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Panicky breathing/airway congestion from smoking marijuana - never a problem before!

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trance.addict

trance.addict

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Nov 3, 2008
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Hello, I have been smoking for about 2 years now, not too often and not too little.

2-3 weeks ago I had an unpleasant experience after smoking some particularly potent bud that gave a lot of cottonmouth and felt like it congested my airway to the point of where I couldn't breathe and started having mild panic.

Since that day, I've been getting a mild to bad version of this episode pretty much every time I try to blaze it up. I don't know what's going on and I'm basically scared of smoking at this point... I will feel something clenching up in my airway, water and air will be much more difficult to force through, and so forth.

I have done LSD a couple of times, same for shrooms, but nothing else...

Went to the doc, had my throat checked out, had some x-rays taken, they said everything was fine... but I know for sure something is up, because I'm not able to have a good experience while smoking weed at all lately. Last couple weeks I've smoked maybe once or twice, in minor amounts, and they still weren't pleasant. Feels like I have shit stuck on the right side of my throat somewhere... down by the base of the neck.

Anyone heard of this happening? I really don't want to give up one of the favorite things in my life, any help would be appreciated! 8o
 
I have been taking a week off and on to see if it'd help, still happens.

I wish it was all in my head, because I'm good at handling that... but I am feeling actual physical constriction on the right side at the bottom of the airway when I smoke, and once it starts, it gets all bad from there on.
 
That's a theme of my panic attacks too. Usually it's that I think my ticker stopped ticking but sometimes I get the old 'o shit my throat's closing I'm gna die' thing goin on too. Just tell yourself "noone's ever died from smoking weed", realise that you're breathing just fine, it just feels weird cause you're high and focused on it and it will pass.
 
Mate... hate to say it but it seems to happen to the best of us sooner or later...

It sounds like a panic attack. Unfortunately (at least for myself) that's how it goes... You smoke away without a care in the world, than in a few years of steady smoking that good ol' major panic attack gets ya and afterwards its as if you became hyper-sensitive to smoking, i.e. having major panic attacks every time you blaze, even from a toke or two...

I genuinely hope this isnt whats happenning to you and you have many blissfull sessions ahead of you, but unfortunately that'd been my personal experience.
 
Is there any way to stop it from happening? Would taking an extended break from smoking altogether help?

It sounds like a panic attack. Unfortunately (at least for myself) that's how it goes... You smoke away without a care in the world, than in a few years of steady smoking that good ol' major panic attack gets ya and afterwards its as if you became hyper-sensitive to smoking, i.e. having major panic attacks every time you blaze, even from a toke or two...
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That does sound like what's happening.. but I don't believe there's nothing I can do about it. You say personal experience - this happens to you too?
 
^ Unfortunately so... And neither me nor quite a few of my smoking buddies afflicted with the same "smoking disability" know how to get rid of it and be able to enjoy mj again... :X

I tried everything, including taking prolonged breaks, and by that i mean slightly over a year off.... unfortunately it didnt help a bit, in fact kinda made it worse since my tolerance was lowered significatnly yet i was still prone to panic attacks to the same extent....

Quite a few people i know smoke and to give u a ballpark figure it happened to maybe 20% of them...

I honestly dont know what to tell you.... just hope you're more lucky than moi and it passes. The only thing that works but only slightly is smoking in familiar surroundings (like at home), preferably alone or with people you really really trust/feel safe with. Unfortunately it can still be hit and miss, but it helps.

I personally lost all hope... Dont smoke AT ALL nowadays whereas i used to be a proper mj connoiseur :\
 
Wow, i just went into the cannabis section to start a thread with exactly the same topic. :)
I have been using Cannabis for many years now, think its about 20-21 years. I haven't smoked every single day of course but its always been there with the other drugs.
And yeah many times my throat gets dry and unpleasant but lately it have started to feel like the throat actually is closing to a certain degree
and a very unpleasant and weird feeling is manifesting downward my throat..
It just came out of nowhere, im also not doubting that its psychological to some degree.

Luckily it just lasts about 30min and then my throat feels fine again. And it is not a panic attack or like that, i know what PA/anxiety feels like and this isn't.
 
Well, good to see that I'm not alone, I guess.

This is a pretty shitty problem to have though.. maybe some airway clearing methods/techniques would help? I feel like I have less breathability through my throat these days.. whether that's just my imagination due to these recent incidents or not, I don't know.. but maybe if I completely cleansed it of everything it would help?

Going to start working out more as well, to make my lungs healthier.

Sucks to hear there's no easy solution :X
 
I'm guessing a vaporiser would be less harsh on your throat, however if its panic attacks we're talking about then set+setting is just as important, as well as trying to determine the root cause of your anxiety.
 
This is exactly what happened to me. I was smoking for a good long time- never a problem. Weed was my wonderdrug. Then, out of the blue, I started to get panic attacks every time I smoked. I had to stop smoking. Uggghhh, pot is like the least harmful drug IMO and I know it's all in my head but whaddaya gonna do- it's ruined.

I did try taking breaks from smoking and it works for a little while but then, BAM- panic attack and I have to stop again. SUXXXXXXX!!!!
 
I HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM

This feeling is not a panic attack. It feels like there is something covering your throat and it is hard to breath. It makes smoking weed almost annoying.

Yesterday I was smoking weed with a friend and knowing I would get the munchies I took some ice cream and cold drinks out of his fridge.

I took smaller tokes from his bong but lots trying not to get the feeling in my throat. I could tell that the feeling was coming. I started eating ice cream and it went away. Its almost like the feeling is your throat swelling, and the because the ice cream and drinks were cold it made the swelling go away.

EATING COLD STUFF MAKES THIS PROBLEM GO AWAY NO JOKE.
 
I've had similar throat feelings like this before. I usually only get them when I haven't smoked for awhile or I smoke alot and get waay too high. It literally feels like I can barely breathe and my throat is closing. I don't have asthma or anything. But when this does happen, I just think in my mind that it's because I'm high and no one has died off weed, and it will all pass and too just enjoy the trip and make the best of it, etc. I also remember to drink water, it really helps me. Sometimes though, out of probably the 20 times this has happened to me that I can recall, I threw up once or twice out of the 20 times but I think it was because I was just too high not from my throat. Hope this helps.
 
thank god , i thought i was the only one with this prob, well i dont mean it like im glad ur suffering but iv been smoking for 5 years and this exact same thing your descibing happends to me. the first time i ever had it was 4 years ago but its been more and more prevelant lately. it get very intence for me its so strange , like i somtimes cant feel if im breathing properly or ill choke on nothing ,tripps me wayy out somtimes, iv been calling them panic attacs but somtimes its real pain in my back still for me its still worth it to me and i aways keep in my mind weed never killed anyone so im no differant

also somtimes eating helps me idk y like if im tripping realy badd ill just eat everything and majicaly relax ty for making this post it makes me feel better knowing im not the only one that gets that feeling after smoking

ps. somtimes wen i get very high ill feel as if im tripping on acid for real -like some sort of flash back mabey? somtimes il get soo freaked mann. usualy the stronger sativa stains do it most often for me, and atleast one other of my friends agrees that he too felt like the come up on cid wile we smoked one time, but it happends more and more... anyway bla
 
Okay, Im glad I found this thread. I will share with you my story.
I was smoking cigs and weed for about 10 years. half a pack of cigs at most a day and lets say 3-5 joints per week. Never had a panic attack or anything like that before. About 14 months ago, I took a month break from weed cuz I got into a fight with my dealer so I didnt have a link anymore. I replaced the weed with booze. I went on a alcohol binge for about 3-4 weeks. Then I stopped drinking after I was able to link some pot again. I rolled up a joint of this super high grade highly crystallized stuff and took about 3 hits. About 2 mins after the hit I felt my heart pound / palpitate. That lasted for about a min or two, then it went away. Right when it went away, thats when all hell broke loose.

As soon as it went away, I was left gasping for air. It felt like a lung collapsed or something. The only way I can describe it is like I felt and sounded like Myles Dyson from terminator 2 just before he detonated the bombs. I was gasping for air just like him and was freaking out. First thought that went through my mind was that the weed was laced. I fought it off for as long as I could. After about 2 hours I think, I could take it no more and I , for the first time ever, called 911. I specifically told the 911 operator to not send the fire or police, to just send the ambulance. So who shows up at my door first? the fire truck, then followed by police. They kept asking me what happened, what happened. I kept stalling and just kept saying that my chest hurt. I didnt want to mention anything about the weed cuz I was afraid they would raid my room and find the pot and then I would get charged and shit. So when the ambulance came i quickly went into the back of it. the firetruck left but the cops stayed. So the ambulance guys kept asking me what happened, I told them I was working out real hard and then my heart raced and i was left gasping for air. They asked me if I was on steroids. I said no. They asked me if I was on drugs. I said no. They said its ok and that I dont have to hide anything from them. I still didnt tell them. After being with them for about 20 mins or so,. i was decent enough to go back in my house. They tried to convince me to go to the ER to get checked out and I refused cuz again i was scared this would all come back to me. So I went in my house and I was still having breathing problems and that lasted about 8 hours until I finally went to bed. I woke up in the morning and I was fine.

So, I chalked the incident up to either laced weed or smoking the pot right after a intense work out. The next day I called the guy I got the pot from and asked him what was in it and told him my experience. He told me there was nothing wrong with it, that it was fine. I believed him and thought it was simply a reaction from smoking it right after working out. Too much for my system to handle. I didnt smoke any pot for about a week or two. Then I smoked it again, this time just 2 tokes of the same weed. and what do u know? same thing happened. Only this time it was MUCH worse and it lasted a whole fucking 24 hours. I fought it for so long. I went to the docs office and doc made me do a chest xray and told me that it sounds like a panic attack. I told the doc the weed might be laced and that I have it still and that maybe she can look at it or send it for analysis. She told me to just throw it away. I didnt do that, I kept it. So after this 2nd incident. I officially, after 10 years of use, quit pot. Didnt even get to enjoy or remember my last session. How lame.

So then,,. about 2-3 weeks after that I got a large coffee and loaded it with sugar. i drank about 3/4 of it and then bam same shit happened! this time i had enough and rushed myself to ER and they told me I have a panic or anxiety disorder and asked me to stay in the hospital for observations , i was freaked out so I said yes and thats when they started loading me up with benzos and tranqs but thats another story.

Anyways,. my question and concern is... what the hell happened with this weed?
I still dont know if that shit was laced or what. An anxiety or panic attack isnt suppose to last a fucking day. its suppose to last typically 10 mins and then it passes. sometimes residual affects can last an hour or two , but what I went through lasted much much longer (a whole day!)

Too often, I believe that the pot was laced with some kind of pesticide or poison or something! Im still not right to this day. I think whatever it was,. the damage has been done. My nose is 24/7 congested with clear mucus, sticky like glue! never seen anything like that b4. I have chest pains and tightness and palpitations all the time. Ive gone through so many tests, xrays , everything comes back fine. I dont know what to do. When I try to tell a doc about this and how the weed may have been toxic and i was poisoned they think im crazy and ask me to talk to a psych because according to them "nobody would do that , nobody would try to hurt someone like that" bullshit.

if anyone can relate to my story please let me know.
My next step is to get a bronchoscopy and sinus scope done to see if there is any damage done and also to get a sample of this mucous and to evaluate it. Perhaps the weed created fungus in me? i dont know. All I know is, I havent been right since that fateful day and I am not "thinking" myself into any kind of state of anxiety or panic at all, I have no fears , phobias or anything else.

thanks for taking the time to read my story.
 
crazyhairman said:
also somtimes eating helps me idk y like if im tripping realy badd ill just eat everything and majicaly relax ty for making this post it makes me feel better knowing im not the only one that gets that feeling after smoking
Click to expand...

This is also very helpful. I don't like eating when I'm super high because I fell it kills the high a little, but when I'm not suuper high and I'm just high and chilling food really helps my throat aswell.
 
I get it too. Its just a severe case of cottonmouth, or should I say cottonsinuses. Just drink some water, and spit logies and blow your nose untill it clears up. Take smaller rips so no smoke goes up in your sinuses.
 
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