
Ask HN: THC, CBD and a Request for Comments - supermatou
I had never touched THC&#x2F;CBD until a month ago. Then, I bought (legally! from a licensed pharmacy) some THC capsules and some CBD capsules. I took a THC capsule around 4pm and waited to feel its effects (&quot;around two hours after ingestion&quot;). Sure enough, 1h50min after I started to feel different - but it wasn&#x27;t AT ALL what I was expecting: the sensations were 100% physical and extremely unpleasant. I had very specific paresthesias, that I could only describe as icy-cold(!) electric discharges through my arms, forearms and ring fingers, behind my knees and, the strangest of them all, inside my stomach. There was nothing even resembling euphoria (or anxiety), just physical sensations. At one point I got up (I was lying on the couch, watching something on TV) and went to the bathroom, because I was feeling nauseous and I was afraid I was going to throw up. I felt dizzy and I had trouble with my equilibrium. I didn&#x27;t throw up and I returned on the couch and closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep. It didn&#x27;t happen and I had to soldier on through three more hours of very unpleasant, exclusively physical sensations. Honestly, it felt like I was terminally ill and I was about to expire (again: I knew it was not going to happen, I wasn&#x27;t anxious or anything, just enduring a maximal physical discomfort).<p>The next day I tried to find similar experience on the web. I wasn&#x27;t able to. Hence, my puzzlement: what DID happen to me? was it me? was it the substance I put into my organism (contaminated?).<p>Anyone have a similar experience?<p>PS CBD was an ever bigger letdown: I&#x27;m a lifelong migraine sufferer and I was hoping I could use CBD instead of medication (multiple studies confirmed its usefulness). To my dismay, CBD induced migraines in yours truly! (took it three times, three migraines ensued like clockwork, 12 hours after ingestion).<p>Your comments are much appreciated!
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ziddoap
There are many different strains, with different potency, which have differing
terpenes, which may or may not change how it affects your body.

 _Your absolute best bet is to talk to a doctor experienced in prescribing
medical marijuana - and work with them._ When using medicinally, marijuana is
similar to other prescriptions in the sense that you need to find the
"correct" dosage and mixture that works for your body and your issues. This
also includes experimenting with different forms of delivery (vape, food,
oils, sprays, capsules, etc.) My dear mother spent close to a year visiting
with her doctor to narrow down a strain, dosage, and delivery method to help
cope with her RLS.

Anecdotally speaking, I have not had the experiences you described. In my non-
medical opinion, it sounds like you may have taking too strong of a dosage,
and may have had a predominately body-high focused strain. In general,
Sativa's are more head-focused while Indica's are more body-focused. This is
not set in stone, however; there are Indica's with a strong head-high and
Sativa's with a strong body-buzz. And with cross-breeding and all of the
resulting strains, it's not nearly as useful to think in purely Sativa vs.
Indica anymore. But, the general rule may help you narrow down to a more
palatable strain if you choose to keep experimenting.

Combining your two experiences (weird high, and CBD induced migraines), it may
be that you, unfortunately, do not react well to marijuana.

~~~
supermatou
> Combining your two experiences (weird high, and CBD > induced migraines), it
> may be that you, > unfortunately, do not react well to marijuana.

That's what I thought. Oh, well. I really wanted to be able to use CBD
(especially in the future, for future ailments that afflict us all as we get
older - arthritis, muscle strain, etc. Plus migraine, of course (I have
excellent control over it with Ibuprofen, but I was quite excited at the
possibility of using a natural product).

~~~
ziddoap
I would sincerely urge you to continue to experiment, as much as you are
willing to, with at least few different combinations before completely writing
off marijuana as a potential medical aid.

Specifically, I would try a different method of delivery and different
potencies. If you aren't inclined to smoking or vaping, perhaps an under-the-
tongue spray.

Depending on the concentration you have tried, I would try lowering the
concentration of CBD and perhaps choosing something with a very small (1 - 5%)
concentration of THC.

Obviously if you are not comfortable with experimenting for fear of another
episode like you described, then don't experiment. A very large part of _any
drug_ is being in a mental state where you are comfortable using it. I don't
have concrete numbers, but I would posit that the majority of bad trips are
due to mental state of the user (comfort level, environment, preconceptions,
etc.), not the drugs themselves.

~~~
supermatou
> I would sincerely urge you to continue to experiment

I am willing to continue to experiment, and I will. It took me two weeks to
try half a THC capsule again: I wanted to (from a purely scientific approach,
I was looking for reproducibility), but the physical memory of that horrible
episode made me delay it until I amassed the necessary courage. The second try
was slightly better: the paresthesias were identical, but the scary, painful,
my-body-is-shutting-down sensation was no longer there. Neither was anything
pleasant, unfortunately. I also felt unwell (but nothing more) for 4-6 hours
after the paresthesias disappeared. Please understand: I was VERY comfortable
experimenting with it and very excited - from a scientific point of view, as I
was documenting each and every little symptom that I was exhibiting. I also am
one of those fortunate individuals who have zero psychiatric afflictions - I
don't suffer from depression, anxiety, mood swings, nothing - so there was
nothing to decompensate, to be exacerbated by THC.

I probably need to experiment with a different strain. Unfortunately, this
means switching pharmacies, as my current one has a very limited offer.

------
PaulHoule
It is notorious that first time pot users often don't get high.

Oral THC takes a long time to hit which makes controlling the dose a lot
harder. People get more reliable results using pot the old fashioned way, e.g.
Smoking it or gaping it.

~~~
supermatou
I was aware of the impossibility to control the dose when you ingest a capsule
so I wouldn't have been surprised to experiences some side-effect, a hangover,
just like when you drink too much and the euphoria is replaced by unpleasant
physical symptoms. What puzzled me was the fact that I went straight into
unpleasant physical symptoms, with zero euphoria (or anxiety, or any other
mental alteration).

