Bad Experience on Marijuana

So I had the worst experience of my life on marijuana last week and I don't know what to make of it, I really want to continue smoking but I am afraid for my health at this point and I need some feedback.

Just for some background information, I've been smoking for 4 years on and off, I have smoked at the most several times a day for a month or so before I decide to lay off of it for a while because of money or time based reasons. In those times I have never experienced what I am about to explain, but after doing some research I can see many people have experience bad trips similar to mine. Also its important to note that I recently had a heart surgery in late october, I didn't pick up smoking again until middle december and I didn't feel bad the first couple of times and eventually started smoking regularly again.

Basically this is how the experience went down, it was last friday and I just got back from my classes and I had to do a lab report to turn in to my TA, once I finished the report and was about to turn it in I decided to celebrate by loading a bowl of some new dank I bought that week. I smoked the bowl and everything felt like normal for a while, until I started to grab my report and make my way to my car, I started to feel like my heart was racing and my mouth started to get dry... so I figured no problem, I grabbed a water and checked my blood pressure.... which I do regularly after the surgery.... the important thing about the surgery is that my blood pressure has to be low. My blood pressure was low and my heart rate like 90 bpm, nothing extreme but it felt like my heart was racing much faster almost like my heart was going to explode. I told myself to relax and reassured myself that it was the other times I've experienced quick heartbeats on weed. I got to my car and started to drive and then it started to really peak up, my entire chest felt like it was being crushed, breathing became difficult, my body felt like I was dehydrated (like fluids were being drained from it), my heart felt like it was about to explode and I started to freak out.... I remember thinking at first, this is it I am going to die for being a fool and smoking after my surgery. Then I started to think I could easily get through this and if I could survive the high my life would be back to normal, I found comfort in it and I slowly came to feel back to normal for a short while. However, eventually about 2 minutes later the feeling creeped back up and it continued to come in waves every 2 minutes or so, each time getting worse. Eventually I got to the parking garage near the building on the university where I was going to turn in the lab report. I parked in a slot, and turned on the air, turned off the music, and laid back, trying to focus on breathing. I must have sat there for like 15 minutes trying to just meditate and prevent myself from freaking out and making my heart rate go even higher. Eventually the feeling disappear to a managable amount and things went back to normal. I quit smoking for that weekend and thought about what must of caused it. I thought it was panic (from weed paranoia) and anxiety due to all the traffic and the lab report, I also thought I had trouble breathing because I was dehydrated and my body had little fluids and thicker mucus near my lungs. So on monday I hessitantly decided to try smoking a small bowl again to see if I felt different, after taking two hits I was barely buzzed and I could feel the feeling again only very slightly, so I stopped and decided to wait till the end of the week and try again. So I waited until thursday evening and then I loaded a bowl smoked it and the same thing happened. At this point I have no idea what could be causing it the last time I did it I made sure the environment was completely stress free. I really would like to continue smoking but I am thinking this could pose a serious health risk to me, I don't understand why its happening either. I had smoked several times a day for the last month after my surgery and felt fine, in fact my blood pressure would end up being lower sometimes after smoking (due to the lack of stress). The only two possibilities I can think of its there is too much THC in my system and its reacting poorly with my body's chemistry after the surgery or that the THC is somehow adversely affecting my heart in the areas where the surgery occured, since the THC is in the blood. If its the first that means I'll just have to detox and take it easy on the amount I smoke, if its the second that means I'll have to quit premanately..... anyone know what to do, I am at least going to quit until I have my next ultrasound on my heart, in order to have it checked out without approaching a doctor and being like "yeah I smoke weed, can you check out my heart....". Oh also when I had the bad experiences, when its especially bad I get the taste of blood in the back of my throat, but my mucus is completely blood free and no blood has come from that area of my throat or anything like that. It's the taste of blood that especially scares me, everytime though the experience isn't painful but what I'd call extremely uncomfortable.

 

This happens to the best of us. You don't have anything to worry about as far as your health goes. But as far as your shitty highs, those will be hard to stop. Once you have one, they just keep coming back. This is because you are so worried about it happening again each time you smoke. About the taste of blood in the back of your throat, I've actually thought this at times too. Your mind is just playing tricks on you. If you don't find any blood in the back of your throat then there must not be any. It's all in your head. I think you're having these is because you are conserned that the weed is bad for your heart now after the surgery. Now, I'm no doctor so don't take my word for it, but you will be fine. The reason your heart beat increases now after you smoke is just because you are paranoid that it is hurting you. The paranoia makes you nervous, causing an increase in your heart rate.

In order to stop these bad highs, you just have to stop worrying. Pretend you never have bad highs. This isn't going to be easy because no matter how hard you try you are going to be thinking about your previous bad highs and will be worried about it happening again. People will say take a break for a while and then start back again but personally that has never helped me. Your worry for your heart is legitamate. But, if you are even the slightest worried before you smoke, that worry will be maginifed by 1000 after you smoke. Weed just does that. If you really are scared it is going to hurt your heart, then just quit. But remember, it's all in your head. Your mind can really fuck with you when you get paranoid on weed. Good luck!

 

thats not a major bad experience dude.. that happens to me almost everytime i smoke for the first 2 minutes because it makes my body extra sensitive to the cold, so i shake and my heart races but after 2 minutes im fine and enjoying my high. if this is only the first time you have experienced this, then no offense but its hard to believe that u have been a 4 year smoker.

read some posts around the forum about people's bad trips and you will see that your little story is pathetic. not trying to flame just trying to kick you in the ass and wake u up - ur taking a drug it cant always be good

please dont write walls of text man its hard for me to read - use paragraphs

 

You probably had a panic attack. Those are fairly common smoking weed, and for many people, like someone already said, once they start they usually don't stop. At least that has been my experience.

Dont listen to the guy that says you don't know much about weed. What he doesn't understand is that everyone reacts differently to the shit. Myself, I smoked since I was about 13 until 20, and a lot of it. Mostly everyday. Now I get nervous and just feel like death everytime I do...It kind of sucks and sometimes I wish i could just go back to having a good high but you know what, I guess I had my fun and thats it. I don't smoke anymore.

Plus, I wouldn't reccomend smoking ANYTHING just after having heart surgery.

 

bummerr! I hope if you take a long break (who knows, 5 years?) and you smoke again you can do it and have a great time again.


OP - I had some panic attacks - they SUCK - and I think its a good idea to quit untill you can sort out the source of the panic & the bad feelings so that when you are one with the high again, the negative feelings are not the major part of the mix. Weed amplifes whati's in your head. On a positive note, it is alerting you to something you need to look at, I guess.

 

It seems like it was a mental thing, not a physical side affect of weed if you say reassuring yourself helped, if even for a little. I used to get a similar effect with motion sickness only in cars. Every once in a while on a long ride my mind would get bored and start thinking about getting sick, and I couldn't get the thought out of my head so occassionaly it would make me ill.


But thankfully I learned how to stop that, so motion sickness is no more. Maybe you can find a way to stop having occassional bad highs? When you start feeling like that, step back and 'watch' your mind think. Start thinking about something else or do something to occupy your mind because it does that like a nervous tick. Its hard, but you have to learn to control your thoughts. I'm working at doing this, but it is very difficult.

 

That sucks man! I hope that doesn't happen to me. I always feel chill though when I smoke. I only get sketchy while high if in a certain environment but that's to be expected.

And I agree that it might have something to do with the heart surgery. It could possibly just be in your head too that you'll have a bad high on weed. It could be both. I hope it all works out eventually and you get to tokin' and enjoying your highs again! :]

peace

 

^Exactly what he said!

Having a bad trip like that is a constant possibility for me 'cause I'm always expecting it. When you're high, just the slightest thought can snowball into a huge expectation, and then it fulfills itself like a placebo effect. I think what you need is some kind of landmark, something that can tell you "now you've officially gotten over your bad trips." That makes it more concrete in your mind and kills the constant expectation. What usually works for me is to laugh at the bad trip as I sense it coming on, saying something like "Is that the best you can do? I've survived worse than that." or call it's bluff: "Oh, you're gonna spin me into another bad trip? HA! Go ahead. Give me your best shot." - and then usually nothing happens, and all's fine after that.

Oh, and not to be a preacher or anything, but what are you thinking smoking weed or any drug after heart surgery? Not too smart, man. Also, driving while stoned is just like driving while drunk - maybe even worse. Do your own thing, man, but if I were in your shoes, I certainly wouldn't have done those things.

 

aww, damn. You guys just nailed shut my smoking coffin. I've been freaking out every time I smoke for the past month. Just like the OP said, racing heartbeat (I actually timed it - 150+bpm), waiting/hoping for the high to end, and just generally feeling bad and anxious. Pretty much just a panic attack.

And until I read this thread I've been in denial, and have kept toking - expecting to get high like I have since I was 15. But freaking out each and every time, some worse than others. I always used to smoke to relax, and now it has the exact opposite effect.

Sigh. Well, shit. I guess I'll have to meet back up with Mary Jane sometime later in life. Seems like I'm not alone.

 

I don't mean to sound like a fiend but take like 1 1/2 xanax maybe.

Maybe 2 2mgs...4mgs in all (obviously) and smoke. You will feel calmer. I took them today and figured it'd be like the last times I took them (the first being 2 zannibars and the second being 5...maybe alcohol and of course weed and yet I only remebering feeling amazing everything else is completely oblivious to me) but this time I was cool I was just mellow after I smoked (due to the weed and xanex...it helps you become more relaxed.)

Although if you wouldn't want to do that then that's all good. It was just a suggestion. If you did do it though, just be careful with them.

peace

 

Hell no, you're not alone. It happens to the best of us.

 

all of yall need to relax a little. its just a panic attack. theres no need to quit smoking weed for years over it. no one has ever died from weed paranoia. one time i waked and baked and also took some caffeine/energy weight loss pills, then went to class. i started feeling my heart race, then i thought i had forgotten how to breath properly and i got dizzy, so i put my head on the desk and just quit worrying about breathing until i chilled out. the next day i smoked again and i was fine. to the op, i recommend you go to a doctor to check out your heart just to reassure you and ask whatever questions you have. also it helps a lot if you consume as little caffeine as possible. just smoke less next time and dont worry about having a bad time because that leads to thought loops that make you panic.

 

I get the same thing alot and I've found that the strain/quality has alot to do with it. Really dank pot just seems to make me jittery, anxious, physically uncomfortable, and makes my heart race. But when I share a joint of mids with a friend I'm just chilled out and happy. Just a couple days ago I read an article online dealing with this (sorry but I can't remeber where) that supported that high potency pot seems to induce panic attack type symptoms in SOME smokers. Thats where the head comes in, I've got a friend who smokes daily that never gets this now but used to quite a bit, in his own words its "all in the head". Try smoking some mids or relaxing before/while smoking, I find that if I ignore it and concentrate on other things that it eventually goes away.

 

Isay you just wait a week and do it again, but do something you really enjoy and just indulge in that moment
whether that is playing a video game or playing an instrument w/e
I had a few panic attacks; it all comes down to your desire to get high at that time
If you have second thoughts about it like that it will be pointless or feel guilty about it just don't do it
Its set, setting and desire
Each time I smoke I treat it like a ceremony

 

please don't respond to posts that are hard for you to read if it bothers you that much. Also I wouldn't call my experience pathetic until you have experienced yourself. Not trying to flame you just trying to kick you in the ass and wake u up - I didn't force you to read this and respond, if it annoyed you this much maybe you should have just left your comment out, I am concerned and looking for help not a simplistic explanation like "ur not always going to have a good trip"

 

Well thanks everyone who left a helpful comment, to all those who left comments like "Oh my god your overreacting" - fuck you. Nah maybe thats harsh its just the fact of the matter is I smoke to get a positive feeling not the reverse and while it may be extreme to say I believe I will die from this, any negative feeling is your body or minds way of telling you something isn't normal or is wrong. Even if its just panic and paranoia, thats a good reason to stop imo and level your head or body out until you feel back in control. Anyways this happened also off of weed (worse and more painful) and I went to the hospital, they couldn't find anything seriously wrong they think its just some post-operation pains and discomfort, hopefully it is, but its not exactly something I want to risk if there is a problem if you know what I am saying. Also let me say that it really offended me to hear comments about me being ignorant to how my body feels, that its just me freaking out, its hard for other people to draw parallels to how my body/mind feels unless they've undergone a major surgery themselves, and I can't draw from the experiences online like @ erowid since those people never had my surgery. Also driving and smoking is no problem for me to the person who mentioned it, I've done it for like 4 years, never caused on accident or anything, I am a really good driver and a pilot so its never been difficult for me to do those tasks when high, in fact I enjoy driving more when high especially with some music, and that enjoyment makes the activity come easier and less forced. It's different than driving drunk - which I wouldn't suggest, being drunk makes your mind very impulsive and distracted, weed makes your mind very focused and perceptive, I am no neurologist, but this is just from my experience.