Bud leading to panic attack?!

[KyleIsNorml]

So over the weekend I stayed over at my buddies house, It started on this past Friday (4/30/10). Friday night was great! My cousin and other friends were there and we had a smoke session all that night. Just the next morning (5/01/10 - Saturday) I awoke to my friends and cousin having a wake n' bake session and so of course I wanted in too! My cousin handed me his zong and I took a hit. Now here is something about his zong that you should know about before I start on the rest of my story. It's a dark maroon color and it had a double perc. Now being it a dark colored glass it was hard for me to see how much smoke I was about to inhale and I just woke up with about 4 hours of sleep that night before (major insomniac). As I was taking this hit, I had a feeling that I should stop inhaling so much because I couldn't see how much smoke was crawling up the inside and I was hoping that I only had taken a not so much of a big hit to slowly ease in on me, I like to pace myself freely when I smoke and you'll find out why.

After I had taken this hit, I realized I inhaled way too much, it was way to damn early and I had only 4 hours of sleep ahead of me so I basically screwed myself over. About 5 minutes into this stoney high I started to panic, I suppose you could say I was having a panic attack and I'm pretty damn sure that I was because it lasted 3 hours straight. I started to notice 5 minutes into this high that I was twitching, shaking uncontrollably, I had major cotton mouth (which I know is normal!) and that my heart beat had increased so damn high that I knew that my heart was higher then I was. Also I was just looking at my friends and cousin, they were all just kickin back watching a movie or playing games. I kept asking myself "Why aren't they trippin like I am right now? Why haven't they EVER had an experience like I am right now?"

Now I'm going to let you all in on something.., prior to smoking in the month of April I haven't smoke any marijuana in 8 months! So my tolerance levels are pretty low. Aside that, for the 4 years that I have been smoking marijuana only on more then a few occasions these "panic attacks" have happened rarely and that is if you call that them as to why I'm posting this threat to find some answers. Anyways, usually my highs are really great, great to the point that I'm not tripping out or worried about if my heart is going to give out on me. I usually have a calmed relaxed and happy high 9 times out of 10 :thumbsup:.

Now I enjoy smoking marijuana and obviously as you have just read these "panic attacks" haven't kept me from smoking ever at all, though I would become wary of these attacks to happen at any given time that I decided to smoke. Whether I think about it or not before I light up it still happens so I'm not tripping myself out because I'm thinking about tripping out you see? I'll especially think about this bad trip experience though when anyone offers anything higher and stronger then reggies. So the only conclusion that I have is, maybe my tolerance levels aren't high enough to handle the dandy dank? Through the 4 years of smoking I have never been an everyday smoker, only occasionally (4-5 times a week to a month) it would vary.

Now before ANYONE says anything at all, please remember this. I am not WORRIED about these "attacks" and I'm not scared or having any other negative emotional thoughts. I'm perfectly fine until I get really high and start trippin and then that's when I start thinking about things and start worrying haha Oh and one more thing, these "attacks" happen only at the beginning of the high, any other time I smoke after that "attack" goes away it never comes back and I'm back to my normal calm relaxed happy high :jointsmile:

So please, if you know anything at all (I don't want no nonsense answers) Please let me know, if you have experienced these before tell me your story and what you did to help yourself from not experience anymore of these "attacks" so that maybe I can steer clearly of these in the near future! I feel that I can overcome this somehow and I must do so.

Thanks!

KyleIsNorml Reviewed by KyleIsNorml on 05-02-2010. Bud leading to panic attack?! So over the weekend I stayed over at my buddies house, It started on this past Friday (4/30/10). Friday night was great! My cousin and other friends were there and we had a smoke session all that night. Just the next morning (5/01/10 - Saturday) I awoke to my friends and cousin having a wake n' bake session and so of course I wanted in too! My cousin handed me his zong and I took a hit. Now here is something about his zong that you should know about before I start on the rest of my story. It's Rating: 5

[TokinTebow]

lucky imp:

[KyleIsNorml]

Wow 80 views and not one single person can tell me anything? Marijuana has been around for 10,000 years known to man and I'm the only person with this issue every now and then? Alright then, well I'll figure it out by myself then :thumbsup:

Thanks

[kukulkola]

it's not a panic attack...It's called "the fear". It can sneek up on experienced pot smokers. The fear lasts for about 10 minutes. The first 10 minutes is a roller coaster ride into the depths of death and the abyss of the unknon. After 10 minutes you come down and mellow out. It's ok we all get it sometimes.

The fear makes its introduction after about a year of smoking grass.

[JohnnyZ]

Kyle, you should heed the words of kukulkola. I know all about the Fear. I think it's caused partially by stress and partially by knowledge over others. Like when you've experienced different levels of consciousness or know things about the world that most people don't. Haven't you read or seen Fear and Loathing? That's what it's all about.

But this also means you have become a bona fide member of the counter-culture. So don't worry too much.

[KyleIsNorml]

Kyle, you should heed the words of kukulkola. I know all about the Fear. I think it's caused partially by stress and partially by knowledge over others. Like when you've experienced different levels of consciousness or know things about the world that most people don't. Haven't you read or seen Fear and Loathing? That's what it's all about.

But this also means you have become a bona fide member of the counter-culture. So don't worry too much.

The fear huh? Well I can't seem to find anything about it, everything that I have come across was people talking about anxiety/panic attacks. Everyone seems to have about the same description about it but at the same time they all have a different story? So what your saying is that these attacks are called the fear? But why am I the only one out of all my friends that has ever ran through this multiple times?

Indeed, I have seen Fear and Loathing.. I own a copy :thumbsup:

I know I shouldn't worry about this uncomfortable experience but it's hard not too for some odd reason and when this comes about every now and then I always tell myself that I have been through this before. Though I have found out what could seem to make me feel better and that is me being productive in some way actively. If I start walking or working on something then I no longer realize that my heart is racing fast and when I am doing something I no longer realize that my body is shaking and so I seem to find myself feeling a little better but in reference to the post ahead of kukulkola, it does not last no 10 minutes but hours to say the least.

Is there anything else that I can learn about this unpleasant experience? I find it scary but interesting at the same time!

[BlueBlazer]

After I had taken this hit, I realized I inhaled way too much, it was way to damn early and I had only 4 hours of sleep ahead of me so I basically screwed myself over. About 5 minutes into this stoney high I started to panic, I suppose you could say I was having a panic attack and I'm pretty damn sure that I was because it lasted 3 hours straight. I started to notice 5 minutes into this high that I was twitching, shaking uncontrollably, I had major cotton mouth (which I know is normal!) and that my heart beat had increased so damn high that I knew that my heart was higher then I was. Also I was just looking at my friends and cousin, they were all just kickin back watching a movie or playing games. I kept asking myself "Why aren't they trippin like I am right now? Why haven't they EVER had an experience like I am right now?"

Here's my take FWIW.

When you're not stoned, you spend almost zero time during the day attending to your involuntary muscular action. What I mean by this is unless something goes wrong with the system, your brain just filters it all out as unecessary. When your heart rate gets elevated while you're "sober" you notice it, but it causes no concern normally. Usually the cause is self evident. You just ran, or lifted something heavy, or a hot babe just got on the elevator with you, etc. Your brain acknowledges your increase in heart rate to the level that you become conscious of it, but then forget it since it doesn't signal anything wrong.

When stoned, particularly on very potent weed, a lot of folks experience a rise in heart beat. It's a common side effect. Except now when your brain notices it, there is no readily apparent cause from physical exertion, etc. Because another common affect of weed is increased awareness of your body, you give it much more conscious attention than normally. Combined with paranoia (another side effect) all this can trigger your body's "fight or flight" reaction. Your spasms and an even more elevated heart rate were most likely caused by a shot of adrenaline from this reaction.

What you have to remember is none of it is real. You are not in any real danger. Basically, it's all in your head.

I believe that if you remind yourself that your anxiety is fueled by side effects at the outset, you can ignore it and be just fine. It works for me whenever I feel myself getting anxious.

Otherwise, I recommend only moderate smoking/smoking mids.

[KyleIsNorml]

Thanks Blazer for your thoughts of wisdom! I really appreciate it :thumbsup:

I don't know if I mentioned this in my first post but I didn't smoke any marijuana for 8 months straight and then just three weeks ago when I got my first chance to start again I didn't smoke any of the lows or mids, I started on the highs because thats all that was available and I wanted to smoke. So another thing I was taking into consideration just a few days ago thinking about all of this was that my tolerance levels went way down in those 8 months and so that must have had a huge factor!

My cousin has a really great connection. Mr. Nice Guy, Big Buddha Cheese, Master Kush, Grape Skunk just to name a few and to be honest I enjoy those kinds of strains because it's not often that I get to smoke anything other then just straight chronic or reggies and possibly I over did it when I took that first huge hit the minute I woke up and not realizing how much of a toke I got. This "attack" as most people call them reminds me of when I got high my very first time 4 years ago, the same thing happened to me.

For the 4 years of smoking I smoked nothing but lows/mids because that was all I could ever afford and now that I think about it whenever some chronic or kush would come through this "attack" would happen! I think it has to do with my tolerance levels! So this probably explains why my friends have never gone through this because they started on the lows to mids to highs and they've been smoking longer then I have and so I can understand why this doesn't happen to them where as it does me because I'm just jumping all over the place smoking all kinds of different strains from lows to highs.

[Anubis10012007]

I guess panic attacks happen more frequently when you have not smoked it in awhile or are still a newbie. I haven't had panic attacks for a few years and I prefer to keep it that way.

[NaturalMystic1]

I'll chime in on this one,

The first thing you should remember, Kyle, is that this is not particular to you. It happens to a lot of tokers, experienced or inexperienced. When I was about 19, I had been smoking nonstop since I was about 16. I was up in my bedroom late night taking a bong rip of resin. It was the night before I had to get my wisdom teeth out, so I was obviously nervous about it. I took a bong rip and I suddenly felt like I couldn't regain my breath. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, I thought I had a collapsed lung or something, I was terrified.

Ever since then, I just haven't been able to smoke and get high like I used to. My hypothesis is that I had some underlying concern about my wisdom teeth surgery. When I started taking the bong rips, this concern surfaced. And now, whenever I try to get high, my body associates the high with the panic attack that night.

The way I saw it, there were only a few options to solve this problem. Continue to smoke like I had been doing (24/7) and suffer. Smoke limited amounts and smoke strains on the weaker side. And the most obvious option, quit altogether. So that's what I did, I quit for several years.

I toke every now and then, on occasion. But I still can't take bong rips after bong rips like the good 'ol days. It's usually an itty bitty hit every now and then. And I'm OK with that. This whole ordeal made me realize, I don't have to get high. I used to believe I would smoke the rest of my life, all day everyday. I've since realized it's incredibly tough to live that lifestyle and succeed in the way I strive to succeed.

I always had TERRIBLE grades in high school. Some people can smoke all the time and do well in school, I was not one of those people. Mathematically I didn't even graduate high school. But my teacher struck a deal with me that if I passed her final exam, she'd pass me in the class. I got a D on the exam, but mathematically failed the course. Anyways, I ended up going to a Community College after high school. But like I said above, I had altogether quit smoking weed because of my panic ordeal. Turns out, quitting was the BEST thing to ever happen to me. I got great grades, transferred to a 4 year university, and just graduated this past Saturday with a Bachelors of Science.



The point of my story is to learn from your experiences. Trust your body in what it tells you. And don't always think that you 'have' to get high. You can still be a part of this culture that we all love (that's why we post here, right?). But it doesn't mean you have to be a stoner.