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Cannabis Arteritis?? --> Amputation??? (help!)

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BigOlBug

Bluelighter
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
38
Hey,

I posted about this in psychedelics because I wasn't sure of the cause, but it seems likely that it's more pot-related than psych-related.

Over the past year of weed-use I've been getting slightly dicey effects from it beyond the mere racing heart, mostly just manifesting as very strong tingling in my left arm and hands. Because of this I laid off smoking weed while tripping and am more careful about how high I get. But last night I had a fuck-scary effect from only taking one medium-sized hit. I was tripping on 2ce and already had a small tingling effect. I then took a hit and shortly afterwards the tingling escalated and I started to get stiffness and pain in my knees and hands, and then my hands started to stiffen up as if rigor mortis were setting in. It was very scary and went away very gradually after about an hour.

Posting here, the poster "invert" tells me this could be something like "cannabis arteritis," which I had never heard of, but which seems to be most common among young adults (my age group) and is basically a condition where your arteries are liable to constrict and eventually it leads to part of you being amputated because they aren't getting enough blood (your heart also speeds up presumably, because it's trying to get more blood around you to counteract the arteries narrowing). This isn't related to anything like cholesterol or blood sugar or anything like that, and I don't smoke tobacco so it's not to do with nicotine. So I'm basically now concerned I have this condition. Apparently it is treatable with aspirin if caught early; I'm going to see a doctor but I was hoping for any and all information anyone has. There's almost nothing on BL about this and very little on google either. There seems to have been almost no research done.

The few mentions on BL relate to synthetic cannabinoids and how they might be more likely to cause this. But, to my knowledge I have never taken synthetic cannabinoids, only green leafy weed and very occasionally hash or brownies. Is it possible these things could have contained cannabinoids without me knowing? Or maybe normal weed can cause it? When I google the condition, a study of 10 cases from the 60s come up, before synthetic cannabinoids existed.

Thanks for anyone's help or pointers of where to research this.

-BigOlBug
 
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I don't know anything about this condition but I'd be willing to bet you don't have it.

I would suggest cutting out chems such as the 2cs before cutting out cannabis.

Try ingesting cannabis orally instead of smoking.

edit: hyperventilating (because one is panicking) can result in too much oxygen in the blood, and your muscles can tighten up uncontrollably. happened to me before when I was sober but very sick. I went to the hospital and they measured my oxygen level... too high. my arms were all fucking cramped up and shit. sounds similar.

there is a remote chance that cannabis is causing this but I just don't think it's the case.
 
thanks for the replies. i should have checked out google scholar more thoroughly before posting but mostly the studies are of between 4-10 people and I am curious about a) what could cause this other than cannabis arteritis and b) any debates about this c) an other BLer's similar experiences with this condition or these symptoms. also the question of cannabinoids versus fresh weed is not addressed in the studies that pop up on google scholar.

safety, thanks for your reply too. your idea about breathing is actually quite encouraging/potentially insightful, since one of the other problems I'm having right now is that whenever I get stressed and often when I get high I start breathing funny - taking too deep breaths or feeling i can't get enough air. this sometimes leads to the tingly feeling when I'm not even high, and it's possible that this could be the ultimate cause of the hand stiffness. in which case I probably need to look at breathing techniques or something. but i am seeing a doctor soon so I guess I will talk about that with her.

I am curious as to whether brownies would have the same effect. i actually haven't done them since this started happening cos I had one bad experience where i took too much and "greened out", but maybe it's something i'll try in future once i've sorted out some of this.

-BigOlBug
 
ps, I am pretty sure it's mostly related to cannabis since that's when i've had the most severe symptoms. but the fact that it also happens more mildly while tripping does suggest it might not be arteritis, unless acid and 2cs also can cause arteritis.
 
The Winner!! said:
acid has no physical effects on your body
Click to expand...

Wikipedia said:
Bicycle Day

On April 19, 1943 Dr. Hofmann intentionally ingested 250 µg of LSD, which he hypothesized would be a threshold dose, based on other ergot alkaloids. After ingesting the substance Hofmann was struggling to speak intelligibly and asked his laboratory assistant, who knew of the self-experiment, to escort him home on his bicycle, due to the lack of available vehicles during wartime restrictions. On the bicycle ride home, Hofmann's condition became more severe and in his journal he stated that everything in his field of vision wavered and was distorted, as if seen in a curved mirror. Hofmann also stated that while riding on the bicycle, he had the sensation of being stationary, unable to move from where he was, despite the fact that he was moving very rapidly. Once Hofmann arrived safely home, he summoned a doctor and asked his neighbour for milk, believing it may help relieve the symptoms. Hofmann wrote that despite his delirious and bewildered condition, he was able to choose milk as a nonspecific antidote for poisoning.[5] Upon arriving, the doctor could find no abnormal physical symptoms other than extremely dilated pupils. After spending several hours terrified that his body had been possessed by a demon, that his next door neighbour was a witch, and that his furniture was threatening him, Dr. Hofmann feared he had become completely insane. In his journal Hofmann said that the doctor saw no reason to prescribe medication and instead sent him to his bed. At this time Hofmann said that the feelings of fear had started to give way to feelings of good fortune and gratitude, and that he was now enjoying the colours and plays of shapes that persisted behind his closed eyes. Hofmann mentions seeing "fantastic images" surging past him, alternating and opening and closing themselves into circles and spirals and finally exploding into coloured fountains and then rearranging themselves in a constant flux. Hofmann mentions that during the condition every acoustic perception, such as the sound of a passing automobile, was transformed into optical perceptions. Eventually Hofmann slept and upon awakening the next morning felt refreshed and clearheaded, though somewhat physically tired. He also stated that he had a sensation of well being and renewed life and that his breakfast tasted unusually delicious. Upon walking in his garden he remarked that all of his senses were "vibrating in a condition of highest sensitivity, which then persisted for the entire day".[5]
Click to expand...

I thought the parts in bold were hilarious... It's from Wikipedia's "Bicycle Day" entry. It is a testament to how safe acid is... A 250 ug trip which is a pretty high dose (for a noob especially), and the doctor prescribed him to go to sleep!! Hilarious. The stuff certainly doesn't "make your brain bleed" or any of those other ridiculous rumors
 
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