Marijuana and Anxiety

[olliegrow]

Ive been smoking non stop for about 2 years because of daily stress in my life and marijuan WAS helping but a few months back it caused me to have an anxiety attack, i was just sitting, relaxing and smoking and whamm! I started to get real scared, shake, sweat and couldnt calm down. I sat like that for about 6 hours and when it didnt go away I dragged myself to the ER. My blood pressure was very high and I was trembling an my palms were sweating like crazy, I couldnt focus on anything and terrified! The doctor though it was my thyroid or some adrenal gland that was making me race, I didnt tell him about my addiction fearing some trouble so he said I had a Anxiety Attack caused by stress!!! I was given Prozac and Xanex. I went home took the pills and wanted to smoke a little to see if it would relax me....Wrong! It made my heart race all over again but it went away faster than last time. Why did this happen? Because I abused marijuana too much daily. I took the pill for a month and felt better, since then I still smoke but take it easy, sometimes my heart srtats to race and I have to take a break....Anyone else?????????

olliegrow Reviewed by olliegrow on 01-10-2008. Marijuana and Anxiety Ive been smoking non stop for about 2 years because of daily stress in my life and marijuan WAS helping but a few months back it caused me to have an anxiety attack, i was just sitting, relaxing and smoking and whamm! I started to get real scared, shake, sweat and couldnt calm down. I sat like that for about 6 hours and when it didnt go away I dragged myself to the ER. My blood pressure was very high and I was trembling an my palms were sweating like crazy, I couldnt focus on anything and Rating: 5

[killerweed420]

Are you sure the weed you got wasn't laced with something?

[birdgirl73]

Weed causes anxiety attacks in lots of people, Killerweed, and doesn't necessarily have to have been laced. THC does that to lots of folks, as our long history of posts about this very subject attests to. You can find that reaction listed among all standard possible negative interactions with cannabis, too, like on Erowid.

The solutions for folks who have this reaction are fairly easy choices To stop smoking weed. To only smoke when you're in a particularly cool, calm frame of mind, and even then you might still have a panicky response. Or to try and find or grow your own Indica or Indica-dominant strains for a more sedating, calming effect. Sativas tend to be worse about producing the panic/heart-racing response.

[olliegrow]

Humm I never though of the specific strain would have something to do with it but it makes sense, because some stuff I smoke and Im high and relaxed others my hearts racing and im a little freaked out...Thanks Birdgirl

[bro777]

hey ollie,
i also suffer from anxiety while smoking weed,it caused me to quit for almost a decade.
anyway i still get the occasional anxiety attack but im finding for me cannabis is becoming a spiritual/meditational activity.
how that affects my use is i only take between 1 to 2 hits then im done
my attacks are seldom now and i have xanax on hand for when they do.
also the above posts about frame of mind/strain are dead on
i stay away from sativa and avoid haze like the plague.
remember that our minds are so strong we can "talk" ourselves into almost anything even dying.
so do the opposite when your not stoned think about how and why u like cannabis and how it helps others in need.also if you dont have much control over the types of weed you get trichrome color also helps you will want amber/red for a more body buzz.
ok i hope i've helped in some small way
:thumbsup:

[olliegrow]

Thanks bro777, Im still sober today, been 2 weeks since the anxiety attack and Ive been thinking about smoking but am too scared. I believe you and know its in my head as far as the comfort level goes when smoking, sometimes I just freak out because I was thinking about it too much when I was High, also the sativas and schwag would make me feel like I was going to lose control. I love cannabis and have been using for years on a daily and now this?? I hope I can go back to it...thanks again bro777

[smokestoomuch]

i have serious anxiety problems matey i was on diazepan for ages while i was smoking weed i stopped those stupid pills coz i was getting addicted to them i went on them for a year and then stopped and been smoking since i was 15 and now 24. The anxiety gets so bad when i smoke that my haert beats fast, i sweat, and my stomach beats like i have a pulse in my stomach but i also have ADHD so i cant sit and relax without weed so i know exactly how u feel matey all i can say is smoke with friends who u can smoke with ( dont act like muppets) or in ur own environment dont let the anxiety take over try and keep it on an evn keel as you know u have anxiety amd the smoke gets you more anxious so try and stay in the coolest, most relaxed places friends, at home etc until your anxiety stables. its hard to explain but i keep my anxiety cool as i smoke in the rite places wiv the rite ppl.

When i have no weed i am very anxious and cant control myself its very bad!!

peace bro hope its all cool for you in the future

keep toking, keep smiling, keep burning :rasta:

[olliegrow]

Well im still sober, gonna wait a full month before I start again, I'll tell everyone how I handle it when I start. It sucks but I wonder why it happened to me all of a sudden? Ive been smoing non-stop for 2 years and never a problem, just that one day a couple weeks ago I was stressed out and smoke and Wham! Heart felt like it was gonna burst, started shakeing, sweeting, blood pressure went up to about 160 and couldnt relax until I was in the ER!! They said I had a anxiety attack?? But I wonder if it was the weed or my stress level?? Thanks everyone for the feedback, keep it coming. Peace

[Coelho]

But I wonder if it was the weed or my stress level??

Well... i think it was a combination of both. Sativa strains can make you anxious, or even paranoid. Im sure most newbies that freak out smoked sativa ones. So if you was already stressed, and smoked some sativa, probably the anxiety caused by the weed increased the anxiety caused by the stress and you had the anxiety attack.
I would suggest you to smoke indica strains, as pure as possible. Indicas are relaxing and stress relieving, so it would help you.

[urbals]

Hey, my brother has those anxiety attacks when he smokes, I dont know why I never had 'em. I think he just gets really bombed on just a little smoke. He takes cannaclear like, 5 or 10 minutes, after he smokes, he also uses visine everytime, he says it controls his anxiety attacks, hope it helps!