• Cannabis Discussion Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules

Migraines caused by marijuana?

R

ratiuglink

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Messages
30
I am aware that there has been some interest in using marijuana to self-medicate migraines. This is irritating me quite a bit, because I am trying to find information about migraines caused by using marijuana.

On several occasions, under high dosages (once after ingesting a huge dose orally, several other times after smoking a great deal), I have experienced a most uncomfortable pain in my head, which feels kind of like having a knife twisted in my brain. When it has happened after smoking the drug, it has generally lasted a few minutes. When I ingested it orally (1.0-1.5g), the onset of this mysterious pain induced a full-blown bad trip, which lasted for several hours.

First of all, I have never, to my knowledge, experienced a migraine before while sober. For those of you who have, does this sound like a migraine to you?

Second, have any of you experienced such pains as those that I have experienced while high? What's the deal?

Some background information: I do not smoke very often (roughly once every two weeks to two months), and I do not smoke recreationally; rather, I smoke with the express intention of using my time productively, either to explore the intoxication's effects on the mind, or to deliberately induce a state of mind conducive to speculative philosophy. For this reason, I usually seek a medium-high dosage. I probably don't smoke often enough to develop a noticeable tolerance.
 
Last edited:
to be honest i never got a migraine from pot but i do from marinol i am perscribed marinol and if i take any thing over 1 2.5 at a time i get a killer migraine
 
Maybe nobody else has experienced this symptom after all, which is worrying. No matter; I've been considering quitting, and maybe now is as good a time to do so as any.
 
I do get migraines and 95% of the time smoking is a great remedy. Even when it doesn't cure the pain, it significantly reduces my care factor about it. That said, on occassion, smoking has induced a full-blown migraine attack in both me and my SO (who is also a normal migraine sufferer). Don't know if that helps you, but I can say you're not completely alone.
 
Actually, you're just the kind of person I'm looking for. How would you describe a migraine that you experience while sober? Is it more intense when you're high? Does the "knife in the head" feeling sound accurate? It originally struck me as counter-intuitive that such pain could be a normal headache, but I also didn't know what a migraine was at the time either.

The thing is, it never occurred to me that it might be a migraine while it was happening; it was suggested to me by a friend in retrospect. But I've never had a migraine while sober, so I have no point of reference. Whenever I've been high enough to get that pain, I start to worry that I'm slowly (i.e., over many months) going crazy.
 
Migraines can vary greatly in how they feel, though they do have some common characteristics. Typically, the pain is only in part of the head (one side, front, back of head & neck, etc), can move from side to side, or can manifest as random flashes of pain that I have always described as lightning bolts in my head (though a stabbing knife-like pain would be a good descriptor as well). They can also vary in intensity from a strong, dull pain to something that's so intense all I can do is go lay down in a dark room and wait it out. If you're having migraines (sober or not) I'd recommend going to see a doctor. There are great migraine treatment drugs on the market that will make life much better for you!
 
I've heard of and experienced this - having spoken to some of my grower friends, I've heard this can be a common side effect from hydro weed that hastn't been flushed properly...
 
i used to get migraines from smoking weed a lot.....someone told me it is because the buds weren't cured properly....they are too "green".....i dunno just a thought...
 
I don't know that I feel it would be necessary to see a doctor when this only happens after having smoked a great deal of cannabis. It strikes me as being more intuitive simply to avoid the behaviors that appear to bring about such reactions.

The thing is, I don't think it's been caused simply by the plants. Every time I have had this reaction, it has been from a different harvest (and this has occurred both while I've been at home in GA and while at college in NM), and I have been with friends who have shown none of the same symptoms. I think, for some reason or another, it is something having to do with the way THC or some other substance common in cannabis (natural or chemical) interacts with my psychology, and that's kind of unsettling.

I find that I am fine at lower dosages; it is only when I ingest enough cannabis to experience it as a psychedelic drug that I have this reaction.

I'm glad at least that it sounds like it is indeed a migraine. Those strange pains have actually proven to be a major point of anxiety for me when I am in emotionally hypersensitive psychedelic highs, and I have tended consistently to worry, for some reason, that I am slowly becoming schizophrenic. It's nice to have some idea of an explanation, even if the cause of the migraines remains beyond me.
 
I have been suffering from severe migraines since I was a kid and one common characteristic that seems to effect everyone one is that its a located pain in one part of the head, usually the front, back, or either side. When I smoke a whole lot it has triggered migraines for me, but its sorta rare...but let me tell you they fucking suck beyond all reason.

If it continues to happen, I would strongly recommend you see your doctor, because there is a ton of medicine they can give you that really does help reduce the pain/help you forget about the pain. Sleeping usually helps, but when its a cluster headache, nothing helps, I just wanna kill myself...and thats why they call them "suicide headaches"
 
I have been getting migraines my whole life. When I get one, smoking a small bowl really helps it to subside. However, when I smoke constantly throughout the day, odds are I will get a light migraine after I come down, or possibly the next morning when I wake up. Weed has never caused a debilitating migraine for me, though I experience them fairly regularly. Hardcore migraines are just about on par with bad opioid withdrawals in terms of the pain and incapacitation.
 
It doesn't matter what type of pot it is. If I smoke bowl after bowl after bowl of hash, chronic, schwag, whatever, after about 5 hours of solid smoking I will get a headache, sometimes a migraine. I think it has more to do with the length of time you've been smoking rather than the quality of the herb. That's the case with me, anyways.
 
psychedelicious said:
It doesn't matter what type of pot it is. If I smoke bowl after bowl after bowl of hash, chronic, schwag, whatever, after about 5 hours of solid smoking I will get a headache, sometimes a migraine. I think it has more to do with the length of time you've been smoking rather than the quality of the herb. That's the case with me, anyways.
Click to expand...
with you?

i have had many a fresh bowl of hash without a headache....scissor cuts are one of the best highs ever.....

it's the crap that comes from "who knows where" that you have to be weary of....

maybe you just have a good tolerance for such things?
 
My neurologist (who is a headache specialist) once made the comment that in his view, if a person gets migraines, all of their headaches are tied ro their migraines. Now, that said, I never asked him about "smoke" induced headaches.
 
Well from what i read i think the migraines come from the fact that weed constricts the blood vessels in your brain. Maybe smoking too much and not properly feeding your brain nutrients like healthy fats(fish oil)...b vitamins..nootropics, causes the migraines. Try to obtain good blood flow by using supplements like ginkgo biloba. That's what i use when i feel a headache coming on. hope that helps :)
 
You know, if weed does indeed contrsict the blood vessels in the brain, you are right about that being a cause. Over indulgence in caffeine can be a migraine trigger for the same reason. Though, interestingly enough, caffeine in low doses can help with headaches and migraines. Ok, sorry about this one.... I realize I'm starting to drift a little bit off-topic.
 
oh ho shit - the dured thing as well as what I said - CHLOROPHYLL HEADACHE! why didn't I think of that...
 
i get headaches when i get too high

it hurts to think

everything's really intense and i panic easily

as far as a 'knife in the head' i feel it more like frying high voltage electricity
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top