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Cocaine Is drug induced anxiety dangerous?

S

Stringer_Bell

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Messages
196
First, sorry Mods and fellow Bluelight members, this is the second thread I've made today and this question is touched on in my other thread but I wanted to make a separate thread dealing with this specific question.

I get bad anxiety, sometimes, when taking uppers (coke and prescription dexamfetamine). The most noticeable symptoms are fast heart rate and overwhelming fear. Of course it is expected that stimulants will cause a fast heart rate. I think the fear is just panic and not clinically significant (in terms of being an indicator of imminent physical catastrophe). Although I think this from a rational point of view, it's hard to convince myself of this while panicking and I would love some reassurance.

I would be very interested to hear your views on whether anxiety should be taken seriously, in terms of assessing how much physical danger one is in. If not, what symptoms do you think people should be looking out for, in terms of deciding whether to seek emergency medical treatment?

I know this is a medical question but many posters have a wealth of experience which I think can be as valuable as advice from doctors.

I have a history of panic attacks and for many years I didn't touch any drug, legal or otherwise for fear of precipitating them. I ended up going to the ER many times, thinking I was dying. I now know that when I get a panic attack, it's not going to kill me so I have learned to just ride them out and dismiss the fear. But if I get a panic attack when I've taken drugs, I don't have the same confidence because, as we all know, people do die from taking drugs.

Please assume, when answering, that I have NOT taken an overdose. I always work within safe limits and never push the envelope on consumption. Nevertheless I get this very scary anxiety sometimes, even when taking 'safe' doses.
 
If you are predisposed to anxiety you shouldn't be doing stimulants that induce it... You'll just end up finding new things to worry about. If it's not heart rate, then it's breathing, if it's not that than it's a feeling of impending doom.

Is it dangerous physically? Probably not, the human body can tolerate a lot of crazy shit. Is it dangerous mentally to constantly look for reasons that you might be harming yourself? I'd say so.
 
Thanks for the reply sekio. I agree but many of us still do them anyway. We're stupid or we hope that we will be ok. There are many times I have taken stims and had no anxiety.

To answer my question though, is it dangerous? If I feel like I'm dying does that mean I'm dying> Or is it just anxiety? How do you know when it's time to go to the ER?
 
Thanks for the reply sekio. I agree that it's better to not do them if you want to avoid anxiety or panic attacks but here's the thing. I had panic attacks for years (I was using NO drugs or alcohol during this time) and I was enslaved by them. I couldn't even leave my house. I don't want to live in fear or avoid what other people can enjoy because of anxiety. I want to conquer it properly. Does that make any sense or is it just dumb? I guess what I'm looking for is reassurance that no matter how scared I am, I'm not going to die just because I have so much fear and panic. I like getting high and want to get to a point where I can enjoy it without the horrible anxiety.

Maybe that all sounds absurd, I don't know.
 
Anxiety, or more specifically panic attacks can certainly make one feel as though they are dying however just realize that there's no such thing as a 'fatal panic attack'. Your body is simply dumping massive amounts of neurotransmitters that are designed to put you in the zone so that you can escape or fight your way out of a life-or-death situation. Of course nowadays this is considered a primitive response since we're rarely face-to-face with something that's trying to eat us, but it's part of our physiology nonetheless. Once you understand this you'll be better equipped mentally to deal with the fight-or-flight response.

I'd suggest having a small dose of lorazepam or similar on hand for emergencies if you must continue stimulant use.

Anxiety is not acutely dangerous in healthy people either (otherwise we'd all be dead), but chronic stress is never a good thing.
 
Thank you pinpoint, very good post.

So today I've been doing coke (probably around a gram over 14 hours). I've had several panic attacks. About 90 mins ago i took 20mg of oxycodone to help me with the comedown (wonderful stuff). Since then I've been doing bumps of coke to see whether the oxycodone would help smooth them out (I've read on this forum about people who combine the two). It's a lovely feeling but just now I had an anxiety attack.

I know I must sound absolutely crazy but I just don't want to give into this, on principle. I want to conquer it so that if i don't use drugs it's because i choose not to, not out of fear.

Edit: Just to add - what I mean is i don't think somebody could OD on 1g of coke over the course of 14 hours (it's pretty good stuff though) and 20mg of oxycodone. So, however bad i feel, i'm not going to die right? I've had echocardiographs and ECGs done a few times and have no heart abnormalities. I run long distance so am cardiovascularly in good shape.
 
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You're not going to overdose or die, but mixing in opioids and/or benzos with coke just to "conquer" the anxiety isn't worth it. If you've had several anxiety attacks already, it stands to reason that you'll continue to have them if you do more coke, and frankly it's a bit of a waste of opioids/benzos if you're just using them to level you out. Trying to control your anxiety in general is totally understandable, but really there's nothing shameful about feeling anxious from a drug that is known to make a lot of people feel that way. Being able to handle the anxiety from stimulants isn't really indicative of how you'll feel overall anyway so I don't really see your point.
 
Thank you. Well taking an opiate first and then doing very small amounts of coke seems to give me the best feeling. I have worked that out finally tonight. I definitely don't like coke just by itself. Feels great at first but the comedown is savage. The Oxy gives a nice, soft landing. Out of the two drugs i have to say i much prefer the Oxy (i think a lot of people feel the same). Benzos are good for the anxiety but I feel kind of depressed on them. Opiates are just perfect. But from now on I'll either just take the opiate alone or take the opiate and then do tiny bumps of coke. I think today has been valuable in working out what works for me. I really don't know how people can handle several grams of coke by itself. It's great for about 15 mins then my heart starts beating really fast and I feel anxious, then depressed.

Many thanks for your reply.
 
Some people are more prone to anxiety while using stimulants including caffeine, I even get a fast and uncomfortable HR with 2 or 3 espresso's.
 
I think taking the opiate about half way thru your coke has what gives me the best results/high because it doesnt numb out the initial good coke high
 
Drug induced anxiety is not dangerous, but using cocaine can be.
 
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