Am I taking too much?
December 14, 2018 11:04 PM Subscribe
I am a newly minted medical marijuana patient and want a gut check - am I taking too much?
I was prescribed medical marijuana to treat my anxiety and insomnia but also residual surgical nerve pain which seems to still be hanging around after a major surgery I had 3 months ago. It's legal in my state for medical patients, and I went through the crazy process to get my license (Massachusetts).
The surgery that I had excludes me from smoking or vaporizing due to surgical lung damage, so I'm strictly taking edibles. Medically, the system MA established is thoughtful regulation (from a patient's perspective) because they are treating it like medication. Therefore, whatever I buy at the dispensary has been dosed out for me which is great. My question is if the dose I've been taking is considered high, medium or low in the marijuana world because I'm worried about tolerance and what that might mean for me for future purchase amounts. What're am I on the dosing spectrum?
I take my dose at night. I'm taking straight up indica. So far, taking 20-25mg seems to be my sweet spot. Is this a lot in the weed world? This equates to one piece of chocolate (5 per bar - 100mg bar) and a few 3mg gummy cubes. This usually kicks in 60-75 minutes later and I feel very relaxed, am able to lounge with my partner to watch tv, then off to bed where I get a fantastic sleep without pain then wake up feeling fresh at 6am. My partner also has said the it's been a positive experience for them being around me.
I'm still a bit new to this and am worried about building a tolerance.
I've also had zero luck trying a dropper full of tincture sublingually instead of the chocolate plus gummies (~30 drops of 1mg per drop) so any thoughts on that are welcome as well.
I was prescribed medical marijuana to treat my anxiety and insomnia but also residual surgical nerve pain which seems to still be hanging around after a major surgery I had 3 months ago. It's legal in my state for medical patients, and I went through the crazy process to get my license (Massachusetts).
The surgery that I had excludes me from smoking or vaporizing due to surgical lung damage, so I'm strictly taking edibles. Medically, the system MA established is thoughtful regulation (from a patient's perspective) because they are treating it like medication. Therefore, whatever I buy at the dispensary has been dosed out for me which is great. My question is if the dose I've been taking is considered high, medium or low in the marijuana world because I'm worried about tolerance and what that might mean for me for future purchase amounts. What're am I on the dosing spectrum?
I take my dose at night. I'm taking straight up indica. So far, taking 20-25mg seems to be my sweet spot. Is this a lot in the weed world? This equates to one piece of chocolate (5 per bar - 100mg bar) and a few 3mg gummy cubes. This usually kicks in 60-75 minutes later and I feel very relaxed, am able to lounge with my partner to watch tv, then off to bed where I get a fantastic sleep without pain then wake up feeling fresh at 6am. My partner also has said the it's been a positive experience for them being around me.
I'm still a bit new to this and am worried about building a tolerance.
I've also had zero luck trying a dropper full of tincture sublingually instead of the chocolate plus gummies (~30 drops of 1mg per drop) so any thoughts on that are welcome as well.
For more serious pain issues, 20-30mg can be a standard dose and some take that dose 2-3+ times a day. I do know medical users who use far more than that, but that’s more unusual and they’re managing severe illness.
I wouldn’t expect that you’ll develop major tolerance issues at this dose. Once you find the forms and doses that work for you, it’s fine to stick with them. If chocolate and gummies are working, no need to try to get used to a tincture. In terms of medical usage for pain, I’d consider your usage to be in the low-ish range. For insomnia, it’s also a standard dose and not on the high end.
posted by quince at 11:43 PM on December 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
I wouldn’t expect that you’ll develop major tolerance issues at this dose. Once you find the forms and doses that work for you, it’s fine to stick with them. If chocolate and gummies are working, no need to try to get used to a tincture. In terms of medical usage for pain, I’d consider your usage to be in the low-ish range. For insomnia, it’s also a standard dose and not on the high end.
posted by quince at 11:43 PM on December 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm a budtender + patient and this is normal, normal, normal.
Super, super sensitive people who don't tolerate cannabis well might take 5mg at a time. That's usually called a microdose.
People who aren't extremely sensitive but don't have a lot of experience with cannabis might use 10mg.
20-25 mg is a totally normal dose for someone who has some experience with cannabis. That's what I take as well; I'm a small person but I've been using cannabis for a long time.
People with a high tolerance might easily take 40-50mg and feel fine, but depending on the type of edible they might get really sleepy. At that level, the super sensitive people would be really unhappy, and the 10mg people might not really enjoy it either. I'm a 20mg person and I can do 50mg but I don't love it.
Most stuff over 50mg is for someone with high tolerance. My tummy usually starts feeling weird around here.
Any edible over 100mg is probably meant to be split up between multiple people or is a sort of "stunt" edible. I've seen 250mg and 500mg brownies that made me roll my eyes. I have taken 250mg over the course of the day....I did not feel great.
Some other random stuff:
-Yeah, tinctures are just not gonna be that strong. Every extraction method will affect you differently.
-If you're worried about developing a tolerance to THC you can up your CBD intake to compensate. I take a 2:1 gummy that has 10mg THC and 20mg CBD, can you find a product like that and try it?
-You have to dose it out yourself, but RSO (Rick Simpson Oil) is a godsend for insomnia and pain. I really like high-CBD RSOs. This is NOT a case where you need to try to extract every bit of THC for your dollar, you will get much more effective pain relief from an RSO that has high levels of CBD and a full spectrum of cannabinoids including THC and CBN (helps with sleep).
posted by Juliet Banana at 12:59 AM on December 15, 2018 [15 favorites]
Super, super sensitive people who don't tolerate cannabis well might take 5mg at a time. That's usually called a microdose.
People who aren't extremely sensitive but don't have a lot of experience with cannabis might use 10mg.
20-25 mg is a totally normal dose for someone who has some experience with cannabis. That's what I take as well; I'm a small person but I've been using cannabis for a long time.
People with a high tolerance might easily take 40-50mg and feel fine, but depending on the type of edible they might get really sleepy. At that level, the super sensitive people would be really unhappy, and the 10mg people might not really enjoy it either. I'm a 20mg person and I can do 50mg but I don't love it.
Most stuff over 50mg is for someone with high tolerance. My tummy usually starts feeling weird around here.
Any edible over 100mg is probably meant to be split up between multiple people or is a sort of "stunt" edible. I've seen 250mg and 500mg brownies that made me roll my eyes. I have taken 250mg over the course of the day....I did not feel great.
Some other random stuff:
-Yeah, tinctures are just not gonna be that strong. Every extraction method will affect you differently.
-If you're worried about developing a tolerance to THC you can up your CBD intake to compensate. I take a 2:1 gummy that has 10mg THC and 20mg CBD, can you find a product like that and try it?
-You have to dose it out yourself, but RSO (Rick Simpson Oil) is a godsend for insomnia and pain. I really like high-CBD RSOs. This is NOT a case where you need to try to extract every bit of THC for your dollar, you will get much more effective pain relief from an RSO that has high levels of CBD and a full spectrum of cannabinoids including THC and CBN (helps with sleep).
posted by Juliet Banana at 12:59 AM on December 15, 2018 [15 favorites]
One more thing: you don't mention size/weight or all, but edibles are really metabolism dependant. I have a loved one who is a large man, the kind of guy who can drink me under the table, and he can take the exact same edible as me and barely feel it. Everyone is really, really different.
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:02 AM on December 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:02 AM on December 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
~25mg sounds pretty normal to me as a longtime regular user. That's about what I used to take when I was using edibles at night. My tolerance level has been pretty steady for years.
In my experience one doesn't build a tolerance to THC in the same way as with caffeine or (so I'm told) cocaine, heroin, etc. You're likely to develop some tolerance right at the beginning, or anytime that you start using a lot more than you had used to for whatever reason, but if you keep using a fairly steady amount then you will maintain a fairly steady tolerance. And I've never known someone to develop so much tolerance that they need ridiculous doses to get high, e.g. taking a solid hit off of a bowl of flower will pretty much always have a significant effect on anyone, no matter what.
So you may find that you have to increase your dosage a bit at some point, but there's not going to be a neverending spiral of increased dosage and increased tolerance. You're never going to be eating a whole tray of brownies just to feel something, but you might get to needing e.g. two brownies instead of just one, and then you'll plateau. You might develop some tolerance but it won't be anything crazy.
Anyway, you're fine. No worries!
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:34 AM on December 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
In my experience one doesn't build a tolerance to THC in the same way as with caffeine or (so I'm told) cocaine, heroin, etc. You're likely to develop some tolerance right at the beginning, or anytime that you start using a lot more than you had used to for whatever reason, but if you keep using a fairly steady amount then you will maintain a fairly steady tolerance. And I've never known someone to develop so much tolerance that they need ridiculous doses to get high, e.g. taking a solid hit off of a bowl of flower will pretty much always have a significant effect on anyone, no matter what.
So you may find that you have to increase your dosage a bit at some point, but there's not going to be a neverending spiral of increased dosage and increased tolerance. You're never going to be eating a whole tray of brownies just to feel something, but you might get to needing e.g. two brownies instead of just one, and then you'll plateau. You might develop some tolerance but it won't be anything crazy.
Anyway, you're fine. No worries!
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:34 AM on December 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
25 mg is honestly nothing, I wouldn't even feel it. I need at least 60 mg to do anything, and was miserable at 150 mg. I'm a multiple times daily smoker in a legal state and my tolerance is great, but I wouldn't worry at ALL about your intake level. Also cannabis isn't really comparable to lots of other drugs. You won't ever build up the same sort of tolerance you would with traditional medicine; even after years of heavy smoking, one hit is still totally noticeable. That isn't the case with opiates for example!
posted by masquesoporfavor at 12:43 PM on December 15, 2018
posted by masquesoporfavor at 12:43 PM on December 15, 2018
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I don't think there is any particular problem with 25 mg (people who use cannabis recreationally would likely ingest at least that much "for fun").
What's important is how it makes you feel, and if works to manage your medical condition -- which I think it does.
If you're worried about developing some sort of habit or dependency, ask the doctor who prescribed it to you about it.
posted by JamesBay at 11:12 PM on December 14, 2018