DOSE:		oral	Alcohol
	4 hits	smoked	Cannabis
	1	smoked	Tobacco - Cigarettes

BODY WEIGHT:

150 lb

BACKGROUND
I started smoking pot when I was 13. At 18 years old I was put on Effexor for anxiety. I had no problems with the combination of Effexor and marijuana during the time when I was doing both, but due to unpleasant withdrawals from Effexor because of a missed dose, I decided to ween off of it. I thought it relevant to include Effexor because others have reported the same experience I had. When I was 20 I experimented with meth and smoked pot while I was tweaking. I thought death was imminent that night. I had a horrible experience not uncommon to what others have reported when combining meth and pot. I never did meth again. A year after this experience, I took a Yellow Swarm (ephedrine) before going in to work and nearly collapsed from dizziness and shaking. I quit smoking pot soon after this to join the Navy. After I left the Navy, I began smoking pot again at the age of 25.

EXPERIENCE
I had to stop smoking pot because, about 25% of the time, I had the experience I am about to decribe. Sometimes when I was younger, I had the occaisional racing heart, shortness of breath, and such, but it was never bad enough to make me quit smoking. This is only one occaision but at least three others occured before I finally quit smoking.

I was at my sister's house, and she, my brother, myself, and a few other people had a few drinks. We stepped out on the porch to smoke a joint and I took about four deep power tokes. I stood there smoking a cigarette and started to feel dizzy.

I knew what was about to happen, but I didn't want anyone to think I couldn't handle my weed so I went to the bathroom. I stayed in there for about 45 minutes. When I first went in, I sat down on the edge of the tub trying to regain my composure. Within five minutes, I was lying on the floor. My heart was beating so hard that it hurt, and I was having trouble breathing. My body started uncontrollably convulsing and shaking although I was conscious and aware. I layed there as motionless as possible trying to lower my heartrate, but the convulsions kept getting worse. Every time I attempted to move, a terrible sensation rushed over me, forcing me to be still. I didn't think I would die or anything, but I was still frightened by the experience. I was calm and almost sleepy, so I knew that it wasn't anxiety that was causing this. This was a reaction of some sort. I am surprised I did not lose consciousness. After listening and feeling the awful, regular explosion of my heart for 35 more minutes or so, my brother knocked on the door and I managed to crawl to the handle and open it. I crawled the rest of the way to the recliner in the living room, and there I stayed for the rest of the night.

OBSERVATIONS
This happened a few more times before this, but it was this time that I decided to stop smoking. Maybe Effexor or meth produced some permanent chemical change in my Brain that made me intolerant to weed, I don't know. I have also noticed that smoking cigarettes immediately after a joint intensifies these symptoms.

I used to greatly enjoy smoking. I even felt the terrible pain of a divorce just lift off of me when I got high. I wasn't bothered by it. Time healed those wounds of course, but I don't know how I could have done it without marijuanna to cushion that blow. I really wish I could still smoke occaisionally but it seems that body simply won't tolerate it. The effects are VERY intense, and cannot be controlled as with panic attacks or other mind-over-matter problems, so I think that there is some chemical or physiological connection here.

Exp Year: 2005	ExpID: 59794
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jan 29, 2007	Views: 20,254
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Cannabis (1) : Health Problems (27), Small Group (2-9) (17)