6 ms·

Too bad it gives me panic attacks.

pmoriarty 8y ago
You're most likely overdosing -- something that's very easy to accidentally do with the crazy strong pot out there these days. It's even easier to overdose for newbies who have basically no tolerance and often mistakenly think they have to smoke a full joint (or even just a full big puff of some strong pot) to get high. That's probably way, way too much. If you are willing to give it another chance, you could try finding the weakest pot you can find, then smoke the tiniest amount you can. If you feel nothing, wait a couple of days and try again, this time taking a tiny bit more. Repeat as needed until you very slowly and gradually work up to a dose that gets you very mild, positive effects, and no paranoia or other symptoms of overdose.
- tzahola 8y ago
  Thx for the advice, but I haven’t smoke pot since 2012 (was 19 at the time), and I don’t intend to try again. The first few times I did it back then, everything was cool, but then something clicked in my brain that permanently associated pot with extreme anxiety. On one hand I’m kinda thankful that this saved me from turning into a lazy pothead in my teenage years, like some of my friends did, on the other hand it sucked being the weird guy who always passes up the spliff without takin a hit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  - Erlich_Bachman 8y ago
    The point is that the panic attack is most likely not due to the substance itself, but due to how you used it. The experience of others shows that it's possible to use it and not get panic attacks, even if that was the original reaction.
    - farahabdi 8y ago
      As someone who is weighing up right this moment whether to buy some weed to break a 37 day streak, I would consider his anxiety attacks a blessing in disguise. Smoking pot under the age of 25 years old is one of the worst habits you can have. Not only are you changing your brain chemistry at a time when it's still developing, ages 18-25 is really a time when you should be focused on developing skills & human capital. With regular pot those years will fly by in an instant with nothing to show for in terms of achievements. I love pot, but I wish I had discovered it when I'm over 30 and settled.
      - hutzlibu 8y ago
        Possible, that his fear helped him, not to turn into a lazy pothead. But I found, pot can help you a lot figuring out what you want and get new ideas what to do - so if you then overcome the stonedness and actually do it, then it can be good around that time... Time can also fly away, working like a log on something you don't love and then you equally wasted your time.
      - slowmotiony 8y ago
        It's not so bad. I smoke every damn day since university (10 years+ now), got my masters, switched countries, learned a new language, now have a nice manager position at a fintech company with lots of people interactions and some deep-dives into tech as well. No issues. My only issue is that it's very hard to quit after such long time, because things like chores or working out become tedious and boring, it's hard to motivate myself to do them, and I get irritated easily.
    - adriand 8y ago
      I don't agree with this, even though it's a common opinion. There is something about the combination of cannabis and certain people (their mental makeup? their neurophysiology?) which either inevitably, or randomly, leads to poor outcomes from consuming even very small amounts of cannabis even under ideal conditions. If you know yourself well enough to understand a substance is not for you, then the solution is simple: don't consume it, and don't listen to people who say you're doing it wrong.
      - folkrav 8y ago
        To play Devil's advocate, you don't really know if it's really about one's physiology or just how you used it. I had two consecutive panic attacks back when I was 18 that led to me completely stopping for years before I tried it again years later in smaller doses, and I haven't had panic attacks since. Been smoking occasionally for about 5-6 now.
  - hutzlibu 8y ago
    If you don't really want to smoke again, don't. It can be very helpful as well as very hindering ... "lazy potheads". But if the moment comes again, don't be afraid, just try a little bit in a safe, nice area and see what happens .
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  I've always found it odd that there has been this quest for stronger and stronger cannabis. In my experience it all costs the same. That super dank hydo that has had daily love and care sells for the same price as bush weed that was planted in a forest and then harvested a few months later. I don't really smoke weed, but when I do I much prefer smoking spliffs (tobacco and weed, rolled into a joint). I think the French have the right idea, they smoke weed all day long and are never too high, because they are basically smoking cigarettes with a touch of green in them. Of course, it's terrible for you because you're basically smoking giant cigarettes with no filter.
  - r3bl 8y ago
    > Of course, it's terrible for you because you're basically smoking giant cigarettes with no filter. This is a super easy thing to do, but kind of difficult to explain. I'll give it a try anyway: Disassemble the filter of a cigarette. Split a small part of it (vertically) and fold it in half. Tear off the middle of the rolling paper's filter (about a centimeter in length). Place the small part of the cigarette filter into the middle of the rolling paper's filter, and fold the sides into a "W" shape like you usually would. Do that once, smoke a joint, and when you're done with it, disassemble the makeshift filter you've made. Once you see how tar turned your makeshift filter almost completely black and realize all of that would end up in your lungs otherwise, you'll never roll a joint without this step. It makes the process of rolling a bit more complicated (and almost impossible to do properly without having scissors near you), but it's totally worth the effort.
    - oorza 8y ago
      Or just buy some of these https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Threads-Regular-Natural-Unrefined/dp/B00AHHDF80 https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Threads-Regular-Natural-Unrefined... Any tobacco store that sells rolling tobacco will have a variety of options available in sizes/densities/etc.
      - hutzlibu 8y ago
        I think they give it a disgusting taste. I rather have no filter, or much better, pipe filters. They are ceramic, paper and charcoil. https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Perl-Junior-Pipe-Filters/dp/B007TV2LE6 https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Perl-Junior-Pipe-Filters/dp/B007TV...
- cup-of-tea 8y ago
  Louis CK has a great story about smoking strong weed [0]. It is really insane how strong some stuff is now. In the UK people used to refer to skunk, but now anything you get is even stronger than skunk. But that's what happens in an unregulated market with potentially dangerous products. [0] https://youtube.com/watch?v=U8FzGlgVGdo https://youtube.com/watch?v=U8FzGlgVGdo
  - shafyy 8y ago
    I used to love Louis CK, but after that that whole thing came out about him that he's fucking creep I can't even get myself to watch 1 min of his videos anymore. WHY LOUIS, WHY?!
    - cup-of-tea 8y ago
      What thing?
      - shafyy 8y ago
        https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/louis-ck-statement.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/louis-ck-...
lwansbrough 8y ago
Smoke less is good advice. But also, if you’re prone to panic attacks, try giving yourself one intentionally (when you’re sober) when you feel you’re in a good environment. Learning to mentally overcome panic attacks is probably one of my greatest accomplishments in life. Now when I feel one onsetting, I can completely come down from it. The key is in remembering two things: you’re actually going to be fine, and you’re in control if you believe you’re in control.
- pmoriarty 8y ago
  It sounds like you treated yourself with something like exposure therapy.[1] Using it, therapists gradually get patients used to tolerating situations and feelings they'd usually try to avoid. It's supposed to be a very effective form of treatment -- probably even more effective when done with the help of a trained professional. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_therapy
- lawlessone 8y ago
  How on earth do you intentionally give yourself a panic attack?
  - slfnflctd 8y ago
    Yeah, I raised my eyebrows at that one too. I'm pretty sure I had the first one of my life recently and still am not certain what caused it. I suddenly was getting massively winded with the simplest physical activity. The only reason I didn't think it was a breathing or heart problem was that my S.O. recognized the symptoms and theorized it was anxiety. About 15 minutes after taking a beta blocker those symptoms disappeared, proving the theory correct. No idea how to re-create it and no desire to, it was kinda scary.
- rasjani 8y ago
  I can’t really describe the process but essentially it’s very similar way of how I learned to cope with constant nightmares which eventually led me to also learn lucid dreaming. When you realize that setting is A, and it’s most likely caused by Z, rationalize that you have dealt with same before and managing the symptoms becomes easier and eventually you don’t even notice them.
Broken_Hippo 8y ago
With that, it can mean that it isn't right for you if it is the only thing that triggers them. If other things do it, you might be fine with weaker highs so long as you get the underlying anxiety treated and learn to get some control when you notice a panic attack coming on. Similar things happen with other drugs as well. Ibuprofen is pretty safe for most people to take from time to time, for example, but a few folks are allergic to it. Some folks cannot drink with their physical health problems. And perhaps we'll be able to find strains for folks like you once we are better able to research this stuff. I'm pretty sure finding a strain fit for folks like you would be a major benefit to a company selling it for recreational use... assuming legality for recreational use, that is.
arpa 8y ago
I have been smoking for some ten years, and a few years back i started becoming afraid of getting high. It's no help that my country is ridiculously behind the times - you can get up to eight years in prison just for having cannabis on you, regardless of amount (and hey, we're in the EU, who would have thought!) - but the thing is that it really becomes very easy to go on a very unpleasant tangent, start overthinking, overanalysing, worrying and finally panicking about things - and my "panic pony" is my job. Once I start thinking about it, it's almost always a guarantee of a bad experience. So I started getting "afraid of getting afraid", and significantly cut down my cannabis use to, well, near zero: I still use it socially maybe once a year or two. However, even though I am a very occasional user, I found that anxiolytics such as xanax in small doses offset the paranoia pretty well. Also, edibles are much more mellow in my experience - you are not just "thrown" into the state, but rather edged into it, and it gives you better control. oh and also, as with all psychedelics - set and setting are very, very, very important. well that's my story.

You're most likely overdosing -- something that's very easy to accidentally do with the crazy strong pot out there these days. It's even easier to overdose for newbies who have basically no tolerance and often mistakenly think they have to smoke a full joint (or even just a full big puff of some strong pot) to get high. That's probably way, way too much. If you are willing to give it another chance, you could try finding the weakest pot you can find, then smoke the tiniest amount you can. If you feel nothing, wait a couple of days and try again, this time taking a tiny bit more. Repeat as needed until you very slowly and gradually work up to a dose that gets you very mild, positive effects, and no paranoia or other symptoms of overdose.

tzahola 8y ago
Thx for the advice, but I haven’t smoke pot since 2012 (was 19 at the time), and I don’t intend to try again. The first few times I did it back then, everything was cool, but then something clicked in my brain that permanently associated pot with extreme anxiety. On one hand I’m kinda thankful that this saved me from turning into a lazy pothead in my teenage years, like some of my friends did, on the other hand it sucked being the weird guy who always passes up the spliff without takin a hit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Erlich_Bachman 8y ago
  The point is that the panic attack is most likely not due to the substance itself, but due to how you used it. The experience of others shows that it's possible to use it and not get panic attacks, even if that was the original reaction.
  - farahabdi 8y ago
    As someone who is weighing up right this moment whether to buy some weed to break a 37 day streak, I would consider his anxiety attacks a blessing in disguise. Smoking pot under the age of 25 years old is one of the worst habits you can have. Not only are you changing your brain chemistry at a time when it's still developing, ages 18-25 is really a time when you should be focused on developing skills & human capital. With regular pot those years will fly by in an instant with nothing to show for in terms of achievements. I love pot, but I wish I had discovered it when I'm over 30 and settled.
    - hutzlibu 8y ago
      Possible, that his fear helped him, not to turn into a lazy pothead. But I found, pot can help you a lot figuring out what you want and get new ideas what to do - so if you then overcome the stonedness and actually do it, then it can be good around that time... Time can also fly away, working like a log on something you don't love and then you equally wasted your time.
    - slowmotiony 8y ago
      It's not so bad. I smoke every damn day since university (10 years+ now), got my masters, switched countries, learned a new language, now have a nice manager position at a fintech company with lots of people interactions and some deep-dives into tech as well. No issues. My only issue is that it's very hard to quit after such long time, because things like chores or working out become tedious and boring, it's hard to motivate myself to do them, and I get irritated easily.
  - adriand 8y ago
    I don't agree with this, even though it's a common opinion. There is something about the combination of cannabis and certain people (their mental makeup? their neurophysiology?) which either inevitably, or randomly, leads to poor outcomes from consuming even very small amounts of cannabis even under ideal conditions. If you know yourself well enough to understand a substance is not for you, then the solution is simple: don't consume it, and don't listen to people who say you're doing it wrong.
    - folkrav 8y ago
      To play Devil's advocate, you don't really know if it's really about one's physiology or just how you used it. I had two consecutive panic attacks back when I was 18 that led to me completely stopping for years before I tried it again years later in smaller doses, and I haven't had panic attacks since. Been smoking occasionally for about 5-6 now.
- hutzlibu 8y ago
  If you don't really want to smoke again, don't. It can be very helpful as well as very hindering ... "lazy potheads". But if the moment comes again, don't be afraid, just try a little bit in a safe, nice area and see what happens .
toomanybeersies 8y ago
I've always found it odd that there has been this quest for stronger and stronger cannabis. In my experience it all costs the same. That super dank hydo that has had daily love and care sells for the same price as bush weed that was planted in a forest and then harvested a few months later. I don't really smoke weed, but when I do I much prefer smoking spliffs (tobacco and weed, rolled into a joint). I think the French have the right idea, they smoke weed all day long and are never too high, because they are basically smoking cigarettes with a touch of green in them. Of course, it's terrible for you because you're basically smoking giant cigarettes with no filter.
- r3bl 8y ago
  > Of course, it's terrible for you because you're basically smoking giant cigarettes with no filter. This is a super easy thing to do, but kind of difficult to explain. I'll give it a try anyway: Disassemble the filter of a cigarette. Split a small part of it (vertically) and fold it in half. Tear off the middle of the rolling paper's filter (about a centimeter in length). Place the small part of the cigarette filter into the middle of the rolling paper's filter, and fold the sides into a "W" shape like you usually would. Do that once, smoke a joint, and when you're done with it, disassemble the makeshift filter you've made. Once you see how tar turned your makeshift filter almost completely black and realize all of that would end up in your lungs otherwise, you'll never roll a joint without this step. It makes the process of rolling a bit more complicated (and almost impossible to do properly without having scissors near you), but it's totally worth the effort.
  - oorza 8y ago
    Or just buy some of these https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Threads-Regular-Natural-Unrefined/dp/B00AHHDF80 https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Threads-Regular-Natural-Unrefined... Any tobacco store that sells rolling tobacco will have a variety of options available in sizes/densities/etc.
    - hutzlibu 8y ago
      I think they give it a disgusting taste. I rather have no filter, or much better, pipe filters. They are ceramic, paper and charcoil. https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Perl-Junior-Pipe-Filters/dp/B007TV2LE6 https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Perl-Junior-Pipe-Filters/dp/B007TV...
cup-of-tea 8y ago
Louis CK has a great story about smoking strong weed [0]. It is really insane how strong some stuff is now. In the UK people used to refer to skunk, but now anything you get is even stronger than skunk. But that's what happens in an unregulated market with potentially dangerous products. [0] https://youtube.com/watch?v=U8FzGlgVGdo https://youtube.com/watch?v=U8FzGlgVGdo
- shafyy 8y ago
  I used to love Louis CK, but after that that whole thing came out about him that he's fucking creep I can't even get myself to watch 1 min of his videos anymore. WHY LOUIS, WHY?!
  - cup-of-tea 8y ago
    What thing?
    - shafyy 8y ago
      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/louis-ck-statement.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/louis-ck-...

lwansbrough 8y ago

Smoke less is good advice. But also, if you’re prone to panic attacks, try giving yourself one intentionally (when you’re sober) when you feel you’re in a good environment. Learning to mentally overcome panic attacks is probably one of my greatest accomplishments in life. Now when I feel one onsetting, I can completely come down from it. The key is in remembering two things: you’re actually going to be fine, and you’re in control if you believe you’re in control.

pmoriarty 8y ago
It sounds like you treated yourself with something like exposure therapy.[1] Using it, therapists gradually get patients used to tolerating situations and feelings they'd usually try to avoid. It's supposed to be a very effective form of treatment -- probably even more effective when done with the help of a trained professional. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_therapy
lawlessone 8y ago
How on earth do you intentionally give yourself a panic attack?
- slfnflctd 8y ago
  Yeah, I raised my eyebrows at that one too. I'm pretty sure I had the first one of my life recently and still am not certain what caused it. I suddenly was getting massively winded with the simplest physical activity. The only reason I didn't think it was a breathing or heart problem was that my S.O. recognized the symptoms and theorized it was anxiety. About 15 minutes after taking a beta blocker those symptoms disappeared, proving the theory correct. No idea how to re-create it and no desire to, it was kinda scary.
rasjani 8y ago
I can’t really describe the process but essentially it’s very similar way of how I learned to cope with constant nightmares which eventually led me to also learn lucid dreaming. When you realize that setting is A, and it’s most likely caused by Z, rationalize that you have dealt with same before and managing the symptoms becomes easier and eventually you don’t even notice them.

Broken_Hippo 8y ago

With that, it can mean that it isn't right for you if it is the only thing that triggers them. If other things do it, you might be fine with weaker highs so long as you get the underlying anxiety treated and learn to get some control when you notice a panic attack coming on. Similar things happen with other drugs as well. Ibuprofen is pretty safe for most people to take from time to time, for example, but a few folks are allergic to it. Some folks cannot drink with their physical health problems. And perhaps we'll be able to find strains for folks like you once we are better able to research this stuff. I'm pretty sure finding a strain fit for folks like you would be a major benefit to a company selling it for recreational use... assuming legality for recreational use, that is.

arpa 8y ago

I have been smoking for some ten years, and a few years back i started becoming afraid of getting high. It's no help that my country is ridiculously behind the times - you can get up to eight years in prison just for having cannabis on you, regardless of amount (and hey, we're in the EU, who would have thought!) - but the thing is that it really becomes very easy to go on a very unpleasant tangent, start overthinking, overanalysing, worrying and finally panicking about things - and my "panic pony" is my job. Once I start thinking about it, it's almost always a guarantee of a bad experience. So I started getting "afraid of getting afraid", and significantly cut down my cannabis use to, well, near zero: I still use it socially maybe once a year or two. However, even though I am a very occasional user, I found that anxiolytics such as xanax in small doses offset the paranoia pretty well. Also, edibles are much more mellow in my experience - you are not just "thrown" into the state, but rather edged into it, and it gives you better control. oh and also, as with all psychedelics - set and setting are very, very, very important. well that's my story.