hashforbeginner

Hey all, its been a while since I last posted or even looked at this forum, and I'm truly sorry, but I'm turning to you guys again for yet another smoking related problem that I need to be answered without instant bias.

firstly let me note that i have a heart problem. it has never been documented, except by one school nurse in the 8th grade. It happens completely randomly, does not matter whether im engaged in heavy lifting or having a conversation over breakfast. It causes my heart rate to speed up to around 200 to 220 bpm and while i can't just stop it, ive been taught a number of techniques to cause my heart to get back on track and they have worked in the past. It is also important to note that i went to Johns Hopkins Medical Center this past year and i was cleared for complete sports participation by the chief cardiologist there. Lastly, my heart problem has never gone off while I have been smoking, or while ive been high at all. There are also no physical indicators of my problem at all when it is not going off.

Anywho...

I've been smoking pot since the probably 2/3 of the way through my freshman year. It started off sparingly and by the summer, I was smoking like once a day when I could... (not large amounts mind you, just a little bit here and there). That continued until at the end of 9th grade I moved back to the states but during the layaway, i spent a month in France. I did not smoke at all there, in fact i worked out a bunch and tried to go running as often as possible. In 10th grade, I didn't know anybody at my highschool but i worked at baskin robbins and after about a couple months (id say october/decemberish) I began to smoke with my coworkers. This started probably the most intense period of smoking in my life. From then, I used to smoke everyday, a blunt afterschool, before football games etc. but by feb/march, my parents caught on and i had to tone it down. I started back up again near the end of the school year, and all during the summer, in Junior year i also smoked, i can't say if it was everyday or whatver but it was frequent. *side note* i may smoke a lot but i dont let it get the best of me, ive always done my homework and i participate in lots of sports, including soccer, and last year we had to run 5 miles in 40 minutes and i made it, even having smoked for 2 and a half years.* so now im in my last year of highschool and admittidly, ive been hitting waterfalls/gravity bongs everyday almost since the year has started. I know its bad, I know its stupid, I know its uneeded and I think the events of this past friday have finally caused me to realize that.

This last friday
I had left school and went to my friends house after picking up some weed from this dude. I was eager to go there because I hadn't hit our bong (me and my friends went halvsies on a 2ft monster, no brand names but sheer volume) for a while. We get there and we crack open a beer, one beer, for refreshment and proceed to hit the bong. there are 4 of us. we hit maybe 3 to 4 bowls? big bowls mind you, the bowl fits like a gram if needed but only probably held like .4, .5 for these ones. I took a bunch of rips. probably no more than 10 and had 2/3 of a marlboro light 100 cigarette. We were all feeling pretty good. I was supposed to be at the school locker rooms in about an hour to change up for a football game, but i wasnt going to be playing so i figured id come buzzed as many of my friends who are in my same situation do. We went inside and played some pingpong for a bit, i was completely fine, still high for sure, but fine. This went on for about 15 some minutes until my friend said he needed a ride back and we should get going (we all had somewhere to be so we were all going to leave at the same time) as i was waiting for my last round on the pingpong table before i left, I suddenly felt an intense pain in my chest right around where my heart was, on the left side only. I immediatly got a huge head rush and my vision began to blur and i said to my friend "dude i think im having a panic attack". As the pain kept coming, i thought it might be the heart problem i had so i sat down, and did these techniques that i was taught to do, clenching all my body parts at the same time to slow my heart rate down and massaging the jugular veins to restrict blood flow. It worked to a degree, the pain was still coming but it had lessened and i felt weak, but okay. I was a little in shock and my friends were skeptical. one friend whose house it was knew i had a heart problem. so we went outide and i got into my car and was about to drive off after we all said bye ( my friends were still there) and suddenly it happened again, and the pain came back. I could tell that it wasn't my heart problem at this point because the feeling was different and my heart wasnt racing like it usually does with the heart problem. I was worried that was having some kind of a heart attack. The pain was really intense and my left side, where the heart and lung is located began to feel very intensely warm, way warmer than the rest of my body, almost like somebody was pouring warm water on the inside of my body. suddenly i began to get hot and cold flashes on different parts of my body and i began to really panic. My heart felt like it was over worked and these bouts of pain kept coming. I didnt know what to do. I could still walk and talk so me and my friends talked about what to do. I said it was really painful and i thought i should call 911, even if just to see if my problem was cause for worry. all my friends being stoned, didnt know what to do but they didnt want to be in trouble for smoking. I called my mom, who didnt believe me at all and thought i was making it up to get out of coming home, and that stressed me and increased the pain even more. I finally decided with my friends that id call 911. they waited for me to call and when they were sure an ambulance was coming i gave them the ok to leave. as the ambulance neared and the sirens grew closer, my heart started to speed, i began to panic, i began to get very light headed and was hyperventilating. I used a meditation technique and focused on a single rock on the ground despite the pain and the lightheadedness and managed to calm down a little. ambulance came took my blood pressure which was elevated and my pulse which was a little about 145 and then i was taken to the hospital. once there, i was still in pain but my heart rate had decreased and so did my blood pressure. In fact the only thing the doctors had to go on was that i was saying that i was still in pain. they took a blood sample and x rayed me and the doctor said that there was nothing physically wrong at all. I got some motrin, this was about an 2 hours to two hours and a half after this thing initally started. I could feel the pain start to go away and i was much calmer and gradually it all stopped and i felt fine again. the staff asked me if had used any drugs etc and i told them i had only smoked 2 cigarettes. She said that she thought i had had a panic/anxiety attack. *i was not particularly stressed or panicky at all before the event took place, my heart rate was completely normal* I was released at night but missed my football game. The doctor said i needed to have a cardiologist ok me before i went back to football/lifting.

yesterday i went to a cardiologist who knew my heart problem and he took my blood pressure, did and ECG and told me that everything was completely normal and im good to go.

I have not smoked since friday, even though i have pot in my possession right now, but im fairly certain after yesterdays football practice in which after running a lot i was wheezing from both inhalation and exhalation, that the excessive bong rips as well as the cumulative effect from all of the gbs and waterfalls caused this thing, but i need some more opinions. My mom who knows i smoke but hates it constantly tells me that its because of that but i want an unbiased point of view. My older brother also told me to cut the smoking out, or atleast reduce it.

I dont want to stop smoking because i like it. But i have definitely already considered cutting it out completely during the week and reducing the intake sharply during weekends. I think i need to.

Any questions or comments would be appreciated, i really need help atm.

ps. it was not the weed, im sure of that. ive known this guy for a while and he has never sold me laced shit before. and none of my friends experienced anything except my one friend whose house it was said he did feel a little paranoid and panicky, but that may have just been because he hadnt smoked for like 3 weeks before hitting the bong and i was having this whole episode.

Mafoo

some bud can lead to intense rushes and panic, ive definitely felt panicky from taking huge bt's. also, smoking messes with your blood pressure, and i feel like bong rips do the same but even to a further extent. maybe you can try getting edibles? or vaping? you should ask around or see a different cardiologist, maybe you can find a specialist who focuses on diagnosing heart conditions like yours. who knows, it could be a psychological condition...

keep us upadated if you find out more info about whats going on

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