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Racing Heart on Weed

dex_king

Bluelighter
Joined
May 5, 2005
Messages
2
8( This shit is driving me nuts. Everytime I smoke weed I feel like my heart is going 100 miles an hour. It can be really scary and when it is not it still ruins the high because it over powers the laughter and over all fun of weed. Today I smoked again (I quit for a while to see if quitting for a bit may help)...no racing heart but all teh other effects. My left hand goes numb first, then my arm, then my right arm does. And I twitch like crazy. Ill just be sitting there and ill just twitch for a second just quick short jolts in my body. I was wondering if anyone can help me with this. thanks.
 
sounds like an anxiety reaction. maybe try to relax and do something to keep your mind off your heart rate. go for a walk, watch a movie or play some video games etc...
 
I used to get this quite often when I first started smoking. I don't know what will work for you (besides maybe smoking a bit less) but what worked for me is simply taking slow, deep breaths. WIth the numbness in your hands it seems like it has to do with your blood pressure fluctuating.

Most importantly, just try to relax and enjoy the high. It's only weed. :)
 
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Yeh dope always raises my heart beat I think its a natutal side effect of it . . . I don't mind the feeling, I think it only happens when the shits kicking in, and gives you a bit of a rush.
Try taking deep, slow breathes, your probably hyperventilating, which can cause tingling body parts (due to lowered oxygen levels) and a raising heart (also due to the body trying to distribute a 'small' amount of oxygen over a 'large' area). Most of all, just don't worry to much about it, if its really bad, maybe you should give up smoking. :)
 
I never noticed a racing heart on pot until one time I took DXM and smoked a little pot on top of it. For some reason even though I'd done this dozens of times before that night I had a panic attack with a heart rate around 200bpm and felt like I was on the verge of death for 2 hours until it wore off.

After that occasion, which was about 2 years ago, I noticed my heart would race and beat pretty hard after smoking pot, and sometimes this would give me mild panic attacks or at least an unenjoyable high. Obviously this sucked when I was tryin' to chill with my buddies when I was having paranoid thoughts about my physical condition racing through my head.

Now that it is 2 years later and this has failed to deter me from smoking pot on a daily basis (even though many of those highs were completely unenjoyable...) I can say I don't really have this problem anymore.

Yes my heart rate does still get elevated after smoking pot, sometimes more than others and it seems to depend on the kind of ganja. The way I got over this was by slowly training myself to basically ignore my racing heart, and I found that if I don't pay attention it will decrease, maybe not back to normal but certainly less than it would be if you are thinking about it every second.

Also:
Don't get super ripped on the first bowl / joint / bong of the day. If you smoke slowly rather than taking a few bong rips back to back your body has more time to adjust to it, therefore your heart won't freak out as much.

If this is a real problem for you now you might want to limit your smoking to just a couple hits per session (depends how good your weed is, if a couple hits won't do much then smoke more I guess). During this period that you are paranoid about your heart rate you might find your psychological tolerance for weed has decreased and you don't need as much to get high. Also you will probably find a mild high more enjoyable than getting really ripped because your heart won't race and you won't be paranoid about your body.

Once you start to overcome this, which is essentially a psychological overreaction to a normal physical response, you can start to smoke more if you want to.

Of course during this period it is essential that you avoid mixing marijuana with amphetamines and psychedelics because your chance of freaking out would be very high.

hope that helps
 
You can also try beta-blockers, I read that they're successful in treating anxiety due to physical symptoms(such as a rapid heartbeat).

I think the advice posted above is much better in the long run though.
 
I used to never get it up until my first year of college, this fall. Before this time I'd be smoking at least a few times a week for a few months and rarely had one of the above mentioned and all too common racing heart/anxiety attack reactions. But in the fall I would get high with people that I had just met and get so paranoid and shit. It settled down once I got to know them all though. Also, I found smoking pot in my dorm room, while undetectable, always makes me wildly panicky, especially when it's just me by myself. Stupid pot.

The heart/mind thing is rampant with weed, I think that's most of the problem. See, weed in general does cause elevated heart rate in some people, same for elevated anxiety at times, or paranoia. These three things coupled together , plus weeds sensory enhancing issues, make this syndrome appear, I think. Cause you're paying more attention to your heart beat that you normally would, which makes you more paranoid and anxious, which raises the heart rate even more, etcetc, in a loop. Til you freak out and your heart explodes. Haha, just kidding, it always passes, but truly sucks.
 
maybe you have problems in ya organic sistem, that is not normal, but try to keep mind equacion, relax things listen goog music
 
i used to get the shakes all the time, but since i smoked outside most of the time and live in canada i just figured it was because of the cold. and now its warming out and i still shake. but oddly enough the second i start thinking about the shaking or how im not shaking yet, it starts again. its not really something that bothers me though. just try not to think about it i'd say. but if it gets very bad maybe you should stop.
 
strange i have this same problem yet im completely calm mentally after i smoke... yet i still get these horrible physical reactions starting with the heart rate... I ignore it and am relaxed mentally knowing its normal but it still happens everytime i smoke and is extremely uncomfortable as well!!! i hate it!!!

its like my fight or flight response goes off EVERY single time i smoke and the 200+BPM heart rate

yet im in the most relaxed state of mind and setting .... is this a possible physical reaction to weed ive gotten never had this while i was blazing daily for a few yrs....8)

keep in mind again im perfectly fine mentally!! why does this happen... bleh bleh :\ :p
 
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From my understanding it's fairly common for this to occur after a few years of smoking without ever noticing it or having a racing heart problem.

And it seems to occur most often in heavy smokers, or during a period of heavy/frequent smoking.

What I'm wondering is if this can cause long term stress on the heart, like thickening of the heart tissue or damage to arteries? Nobody has ever been able to give me a good answer to this...
 
when i smoked, i use to get a horrible nervous feeling. last time, i had anxiety for like a week straight, and got very panicked even when sober. i have quit smoking for good, as it isn't worth it if i can't even enjoy being high. my mistake was doing crystal meth, smoking pot trying to make myself go to sleep then having a panic attack for my troubles. now after quitting, i am suffering from depression, and symptoms of anxiety, like tight chest, tight throat and worrying about stuff i have no control over. i just hope it passes, because it has been a month sincei smoked weed.
 
it's anxiety. it used to happen to me everytime i smoked. then i quit for like a month or so.. and the first time i smoked again i made sure i only smoked a little bit, and when i felt the panic attack coming on it wouldnt be as bad and i could control it. gradually i smoked more and i still havent had one since.

as long as you know its just a silly panic attack you can beat it
 
yeah, i just don't like panic attacks, or anxiety so it isn;t worth the risk. i have other things that have happened that make the anxiety hard for me to just excuse as anxiety. my dad died of a heart attack, so whenever i feel tight chest, or racing heart or any of that stuff, it has a whole new meaning for me. plus i need to quit and find a better job and get my life going in the right direction. can only be a cashier at walgreens for so long til it gets played out.
 
Just an note... anyone here agree the strain of weed smoked is linked directly to anxiety, heart racing etc. I've noticed with very strong sativa's, heart racing is alot more common than with indica's, or a combination of the two.
 
When anxiety ocurrs, I know the drug is about to kick in (any drug), just relax. Or if you're with friends, just start talking shit to each other to get you giggling and take your mind off of it and it will pass within a few minutes.
 
bluedolphin said:
From my understanding it's fairly common for this to occur after a few years of smoking without ever noticing it or having a racing heart problem.

And it seems to occur most often in heavy smokers, or during a period of heavy/frequent smoking.

In my case it seems to be the reverse. I only felt these sort of effects when I first started smoking. The longer I have smoked the less I find that this happens to me. Almost never, nowadays.
 
This happened to me all the time and it got to the point where I could barely smoke at all without having a panic attack. I just sat down and talked to myself (if that makes sense). Once I realized that the nervousness, panic, and paranoia were all in my head it was easy for me to overcome them. To prove to myself that there was no need to my panic, I got blazed and then hung out with my parents. Just remember, all this bad stuff is in your head... Don't worry about it. It's normal to have a fast heartbeat after anyways, just chill and enjoy...
 
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