All of a sudden, smoking/vaping is making me feel weird.

[HappySam]

(Mods, please move this into the appropriate subforum if I've picked the wrong one.)

I've been smoking 1-2 times a week for the past year or so. Almost every session during this time shot me into orbit in a great way, involving a lot of laughing with friends, a lot of "Woooooooooah!" and what not.

Two months ago, I started smoking more often, usually once a day at night (sometimes twice). I've been dealing with some major life stressors lately, so my sessions were really helping me relax after some difficult days. My highs continued splendidly at this new level until last week.

This last week's just been... different. For the past 5 or so sessions I have an okay session for 1-2 hours or so, then I just start feeling 'weird'.

It's nothing like how I usually feel when I smoke. Also, I've had panic attacks in the past, but what I'm experiencing now feels nothing like one of those either. It's actually not as bad as a panic attack, but it's still a cruddy high except for at the start of the session; it's like a combination of vertigo, chills, spaciness, paranoia, headache, with a bit of a nausea.

I don't get as much out of music, and I haven't laughed as much with friends. This is the polar opposite of my usual sessions; I usually feel happy, relaxed, giggly, etc. when I smoke or vape.

During these five days, I've tried playing around with some variables. I thought I just had too much the first time, until the same weird high happened again with just a few smaller hits. Then I thought it was a bad strain, until I tried another one (from another vendor). Then I thought it might have something to do with the new vape I just bought, until I tried with my regular pipe. Now, I don't know what the **** is going on.

I've been dealing with some stressful life situations for the past two months or so... I wonder if that has anything to do with it. But the vaping/toking was really helping out with my stress levels up until last week.

Please let me know if you've had similar experiences, or tell me what I might be missing in the search for my usual high. I've tried switching around the variables to no effect, so I'm wondering if the problem lies with me. I'm even starting to worry that if I don't take a breather, maybe I'll exacerbate some sort of latent mental issue I don't know about. It's been those kind of highs Please advise, fellow vapers!

 

[IncredulousDylan]

(Mods, please move this into the appropriate subforum if I've picked the wrong one.)

I've been smoking 1-2 times a week for the past year or so. Almost every session during this time shot me into orbit in a great way, involving a lot of laughing with friends, a lot of "Woooooooooah!" and what not.

Two months ago, I started smoking more often, usually once a day at night (sometimes twice). I've been dealing with some major life stressors lately, so my sessions were really helping me relax after some difficult days. My highs continued splendidly at this new level until last week.

This last week's just been... different. For the past 5 or so sessions I have an okay session for 1-2 hours or so, then I just start feeling 'weird'.

It's nothing like how I usually feel when I smoke. Also, I've had panic attacks in the past, but what I'm experiencing now feels nothing like one of those either. It's actually not as bad as a panic attack, but it's still a cruddy high except for at the start of the session; it's like a combination of vertigo, chills, spaciness, paranoia, headache, with a bit of a nausea.

I don't get as much out of music, and I haven't laughed as much with friends. This is the polar opposite of my usual sessions; I usually feel happy, relaxed, giggly, etc. when I smoke or vape.

During these five days, I've tried playing around with some variables. I thought I just had too much the first time, until the same weird high happened again with just a few smaller hits. Then I thought it was a bad strain, until I tried another one (from another vendor). Then I thought it might have something to do with the new vape I just bought, until I tried with my regular pipe. Now, I don't know what the **** is going on.

I've been dealing with some stressful life situations for the past two months or so... I wonder if that has anything to do with it. But the vaping/toking was really helping out with my stress levels up until last week.

Please let me know if you've had similar experiences, or tell me what I might be missing in the search for my usual high. I've tried switching around the variables to no effect, so I'm wondering if the problem lies with me. I'm even starting to worry that if I don't take a breather, maybe I'll exacerbate some sort of latent mental issue I don't know about. It's been those kind of highs Please advise, fellow vapers!

First off, good luck with your IRL issues. We all have them and they don't disappear just because we are having a good time - it just helps! My honest advice is to cut back on smoking for a bit and make it more of a reward for things you are doing to help your present situation (if possible). If not, then just as a way to make that weekend hangout with the friends more special, etc. Anything becomes ordinary if done too much, and sometimes just a change in routine for a week or two is enough to bring you out of a funk. Remember how you'd take a vacation somewhere for a few days and everything seems "fresh" when you return?

I went through a similar situation to yours, where I had a stressful time (finding and purchasing a home) and didn't find myself enjoying my vaping sessions. I could get inside of my own head a bit and focus too much on the negative aspects. In my case, it was probably because I was stressed about the internal conflict I was having about certain habits I had or ways of spending money that didn't help me out with my goal. I was afraid that I was committing to something that I couldn't handle, or judging my purchases too harshly. It's stressful to know you need to accomplish something and aren't doing the right things. I put down the Volcano bag for a few weeks and just focused on making sure I had my house in order. When I came back, I not only had a sweet low tolerance but felt comfortable with taking the time to get high because what I needed to do was done. There have probably been many times in your life where you had a rough patch and felt mired in it. It always helps me to remember that a few months after I move on from that rough time I can barely remember what it felt like to go through those troubles. Life moves on and so do we. Hopefully this helps a bit with your problem and I wouldn't worry at all about something as extreme as a mental illness from such a small issue!

 

[HappySam]

IncredulousDylan: Fantastic answer, I really appreciate it. I completely agree that vaping usually feels better with friends, or as a reward after a hard days's work; lately, I've likely been using it for the wrong reasons. I'll be taking at least a week or so off to focus on fixing some life problems as suggested. Thanks again!