit.

But SWIMs panic attacks are so fucking terrible. He's had people describe their panic attacks and they don't even come close from the way it sounds. A lot of people he's seen get panic attacks and they don't get nearly as bad as SWIM does. SWIMs second marijuana induced panic attack left him curled up in a ball in the bath tub with the shower on, shaking to bad to stand up, with his girlfriend watching him to make sure he was ok.

SWIM has melatonin pills but they are too high of a dose according to all he has read about melatonin, he might try the microtabs you were talking about if he can find them.

His panic attacks are more than just deep breathing can handle, but he really wants to overcome them and smoke weed again. Once he can smoke again, I don't think he'll ever do it to the degree he did, staying high constantly, every day and night.
But he just wants to be able to kick back and get high every once in awhile.

He kind of thinks his heroin addiction might contribute to the panic attacks, as he didn't start having them until a few months after he got addicted to heroin. His first panic attack actually happened during his first serious withdrawals. I guess I should've mentioned that, it might be important.

[cHroNiK420]

SWIM been a heavy user for 5 yearz n last year i had my first panic attack n went to tha hospital cuz i thought i wuz gonna die.. i wuz havin chest pains and my heart was beating really fast.. my beats per minute wass 175 goin to 182 but i think it wuz because i wuz breathing fast too.. i wus having panic attack regularly after that n i thought about quiting.. tryed quiting for a few days but then tryed smoking again.. then i had a big atack after smokin a gram joint n i started shaking.. hearing my heartbeat in my head.. lasted about 3 hours..i tried takin deep slow breaths but it didn't seem to help lol so i just endured it.. i found that if i smoked small amounts and smoked often to get my tolerance up helped, and now i can smoke regularly without getting them.. like i beat the attacks i dunno might be different for other people...i might get tha odd small panic attack but thats when i smoke ALOT in one sesh.. also nobody have died from smokin weed n i certainly didn't die after all those panic attacks.. anywayz pce

Reputation Comments on this post:

Please use proper English, your posts will be easier to understand

[enquirewithin]

Simple: don't smoke all day long. Keep for the evenings and relaxation. Everything in it's place.

[DADELI]

Swimme says:
That may not be from marijuana, that occurs to me (who before 10 days was jet heavy smooker) just as i started to use bensendines with weed, and in moments when i have no one bensendine. That may be from bensendines, in my opinion. Also from combination of strong coffee + strong tea + bensendine, which i started to use with marijuana almost a few days before first "attack" occured.

[RX420]

swiy needs to be healthy and in a good mind frame. although its a minor delic, the wrong setting or time can cause a bad time while being high.

maybe its just really strong sativa or just swiyour brain and body just dont want to smoke.

my friend had a few times where he could not smoke with out worring about panic attacks and chest pains, but it seemed it was mostly in his head. after a break and going back into it slowly, all was good. but sometimes, its just not meant for everyone.

[Guigz]

Maybe swiy can try less potent weed, or indica variety with high level of CBD and low level of THC ( more than 0,5%/less than 10%).

Swim has this kind of "panic attack" a few year ago, because of this he began benzo combo, 1 joint 1 bromazepam... ( yeah swim was an asshole I know ) Some friend adviced to swim smoking therapeutic weed used to treat anxiety, with high level of CBD, and now swim never has again panic attack.

Melatonine work too on swim, very little relaxing effect with sublingual 2,5mg tablets.

[DADELI]

Hey, SWIMI used bromazepam with joints too near before he has attacks.

Before attacks SWIMI experience something he can't remember that he have experienced before and after that from combination of bensendine and weed, and that was way of 'beeing high' that he named by many names (hehe) "speedmyth" and "mythoscopy", and "theory of triangles, but in real-time". Last, because he experienced trip about theory of triangles, but not entered (by all the conscious) in it.

Let me describe that "mythoscopy": you want to think, and concentrate, before you know that your concentration is increased in divine levels. But, you actually LOSE anything that may be called "abillity to concentrate", you are driven thought thinking with automatic concentration on things on which you want to concentrate, but you must not concentrate, you just mention that "unconscious driver of 'your' concentration know where to drive". That is fastening up of your thinking, and everything is great until the moment when you REALIZE that in spite of fact that your 'driver of concentration' somehow drive where you really want, your "want" is really insane and bizzare. Then you see your diference from ideals that you (only) think that you have.

That is the moment where you wish to use that fastening of thinking to fix your consciousnes, to fix unknown error because of which you are not aware of your REAL ideals to which you travel. You want to elevate level of your consciousnes, but... for whole octave. Than you see that you cant use that "high" to do that...

[shygon]

swim noticed the same thing some weeks ago. Snorting a small amount of heroin (a tiny line just for the "idea of it") after a joint and felt absolutely terrorised by the sheer desperation feeling that overcame him. Pure panic.
When he snorted the same amount of heroin without the cannabis companion, he felt absolutely amazing. Days later he tried to give it a second shot, and again he smoked a joint and then snorted a small line. The same absolutely "i want to die" feeling. The depression felt like oozing by his ears. Swim thinks that it must have to do with some short of k-opiod and mu opioid receptors dysfunctional synergy on some people.

[DADELI]

swim haven't that experience when he smooke alot of weed before smoking quoter/little less of heroin.

DADELI added 1 Minutes and 27 Seconds later...

he never more tried heroin in his life, but he also tried poppey tea and opium with high doses of weed, but really without panics.

[Abuse]

Swim smokes a few blunts a day and is starting to look "smoked-out"(dark circles under sunken eyes and getting much thinner). fuk it...swim don't really give two shits about what people think about him.

and don't let weed's Paranoia get to you. just stop and think "wtf am i even worried about? i just smoked a plant".

you're welcome

[jaydog89]

if your having a panic attack breath slowly and camly into a bag apparently breathing in your own exhaled air helps has workd for me

[acer0169]

SWIM gets a higher heartrate whenever he smokes anything, but has never had a panic attack over his 4-5 years smoking pot and 1 or so years smoking legal blends.

[jgarlopa]

Cowboy's brother is such a pothaad that he smokes an ounce every week. Never motivated to do a damn thing. Cowboy, on the other hand usually smoked just a little bit of a cool sativa in the morning and a strong indica at night to help him sleep. Cowboy really enjoys life and is more productive when he uses weed sparingly like that at the most appropriate times.