The excitement of smoking weed the first time could have you soon regretting the experience and swearing off marijuana for life. The same thing could happen when taking edibles, and you have no idea how much is enough.
Chasing the blissful high sometimes compels even seasoned cannabis product consumers to take too much and get excessively high.
Therefore, you need to know what to do if you are too high. While most instances of overdosing on marijuana are scarier than life-threatening, it is nonetheless an experience not to be repeated. However, if you are already shaken and out of your mind fighting to keep your sanity, you need to find some fast relief.
This article shares tips to help you manage that phase and get you back to normal as soon as possible.
How Should A High Ideally Feel?
People smoke, vape, eat edibles, or apply cannabis topical creams for different purposes. The high they feel depends on several variables and their specific needs.
For example, using marijuana high for pain relief elicits a different sensation than when one uses it to fight stress and anxiety.
These individuals have different expectations and different physiological compositions. Therefore, the ideal and relaxing high differs.
That said, cannabis products will make you high due to their THC content. THC is the part of marijuana responsible for the psychoactive effects. It makes you feel euphoric and fun, “up in the clouds.” The THC concentration of your cannabis product is the main determinant factor of how high you will feel.
Other factors include:
- The chosen method of delivery, be it smoking, vaping, as edibles, or topically
- Your frequency of consuming cannabis products
- Your body composition
- Presence of other drugs and intoxicating substances in your body
- The last meal you had before taking the cannabis product
- Your age and gender
What Are The Dangers Of Getting Too High?
Marijuana is like any other drug in that not everyone should consume it. Some people will always have pleasant experiences, while others won’t enjoy them. Additionally, newbies may have intense reactions that could be scary.
The situation may evolve into a pleasant experience with the right approach, or it may remain so. Either way, no good comes from getting too high on cannabis products.
Examples of physical dangers of getting too high include high blood pressure, a racing heartbeat, feeling tired, nausea, and vomiting.
Emotionally and psychologically, you may feel anxious and confused and experience delusions and hallucinations. You may also panic, get paranoid, and succumb to psychosis.
While most symptoms may not be fatal, their physical and psychological impact predisposes you to even more danger. For example, psychosis could cause you to self-harm or harm others and land into trouble.
Additionally, good Samaritans could administer the wrong remedy, further endangering your health and well-being.
What To Do When You Are High AF
Once you notice you are getting too high, you need to take certain precautions to minimize the damage. This way, you will also speed up the return to normalcy:
- Do Not Panic
We understand that this is probably the last thing you feel you can manage, but it goes a long way. Thinking about the impending effects too much causes you to panic, which usually leads to a downward spiral.
Most psychological reactions are all in the head, and curbing those gives you a chance to do something about the physical reactions.
For example, you may feel shortness of breath, but it is only a feeling. Cannabis does not inhibit your respiratory system function.
Therefore, avoid panicking to allow yourself to breathe well instead of denying your body oxygen through fear.
- Try and Relax
Expect to feel relaxed, drowsy, and even sleepy. Once you avoid panicking, you need to try and sleep it off.
No bodily functions or systems will fail while you are asleep, which is an irrational fear. Therefore, take time to succumb to the relaxed sensation, and give your body a chance to fight the overdose.
- Eat Some Food
Alternatively, or after relaxing and sleeping, you need to eat something. The munchies perfectly explain why this is a good idea.
Filling your belly helps raise your blood glucose levels, which counteracts the THC action of lowering it. Therefore, eating helps minimize the high and balances out the THC effects.
Note that eating will not immediately lower the high but will help bring it down to manageable levels. You still need to take action in other areas, but eating is a step in the right direction.
- Drink Some Water
You then need to get some water into your system. THC tends to dehydrate the body, and drinking water counteracts that effect. Additionally, the water helps to wash out the THC in your system.
A great alternative is drinking coffee. Coffee is a stimulant whose effects are the opposite of THC. The more alert you are, the less the chance of you acting in a harmful or disrespectful way.
Remember, drinking coffee also introduces more water into your body, effectively eliminating the dehydration from THC.
- Focus on Something Else
You need to take your mind off how your body handles the high. Engage in activities like listening to soft music, sitting on your garden porch, doing simple house chores, or watching a movie.
Ensure you do something simple and relaxing. This is not the time to trim the hedges or meal prep for the week.
Additionally, avoid operating any machinery, including driving. Your judgment is impaired, and those activities result in far worse outcomes. The idea here is to forget for some time that you are incredibly high.
- Do You Have Some CBD?
CBD alters the CB1 receptor binding sites’ structure, making it impossible for THC to bind to your endocannabinoid system.
This is how CBD counters the effects of THC in your body; it reduces the chances of more THC becoming active in your system.
Therefore, if you have some CBD oil, now’s a good time to take it.
Use the fastest delivery method, such as under the tongue or vaping. You need to feel its effects as fast as possible.
- How About a Cold Shower?
There’s no science to explain why this works or guarantees it will work. However, most individuals report it being effective in at least keeping you alert.
A cold shower shocks your body and resets your reactions to the THC. The temperature change also helps counteract THC effects.
Your body will produce more adrenaline to combat the temperature change, which in turn burns through some of the THC. Therefore, keep it as cold as your body can withstand for faster results.
- Try Aromatherapy
Certain foods contain the right substances you need for aromatherapy, which have proven effective. For example, limonene found in lemons has anti-stress properties that will calm your mind.
Lemon juice should work well, or you can also eat lemon slices. The juice will be refreshing and will help you hydrate some more.
Pinene has soothing properties, which are handy at this time. Therefore, take that walk through the woods or park to smell it in nature or substitute if you have some in the house.
Some black pepper is also ideal. You most likely have black pepper in the house, which is a rich source of caryophyllene. This aromatherapy substance significantly lowers THC effects in your body.
- Have Someone Nearby
Remember to alert a friend or neighbor of your fate. It is dangerous to be alone during this time, no matter how well-prepared you feel. Having someone with you eases some tensions.
You may not be aware of your reactions as the THC goes through your system. Therefore, you need a watchful eye on yourself to prevent self-harm, harming others, or damaging property.
What To Avoid While Still High
Whatever your excessive euphoria compels you to do, you need to avoid activities that could cause far more damage than good.
Here are things you need to avoid engaging in as you try to reduce that high:
- Getting Some Work Done
This is not the time to respond to work emails or any emails, for that matter. A bolt of creativity may strike you, but results may differ from what you imagined.
Therefore, try to relax and do all the things mentioned above. You will have plenty of time to handle work duties once the euphoria ends.
- Keeping Appointments
Do not attempt to meet prospective clients or social acquaintances or honor any other appointments. You might get away with appearing sober in a crowd, but your date will immediately know something is amiss.
Imagine if this was a vital meeting and your boss discovered you are completely baked.
- Driving
Driving and operating heavy machinery while high is a dangerous engagement. You’ll endanger your life and that of other motorists.
The penalties will be terrible if the police find out you are driving while high. Therefore, avoid such risks and stay at home. Ask someone to drive you or take a cab if you must leave.
- Avoid Exciting Activities
Your mind is not in the right state to logically process excitement. Therefore, you need to avoid activities that could get you excited.
For example, now is not the time to go to the movies. The large screen, surround sound, and plot twists will cause you to panic or experience a state of psychosis.
- Make Significant Decisions
Focus on calming down more and less on deciding our future. You’ve probably heard of people who went to get matching tattoos with strangers when they were high. Imagine the regret they felt the next day.
Don’t be like them. This is not the time to call your ex to patch things up or to buy those bitcoins you have been eyeing.
- Getting High Some More
Some people may enjoy that excessively high feeling and get greedy, chasing some more. No matter how experienced you are in cannabis, do not try getting high when you are already too high, which is not a great combo.
Abusing marijuana is detrimental to your physical and psychological health. If you intend to enjoy this glorious plant, you need to practice moderation. It starts with handling your present state and avoiding all chances of worsening it.
How Do You Get Too High In The First Place?
As you focus on what to do and what to avoid when you are too high, you need to consider what brought you to this point. This will help you avoid future incidents.
Through some research and experience, you should understand what works for you. In the meantime, you probably got high AF because of the following:
- You Took a Sativa Strain
Sativa is known for its dynamic, physical, almost manic effects on the body when it makes you high. Hybrid strains also induce similar reactions when ingested in higher doses. Indica strains typically produce a more relaxed, mellow high.
- You Vaped or Smoked the THC
First-time marijuana users usually find it hard to manage the almost-instant effects of THC. Ingesting cannabis products through the respiratory system is the fastest way to feel their effects.
- You Didn’t Give Edibles Time to React
Edibles take the longest, making you feel like you did not eat enough. This is a mistake since adding some more will be an overdose.
Once you start experiencing the high, your body will have an even larger dose to process, and terrible feelings will ensue.
- You Were Already Stoned
You will feel excessively high if you begin drinking alcohol before smoking marijuana. Your body is already intoxicated, allowing potent substances like cannabis to act quickly and overwhelm you.
Conclusion
Before anything else, ensure that the product you use has less THC; the legal amount is 0.3%. Enjoy that high from your Pineapple Express safely at home. Not all states legalize marijuana use, so be careful. You can look for CBD gummies for the same.
Marijuana produces an amazing high that may be just what you need if you do it right. There’s always the chance that you will get too high and not know what to do.
This article analyzes what could lead you to that state and what you can do to salvage the situation. Additionally, you will find tips to help you avoid more trouble and consider what not to do while you are still too high.
