Weed and an increased heart rate...

Do you get your heart checked regularly? Like, EKG's, Echo's (ultrasound), and stress test? It sounds like you shouldn't smoke a lot... What you're describing sounds like smoking induced angina... You might want to talk to a doctor about that... And be honest about your MJ usage...

 

I dont have any medical insurance so im sorry to say, but that isnt going to happen...it sucks that we dont have a medical system like england or canada. I have many other issues from my time in the military I would like to get looked at as well, but I dont want to end up filing for bankruptcy.

 

I think there are two different things at work here tachycardia and anxiety attacks.

The vaporizer might be better for this person because it doesn't induce as much anxiety.

The increased heart rate is unavoidable, it is a 'side effect' of marijuana use.

It could be that the initial tachycardia is making you overly concious of your heart beat and is in turn inducing an anxiety attack.

If you have anxiety to the point that you are hyperventilating and/or feeling dizzy you can breathe into a paper bag to calm down. This works because the CO2 content of the air you breath builds up in the paper bag and in turn goes into your blood. This reduces feelings of dizziness and tingling extremities.

But I'm no doctor.

 

Cannabis use is associated with decreased blood pressure, and I've never heard of anybody dying from a heart related condition due to smoking cannabis. In fact, due to helping with blood pressure, cannabis should be good for heart conditions. In any case, I'm sure hemp oil would clear up the heart problem, but smoking is always an ambiguous delivery method.

 

The smoke has nothing to do with it, you can get this increase in heart rate by eating brownies too. THC lowers your blood sugar and blood pressure meaning that you brain needs more blood to function properly so the heart beats faster in order to supply it, it has little long term effects, and is no worse than excecising. higher tolerance and eating reduces this feeling.

 

The increased heartbeat caused by THC is purely mental and not physiological. Unlike drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, in which these drugs directly affect the parts of the brain that control heart rate, THC does not affect these areas because if it did, it would be possible to overdose from THC.

There are two forms of tolerance to a drug. Physical and psychological tolerance. Phyiscal tolerance refers to your brain's receptors being more receptive to a drug as it is taken in by the body more and more. Psychological tolerance is you basically "getting used" to the effects of the drug. For those who have a very low psychological tolerance to THC, heart rate can increase a good amount because of the novelty effects. THC causes an increase in sensitivity. Hearing is sharpened, vision is sharpened, touch, taste, and smell are all amplifiied. This can be overwhelming to new users which can cause anxiety which in turn causes the heart rate to rise. For regular users, the increase in sensitivity is nothing new and they are accustomed to the effects. Regular users show little or no increase in heart rate.

 

Documented scholarly journals or articles? I'd really like to see. Because if this happened then the anti-marijuana ppl would have a huge field day as well as a shitload of ammunition to use against us.

 

See this - taken from: Secrets underlie lethal heart condition - long QT syndrome | Science News | Find Articles at BNET

Scientists have recently come to suspect that a low-protein diet or drug use can also trigger the heart problem in people with long QT syndrome. Several people with the condition have died while smoking marijuana, and one died while using cocaine, Vincent says. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some prescription medications may also exacerbate the condition.

Sorry - You are wrong. THC directly affects heart rate and blood pressure - thus it affects the autonomic nervous system:

Effect of Acute Marijuana on Cardiovascular Function and Central Nervous System Pharmacokinetics of [15O]Water: Effect in Occasional and Chronic Users -- Ponto et al. 44 (7): 751 -- The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology

This is what I've been trying to say for ever now... MJ affects your ANS, and it CAN kill you if you have certain medical conditions... But noooooo... So many people want to live in fairy tale land and pretennd that MJ is perfectly harmless.

 

It's gonna take me a while to go through that entire journal, but I have some information gathered myself. Basically THC affects both CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB2 receptors are found almost entirely in the immune system and have no psychoactive effects. Cannabinoid receptor 2 (macrophage) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The vast majority of CB1 receptors are found in the limbic system Limbic system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. While the limbic system does control heart rate, it does not control it the way you are thinking Cannabinoid receptor type 1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The limbic system mainly functions as the center for pleasure, emotion, memory, behavior, and the senses. It also serves as the body's flight or flight response. In this sense, the limbic system is one of the oldest parts of the brain because the fear response was essential to our survival. Though there are varying levels of CB1 expression located in the brain stem, an area that controls heart rate, CB1 receptors are only located in the area of the brain stem that helps control pain, and not heart rate.

Having said that, it is this fear center in the limbic system that I believe is affected by the CB1 receptors, and this fear center has indirect control of the heart rate by activating the body's fear response. Since the limbic system is rich in CB1 receptors, it is evident where the increased heart rate comes from because anxiety is a very common side effect of THC. Therefore, you can say that THC affects the heart rate, but only in an indirect sense.

Now keep in mind this is just my speculation, but according the the study that you posted:

Chronic users reported significantly lower "highness" ratings (p = 0.003), lower heart rates (p = 0.008), and smaller HR changes (p = 0.02), resulting in reduced RPP and RPP changes (p = 0.03), than occasional users, even though the peak and injection-specific THC concentrations were higher. The MJ-induced changes in highness (p < 0.001), heart rate, and RPP (p = 0.04) attenuated more quickly in the chronic than in the occasional users. Changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, arrival time of the bolus, and [15O]water brain concentration were not significantly different between the groups (i.e., "chronic use" was nonsignificant).


This make sense because chronic users (according to the study you posted, is defined as an at least once a day smoker), has a much higher psychological tolerance. They know the feeling of getting high quite well and are very much accustomed to it. Occasional users (defined as at most once a week smokers), are the only ones who showed signs of significant increases in heart rate, and this makes sense too because psychological tolerance for these users are much lower. This helps back up what I've researched; that CB1 receptors effects on the limbic system are primarily responsible for the increase in heart rate.

What I am basically saying from all of this is that while smoking may contribute to someone's already deteriorating heart condition, there is no way that it can or has killed someone with such a condition, especially if it is a chronic marijuana user with a heart condition (which of course there are many, how can you account for any deaths from those people?). Think about it, that kind of information would be thrown around all over Fox News, newspapers, Above the Influence Ads. It is not a strong enough ammunition for any anti-marijuana people to use. We can't conclude such information.

 

I don't smoke anything. But i was looking up about it because aspire to be a cardiologist. The person that said how does it increase the heart rate is the question is a really good question. And the people answering say things that don't make sense. You can't increase your blood pressure and your heart rate at the same time. When your blood pressure increases your heart rate decreases and vice versa. The person who is asking the question of how does it do it is very scientific minded.

So, yeah, is thc effecting the blood pressure first, or the heart rate first? That really is the question. I read somewhere, maybe here that anytime you have a toxin in your body, your cells send some shit to your heart to say to speed up. This would cause your blood pressure to drop because you have receptors on the walls of the veins that are freaking out because your heart rate sped up. You see, the veins don't know you just smoked pot. They just think something is wrong with the heart. So the veins dilate do to what the fuck is going on, and since they are bigger, blood pressure reduces. I hope I cleared that up if other people haven't. If i'm wrong sorry, i'm pontificating.

 

My mother quit smoking because she said it made her blood pressure go sky high. She was already diagnosed with HBP and only smoked casually very rarely.

 

I have done a lot of research on this topic.

Smoking marijuana lowers blood pressure, therefore, increasing heart rate.
If someone is more susceptible to heart attack/heart problems, smoking could be a problem, but in my research, I haven't read anything about it being an issue for people who don't have those problems already.

 

When you have vasodilation, your heart rate increases to keep your blood pressure up. Same thing happens when you take a hot shower, eat spicy foods...

Side note: Pharmacutical vasodilators, and their mechanisms of action:

CV Pharmacology: Vasodilators

 

i just wrote some excellent responces but this horrible site said i wasn't logged in when i was. my email is zprl3@goldmail.etsu.edu if anybody wants to talk, direct it to my email. peace.

 

Nothing is perfectly harmless. You simply have to question if cannabis is any more harmful than drinking a glass of iced tea, which also has been known to cause death in long QT syndrome. Until we are able to identify and inform individuals with channelopathies such as long QT, they will continue to die regularly from many common human behaviors (a classic example is kickball) and a wide variety of medications. If they do not know about their condition, and are not receiving care for it, then their lives are at high risk with even the most basic activities of normal life, the risk from cannabis being somewhere in there with "getting out of bed"

or, getting into bed...

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/qt/qt_whatis.html

Here is the list of all pharmaceutical drugs which have to be avoided by patients with Long QT syndrome. Its a very extensive list.

http://www.azcert.org/medical-pros/drug-lists/list-03.cfm?sort=Brand_name

If you have a family member with long QT syndrome, please consider asking your physician about genetic testing

http://www.mayoclinic.org/long-qt-syndrome/diagnosis.html

 

tharedhead: it works both way, if your heart speeds up, your veins dilation. So, the question was which does weed affect. It can't effect both at the same time. One has to initiate for the other to occur. Pontificating.

 

Oh i get it. Sorry, you didn't provide any sentence structure, just a link. You can't do stuff like that when you want to teach people. No offense. Sentences are king.

 

I'm too senile to make complete sentences. I just point at stuff and grunt.

 

I supposed each is entitled to their own method.