One thing that I think I have figured out is that the stuff I have grown is much less likely to trigger my anxiety than the stuff I buy.
For example, the CBD Dream that I grew is about 6% THC and 6% CBD - With that stuff, I might feel “slightly uneasy” for a few minutes but then I feel really nice shortly afterwards. On the other hand, I bought another high CBD strain with like 3.4% THC and 12% CBD - and it can easily give my my 15-20 minutes of hell if I am not careful. This doesn’t make sense to me and means there is a lot more going on here than I realize.
Furthermore, my home grown White Widow (which has very little CBD, if any) makes me giggle like a school girl and not really give a crap about anything. I don’t think I have ever really felt crappy from it (although, I am careful with it).
I suspect my body chemistry and my life stressors have a lot to do with all this, but I also suspect there is something significantly different about the “store bought” weed. I dunno. But some time in January or early February I will have 4 new home grown strains to try so I will have more data to go on.
One thing I am going to try soon is a pure CBD strain. Something with only trace amounts of THC. If that still puts me in a shitty place then I need to completely start from scratch.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also tried (store bought) Sensi Star for the first time recently and the anxiety factor on that one was extremely low as well - despite not having much CBD in it at all. I’ll have to try it again and see if it is consistent.
I am wondering how far off topic we can go before someone merges this and other posts with the “Anxiety Strains” thread…
In my experience, anxiety comes when you have the anticipation of negativity. Cannabis won’t hurt you even if it scares you. Your heart certainly will survive beating fast for the period of time it takes to come down from your negative experience, if it comes. Just follow Cannabis where it takes you @cogitech and don’t resist.
You may not be resisting at all, but in my experience this is why I was never able to fully enjoy it for a long time. The first time I tried it my buddy laced it. So it took me a few years to actually renegotiate my psychological terms with it. Once I did though, any Sativa dominant strain became my anxiety choice over Indica.
I remember reading that Blue Dream has both Indica and Sativa dominant phenotypes. Were your samples from different harvests?
The 2 dramatically different Blue Dream experiences were from the same joint, on two different days.
The anxiety issues that I have are not related to my physical response to cannabis, and I have no fear about what the plant will or will not do to me. For me, basically what happens is that every single source of stress in my life, every damned thing on my to-do list, everything about my job, every health worry I have (about myself and my family) EVERYTHING is in my head all at once and I become overwhelmed with anxiety and self-loathing. “Impending doom” is a barely adequate description. This feeling makes me angry. Mostly angry at myself, but also very short with anyone around me. It lasts for 20-25 minutes and then I just feel nice and high/stoned. Totally normal. Also, if I smoke more later, this doesn’t happen. It is only the first tokes of the day that do it, but it doesn’t always happen.
EDIT: One thing that helps is if I put something fast-paced but mindless on the TV, like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Normally I can’t stand this type of content, but for some reason it is really good at getting me out of my head when I am in an anxiety hole. I even find myself chuckling here and there. Then at some point I ask myself why TF I am watching that stuff and I realize I am OK to go do other things.
I totally get it! Sometimes it’s where you are at before you smoke and the initial tokes will just intensify it until it completely kicks in. This happens to me with pure Indicas except I get stuck there inside my head until it wears off all the while white knuckling it, locked to the couch. With the Sativa hybrids the raciness wears down quicker leaving me focused externally instead of inside my head with the anxiety.
It makes me sad to know others, such as yourself, experience this hell as intensely as I do. I guess I should feel lucky that mine typically lasts less than 30 minutes.
I sometimes wonder if I just took a week off and got totally baked all day every day if I would build up a tolerance and make this go away.
EDIT: In the other thread there was discussion of Linalool, and I had planned on trying to smoke some of the lavender in my front yard. I never did get around to that, but recent events have inspired me once again. I’m going to try a few things…
I’m sad for everyone who suffers from depression/anxiety and want everyone to know that they are not alone. If nothing else, I am here at the end of this keyboard. Mental health is so readily dismissed by people as it isn’t an ailment that you can really see like a broken leg or something and is made into such a taboo subject by many and it shouldn’t be.
Honestly, though - in my case, it is all my fault. All I have to do is not smoke weed and I don’t have these issues. I mean, I worry about shit when I’m not high, but it doesn’t overwhelm me and make me “white knuckle” it on the couch, as you said so perfectly.
But when its good, it’s great! - so I keep trying.
I’m in the same shoes - whiteknucked on a couch after a good toke, so I don’t really smoke, unless i’ve been drinking, and even then only a little bit. May sound counterintuitive, but alcohol is quite a potent anxiolytic, so shitfaced = no problem. Unfortunately hangovers are not nice, so I try to not drink enough to enjoy cannabis. Damned either way.
I absolutely don’t get how some people smoke to relieve anxiety… I guess each brain has its own chemistry and mine is just not THC-friendly. WHen i was in college I could take 5 bong rips in a row and come back for more an hour later. What did I ever do to mess that up?
Exactly the same here. I think my pleasant experience with Blue Dream the first night was because I had a little alcohol buzz going. Not hammered, but feeling loose.
In university, I basically did a wake n’ bake (a few BTs) every day and maintained a decent high till the evening, and then nearly every night my friends and I would pretty much be totally baked till 3am.
Around age 27 or 28 I quit toking, and didn’t really start again till I was close to 40. So maybe that 10-12 year break was what fucked me up. I dunno.
Or, maybe I really do have way to much stress and negativity in my life and I need to fix those things before I can really enjoy the weed to its fullest.
Shit, in university I had basically no stress whatsoever. I was a Philosophy major, FFS.
Maybe there’s something to this 40+ age that alters our brain chemicals. I know both sexes have hormonal changes. Maybe that’s part of our ensuing smoking issues
Don’t even get me started on alcohol… while great for anxiety in the moment, it’s a depressant and really kicks my ass. I go really light and careful on the liquor. May feel great at the time, but the next day, I’m screwed.
Nice! A friend of mine studied theatre. We made fun of him BFA = Bachelor of Fuck All. He showed all of us how it’s done, and now designs museum exhibits around the world. He still smokes like a chimney. Also, no kids, no wife (anymore), no pets, and one worn out Aeroplan card…
Possible – although i think @cogitech has a point about stress too. I did not used to care about having a sore throat for 4 days in a row. Now it’s like “OMG, It’s cancer for sure” LOL. I don’t know how I got so thin-skinned
I know exactly how we got so thin-skinned. Experience. With age we have seen too much terrible shit and it makes us fearful. When we are young we feel invincible, because nothing really bad has happened to us or our loved ones yet. Life has a way of fucking us without lube (excuse my language).
Was the anxiety session done with an empty stomach? I’m starting to wonder about this aspect a lot. And blood sugar levels. I read somewhere that “research” is finding stoners burn more sugar. Must be all that thinking. I know I burn more weed.
Next step: blend that Blue Dream. Grind/shred it & mix with your CBD stuff. Try 1/2 & 1/2 or 1/3-2/3…
Hope for the best. Could just be that particular BD specimen has a zippy terpene/cannabinoid that most don’t… Probably the one I’d like. hehe
says:
I’m starting to wonder about this aspect a lot. And blood sugar levels. I read somewhere that “research” is finding stoners burn more sugar. Must be all that thinking. I know I burn more weed. 
