Numb Feeling

I'm really new to smoking weed (just started a week ago). My first time i smoked waaaay too much and ended up blacking out. It scared me so bad that now i have panic attacks eveytime i even smoke a little bit. The thing that freaks me out the most is feeling my body going numb and i'm not sure whether it's the weed or the panic attacks i'm having. Okay now my question: When smoking is it normal for your body to go numb due to the weed?

Heh, that's the bubonic chronic! Seriously though, I know a lot of people that for some reason or another, can't handle weed. Marijuana is not for everyone, it seems to affect some people much differently than other people, similar to the panic attacks you describe. A good friend of mine has a mild panic disorder paired with social anxiety (sorry for all the psych stuff again, i gotta use my major!) and simply put, weed just agitates him in an uncomfortable, anxiety provoking, unenjoyable way.

It's too bad your first experience was a bad one, do you still feel panic after even one hit? The numbness you are describing is perfectly normal; marijuana is a teriffic analgesic (pain killer) that you can feel throughout your body, especially after smoking a dank indica.

Hugz and Nugz,

Hypchronic

I don't know what analgesia has to do with numbness. Analgesia is not anesthesia. Aspirin, ibuprofen, and morphine are all analgesics. None of them make you feel numb. I've been smoking, on and off, for 38 years and I've never experienced numbness.

I'd ascribe the numbness to the panic attack. When your body is full of adrenaline, as it is when you're panicked, you lose a lot of sensation. That's why soldiers can often continue to function with horrendous wounds in the heat of battle.

I suggest you look at the panic attack threads in this forum. My advice is to start off with tiny amounts of marijuana, gradually increasing dosage as you get over the conditioned panic attack response until you find your comfortable level.

Yes, Hypchronic, I do feel panicky after just one hit. I feel anxiety just being around the stuff. I think it has alot to do with growing up in a house where "weed is bad" has been drilled into my head since i was born. And Buzzby, thanks for the advice i think i'll try that.

Hmm. After smoking a good indica, I feel numb every time.

Correct, they are analgesics. However I think you will agree that comparing the effects of aspirin to a serious narcotic like marijuana is a moot argument. Have you every taken opiates? Are you going to tell me they don't make your body feel numb? Marijuana is an analgesic roughly equivalent to a mild opiate dose.

Quoted from the Panic Attack thread:

I've had the numb feeling before, but only when I have some good bud, which is exactly what you had. It's not a "sympton" of a panic attack, but it's something that inexperienced users tend to focus on because it may not be normal for them if they don't smoke quality bud all the time, or ever. There's nothing to worry about man

Since marijuana is not a narcotic I don't see your point. Also, narcotics are analgesics, not anesthetics.

I was on IV Demerol after knee surgery. I've taken oral opiates after dental surgery. In neither case did I experience any numbness, just pain relief, relaxation, and a bit of euphoria.

If only it were! I experience chronic back pain. Marijuana doesn't help a bit. Doesn't work for headaches, either. I think the analgesic effects of marijuana are very idiosyncratic and depend a great deal on set and setting, i.e. you have to believe it's going to work that way for it to work that way. Opiates work whether you believe in them or not.

Sigh.

Narcotics are not exclusively opioids, which is a common misconception:

Search results from Dictionary.com:

nar·cot·ic
n.

1. An addictive drug, such as opium, that reduces pain, alters mood and behavior, and usually induces sleep or stupor. Natural and synthetic narcotics are used in medicine to control pain.
2. A soothing, numbing agent or thing: “There was the blessed narcotic of bridge, at the Colony or at the home of friends” (Louis Auchincloss).


adj.

1. Inducing sleep or stupor; causing narcosis.
2. Of or relating to narcotics, their effects, or their use.
3. Of, relating to, or intended for one addicted to a narcotic.

nar·cot·ic (när-ktk)
n.

A drug derived from opium or opiumlike compounds, with potent analgesic effects associated with significant alteration of mood and behavior, and with the potential for dependence and tolerance following repeated administration.

adj.

Capable of inducing a state of stuporous analgesia.

Main Entry: 1nar·cot·ic
Pronunciation: när-'kät-ik
Function: noun
1 : a drug (as opium) that in moderate doses dulls the senses, relieves pain, and induces profound sleep but in excessive doses causes stupor, coma, or convulsions
2 : a drug (as marijuana or LSD) subject to restriction similar to that of addictive narcotics whether in fact physiologically addictive and narcotic or not



Need I go on? And who's talking about anesthetics? Numbness isn't exclusive to anesthesia. I'm sorry marijuana doesn't suit your pain management needs, but just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean marijuana is not an analgesic. The general concensus in the scientific community is that marijuana is an analgesic, however you don't hear about it often because opiates are much better.

http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/marijuana.jsp
"In the second century, the Chinese physician Hoa-Tho, used cannabis in surgical procedures, relying on its analgesic properties."

http://www.nih.gov/news/medmarijuana/MedicalMarijuana.htm
"Although there was evidence of analgesic efficacy, the studies indicate there is a narrow therapeutic margin between the doses that produce useful analgesia and those producing unacceptable adverse CNS effects."
"These studies indicate that 9-THC has some analgesic activity in humans."

http://www.euroanesthesia.org/education/rc_vienna/14rc2.HTM
"Oral cannabis was reported successful for labour pain, painful spasms, neuralgia and migraine. Cannabis was given to Queen Victoria by her court physician, for migraine. Cannabis tincture was reported as a potent local anaesthetic in dentistry."

"Cannabinoids such as delta9-THC have a wide range of pharmacological effects such as antinociception. The cannabinoids cause antinociception in rodents through spinal and supraspinal mechanisms."

http://www.whitman.edu/biology/Stuproj/YoungB/diseases3.html
"These two studies, though far from being conclusive, do show that marijuana can help to alleviate the pain associated with spasticity from MS."



The list goes on and on Buzz. Marijuana is not effective for chronic pain like yours, but I think when the Queen of England is given weed for her migranes, it's safe to admit it's an analgesic effective for headaches.

...but it's still not a narcotic. I haven't taken aspirin since I started smoking marijuana. It gets rid of headaches for me, but not for others. An opiate on the other hand, works for anyone. That's what he's trying to say. That's why it's not a narcotic.

The definition of a narcotic isn't conditional; If people are able to use a substance as a narcotic, then that substance is classified as a narcotic. But we should stay on topic, the only reason we're discussing narcotics is that Buzzby didn't see my point that marijuana and aspirin are both analgesics.

That's the only one of your definitions that fits marijuana at all and that's the phony one the prohibitionists made up to associate marijuana with dangerous addictive drugs. Are you sure you want to call marijuana a narcotic? It's detrimental to getting the stuff legalized.

I never said it wasn't - only that it wasn't for me. Of course, aspirin wasn't invented until 1897, four years before Victoria died, which didn't give the queen's physicians a lot of choices. It was either cannabis or opiates.

Yeah totally!

Yeah, and I'm sure they don't want the Queen of Britain to be smoking opiates!

Let's just claim that. We'll be like, "What?! Queen Victoria smoked it!"



Seriously though, that's messed up.

Medicinal cannabis and opium were administered as alcoholic tinctures, not smoked.

I'd rather claim the Gandalf smoked it in Lord of the Rings. "And he's a f***ing Wizard! yeah!"

Which reminds me, someone was saying on the wooden pipe thread how they wanted a long stemmed wizards pipe, which would be totally sweet.

"Wizard" pipes

Such pipes are readily available. The style is called "churchwarden".

premierpipes.com/churchwardens.htm

Man, I feel bad for you. GOOD WEED(keep in mind I grow my own dank, and the thc content is off the charts) makes me a little dumb everytime I get real high. If I dont smoke for a day or two(rare) and then I smoke a fat J to myself of my shit, I am more numb then if I just injected 1000CCs of novicaine. Also, I too have back problems and occassional headaches and weed blows; aspirin, ib profen, opium, and tylenol out of the water. Only thing that is a better painkiller(FOR ME) is some strong vicodin, which im not a fan of due to its narcotic potential.
BTW: I'm not at all doubting what you said, but drugs have different effects on different people and apprently I get MESSED UP while you only get buzzed from weed.


And for the record, weed is NOT a narcotic, hence the no getting addicted.

You really have no relief as far as headaches go? Is that true for all methods (including culinary ones?)

The kind of high I appreciate makes me more aware of my aches and pains. I'm into Sativas and vaporizers. Heavy indicas put me to sleep. I don't know if they kill pain because I'm too out-of-it to know much of anything. While being unconscious is probably preferable to being in pain, I prefer painkillers that allow me to function more-or-less normally.

I do yoga when I get high. The greater awareness of what hurts and structurally why it hurts helps me to do the yogic postures that will relieve the pain.

For sinus headaches, the only kind I get, two ibuprofen and two pseudoephedrine do a fine job.

I don't know. I don't eat marijuana because I'm after the cerebral high, not the body stone. I don't notice any difference, pain-wise, between vaping and smoking.

If you prefer the Sativas, then I suppose it's no supprise that you get no significant relief. And if a few ibuprofen do the trick, there's no reason to knock yourself out, especially since it is virtually harmless in low doses.

I have chronic spine pain and I have been smoking about six months. Earlier today I bought some home grown and I was told it was very strong and this is from someone who has smoked for over twenty years. I thought he was kidding when he said you only need one good hit, two and you will be blown away. I usually smoke four bowls per night of my normal stuff but my friend was right. One hit and I was extremely numb for one hour and I still feel the high three hours later. I have never felt like this from Marijuana. He said the stuff is home grown but it had no seeds or stems in it. It was by far the best I have ever had. Good thing my friend warned me before I smoked a bowl. This was as good a numb as I have felt since having an IV of morphine.