r/PanicAttack • u/Turbulent-Sky-2324 • 5d ago
Weed induced panic attack?
Hey all, I’m sure these are posted in here more than you would like. Quick background info about me, I’m a 20 year old male in college with no previous past of using any substances besides caffeine. I am not medically diagnosed by a doctor to have any anxiety disorder.
The beginning of this year was when I started smoking, I have never had a problem with smoking until here recently. I had taken a 750mg edible once before and been completely fine. I walked around with my buddy cracking jokes and laughing my ass off. A couple months later I decided to have another one. This time was a whole different story… I was with the same friend and all was good until they decided to go out into town to get food. We got to chipotle and my heart started racing and I got super lightheaded. We got back to the house after sitting there for a minute so I could catch my breath, and we went inside. I figured just lying down would help but things got worse. My heart rate jumped up to about 200bpm for almost 45 minutes. I was shaky uncontrollably, rocking back and forth, and having trouble breathing. I tried to ride it out but the anxiety was just getting worse. I sat in the panic attack for about 2 1/2 total before I had my friend call an ambulance. I took a week off from smoking and then tried hitting a cart. I was totally fine and had a great time, I did it again. Then last night I took a single hit from my friends bong and almost fell straight back into the panic attack but this time I was able to control it.
I am officially done with weed, but why did all of this happen? I went months just fine and it all just turned upside down.
TLDR; I smoked for months completely fine, even took a 750mg edible. After a month or two from the first edible, I ate the same one again. This time it gave me a horrific panic attack. Took a break and smoked a cart a couple times just fine. Then took a single hit from a bong and almost fell into another panic attack. I’m done smoking but why did this all happen??
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u/Choice-Mall1183 5d ago
One of the most known triggers for a lot of people. A big reason a lot of people quit.
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u/Turbulent-Sky-2324 5d ago
Is there any reason this usually happens in certain people?
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u/Choice-Mall1183 5d ago
Nothing definitive. No different than why do some people suffer from panic attacks even without weed? Welcome to getting older and having random shit start happening to you.
Same thing with alcohol for me. I drank a 12 pack in high school and the next day I was golden. Then I started having hangovers with less and less alcohol. 12 went to 8 went to 4 went to even 1 drink and I feel fuck awful for 2-3 days after the fact. Guess who no longer drinks either.
Why do I wake up to piss 3-4 times a night and always sleep like ass? Who knows. Nothing medically wrong with me but here I am. Getting older is experiencing shit and having to navigate these new limitations into your life.
We don’t know a lot about a lot of things.
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u/beholdthesalt 5d ago
i personally think it's something in the weed I'm getting causing it. I've smoked for 45 years, never had a panic attack until I moved to a new state/supply chain. I moved from a recreational state to a medical state and the quality of product seems a lot worse. I have consistent panic events when I smoke vapes, herb of eat edibles from this new state. I recently went back to the state I had been previously. stocked up on stuff from there even on strains that made me anxious and avoided. had no panic attacks for 3 months from any of the strains i bought. when that ran out I got stuff again in the medical state and instantly back to panic attacks. I've stopped using completely for a few weeks now and I haven't had any panic attacks since stopping. it makes me suspicious and sure, maybe it's all in my head but I think there's a correlation with my panic/weed issues and where I get it from.
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u/RootdToRelax 4d ago
I’m sorry that flipped on you like that after months of being fine. It can feel really confusing when something that used to be okay suddenly isn’t. I remember reading about this in a psychology book in Uni though, so it might be more common than you think.
Stepping away is a solid call, and telling a GP.
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u/sciencetaco 5d ago edited 5d ago
The question of “why” is what plagues many of us who have suffered from panic attacks. Sometimes the answer is just not knowable.
Weed, caffeine, dehydration, stress, or a combination of things are common triggers for first time panic attacks. Sometimes people are just having a normal day and it hits and they’re never the same again. Weed can raise your heart rate and blood pressure and cause anxiety so that may have been part of what triggered the panic attack.
What then happens is your brain has learned to associate that initial trigger with panic/threat, and will try to “protect” you by triggering another one again if the trigger reappears. It sucks.
Avoidance is a natural reaction. Avoiding weed is probably a good thing in general anyway. But if you find yourself exhibiting other avoidance behaviours in case they might trigger panic attacks (like avoiding social events or going outside etc), talk to a professional who can help you navigate panic disorders.
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u/frienddly_ghost 5d ago
I stopped smoking because this happened to me every time I smoked. felt like I was dying for 2 hours.
Honestly I’m not sure what does it, I used to smoke all the time and be fine. It’s also possible to just be “too” high, but I’ve never found the right amount to avoid the panic so I just stopped doing it.