TLDR: I took some shrooms for the first time and had a bad trip. It felt like I was having a heart attack. A month goes by and I continue to have similar experiences I had during the trip, randomly throughout the day: a sense of impeding doom; extreme anxiety; chest tightness: and even limb numbness. After going to the emergency room, everything comes out negative and these experiences aren’t as strong anymore, but I’m still having daily episodes.

Some background: I’ve experienced anxiety and depression my entire life, but I’ve never had a panic or anxiety attack before (just run-of-the-mill soul crushing sadness and despair). I don’t use drugs, except for an occasional joint or edible (neither of which seem to effect me very much). I’m not on any medication right now, but I’ve been on most of them at some point in my life.

About a month ago, my girlfriend and I went to this immersive art exhibit and, on a whim, I decided to try shrooms for the first time. (I knew this was a bad idea, but I’m fairly conservative about trying new things, so I may have overcompensated in an attempt to break out of that habit). I took what we thought was a small amount, but neither of us are experts at this so it was basically a guess. An hour goes by. Two hours go by. Nothing happens. The art show ends and we go into the city to look around and eat. At this point, I’m feeling a little disappointed, thinking that it either didn’t effect me or I didn’t take enough. 

So we sit down at this restaurant and I’m feeling a little nauseous, but otherwise fine. I notice that my phone is about to die, so I decide to go back to the car and get my charger. On my way there, I jog up this little hill to the cross walk. The jog must have sped my heart rate up and sent all the previously dormant chemicals up the bloodstream and into my head at once. It felt like I just woke up from a concussion or was in a half-dream. I somehow make it to the car and grab my charger, but I’m feeling an extreme amount of terror. I’m trying my best play it cool and I keep telling myself it’s all in my head, but I can’t shake it. By the time I make it back to the restaurant I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack; my chest and stomach are tightening and they both feel warm; there’s a deafening hallucinatory buzz in my ears that sounds like guitar feedback mixed with a chainsaw; and I can’t stand up straight. I end up knocking over all the water glasses on the table on my way to the bathroom where I hid for 10 minutes until the buzzing noise went away. My girlfriend drove me home and it was the most terrifying car ride in my life. The entire time it felt like I was on the verge of death.

So I wake up the next morning and everything feels fine. I’m relieved that it’s all over. However, randomly through the next few week my chest feels like it’s tightening again and it seems like I can feel every movement in my heart. As the weeks go by it gets worse and every time I eat food it feels like it crowds out space in my chest. I also get horrible acid reflux and half-vomit everything up. I keep telling myself that it’s all in my head, but it doesn’t help because there’s a deeper part of my brain that keeps on saying (“yes, but what if…”). So the days go on and I’m experiencing what feels like mini- heart attacks throughout the day. It all apexes when my girlfriend leaves for 4 days on a trip to NY. The days were bad enough but on my way to pick her up from the airport my chest feels so tight that I fear it’s going to be sucked into the vacuum of my rib cage. I keep telling myself it’s all in my head, but then my toes, tongue, and fingers start going numb and I start throwing up acid from the back of my throat. It feels like my body is literally falling apart; like I’m dying.

I’m extremely late to the airport because I missed multiple turns and had to stop the car multiple times to catch my breath. I get out and ask my girlfriend to take me to the emergency room. We arrive at the emergency room and I start feeling a little better. They connect my to an ekg machine; take my blood; take an x ray of my chest… and nothing. My blood pressure was close to perfect when I got there (however, when I left it was 144/87, which they didn’t mention). They gave me acid reflux medication and told me that everything looked fine. So I leave feeling embarrassed and ashamed but somewhat relieved… and the symptoms dissipated from there.

However, this was 3 days ago and I’m still getting this feeling—the chest tightening, stomach tightening, impeding doom—but only 3-4 times a day, usually when I’m alone with my thoughts, so it doesn’t seem like it’s going away, but it also feels like the worse is over and it’s at least manageable now. 

Although I was familiar with the idea, before  this experience I didn’t realize how easily your body could be manipulated by the subterranean forces in your mind or how concretely physical these forces could manifest themselves.  It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around it.

Has this happened to anyone else before?(specifically with shrooms, which can supposedly be used to treat anxiety, in the right environment)

Does anyone else experience chest tightness and fear of a heart attack when having a panic attack?