DOSE:	repeated	oral	Alcohol	(liquid)
	1 bowl	smoked	Cannabis	(plant material)

BODY WEIGHT:

250 lb

I'd been drinking some beer. After about six hours of drinking, I'd had a small glass flask of Jim Beam. Nothing really to get me drunk. I'm a big guy, and I drink a great deal. I went over to someone's place, had a few 16 oz beers, and began smoking a few bowls of pot. After a bowl or two, I felt exceptionally uncomfortable. Like the room was stuffy, and I just needed some fresh air. I excused myself. The group thought I was going to vomit. But I wasn't, and I didn't.

Outside, I felt my heartbeat. It was fast. Really fast. I started walking around a bit, and my pulse just got faster and faster. My lady friend came out to see if I was okay, since I'd been outside for a while. I told her that my pulse was racing. She checked. 180 beats per minute. Fucking nuts.

We went to the emergency room. I felt like I was going to die. I really thought I was going to die. In the emergency room the doctors were asshole motherfuckers. They checked my pulse, ran a drug screen, checked for intoxication. Oddly, the thing they cared the most about was the alcohol, saying 'You've had a lot to drink.' Shit man, I was just getting started. It really was a light evening for me. The paramedic thought it was laced with meth. Perhaps, but nobody else experienced anything like I did. After some lactated ringers, and about an hour in the hospital, my pulse was down to 80 bpm. Maybe the IV fluids helped, I don't know. The drug screen came back clean. I had a BAC of .0625. Not even legally drunk.

I was scared shitless at the time, with my pulse racing like that. So I gave up pot for a while. I'd forgotten about the incident for a few months, and smoked again. Same thing: racing heart. But this time, I stayed calm. Thinking of the racing heart added fuel to the fire. Sure, my heart beat faster because of the weed, but worrying about it just made it beat faster. So I read High Times magazine for a while, and things were kosher.

I've smoked about a half-dozen times since then, and in nearly every case, the pot made my heart really pump. It seems to be proportional to the amount I smoke. If I really dose it up, I get some pretty bad heart palpitations. But just a few hits of kind bud, and I'm quite alright.

In pot's defense, booze does the same thing. I think I just have a weak fucking heart.

But my advice: go easy on the weed. I've asked numerous people their experiences and most agree that their hearts do indeed beat faster. So I don't think it's much to worry about. But if it happens to you, take it easy. Slow down. Read a book. Stay calm. Listen to music or something. I find that a warm bath helps if things aren't going well. Get away from large groups and just hang out with some friends.

That fucking emergency room visit for an hour cost me almost $1000. So you'd better be damn well sure you're going to die if you go that route. I found that the time itself mitigates the racing heart. That hour there was what I needed to stay calm.

There once was a time when I could party like a rockstar. Smoking so much pot that we were too stoned to put the bong to our mouths. Man, we were fucked up. Zero motor control. Constant laughing. Complete euphoria. Those days have passed, I guess.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 21484
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 15, 2003	Views: 14,942
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Cannabis (1) : Health Problems (27), Post Trip Problems (8), Difficult Experiences (5), Small Group (2-9) (17)