Shoulder Tension?

[sdnch2312]

SWIM did a combination of weed, mdma (or so SWIM thinks, no way of verifying. friends had the same stuff and loved it) and two beers over a year ago. SWIM had a horrible time. Everything went yellow and SWIM started freaking out. SWIM was measuring their own heart rate to be about 300bpm (friends said it was more like 180). SWIM had extreme pain in my left chest, mainly the shoulder and around the shoulder blade. SWIM has had their heart checked out since and their doctor told SWIM it was in good condition (electrocardiogram). It made SWIM really anxious and depressed for about 4 months. SWIM thought SWIM had ruined their life. SWIM can no longer smoke weed and haven't touched any other uppers (SWIM does drink and occasionally take ketamine with no aches or pains at all). Whenever SWIM smokes weed SWIM starts freaking out and experience similar symptoms to when SWIM was on "mdma". SWIM can calm these symptoms slightly by trying to relax but has resolved to just stop smoking weed. However, SWIMs main curiosity is born of the fact that SWIM has a lot of tension in their left shoulder now (ever since the mdma experience). Whenever SWIM stretches, it clicks while their right one doesn't (it clicks A LOT). SWIM often feels very tense and uncomfortable in the left shoulder/shoulder blade area. Is there any way that whatever happened to SWIM was severe muscle tension resulting in pain, or is this tension born of the subsequent anxiety? Grateful for any suggestions or reports of like experiences. Thanks

 

[Brenner]

I'm going through a similar thing at the moment from taking MDMA and not realising the consequences. On a side note, I'm never taking drugs again by the way. It sounds like your on the right track - Muscle tension and stress are very closely related, MDMA stressed me out big time without me even realising it, for months afterwards. Stress, anxiety & muscle tension are all very closely related and affect each other.

Your pec minors (these are muscles that sit under your pec major) in your chest tend to tighten with stress. This in turn pulls your shoulders in since they attach at something called the coracoid process in your shoulder. When your shoulder comes forward like this things impinge inside, there are a few nerves etc that run under the pec minors at the shoulder joint. In this compromised position your shoulder mechanics are also greatly impaired, more than likely hence the clicking. My muscles in that area actually became so tight I got tendonitis (or a form of it).

My advice is this:

1 - Don't do drugs again (but you've probably already realised this) - there's much more to life.
2 - See a physiotherapist who check things and can help you release the tight muscles at the front of the shoulder and strengthen them at the back - if this is what is required, they will decide depending on if they find any problems.
3 - Try to focus on calming down from this bad experience. Avoid things like caffeine and ensure you're getting a good nights sleep. Waking up during the night and still feeling tired when you wake despite 8+ hours of sleep are a good sign that you're still stressed.

All 3 points are important, don't skip any. Don't use any other drugs to try and combat this, more drugs aren't the answer (both legal and illegal). If you're struggling to find a reason to go to a physiotherapist, having a desk job can cause these issues, as can training at the gym doing too much bench pressing movements and not enough pull movements. You may have had this problem longer than you think and the stress from the MDMA uncovered it (made it worse).

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Pallyress]

SWIM did a combination of weed, mdma (or so SWIM thinks, no way of verifying. friends had the same stuff and loved it) and two beers over a year ago. SWIM had a horrible time. Everything went yellow and SWIM started freaking out. SWIM was measuring their own heart rate to be about 300bpm (friends said it was more like 180). SWIM had extreme pain in my left chest, mainly the shoulder and around the shoulder blade. SWIM has had their heart checked out since and their doctor told SWIM it was in good condition (electrocardiogram). It made SWIM really anxious and depressed for about 4 months. SWIM thought SWIM had ruined their life. SWIM can no longer smoke weed and haven't touched any other uppers (SWIM does drink and occasionally take ketamine with no aches or pains at all). Whenever SWIM smokes weed SWIM starts freaking out and experience similar symptoms to when SWIM was on "mdma". SWIM can calm these symptoms slightly by trying to relax but has resolved to just stop smoking weed. However, SWIMs main curiosity is born of the fact that SWIM has a lot of tension in their left shoulder now (ever since the mdma experience). Whenever SWIM stretches, it clicks while their right one doesn't (it clicks A LOT). SWIM often feels very tense and uncomfortable in the left shoulder/shoulder blade area. Is there any way that whatever happened to SWIM was severe muscle tension resulting in pain, or is this tension born of the subsequent anxiety? Grateful for any suggestions or reports of like experiences. Thanks

Sounds like a muscle issue. Try to work, type yoga or swim, to get it more mobile, focus on movement and increased mobility.

Anxiety and stress increases tension. Shoulders, neck, back and chest are very affected by our mood. When we are tense over a period of time, our bodies get tense.

We all got more or less stress in our lives, it variates over time. We also have a changing ability to cope with different levels of stress, depending on what it is and the total combined amount at any time.

This is of course my view in general, based on my own experiences. I cannot know how it is to be you.

How often did you use drugs before your bad experience, and did you go cold turkey afterwards?

Cannabis work on the endocannabiod system in our bodies, and can have a calming effect on people. Not always, but usually people smoke because the cost/benefit is in theit advantage. This anti-anxiety effect is why PTSD or anxiety patients often smoke marijuana.

Not to say you suffer from any of those diagnosis, but it does seem like you have anxiousness about your previous drug use.

(my memory, I can be a bit off with details, it's easily found with a web search) :
The endocannabiod system is involved im (down) regulating anxiousness and stress. PTSD patients have less of the stuff (anam....?) that goes into these receptors, and several of the cannabiods in marijuana fits in these, CBD:THC ratio favours CBD-rich strains for the relaced focus, while high THC and low CBD can cause more anxiety, and even psychosis, in some users.

Happend to me once. Saw a big spider. It wasn't moving, just standing still, just straddling me for a small second. I went from couch lock stoned to hysterical. Moving, screaming, kicking, throwing stuff. Wasn't a gracious moment for me, come to my senses after a minute. Spiders that big doesn't exist. To much smoking, and THC, for my toleranse.

Could it be, that the anxiety from your bad trip, following the break from weed, could have risen your anxiety level over time, in a way that has caused some lasting muscle tension? If a muscle tension is worrisome, it's going to be more noticeable. Perhaps causing a catch 22 where you worry and get tense about a pain close to your heart. Your anxiety will be reduced if the tension goes away, but if it's a symptom of increased stress/tension, it will persist until your body is relaxed.

Btw, drop the SWIM. Go swim instead, or do mobility exercise in heated pool, brilliant for akward places musclepains in the torso or neck, with little strain to body or joints.

 

[Pallyress]

Btw, MDMA increases muscle tension through the body. Weed makes the MDMA more potentiated, and smoking on the come up can turn it to a bad roll. Hallucinations can appear on high doses, and both MDMA and weed are psychedelics.

Your heart were checked out, and you have a lot of indicators for anxiety and anxiety related muscle issues. Seems like that is the sensible thing for you to work with.

Also, drinking alcohol relaxes muscle tension.