New strain, overindulgence, panic attacks and blood sugar levels

[tdavie]

I wanted to make a new post because I didn't want to step on anyone's toes or to have them think that I was attacking their point of view (I ain't). Disclaimer; I am a technician working in a nutrition lab so I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about (I won't guarantee it though ).

G/f and I got some new pot on Wednesday night (before Canada day), and it was sold to us as White Widow (I'm pretty sure it is Northern Lights), and it's the first I've come across in a few months that could be called dank/kind/top shelf/dispensary quality. Looks like it was flushed properly, dried/cured/etc.

I had been working making diets for an upcoming experiment at work, mostly consisting of blending corn/wheat/soy and weighing it. Lifting 90lb weights for 5 or 60 hours. So I had eaten a good breakfast of whole wheat pasta and was eating bran bars as snacks throughout the day. My blood pressure, sugar and other vitals were normal. Took BP meds at 9:30 am and had transient low blood pressure at 11:00 am. Worked throughout the day and occasionally had a non sugar ice tea because the temperatures in the mixing barn were over 80F.

Later that evening we were able to break out the Northern Lights. G/f was smoking, and I was vaping. I was about 2 hours behind her because I was finishing off some other weed in the Extreme (w/whip). Ate a dinner of chick peas/basmati rice.

About 2 hours after smoking NL, g/f becomes very disoriented and almost unable to stand. No nausea though. She said that a body stone was walking up her back right up into her head and that she became dizzy. Passed after 10-15 minutes. When I started vaping the NL, the same thing happened ot me, but after an hour or so. Only have a BP to go on (120/75). My dizziness/disorientation was accompanied by a mild panic attack.

I attribute what happened to the fact that it was much stronger pot then either of us were used to. Not going to discount the blood sugar argument entirely, but think it utterly irrelevant in *this* instance.

Tom

 

[lwien]

How many hits did you take? I know the White Widow I had about 6 months ago was VERY strong. Psychedelic actually, to a point. Very visual. Inanimate objects actually began to move and morph if stared at long enough. Not like acid of course, but still, the most visual weed that I've ever vaped, and this was after only 2 hits. If you're used to vaping mids and never had anything like this before, I could see how it could knock you on your ass if you over did it. I've been vaping very high grade weed from my dispensary for a long time, but this White Widow still stood out amongst the rest as being VERY intense. It's a nice change up, but I wouldn't want to vape it every day, but it is a great strain to add to other strains in a salad. Kind of like adding hot sauce to your favorite dish.

 

[Lycanthrope]

I have Type -II diabetes, and have had for 18 years. I also suffer from Bi-Polar, anxiety/panic attacks, as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and have a mild case of OCD. The synergistic combination of these disorders finally cost me my job in materials science over a year ago. I have used MJ for 43 years now with no ill effects. Its only helped me to cope. I know that my disorders are not the result of my MJ use as some would like to think. I was destined to have these disorders whether I used MJ or not. My point here is that my blood sugar is not affected my MJ use at all. I measure my blood sugar a minimum of 4 times a day and keep a close check on it, so my sugar levels are very tightly controlled. I work out with heavy weights 3 times a week as well as my martial art which also facilitate control of my sugar levels. My other psychological disorders are all made much more tolerable and controllable due to my MJ use, especially the high anxiety/panic attacks. I may sound like a train wreck but I do pretty well and Im on veterans disability. I qualified for disability from the PTSD and anxiety/panic attacks I suffer from, all compliments of the US government. I think that your ill experiences were due to your not being used to the much better strain of the new herb that you tried.

 

[Beezleb]

Blood sugar crashes from weed does not necessarily matter due to ones diabetic diagnosis. I have witnessed it in very healthy people more often.

I would side on this one that it was just too strong herb for her. My first experience with White Widow was the year it won the Canabis Cup. Sat in a Coffee Shop for a long time. I have no idea but it was bright daylight when we entered and was in the middle of the night when we left. We did not use very much and was quite comical looking back on. That was a blast of a trip hehe.

Never hit us like that again but if I had to guess that it was more along those lines than that than sugar.

 

[tdavie]

How many hits did you take? I know the White Widow I had about 6 months ago was VERY strong. Psychedelic actually, to a point. Very visual. Inanimate objects actually began to move and morph if stared at long enough. Not like acid of course, but still, the most visual weed that I've ever vaped, and this was after only 2 hits. If you're used to vaping mids and never had anything like this before, I could see how it could knock you on your ass if you over did it. I've been vaping very high grade weed from my dispensary for a long time, but this White Widow still stood out amongst the rest as being VERY intense. It's a nice change up, but I wouldn't want to vape it every day, but it is a great strain to add to other strains in a salad. Kind of like adding hot sauce to your favorite dish.

I had 4 hits at 140C, and then every 20-30 minutes, I would ramp up the temperature by 20C. I figure I was at 180C and had taken 8-12 hits (total) when things began to get uncomfortable for me (approximately the same for g/f). I stopped, and after 1/2 hour, I felt like I could vape more (but didn't). I was better by then. I find I'm getting more of an anti inflammatory effect by starting at very low temperatures, which is what I want. I think if I started at 190C I would have a problem with anxiety.

The difficulty I had was short lived. It manifested itself as an intense feeling of being on a merry-go-round and the room was swirling around me. Interesting, unsettling and made it very difficult to walk. Once over this 'feeling' I knew that I wouldn't want to vape any more that evening. I'm also going to reduce the amount I used (say 0.15g instead of 0.33g).

G/f smoked her way through it (not into vaping yet). I don't have that kind of tolerance

Tom

 

[Happycamper]

Is this not simialr to agbeers thread? Throwing a whitey?

The worst one I ever had was the room spinning so I couldn't walk, laid down and just feeling like i was falling through the floor over and over, with panic attacks at feeling of falling. Very long time ago.

 

[lwien]

Yeah, 8 to 12 hits of well grown and well cured White Widow, at least for me, would put me wayyyyy over the top. Too much of a good thing can be bad. Gotta find that sweet spot and try and not to go below it, or above it, especially when using it for medical purposes.

 

[wthanna]

Blood sugar crashes from weed does not necessarily matter due to ones diabetic diagnosis. I have witnessed it in very healthy people more often.

Something to think about...

Science, anecdotal evidence, and drawing conclusions from observation.

Those of us that test our sugar regularly... including when these events have happened, have stated that we do not see a relationship to blood sugar here.

Just because a "dose" of sugar can bring you out of it does not mean your blood sugar was low or related to the problem. Let me give you some examples to think about.
Some of these are extreme, but I will post them simply to get my point / opinion across.

Example 1: I find myself extremely sleepy in the early afternoon. I slam a cup of coffee. I quickly feel energetic and ready for the rest of the day. While the coffee did take care of my symptoms (drowsiness), we know that they were not caused by my body suddenly being low on caffeine. ( I am not a regular coffee drinker or addicted to caffeine in this example )

Example 2: My eyes are red. I use eye drops. My eyes turn white and clear. While eye drops immediately helped my symptoms, I am quite sure the symptoms were not caused by a sudden decrease in the active ingredient in eye drops.

Example 3: I have heartburn. I take a TUMS or Rolaids. I feel better. I am not suffering from a TUMS deficiancy.

Example 4: I wake up with some swelling in a joint. I ice the joint. It gets better. This had nothing to do with ice deficiancy.

I posted this simply to get us all to "dig a little deeper" into what is really going on here. People have said in previous posts that while in Amsterdam, they have seen people given sugar cubes which "brought them out of it" when overwhelmed by an intense buzz, etc. I simply want to point out that while this may help, it does not necessarily prove that they had a low sugar problem.

Again.. just something to think about when looking at data of any kind.

There was a time when people would see ships sail away and since they "knew" the earth was flat, when they disappeared over the horizon they "were sure" they fell off the edge of the earth.

 

[AGBeer]

Yeah, I guess this is similar to what happened to me. Only thing is these were my regular mids (I save my better strains for the Zap) I think that the combination of so many levels of THC plus the nicotine from my e-cig just gave me a free ride for a bit. It was pretty intense

 

[Happycamper]

Wow, must remember about trying sugar, I used to think it was vitamin c, like orange slices that used to help me, but will try a sugar lump if it happens again. Maybe it's the natural sugar in the orange slices that helps.

I might springle a load of sugar on an orange slice next time

 

[vap999]

What was experienced seems likely due to too much THC, including high doses of isomers for which the user lacked tolerance/prior exposure. As you describe, you largely adapted in about 10-15 minutes, so temporary overload seems the most likely cause. This would likely be due to slow metabolism of isomers, with higher-than-normal accumulation in the blood (and on neural receptors), due to lack of induction of the specific needed enzyme(s) due to lack of sufficient prior exposure to isomers.

Just go much more slowly. Like a newbie, you'll soon enough develop metabolic-based, if not psychological/perceptual, tolerance.