View Full Version : Are panic attacks linked to drug use?
When I was young (im 26 now).. but from 16 - 23 I used to be heavy into the raving scene, used to go clubbing about 3 or 4 times a week, used to take a lot of E, sometimes 12 a night, coke, speed you name it.
I saw the light and stopped suddenly. A couple of years later I had my first panic attack.
Do you think these are realted? Is there any studies about this?
I am honsetly so anti drugs now cause I feel I am paying the price for those raving days :-(
In my case they are definitely related
Lindalou64
10-08-07, 15:02
HI KITTY,
im not a professional but from readin and my own experience im sure it dont help matters,i know it can affect you in some mental physical way....it all has to come from the nerve system...............tc Linda xx
:) hi kitty kate, i would say that yes they can be connected, but maybe youll never know? its like saying well if i went back and didnt do drugs would i have a panic attack? and the answer is you will never ever know!
hard i know but true, so maybe try to forget whether your drug taking caused it and just try not be worried about them, you can live your life and still have panic attacks!!:yesyes:
Dying_Swan
10-08-07, 17:03
Hiya.
Yes, I do think drugs can be related. I'm not sure if there's any evidence for this, although I would imagine studies have been done.
Perhaps if you were someone who was already a little pre-disposed to anxiety, the drug use just tipped it? I guess you'll never know for sure, but well done for kicking them. Just remember that past drug use won't stop you from getting better :)
xx
Silly thing is Prozac started mine off
:ohmy: well i wouldnt say prozac started mine, because i had taken it twice successfully, but i have been freaked out about prescription drugs ever since i tried it for the third time and had a terrible reaction to it!!! the other 2 times i didnt even know i was taking it, but this time omg i was sooooooo ill, and i stuck it for 2 weeks! then tried it again but with the same results, and the rest is history, after that i also went from bad to worse!
Scarlett77
11-08-07, 00:54
I think it depends - sorry to be so vague! I did a fair amount of E and coke in my early 20's, and haven't noticed any long term ill effects. I did used to notice that E made me extremely depressed for a couple of days after i took it, but i just thought that was to be expected after the initial high. But then i had panic attacks, etc before so i realise it probably effects everyone differently.
I do think cannabis makes you thicker, have no energy and put on weight!
Like you i am heavily anti drugs now. I would just say forget about the past - after all, like me, there's nothing you can do about it now - and concentrate on now.
I hope everything works out for you. Take care,
Scarlett x
Hi there I think that drugs especially cocaine & majuana can induce panic, though as I understand, as you are taking them, not two years later, I suspect your past drug use is NOT to blame so don't punish yourself. I used to do a lot of recreational drugs and also stopped a few years ago. I have tried them a handful of times since and each time it has induced panic either immediately or the next day - so I know I can never touch them again, in the same way that I know drinking too much will also result in panic the next day.
I used to torture myself that my previous excesses were responsible for my mental state but can trace back my OCD to adolesense and first panic attacks to uni before I had ever tried any dodgy substances so I reckon I would have been like this anyway. What I do know is that I will never take anything again as I don't have the mental consitution to handle it anymore!
Try not to dwell on this too much, as people have mentioned you can't change the past so it is wasted energy thinking about it. xxx
kilometres
14-08-07, 01:58
The 1st and most violent attack i suffered was after smoking a joint by myself whilst drinking, and whilst i was at a low point in my life. Drugs have the ability to cause minor and major changes in mental and physical state, some mind altering drugs such as lsd and weed cause mental disorders, like with me and you, and we all know what heroin and crack can do to people. As for affects of drugs after you "saw the light" i know several people who say they never saw life the same way after dropping acid.
I spoke to my sister and told her my attacks were down to weed, to which she replied i had a bad trip on acid when i was your age:ohmy: . So now, even though she has a husband and son and lives a straight life, she still has flashbacks to that point.
I hope this helps
any kind of stimulant ie amphetamine, E, MDMA, caffeine, energy drinks etc can and will affect your nervous system, its what they are meant to do but the non-PA sufferer will accept the stimualtion where as we fear it!!
i dont do coffee or red bull, or even coca cola cause now i'm highly sensitive to it. i only consume the above when i need to be up for something like a football match or a night out.
I've always found cocaine to be the best drug as theres no come down, no nervousness, no anxiety.
i've grown out of that now in the fact that i can enjoy a night out easily, probably better actually without any ching banged stuck up my big nostrils!!!
thta's not to say i wont try anything ever again, cause i'm open-minded and i feel life is for living, like literally, i wont be caged sorta thing...but its good to know and to have experienced the good and bad points of drugs...the same can be said for drink, for jobs, for relationships, for marriages!!!!
point is once ya know, ya know and dont let anything rule ya cause when ya dead no one is gonna remember you for being average!!
neon_skyline
14-08-07, 23:05
when i was young i used to take a lot of recreational drugs (mainly ecstasy). i stopped and started again, then stopped and started only using speed occassionally. i had my first panic attack on a speed come down and thought i was having a heart attack. it made me stop everything, even smoking. the only time i gave in and smoked a joint i had a terrible panic attack which took ages to recover from. that was in march this year. now i only drink and even that is not to excess but my anxiety remains and has now developed into extreme health anxiety, as if my body has gone from not caring to caring far too much. i believe the drugs started all this, and believe they are partly responsible for it carrying on (maybe partly its guilt for not stopping soon enough, maybe it's something to do with the effects that everything's had on my brain). drugs alter your mental state and make you wonder what is reasonable/rational etc so in my experience they are definitely related to anxiety. hope this helps hun! sally x
Hi Kitty, :hugs:
This is something that I have never looked into, so can't answer your quetions, sorry :lac:
But what I will say Kitty is, please, please, don't be to hard on yourself
***I am honsetly so anti drugs now cause I feel I am paying the price for those raving days :-(**** this line of thinking will only feed your anxiety.
We all make mistakes in life, but its how we deal with them and learn from them and move on, thats what counts.
We all look for the reasons are panic, anxiety started, YES, there is one for each and every one of us, but somethimes finding it is the hardest part.
If you think that taking the drugs was your reasons to start panic, then look to the more positive side of things, YOU STOPPED, it must have been sooooo hard for you at that time, BUT YOU DID IT, be proud of yourself for that Kitty, :hugs:
You take care hun, :hugs:
LOVE JILLXXX
i believe my attacks/anxiety are linked to recreational drug taking, as i had my first major panic attack a few days after a bit of a binge. id stopped taking them then had a relapse as i was hammered and was unfortunately unable to say no.
my anxiety is on the whole constantly an issue during the week at work, but had been getting better.
i had another, much smaller relapse on fri night(took 1 E, compared to the past weer it could be anything up2 7) and feel like im suffering for it again this week, as my sleeps been awful and i feel terrible at work, much worse than recently.
Drugs can be related I guess. I don't think your drug use is related to your panic attacks, as it took a couple of years after you stopped for you to have an attack. Don't be hard on yourself:hugs:Panic attacks can strike at anytime I guess Main course is stress I think. I have never touched any drugs but I still suffer with panic attacks.
Thanks for the input peeps x
I'm so glad someone brought this up! :D
I haven't come across a study into this yet but if anyone has the resources & know how to do one, I'd be happy to offer myself up as a case study/guineapig! I don't know how you would go about testing the link but I would LOVE to know - Not cos I want to blame anything on my mispent youth; simply cos I am intrigued at how the human brain works!
I'm 25 now; I smoked weed heavily from 14/15 (tried speed/coke a bit later but hated snorting things so never became a regular thing) then got into E at 17. Stopped the E around 22 + stopped the weed a few months ago. I haven't really drawn a line under it as such; I just kind of grew out of it & it doesn't have a place in my life right now.
Did you ever have a bad experience on drugs? I didn't so thats why I find it hard to associate it with the hellish moments I've had during anxiety/panic attacks. I do wonder though, if perhaps we have introduced a chemical imbalance in our brains which even years on, our bodies are still trying to redress....?
As much as the highs were always amazing, I did have some intense come downs in the early days which is what depression feels like to me now. I also remember an incident at Glastonbury a few years ago, after taking 8 pills, everyone else crashed out but I was still buzzing & began "tidying" our camping area (+ a 20 metre radius around it!) for 6 hours! I organised all our belongings into catagories, arranged the rocks around the fire pit in a perfect circle, laid all the logs in parallel lines, then scoured the entire area for rubbish + cigarette butts; checking every blade of grass like a forensic search team! By the morning I had transformed it into eden! I can definitely relate getting so overly involed in a random, pointless task to times when my OCD is bad now.
So whilst I can draw comparisons with feelings I now consider a problem & experiences on drugs that were just amusing at the time; for me, I feel there is actually a positive link between the two. When you've dropped a couple of pills & your heart starts racing, you get dizzy & lightheaded, you are overwhelmed with emotions, you start to smell colours, taste emotions, hear the earth breathing (!) your face goes numb & you can see yourself from 2 metres away; its easy to 'talk youself down' - You know its just the chemicals you've put into your body making these things seem real & you can relax & enjoy the sensations, that you know won't last for more than 8 or so hours.
Having very similar feelings when you are anxious/panicking can be scary because you feel out of control & there is seemingly no reason for it - "Am I losing my mind? Why is this happening? When will it stop?" - so you panic more. When really it is just the chemicals found naturally in your body making these things happen, so personally I 'talk myself down' in the same way & it works for me. I think having had so much practice with this 'conscious control' during drug taking, I have an almost instinctive response now.
The other point of curiousity for me is, what the hell did I put into my body? Before we discovered pure MDMA powder, we used to take pills of all colours, speckles & shapes & there was a slightly different edge to the high you got from each type. I think this is because they were mixed with different things each time (horse tranquilisers, Ajax - god knows) so although we know MDMA (Ecstasy) effects serotonin levels; what the hell does the other stuff do? Even when I just think about ecstasy or talk about it, I get a little placebo high (like a mini come up) which to me suggests there may be a permanent change in my brain chemistry. Several of my friends who used to take stuff with me all experience the same phenomenon, like 'drug recall' or something?! Does anyone else get this?
What a great thread! Sorry for the rambling reply but (incase I haven't mentioned it 10 times already) I'm really curious about this!
Take care,
Love CarpeDiem
xxxxxx
Doh.
I killed the thread with my rambling ways...... Ho hum.
:doh:
Hi Carpe,
Interesting way of looking at things - I will try "talking myself down" in future and see if it works!
I think it is difficult to establish a causal relationship between anxiety and drug taking as it would be very difficult to establish which came first. Many anxiety sufferers self medicate with drugs and alcohol.
My anxiety and OCD started in my late teens though I did not recognise it or what it was until my thirties. I went through a phase of taking recreational drugs every weekend a few years back and I remember vividly that I used to describe it and promote it as a way of "going on holiday from myself" for a few hours.
I didn't recognise I had an anxiety disorder at the time however I did recognise that taking e was a way to find peace for a few hours.
I often ruminate about whether I made my condition worse by doing this and I am full of self loathing - Conversly I sometimes wish I could still go on those "holidays" every now and again, however alas, a sniff of a chemical these days now sends me into orbit!
Those days are definately consigned to the past with me, alongside glowsticks and whistles, though I did go to the Leeds Festival this weekend so perhaps all is not lost!
:)
I have always wondered myself that exact question. I was a raver too- 28 now and do a bit of coke now and then. I stopped for ages and because I was feeling me again THEN had a couple of lines- then for a couple of days feel anxious again. I guess I have confirmed it for me- its crap!!! It does make me anxious and stressy :O( We all learn in our own way. I went to counselling for my anxiety and she believed it was my childhood etc that triggered it. I have been so anxious that if I did anything again it would trigger it all off again. Is it anxiety or paranoia from the drugs hmmmmm :O)
:) Hi Greeneyed :)
You're right - Its a bit of a chicken/egg scenario, huh?
Its strange though - I never found the experiences I had like a holiday from myself more a holiday into my mind - One of the main reasons I wouldn't want to do them now as there's a lot of dark stuff lurking in there now & its hard enough to confront normally, I think it might be a bit much under the influence.
I hope the "talking down" method works out for you.... maybe I should write a book??!!! Ha ha.
The glow sticks & whistles may be gone but the smileys are back with a vengance>>>>>>>>> :) ! Ha ha. Hope you had fun at Leeds?
CarpeDiem
xxxxxx
PS - I'm glad you were willing to share your take on this - I thought the thread was dead!
I can tell you that I've never taken any kind of recreational drug in my life unless you count an occassional drink of alcohol. I experience panic attacks that are 20 on a scale of 1 to 10. Drugs may cause panic and anxiety, but it's definitely not the only cause.
For me, it started on a plane trip. I was perfectly calm and had flown a lot. Sitting in my seat, I experienced a major irregular heartbeat out of the blue. I thought I was having a heart attack and was going to die. The plane was landing in about 10 minutes so I sat there grasping the arm rests waiting to land and hoping I would make it to the hospital. I was frozen in my seat and couldn't say or do anything. I had heard the phrase many times before, "minutes seemed like hours". I didn't fully understand it until I was waiting to get off that plane. It took forever. By the time I got into the airport, I realized that I wasn't in imminent danger and I decided to keep what happened to myself. However, when I went to get back on a plane for the return trip a week later, I couldn't do it. I was in complete terror. I couldn't breath.
My theory which is based only on personal experience is that anything can trigger a true feeling of imminent death. I don't know if all people who experience it react in the same way. Once it triggered in me, there was no going back. Most emotions like happiness, anger, sadness, etc. are part of a person from the time they are a baby. Panic may be innate in some people. I don't know. My guess is that it generally needs a trigger to be released. It could be caused by an experience like I had, or by drugs, or come from out of nowhere.
I'm not talking about fear. Everyone experiences fear. I'm talking about uncontrollable panic. Some people stand near the edge of a cliff and think about falling off and get scared. That's not it. Those people would need to jump off the edge to experience what true panic feels like.
I'm surprised that other people haven't chimed in before me (unless I accidently missed the posts) and said that their panic is not drug related. Perhaps it's because the thread was asking specifically about drug use. It does make me wonder if doctors assume that people with panic are hiding past drug use. Thanks for bringing up the question.
Southern_Belle
28-08-07, 18:35
Hi,
I had never done drugs of any type illegal or otherwise until my 40's when I was put on an anxiety med by my doctor. I have had anxiety my whole life though so I guess mine is not drug related.
By the way, what is raving?
Thanks,
Laura
MattAsbury
29-08-07, 16:06
I used to take 'recreational drugs' but i dont link my panic to them. I think once you have a panic attack you look for things that may have caused them. I know a lot of people who have regularly and still do use stimulants and they are fine.
A panic attack to me does feel similar to 'coming up' and i first made that assumption and wondered if there was a link but the more i have read and thought about things i have dropped the guilt and tried to focus on moving on. Dont beat yourself up over it:hugs:
Aww thanks Matt. I guess its the fear of the unknown and not being in control!
I'm new here and this is my first post. It started off as a simple reply to this thread topic but turned into a life story, lol. Sorry.
I also used to be a raver and used a wide veriety of recreational drugs. Currently I'm in the process of learning how all the drugs effect me. It's seems that since I have developed the panic disorder, everything I used to do effects me differently. I have found that I cannot do coke anymore, it sends me into immediate panic. As for E, I don't feel the panic at all while I'm high, but the come down and the next few days are terrible. Same goes with alcohol. Being drunk...ok. Hung-over....very panicky. The only drug I still do is ketamine. It is a sedative so it has little effect on the panic unless I used large quantities. I'm trying to get off it now because I'm beginning to find that I'm not doing it for the same reasons I used to. Used to be I would do it to have fun, now it only seems that I do it when I'm going through a rough patch. When I do it for the negotive reasons, I use alot and the last time I did this, I ended up crying for hours and wanting to end my life. Changes are definenly being made as I am learning about this thing disorder. I always think that my past drug use has brought me to my current state. It wasn't until the panic attacks started that I told my parents about my drug use. For me the drug use is definently connected, but not in a physical way. All this time using drugs there was a darker monster forming in my mind.......guilt. When I told my parents about everything I was overwhelmed with guilt and my anxiety hit an all time low. It started effecting my life more then ever. I simply couldn't function in the world. All my attention needed to focused on not "losing my mind." I would keep telling my friends that I think I'm going crazy. I feel that I always need to warm people about my unstability because incase I start panicing, they were warned. I warn because of the guilt. Anytime someone tries to help me with this I feel like a burdon. I think people just think I'm lazy and don't care, when really I'm tired and unable to focus. So now I'm on Celexa for the depression, Ativan for the attacks, and Amoran to help me stay asleep. I hate pharmaseuticals more then recreational drugs but I didn't know what else to do.
I think panic is something that is only going to become more common in society unless something drastic changes about how society functions. I think these disorders are triggered by our way of life. We live in a society that is constantly improving "safety." Doing everything we can to make life less scary and risky. It is part of life to experience times where you feel your in danger. If you never take any real risks, your mind compensates by making events which in the past were commen place, seem like the event that could end your life. To better explain what I mean. I never have to worry every day that while I sleep, a lion might tear me to shreads. I never have to worry about not having any food tomorrow. However, I do worry that my heart might stop beating or I might go insane. Why? Because of all the stupid things I done in that past that were harmful to myself. Because of all the things I took for granted.
Again sorry about that long post. I really needed to get all this out. Typing thins got me through an attack!
Awww thanks for the replys people :hugs:
I also get very panicy when I'm hungover, the same as I did coming down.
I still think the E's had something to do with my anxiety, I dont know any other way that this could just happen to me?
Kate x
Hi Kate :D
Ohh you have had great replies to you thread :yesyes:
**I also get very panicy when I'm hungover, the same as I did coming down**
There is a reason for this, panic can link into our past, it does this with ease, anything we have been scared off in our past, Mr panic WILL focus on this to scare you more, as you know panic cannot happen without fear. Being hungover, can and does at times trigger anxiety, a hangover to none suffers is, the shekes, feeling cold, feeling unwell, ohh boy, these are feeling of high anxiety and panic too, so our mind responds very quickly and we get scared, hence the panciy feeling, at these times you should try dame hard to reasure yourself.
Ohhh, this is not easy at time's. When I was acute. I made a diccission that I would STOP drinking alcahol, I told myself, just for now, just untill I can understand things a little more, not only about pa, anxiety, but what triggers it too. Please take time to read all threads regarding drinking, it helps.
**I still think the E's had something to do with my anxiety, I dont know any other way that this could just happen to me?**
It can be dame hard finding the reasons why we are suffering, as I said, if you feel this IS your reason and you can see no other, can you settle your mind with this? I have found my reason, I had to be totaly happy with that reason, (looking for a better word than happy, but can't find one LOL) but do you know what I mean? Look to this reason and say, there is nothing I can do about the past, I can't change it, but learn form it and look to the future on how I can HELP MYSELF NOW.
I was at first, NOT HAPPY, with what I found triggered my pa's, high anxiety, but I know dame well at that time, this NOT being happy with what I found was feeding my anxeity, I was feeling sorry for myself, feeling that all my life I have had probs and if only someone had recognised it, I could have adressed in very early on in my life :lac: I was beating myself up about it, ohh not good for pa, anxiety sufferer:lac:
I have allways believed it IS possible to get better, this site has tought me that, in my way of thinking without this belief,the hope, we undermine everthing we are trying to learn. I am panic, high anxiety free, ohhh this site is great, I owe it alot :yesyes: BUT still have issues I need to address, so this is why I still may have some lower level of anxiety, the last high anxiety I had was last year, but again, there was a reason for this, and that involed flying, opppsss, the first time I had a pa was flying, again, my mind responding to past truma, I have learned alot from this site and used distraction to stop it from going full blown panic.
Kate, be kind to yourself, some people still can drink, but some people feel that at this point in there life, just for now,they can't. This one is up to each person. I myself can have a few or toooo many drinks LOL but I know, when my anxiety levels are higher than normal and at these times, I just don't touch the stuff.
When I went on a touring holiday, I know dame well that for me, early mornings, late nights, ohh boy, I cannot drink alcahol, this is a no, no, for me, but I still can have a night out now and again, if I keep my day clear the next morning and lay about all next day LOL
ohh woffling here, talking rubbish, hehe LOL, I have probs with lack of confidence but working on it all the time, hehe, the mind is a powerfull thing, its knowing how to use that power, thats the hard bit LOL
You take care hun :hugs: :flowers:
Wishing you well
LOVE JILLXXX
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