I just wanted to relax. But instead, I begin to experience extremely unpleasant sensations. First is the pins and needles sensation, it’s everywhere, starts in the back of my throat and then travels all over my body. It sucks! Then I expect that the next part is from being far too high, despite only a few drags or the recommended dose of the edible. I think it’s paranoia but I start to believe that I lived someone else’s life (whomever is in the room talking to me) before this one and I know what they’re about to say because I have said it. Or that I’m the center of the universe and so on. As if that’s not bad enough, it becomes impossible for me to understand time, 5 minutes feels like an hour or more, and then it’s just me reassuring myself or getting someone to talk me down until I can function. It’s stressful as fuck and very disorienting. I don’t know if I want to risk that again but I was really hoping for a fun little escape from reality and chronic pain and depression. Maybe even a few giggles as I watch cartoons or whatever, something more fun than this! I am at a point where I think that this just isn’t for me.
Anyone just starting out will be extremely sensitive to THC, those intense feelings would subside over time as you got used to/built tolerance to being high.
I recommend you start off with an extremely low thc potency strain something with a thc% of 5-10%. Industrialhempfarms.com specializes in low potency high quality thc-8 bud for people who dont want to get super high but want to relax. Smoke on some low potency stuff and slowly experement to find your personal sweet spot.
Thc-8 bud is federally legal too if you live in us, meaning you can just order it in bulk online super cheap and have it come in the mail worry free. IHF lab test all their bud too BTW.
The strain matters. For relaxation stick more with indica strains, hybrid if you cant find any indica. sativa tends to be more for high energy and body high which sounds like the issues you are having. Being too high in general can cause those effects but its a lot easier to get there with sativa strains. Sometimes you want those kind of feelings especially when doing outdoor stuff.
The next thing I recommend is if you are in a decent off financial position check out the arizer air max portable dry herb vape. Dry herb vapes offer many advantages to conventional smoking, including letting you adjust temperatures which release different cannabanoid vapors at different degrees. A low temp light vapor smoke wont hit as hard, and you can up the temp to find a zone you like.The smoke is a lot cleaner and the bud last a lot longer (though there is nothing quite like a bowl hit). If you find your lungs are hurting and want some better control over smoke try dry herb vapes. Arizer is the brand to get, they are a little pricy but have good sales very often if you keep your eyes on it a sale will come up sooner than later. Order from their official website arizer.com
Last thing I recommend is you mix in some lavender with your herb at first just sprinkle a bit on top but if you like it you can do 50/50 mix. Lavendar in my experience has an enterouge effect with pot boosting relaxation effects and provides a unique taste.
FYSA delta 8 flower is hemp flower sprayed with delta 8. It doesn’t naturally grow in high concentrations.
Honestly, sometimes it just isn’t for you.
Here in Europe, we tend to smoke weed mixed with tobacco. The main reason is cost, but it significantly reduces the amount you’re smoking and gives you a light buzz similar to a glass or two of alcohol. I’d recommend you try that if you’re looking for pain relief, and if it still is too much then I don’t think it makes sense to continue.
also common in europe is that smoking weed is a social thing, a thing you do with friends. the critical part is that you’re not smoking the entire joint by yourself, and you pass it around, wich means you can give yourself some time between puffs. in general, we also smoke joints pretty slowly while having conversations, like you would sip a beer.
It sounds like you’re very sensitive to the effects or maybe just the new sensations. Try drastically lowering your doses. Like instead of a few puffs, just one short one. For edibles take 1/4 of the recommended dose (also remember some of those recommended doses are super high actually, find something with milligrams listed and start with only 2.5mg or even less). Also for flower, try buying something really low percentage like 10% or less and also only take one puff.
My point being start so low you barely feel it and each time you smoke or eat, only increase it a tiny bit until you find the level that’s right for you.
Also fwiw some people just don’t like it and that’s ok too. But your best bet right now is to go as low as possible on the dose and work up from there very slowly. Sounds like you’re overdoing it (even if the doses are objectively small).
Jump on the type 2 weed!!!
It’s mixed ratio cbd:thc and comes in waaaay lower amounts of thc. We’re talking 3% up to 15% at most. It is amazing.
Get the vape pens or dry herb vape. It’s all federally legal to order online and have delivered if you’re in the US.
If your smoking in a bad headspace to try to force yourself to relax you’re going to have a bad time.
It took me 20 years to finally admit to myself that weed isn’t for me. All the stuff you described never went away. However, your use-case is different from mine- I was purely recreational in motivation. Consider consulting a doctor (if possible) on finding the right aid for you.
FWIW I still use CBD balm for back and shoulder pain and it seems to help
Weed can be a catalyst for schizophrenia in people with genetics that are predisposed to it. If you’re feeling these effects like this, stop taking it and try and find out if you have any medical history or background of that kind of mental thing. I think it can trigger psychosis in some people, too. Whatever you’re going thru doesn’t sound normal and as such I’d argue you’d be wise not to start trying again until you gain a better understanding of yourself and your sort of situation there. Stay safe!
Not trying to scare you BTW, its just something like an FYI. I’m not trying to diagnose you or tell you that you might have some kind of mental issues, but I do believe safety is important and keeping yourself away from something that makes you feel less safe is a good thing.
For pain relief, I would agree with the other posters and suggest to you to look into weed with higher concentrations of CBD, as CBD counteracts the THC and in modern weed CBD is typically bred to be lower than it used to be in the plant. Like if you really want to keep trying cannabis to treat pain and shit, you should up the CBD
Interestingly, this sounds a lot like my early experiences with acid. You may be incredibly sensitive to the effects of THC, causing you to reach levels of psychedelic experience at far lower doses than average. What is “the recommended dose of the edible”? Because even 5-10mg THC can be a lot for a new or highly sensitive user. Do you have access to proper microdosing options? I have options in my dispensary with less than 1mg/dose that many of my more sensitive customers and patients take, some with meaningfully more CBD. If 0.125MG THC/2.5mg CBD from a dispensary (so you can better trust the dosing) gives you this level of psychedelic effects, you might just need to avoid THC.
Alternatively, have you tried Delta 8 THC edibles? D8 has a very, very light head high. It is much more of a subtle body chill than Delta 9. Just makes sure you’re getting a safe and reputable brand from a seller you trust, because there is no regulation. You could also try CBN, the “sleep cannabinoid.” It should have zero of the psychedelic effects of THC, but is a mild to moderate sedative. Maybe just the safe relief of some tension and anxiety could give you the escape you’re looking for. I always mix CBN with my THC when I really need to shake off something bad. The extra sedative effect always pushes me over the edge to relaxed.
I dunno about the rest, but for the pins and needles you may well be allergic to something in weed. Maybe a terpene.
If a much much lower dose doesnt avoid these things, it might be time to abandon the drug. Have you tried CBD only products? CBD wont give you a high, but may help with pain and anxiety.
Best of luck, hopefully you find a mix or dose that works for you!
Personally, I find that CBD does give a bit of a head buzz. It’s a different kind of high, but still noticable.
How are you taking your cbd? Theres a pretty good chance that, depending on the product, there is still a very minute amount of thc present. Just not enough to matter.
Vape carts. And yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something other than the CBD causing the high. Our understanding of what is actually going on is still not great. Like I’m pretty sure the sativa/indica classification of a plant is still just based on “probably the same as the parents” or “try some and categorize it based on how it feels”. We know that there’s dozens of caniboids present across various plants but only two of them get most of the attention.
The sat/ind thing means completely different things depending on what step in the process youre discussing. Budtenders and growers do not mean the same thing when they say indica.
And, yeah, if its vape carts then 1) your juice is absolutely not clean of thc and 2) its probably making you a little light headed, which exacerbates any feelings typically thought to be high related.
Best way I could describe CBD is that it is not a head high, it’s more of a body high.
Less THC, more CBD. the ratio is important. Lots of trees today are all about “more THC!!”, and yeah that’s fine for some people I guess. But for me, if the ratio is off, I’ll panic.
@surewhynotlem yeah this! Too much THC and too little CBD is probably what’s causing these unpleasant experiences. OP if your goal is just to relax, I’d recommend CBD dominant strains/gummies, or get less potent stuff. THC and CBD are inversely related, and “less potent” typically refers to THC content, not CBD content.
Some stoner tips to make it a bit less scary to try again: make some lemon and black peppercorn tea before you get high. Both of these have terpenes that can mellow out the effects of THC and make it more akin to CBD. This is a good way to temper a high that’s too high.
I had the same experience when I started and so have most of my friends. You are just getting too high. Weed is pretty potent nowadays. Take less. Once you build up some tolerance, you won’t feel anxious anymore. You might want to try THC drinks. They start at about 2.5 mg and the THC is fast-acting, unlike most edibles.
Oh shit. That sounds awesome! I know that your experience wasn’t awesome, and I’m sorry for that, but what you’re describing is pretty much what I’m looking for! The only difference is when it’s happening to YOU, you get scared of what’s happening to you, and your fear of what’s happening and focusing on how much you wish you were back to normal.
I feel it coming and I think, aww yeah, this is going to be great, is it going to be a giggly buzz, or a melt into the couch buzz? What should I watch in the background? Old sitcoms or cartoons? Doesn’t really matter, because either way will be just fine.
Product is working as intended. Relax and trust the process. Nobody has ever ODd on weed. It’s impossible. I just realized I should clarify, you can definitely smoke too much, but it won’t hurt you, its just more likely to get you feeling bad.
