Shortness of breath when smoking

As of most recently I'm considering to quit the bud, which I absolutely hate to do.

Every high as of the past week, with two strains, a mids sativa and a very dank hybrid, are giving me this issue. All it has taken lately is 1/2 a bowl, even less, and I get uncomfortably high. I feel little spasms in my chest, but a heart EKG says my heart is fine.

At first my high creeps on, then my chest gets tighter and I feel a shortness of breath each time, which as a result (and paranoia I'm hoping) leaves me panicing and at times hopping out off the chair and grabbing my chest, though it's not a chest pain so much as a feeling like gas is trapped in my chest. I used to smoke and not think about my heart or anything, now I get a little too focused on my blood pressure, heart, lungs, all at once with large paranoia??

Anyone else have a similar story? Or know if it's just the weed doing it? IDK.

I can run a fair distance and my heart gives no pains, so...

Well smoke in the lungs can/will give anyway shortness of breath. Sounds sounds like you're freaking yourself out before you smoke which is causing these problems and if you are freaking out prior to smoking chances are they will increase post smoking.

You're probably right, Derek. I've been smoking for 3 years and I never used to have any panic attacks. I'd just feel really high and at the worst my BP would rise, and I'd have veiny hands and such, but never the shortness of breath/concern for my chest like recently. I guess these are my first panic attacks with marijuana.

I've only had them whilst not smoking so this is all new to me.

I've gotten about 15 pounds skinnier as well, so perhaps it's just the muscles in my chest as it hasn't been this skinny in a while. I hate not knowing, I don't want to keel over one day while smoking and I guess that's the biggest worry suddenly.

Your sketching out your self before you smoke, just tak it slow and expect it to be a good high, works wonders man

Going for a bowl in a few. Will post with the effects. Only good thoughts and Game of Thrones shall guide this high.

This happens to a lot of people. sometimes for whatever reason getting high just isnt fun anymore. this usually means take a fairly long tolerance break and just try again in like a year. happened to a really good friend of mine, used to smoke a half a week for about a year then just started getting anxiety and panic attacks every time he smoked. took a 8 month break and now hes pretty much normal... mind you he probs smokes a joint every 3 days now but other then that its fine.

personally when i had my wisdom teeth out and still had oxycodone in my system and blazed i noticed it intensified the high like 20x. (wasn't necassarily a bad thing, tripping balls is fun sometimes. but i defently wasnt ready for the equivelent of a 2g shroom trip.) this made even 1/2 a bowl waaaaay too much. i took a break for a couple of months and now im back to normal.

in summary make sure you arn't mixing anything while blazing and that if you ever find it uncomfortable just take a fairly long break and things will return to normal. somtimes your body just wants to be sober.

At the moment I take a small dose of Adderall for ADD and a mood stabilizer, but they both had always increased my high and it's comfort.

I hear you with the shroom trip. Last night it felt like I had done a gram of them. In fact, my anxiety levels have gotten progressively worse since a shroom trip that blew my socks off and sent me to a death/rebirth trip with a lifetime of realization and emotion. I hope that that isn't what has creeped on me and has made things as so.

I think that it's just in my head. I doubt I'm going to seriously die, I just hate the spasms. Thanks for the replies.

just cough it out man. thats what i do. and i have asthma. lol

Getting a vaporizer REALLY helped me. Smoke tears my lungs up.

Figured it out, sorta.

My friend and his dank weed, who has also been my pick up for 2+ years, said the last weed I got off him was the strongest kush he's ever had, and I don't even want to think of how many strains he has devoured. I think that that might have pushed me into the panic attacks and then the placebo effect of thought later on.

I have some purple mids and the shortness of breath is not there, but the spasm has happened twice tonight though only lasting .5 of a second. I notice it only happens when my left arm is awkwardly elevated since I'm 6'3 and I sit in the computer chair weird.

I gotta admit though, a few of those panic attacks on Fri/Sat had me appreciating life so much because I was convinced my time had come. Crazy how instinctively I felt that threat was looming just from smoking bud and having a spasm or two. I'm a 3 year cig smoker as well so this is just one more factor that is pushing me into the proper mentality to quit.

Edited by infamousnugz, 22 May 2012 - 07:55 AM.

Definitely quit the cigarettes. I used to smoke rollups all day long but they gave me the chest tightness, coughing and hacking stuff up in the morning. Just smoke a few Js throughout the day instead..

I agree with you on the having lost weight thing. My weight fluctuates by up to 5-7 lbs through the moth and when it comes off my chest-ribs, it does feel like the skin/muscles over the chest/ribcage seem tighter like you just shrank in the laundry.

But let this be a lesson to you; it's important to know your body and what you want/don't want to put in it. I don't smoke it unless I know what it is and how much/when I decide to smoke it as a result.

Glad you got a positive experience out of all this in the end though x