Medicinal Marijuana Unusual Reaction

[RhythmSpring]

In efforts to abate symptoms of my rheumatoid arthritis, I acquired an edible product that contains 15mg CBD and 5mg THC. From what I hear about this product, basically no one gets high off it.

Except that I do, and extremely so. I do not like the pot high. I get very anxious, socially paranoid, and stupid because I'm stuck in my head criticizing everything inside me. I lose what seems to be most of my short term memory. Afterwards, like 12 hours later, I felt light, but I'm not sure if that's because the weed actually worked, or if I am just relieved to have my brain/ego back.

First of all, why do you think I would react like this? Am I feeling the CBD? Or the THC? Btw, cottonmouth was pronounced.

Should I work through the side effects? Will I get used to them? Are they things that I necessarily have to process internally in order to feel better? Or should I save myself the torment?

Experienced pot users, especially edible ones (the pot, not you), do you have any insight for me about what might be going on? I've only smoked pot maybe around 10-15 times in my life (I'm 24); I still consider myself a newbie.

 

[sekio]

THC is the chemical that produces the psychedelic/mental effects, CBD on its own has comparatively little effect.

From what I hear about this product, basically no one gets high off it.

Nobody who smokes regularly, that is. 5mg of oral THC is more than enough to get you high if you are not a regular consumer. For reference, a joint of 0.75gm x 8%THC (one standard olling paper of "okay" street weed) contains approx 60mg THC. Smoked at approximately 50% efficiency, the whole joint would be 30 mg THC in total, so 5mg THC would still be close to two or three puffs - and that's more than enough for someone with no tolerance to get effects.

In addition, some portion of the CBD can get converted to THC in the liver & stomach acid. So in the absolute worst case, the edible contains ~20mg of THC equivalent, certainly enough to make a novice cannabis user feel too fucked up for comfort.

Generally the anxiety abates with regular usage. The memory fog, not so much. Both are signs that your dosage is too high for your mind to handle. Some people would tell you to simply do it more often and stop worrying, but a better plan is to reduce your dose in future (break the edible in half, or quarters even). Or, try smoking a joint very carefully. In general, edibles are easier to overshoot the dosage with, because there is a pronounced time lag between ingestion and peak effects... with smoked cannabis, you can wait 5 minutes between puffs and not worry about getting excessively high (as long as you stop when you feel comfortable).

Another thing to note is that some people seem more susceptible to the negative effects of cannabis, especially anxiety, than others. If you notice that no matter what you try you get anxious when smoking, then perhaps you shouldn't consume THC via fats or smoking.

If you want to be absolutely sure you don't get psychoactive effects you can make a tea of cannabis in hot (90-100C) water for approx. 20 mins, and drink a few cups. THC is soluble in water at something like 2-3 mg/L, which is still plenty for pain relieving effects in non-regular users.

 

[exists]

^ what he said.

Eating cannabis edibles on an empty stomach (little to no food for hours) will cause more profound effects. But don't rely on a full stomach! Eat your cannabis in small amounts over the course of many hours, and the high will creep up nice and smoothly, making for a much more tolerable experience. Also, certain drugs can eliminate cannabis' anxiogenic properties, but that's for you to figure out (they're different for everyone).

 

[dankplantgrower]

Cannabis can be quite powerful when you dont have a tolerance, especially edibles. Sounds like you may have gotten some sativa type effects from it, I find indica strains dont have such heady effects. They are more of a body stone, which I believe would be most effective for you. Edibles are often more potent than smoked and are much harder to control dosage with. Instead of waiting 45 minutes to know if you ate too little or to much, you can just take very small hits every 10 minutes until you arrive at your desired sweet spot. How do you feel about smoking it instead? Many shops have weak, inexpensive strains of cannabis that will not overpower you, or sell shake that is high in leafy particulates and very low in THC.

I applaud you for giving cannabis a try, much safer than getting yourself an opiate habit. These unpleasant feelings will abate once you build up a tolerance, could even be as early as 1 week. And honestly Id try a pure indica strain next to see if some of that unpleasant shit in your head doesnt disappear. A thought on power building a tolerance if you would choose to do so... I might suggest asking the budtender what their heaviest, sleepiest indica is and get yourself a bit of it. Smoke a large bowl mid day and maybe even take a little nap, and repeat this again just before you go to bed. Along with whatever you smoke in between, you should establish yourself a tolerance in a week or two. Wake and baking wouldnt hurt if you can handle it. Or you could just let it build naturally as you smoke bit by bit.

Best of luck trying to find a right fit in your quest for pain relief. Indica strains should do you well, and dont forget to inquire about shake deals or low shelf options that have low THC levels.

 

[RhythmSpring]

I should clarify smoking pot is out of the question for me. Every time I do, I get the abovementioned bad symptoms. I've smoked what people claim to be indica strains, or really mellow, or what have you, and the result is always the same.

Also, what I took was a pill. A lot harder to divide up than a brownie. Baked goods are off my list because of the arthritis.

Sekio, you meant CBD, not THC, in your last sentence of your post, correct?

Also, the memory fog seems to be a direct *result* of the anxiety. Anxiety ==> Thinking way too much ==> Forgetting what I was doing in the room.

 

[dankplantgrower]

Pills can still be divided, pill cutters are like 3 bucks at the pharmacy. I used to split Cannabrex capsules from my shop all the time. A gel tab would be harder but I imagine Id be able to manage that as well. Id take a look at the shake or the cheap weed on the bottom shelf, this stuff is usually very weak. Look into glycerin preparations for them if you refuse to smoke or bake the cannabis.

If you continue to experience negative reactions after allowing a bit of time for tolerance, you just might be the type of person who doesnt fit well with cannabis : ( Happens to a lot of people. In that case you might open a new thread in a different forum with suggestions for initiating a different approach to your pain management. Good luck.

 

[sonicwhite]

Ya I get that fromsmoking hardly half a hit....It's my memory that goes out the window because i to focused on whther I'm about to die or not. I was thinking about giving into the pill form but I fear I will have the same results as you have had since one day I became very sensitive to weed and ever since then I no longer can smoke it.