strain allergy?

little maggie

Well-Known Member
I bought a new to me strain at a local dispensary and I've concluded that I must be allergic to it. The first time I had a reaction I thought I was just getting sick. But every time I've used this particular strain (only 3x) I end up with a headache which then spreads through my body so that end up hurting all over. It's not a muscle ache so much as a nerve ache.
The most recent time I forgot that was the herb in my grinder until I started getting those symptoms.
Has anyone heard of someone being allergic to only 1 strain?
 

Squiby

Well-Known Member
I have a friend that has had headaches from certain bags of weed. He's not sure if it was the particular batch or the growing methods or the specific strain, as his herb is from the black market and who knows what you are getting.

I would take note of the strain and the genetics. If it's the strain, it would be as easy as avoiding it and the strains it comes from. If it is pesticides or the fertilizer for example, sticking to organically grown might be the solution.
 
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little maggie

Well-Known Member
Thanks. It is from a dispensary and is organic. I'm going to note the lineage of this strain and stay away from it. I just looked on leafly and although strawberry cough is a very popular strain where I live and it's used for pain, anxiety and stress but negative side effects can be headache and anxiety. I must be more sensitive to the negative aspects.
 
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Bassman999

Well-Known Member
I grow my own and have noticed a certain strain Atomic Northern Lights causes me to get severely congested and a headache.
Most strains dont do it, but trimming sessions often end up with a stuffy nose, but no headache.
I am thinking high levels of Pinene might be my catalyst.
 

looney2nz

Research Geek, Mad Scientist
Thanks. It is from a dispensary and is organic. I'm going to note the lineage of this strain and stay away from it. I just looked on leafly and although strawberry cough is a very popular strain where I live and it's used for pain, anxiety and stress but negative side effects can be headache and anxiety. I must be more sensitive to the negative aspects.

I'd talk to the management at the dispensary... what you're describing does indeed sound like some kind of toxin :( They should be able to show you the entire lab sheet for that strain/grow.

Now some folks are more sensitive to some of the different terpenes... you could be one of those.

I've had organic strawberry cough many times, although I never experienced the negative effects you described (but I'm a sample of n=1).
 
looney2nz,

shredder

Well-Known Member
Thanks. It is from a dispensary and is organic. I'm going to note the lineage of this strain and stay away from it. I just looked on leafly and although strawberry cough is a very popular strain where I live and it's used for pain, anxiety and stress but negative side effects can be headache and anxiety. I must be more sensitive to the negative aspects.

If it was indeed free of chemical contamination, you might want to look at turpenes. Some type of contaminate would be my first suspicion though.

I'm mildly allergic to mj in general. It manifests itself during trimming fresh plants, when the turpenes are at their strongest, then my sensitivities fade when the buds dry and cure. Some varieties are worse for me than others. Chem dawg is bad. green crack is OK. When my allergies are bad I use a face mask.

And some varieties do make me congested when vaping, (super silver haze) but I was surprised to learn dabbing the same variety in rosin form actually seemed to clear my sinuses and help my breathing.

And I know there are zero pesticides in herbs I grow myself organically. Most of my plants nutrients come from my own worm farm or from other plants I grow to use as fertlizer for my plants. So I'm confident in the inputs not being a problem.

Years ago I used to grow outdoors, and I suffered a little more, but I always figured it was other plant pollens that I'm allergic to. (hay fever) but now I'm quite sure I have a mild mj allergy.
 

herbivore21

Well-Known Member
As has probably already been said in here (I haven't read the whole thread), 'strains' are an ambiguous concept. A 'strain' never refers to a specific chemotype (chemical profile), and in fact most 'strains' (the correct term is 'variety', strain is a term used to classify viruses!) consist of a number of different phenotypes, which each can result in very varied chemotypes (chemical profile). Simply put, a given 'strain' does not provide sufficient clarity as to the chemical content of a given sample of cannabis to know whether it contains and allergen or not.

Chemicals cause allergies, not 'strains'. Normally specific individual chemicals are isolated as being responsible for a given allergy. Some chemicals may react together to form another compound which may also be an allergen, so this can also be considered.

In any case, 'strains' (more correctly known as varieties) are not the culprit and are not even a very clear specifier of the chemical content of a given sample of flower.
 
herbivore21,
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ilsasta

Well-Known Member
I've had some issues with UK grown cheese off the street. At the time I was only smoking and it was giving me bad headache, like a nail was going trough my head, very unpleasant. But I can probably point that to additives and stuff used to grow the plants as quick as possible, I'll give it another try when it will be available again.
 
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herbivore21

Well-Known Member
I've had some issues with UK grown cheese off the street. At the time I was only smoking and it was giving me bad headache, like a nail was going trough my head, very unpleasant. But I can probably point that to additives and stuff used to grow the plants as quick as possible, I'll give it another try when it will be available again.
Holy shit man, that sounds to me like improperly flushed flowers or perhaps a nutrient/supplement/pest/fungus treatment applied to a flowering plant (this should never happen!).

If you google how to check if your flower is properly flushed, there are some tests. Looking at how clean the ash burns when you burn some of the flower is one test people use.
 

ilsasta

Well-Known Member
Holy shit man, that sounds to me like improperly flushed flowers or perhaps a nutrient/supplement/pest/fungus treatment applied to a flowering plant (this should never happen!).

If you google how to check if your flower is properly flushed, there are some tests. Looking at how clean the ash burns when you burn some of the flower is one test people use.
Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely google it. This unfortunately happens when you get flower from street dealers. But I definitely want to try it again.
 
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