Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Anyone have problems with tolerance to THC and what did you do about it?

Wantok

I did not have an issue with tolerance to THC, but I did have an issue where a buildup of THC in my system caused me to become extremely depressed. So now I occasionally take a break from THC and accept a few nights of lower quality sleep.

I don't use THC as much since my IV Iron infusions, but I used it nightly for about 2 years previously. No tolerance in that time. I took 10mg edible 90 min before bed, and 5mg about midnight or 1 AM. I weigh about 200 pounds.

wantok wrote:Anyone have problems with tolerance to THC and what did you do about it?

Wantok

I increased my CBD dose to balance out my endocannabinoid system. My prescribing doctor told me from the very beginning how important it is to take enough CBD to keep the system balanced. I was a bit ignorant of that and often skipped CBD.

I now corrected this mistake and after only one day THC worked as good as it did before.

Edit: most of my CBD comes from an oily CBD solution but sometimes I also vape a strain that is high in CBD but has less than 0,5% THC. I also use Sativex which contains THC to CBD in 1:1 ratio.

As of now I am not 100% sure how much CBD I need exactly and what is the best way to split the dose.

Is there any more detail you can fill in about "balancing out the endocannabinoid system"? First I have heard of this. Should I be taking as much CBD as THC daily?

I have not found the amount of CBD to influence how well the THC helps me sleep. After lots of trials, the only thing that seems to matter for me is the amount of THC. Adding CBD doesn't cause me any problems, but just doesn't make the THC work any better. CBD alone has no effect on my sleep at all.

Remember that the insomnia problems RLS patients have is different than the insomnia of most (perhaps all) other patients. Many of us have tried various sleeping meds and most have found that none of the standard sleeping pills help us. The only meds I found that help sleep are: gabapentin, THC, IV Iron.

wantok wrote:Is there any more detail you can fill in about "balancing out the endocannabinoid system"? First I have heard of this. Should I be taking as much CBD as THC daily?

I really don't know that much about it but I have a few observations that I can share:

Initially I took 1 month of CBD oil before I started using THC products. The only thing I noticed during that time was increased REM sleep. With the spray who contained THC:CBD ratio close to 1:1 I initially had amazing effects and when I started using flowers they worked even better.

Over the time I took less and less CBD and suddenly I had a point where marijuana was not working well anymore. Sometimes it could even trigger RLS symptoms and again I was awake for 24 - 30 hours before I was able to sleep a few hours. This all changed when I added CBD-oil back into the mix.

My doctor said the amount of CBD people need is very different. Some need 50:50 ... 90:10 and some none at all.

But even when you don't necessarily need CBD for your sleep there are still quite a few other reasons why taking CBD might be beneficial. At the moment I am still trying to figure out what is the optimal dose for me. Since there are no noticeable side effects it is difficult to tell how much somebody should take.

Basically: the THC makes me sleep and the CBD helps me to stay asleep.

Thanks!! Very interesting.

For those who use THC or CBD in flower form, what equipment do you recommend and what is the process? I am concerned about health issues from vaping.

I just started experimenting with cannabis a month ago. I am infusing coconut oil (same method as infusing butter, if you google cannabutter recipe). I have used the infused oil to make un-cooked treats (food processor: nuts, dates, oil in equal amounts, plus 1/2 shredded coconut & some flavoring); cooked muffins; and in tea.

I was not happy with the edibles, because I am not always hungry for such a heavy snack at that time of night (and damn it they make me more hungry afterward!) and also for travelling they're awkward cuz they need to be kept in a fridge. I haven't tried the muffins yet, just made them yesterday, but I wonder if they will be different, having been heated longer and a bit hotter. The tea I tried for the first time last night. I used an entire 3.5 g bud infused into 1 cup oil, and I used about a teaspoon of that oil in a cup of tea. If you do this, beware that the oil will float on top and can burn, so let it cool.

All of these methods are hard to use because of the 1-2 hour delay before effects are noticeable, and the fact that the effect it has is going to depend on what you are recently. Also, other than the tea method, I cannot get an exact dose (i.e. my treats are never exactly the same size). I can't control for all of those things satisfactorily, so I have ordered the best vaporizer I could find (based on advice from our members - the Mighty. I ordered from vaporizers.ca). I have asthma, and the only thing that keeps me from depression is working out; my workouts are very very important to me, so I am very leery of vaping. I don't even know if I will use it. But I will try it anyway. It might be ok with the cooling circuit, and the fact that you can set it to create vapor at a pretty low temperature, so you're not(?) getting smoke particles. I hope.

I so far have used only THC-rich flower with almost no CBD. I have found that if I don't take a wee bit (1/2 tsp or less) of CBD oil with the treats, they can create an unpleasant stone and worsened WED/RLS symptoms for an hour at least before they let me sleep. Also the CBD seems to delay the tolerance - when I wasn't using it, I needed a higher dose every second day or so. I think I am still getting tolerant but not as fast. I am trying to delay it by stopping every 6 days (I'm rotating 3 sleep meds - pregabalin and cannabis, zopicline and cannabis, pregabalin and zopicline, 3 days on each combo. Just started this.