Marijuana and Anxiety

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Originally Posted by StickyIcky66

Iv come to find a brilliant system for combating this which is really logical and makes full sense(i think lol). The reason that people have anxiety attacks after weed is because there is an underlying problem which automatically gets blown up and focused on when high. Even if you are unaware of the issue, its all locked in your subconcious, and weed opens up the minds flood gates. ie the creativity blasts and what not. My way in combating this and in helping me all round in being a stronger and more in control person is MEDITATING. For anyone unfamilliar with meditating, its about delving into your sub-concious and releasing inner stresses(can be felt through body twitches) and in the same way as weed, facing your inner demons! I think being high is just an over energetic meditation, which gets u VERY deep VERY fast....sometimes TOO fast for some. It makes sense that someone with a lot of issues will eventually find it tough. This is why i believe to always have a powerful and blissful high where creativity and enlightenment happens....MEDITATE :-) Dont meditate high at first but once u feel ur grounded enough, well, its a wonderfully powerfull experience to combine the both. Just to let you know im not a very spiritual person or anything but iv been meditating for a bout a year now and as a person who was once ALWAYS anxious, ALWAYS uncomfortable and genuinely un happy in my mind....i have came to be so grounded in my mind, calm and collected....and most of all HAPPY! I kinda went off the trail here a bit lol. I just felt i had to say something. I meditate through Holosync technology. Excellent!!!

Peace,
and happy Highs!! ;-)

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StickyIcky....Could you send me some detailed information on the type of meditation you do? Perhaps a website or something?

My parents are big into meditation and eastern thinking, I've been interested in it, but never acted my on interest. I have also been exposed a tad with holosync technology. I got a demo CD a while ago, but it was a lot of talking instead of actual sounds and music and whatnot.

Since May of 2007 I have been extremely uncomfortable, extremely anxious, and overall unhappy. Lately it's eased up a bit, maybe because the weather is finally getting nice and the plants are growing back. Or maybe it's because I'm about to take a major step in my life which will provide a huge relief for me.

Either way, I've been meaning to delve more into eastern thinking, particulary meditation. any info would be appreciated....thanks!

Hi All :thumbsup:

I just posted about this problem in the strains thread.
I have the anxiety problem and was curious if anyone new a strain that wouldn't freak me out.:D

Glad I saw this thread, some good information.

THANKS

1. Anxiety is a common side-effect of cannabis
2. Try smoking less often and less weed
3. Careful with your strains (if possible)
4. Work on cognitive behavioral therapy approaches to anxiety; they may help in such a situation.
5. Careful mixing with other drugs (caffeine, notably)

I get a little freaked out sometimes but I'm good at self-soothing.
My husband cannot smoke because he is anxiety-prone as it is and weed just makes it worse.

@Ghengis.....Yes i think the Holosync technology is INCREDIBLE to say the least. Iv gotten through alot of my own demons from it. The talking your refering to is just the introduction which bill harris reads at the begining. Once you actually purchase (or torrent) its just the binural beat sounds which are relaxing. Before starting i was very sceptical at this new age stuff but IT WORKS!!! It sends your brainwaves into phazes like delta. This opens your subconcious(forcefully) and u confront your stresses HEAD ON!! Just to let you know it isnt always very easy dragging up past emotions and can be tough at times....they call it upheval (sp?), the incredible thing about it is once you let it out its PERMENANTLY released and doesnt return. The program lasts years if u choose to complete. Im only really on the second stage but iv already got through shit and have changed alot in my mind. Anyways....best of luck if u choose it....its basically Meditation on speed! More info on Holosync: Centerpointe Research Institute: The Most Powerful Personal Growth, Meditation and Mind Development Tool on the Planet


@DreadScale.......I hear Strawberry cough is a particular strain in combating anxiety!

Strange to hear you all say this. I have Anxiety/Hypercondriaism/Panic ect.

I have been taking Celexa for a few years , wich was helping. I have been a 'lite' toker for years, but recently have introduced it more as a medicine for my anxiety.

Not doctor perscribed, but I know when i feel better . Good smoke makes me feel better. I still am taking the Celexa. But the smoke brings back the 'focus and thought' the celexa trys to take away. Puts me in a good place :) ...Plus gets me a good night sleep.

Pot dosent cause panic attacks, our brains do. Its a cataclismic reaction to fear. We have an unreasonable fear , our body actually changes its chemistry to compensate. This increases axiety reaction, wich makes us more stressed out, and the cycle repeates , ect = panic attack.

Spend a bit of time looking over the wealth of info on the web about panic/anxiety...you can empower yourself and not have to worry about the smoke, just enjoy it :)

Check out

We Worry: A Blog for the Anxious
or
Panic Attacks, Anxiety Disorders, Treatment, Forums, Blog


peace
J.

My anxiety attack doesnt happen while im smoking weed or even after im done... It starts a few days later seemingly unrelated to my cannabis culture and last the rest of the day till i go to sleep. I find my self thinking about loosing control and doing something stupid like suicide, particularly jumping off the balcony. It gets hard to keep track of my breathing and i often forget to breath and have to really focus on my breathing. Worst thing is is that I cant concentrate on anything else but my fears, when I try to surf the net I often times finding myself just staring at a single word because im so focused on my fear. I went to the doctor a few times and after finally articulating my problem the psychologist prescribed me Celexa also. Its been about a week now since Im taking it no real change yet but he told me it should take more than a week to notice the changes

you will need to wait at least a month before the effects of the celexa sink in truly. Trust me Ive been on it ( for anxiety , panic) for the past 2 years.

You NEED to check out

Panic Attacks, Anxiety Disorders, Treatment, Forums, Blog

All the symptoms you're mentioning are classic's of anxiety / panic...
you'll be shocked when you check out those forums, and realize you're not alone , you'll instantly feel better as you read those forums...trust me ;)

Its a very friendly community there and it helped me on the path to recovery from anxiety. Now I can smoke, and realize it was the panic that made me panic ;) , not the weed.

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Originally Posted by essencevfx

it was the panic that made me panic ;) , not the weed.

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words to live by.....:stoned:

Here is my story. A little lengthy but hopefully others can find it useful.

Been smoking weed for about 8 years, weekly. Ive smoked all kinds of bud, from high grade to low grade to shake to stems (i was desperate) last month however, I picked up some weed from a new dealer, the bud was covered in crystals and looked to be super high grade. Upon leaving his house, he told me not to smoke it when I drove. So I got home, rolled a 1 paper, at my age a 1 paper is all i really need. I smoked only 4 hits and put it down cuz i had to go to the washroom. when i came back from the washroom, I sat down on my chair and all of a sudden my heart beat when real fast then within 2 mins my chest became tight and I hard a hard time breathing. Within 5 minutes I was gasping for air. Then the sweaty pallms and then the fear of death because I thought I was having a heart attack OR that the weed was laced. The sounds of my dealer telling me to not smoke it while I drove made me think that it was laced. I had to carefully concentrate on my breathing, I felt like dyson from terminator 2 before he detonated the bomb, I was gasping just like him. The feeling lasted like that for 5 minutes, went away for 2 then came back stronger, it went on like this for a good hour until finally, I gave in and for the first time, I called the ambulance to come get me. I specifically told the 911 operator to not send police or fire truck, and what does she do? the first ones to arrive are police and fire truck, followed a min later by ambulance. I told the cop and fire people that they could leave and i quickly got into the back of the ambulance. They asked me what was wrong and I told them i cant breath and my heart was racing fast, they hooked me up to a blood pressure machine and my heart beat was at 150. They asked me what i was doing and what I took. I didnt want to tell them it was from weed the cop car was still behind the ambulance and i had left the bag of weed on my bed, i was scared if i told them that yes i smoked weed they would search my house or charge me. So i told them i just worked out, which is true I did work out before i smoked. so then they asked me if i was on steroids, i said no, they asked me if im suicidal or if im on anti depressants, I said no to everything. then one of the paramedic guys started cracking "inside type jokes" to his buddy, all of which i caught him on and asked him what he meant to only hear him give me a super long explination about other shit to throw me off. This guy thought i was on sum kind of pcp or steroid and was being rather uinprofessional. after about 20 mins i was good enough to go back home and they told me that i should go to hospital i refused signed a form and went home. That night i was convinced the weed was laced. I planned on seeking revenge. the next day I went to the doctor office, and told her about the weed and she made me do chest xray , urine test and blood test, everything came back fine. so the next day i callled my dealer and asked himwhat kind of weed it was or if it was laced with anything, he said no it wasnt, but in my head i thought of course he would say that he wouldnt admit to me if it was laced, the tone in his voice was one of worry and fear that I was going to do something, which in fact i really wanted to because i was convinced he laced it, thats why he said "dont smoke it while i drive" ..

I laid low for a couple of weeks and did nothing. no smoke, no calls back to dealer, nothing.

Which brings me to now, 2 days ago another buddy called me up and asked me if i wanted to buy some weed, i wanted to and i missed getting high, so i said sure but i told him i wanted to smoke some first before i bought it, so he gave me a bit and i rolled a 1 paper and took 3 hits to test it out. and then, within 2 mins, the SAME thing happened. rapid heart beat and difficulty breathing. Fortunately tho, it was milder and not as intense becuase i think the weed was must lesser quality and potency and had like no crystals,. after about 5 mins i got scared and got in my car to drive to hospital on the drive there , the symptoms went away and i went home.

I then got home and researched online about weed and panic attacks and found many other people posting threads about the same thing that happened to me. I now know i get anxiety/panic attacks from weed. It sucks , I hate it and I have no choice but to not smoke any weed again. I mean even 3 hits makes me have a attack. this sucks and i hate it. it really is bad that it had to end this way. I just wish i could smoke the weed without this crap happening to me. the only solution I have heard that works is taking clonazepam 15 mins before you smoke up more info can be found here

Erowid Experience Vaults: Clonazepam & Cannabis - Conquered My Anxiety - 35836

but even doing that makes me nervous because im scared it might not work and the panic attack might come back severe as ever, I HATE the rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath its so scary and uncomfortable and i wouldnt wish it upon anyone! whats even scarier is i talked to a doctor and she told me that it is possible and there have been many cases where people have died from anxiety/ panic attacks. I wish she never told me that because if I have another one, In my head i will be thinking that oh shit i might die here.

anyways thats my story.

I am diagnosed hypo-manic...which is basically anxiety disorder and super bi-polar all in one....yay...I have DEFINTELY had those episodes before, where i get a panic attack from ganja, but it has only happened when i smoked a pure sativa, or very sativa dominant strain. I know some sativas have THCV in them..don't know if that can be a reason they do this, but since my trips to amsterdam, and of the heavy indicas, (kush, afghani, the diesels) are very good medicine for these issues.
hope that helps,
:smokebong:
whiskeytango