Tolerance

[Jackalope]

While the world needs more tolerance that is a discussion for somewhere else.

The tolerance I am talking about is the one lots of us have to deal with. No that I am smoking more for medical issues. I consume lots more marijuana daily than I have ever before. It is kind of a double edge sword as they call it. Because of it what you are smoking is going to affect you less. Because of this I have always seen tolerance as a bad thing.

Recently I am changing my views a little. I am terrible about second guessing how strong my weed is. Seeing all those 28 to 30% THC strains out there you can't help but wonder. In the end it doesn't matter because I have what I have. It really doesn't matter what else is out there. This last grow most all of the plants have a high I really like. While I don't think they are extremely strong the highs are great.

That's what got me really thinking, ( I do that a lot LMAO) I know tolerance is a factor for me. I have solved part of the problem with building a tolerance for a certain strain by growing more strains. My overall tolerance is still a factor. The fact that the high of everything is very noticeable should be telling me something. Just the fact that they are all working means they are strong enough to power through any tolerance I have.

So my weed is probably stronger than I am giving it credit for. With this in mind tolerance is a good thing.

Any thoughts?

 

[Mike Wright]

I'd think it has to do with your philosophy of medication. If I was trying to manage a daily issue like anxiety, I'd be trying to find the minimal dosage that would comfortably work. Mostly I'm looking for potent creative stimulation. That's not something I can fit into my daily routine so I'm a weekend warrior. So my tolerance if practically nil and everything I grow is more than potent enough for me. I do like to fine tune my strains to get just that right blend of mental stimulation and physical relaxation I'm looking for. My wife, on the other hand, medicates daily for stress and sleep, and some strains definitely pack less of a punch for her.

 

[TheFertilizer]

I have PTSD and CVS (Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome, please Google, it needs awareness) so I smoke a lot of flower to treat my mental ailments through the day, and avoid using concentrate recreationally. That way when I get a vomiting episode and need that "breakthrough potency" I can still use the hash to good effect. It takes a little self discipline because I love smoking hash, and everyone around here is all about dabs now.

Honestly smoking weed doesn't even really get me "high" anymore, it just keeps me mellowed out so the flashbacks and intrusive thoughts don't suck as much, and I don't get nightmares at night. I have kind of got use to the effects to the point where I basically don't notice them, though there's still a level of impairment I stay cautious of. It's just not really a type of euphoric good time anymore, but it keeps some of my symptoms at bay.

But when I start to get a vomiting episode, since I smoke weed so much, my tolerance is too high for a hit or two to stop the nausea. Then on top of that, the sensation of taste is very heightened during what is know as the "pro-drome"--basically the time I'm starting to feel the episode come on. So the problem then becomes the more you smoke, the more you have to put up with that intense flavor and sometimes it makes you gag which is pretty counter productive when trying to prevent vomiting.

That's where hash saves me. Because it is potent enough, and my tolerance low enough, I can get a dose of THC (or whatever) high enough and quickly enough to abort the vomiting episode, and with such a small amount of smoke that it doesn't upset my taste buds as much.

I have gotten into life-threatening dehydration from these episodes, so I literally look at my hash supply as being the possible difference between life and death; makes it a little easier to not dip into for fun, but man is it tempting. But I know that even if I had enough hash to smoke all I wanted, it would only mean raising my tolerance and making this medicine ineffective. To keep this lifeline, I have to keep my tolerance low enough.

Curious also to me is that THC does not seem to be the one silver bullet in this. I have bought 95-100% distillate at the stores, and they have completely failed to stop an episode. They're kind of hit or miss it seems, and I thought seeking the highest THC concentration would mean it would work with the least puffs, but I have literally vaped through an entire half a gram with no relief other than sedation.

On the other hand, bubble hash which is at best 80% THC, and probably closer to 50-60%, stops the nausea in its tracks. I have an analysis lab available to me which lists it's sample-results online, so I went and looked at the average potencies of bubble hash, and verrrrry few are above 60%. I only saw one sample that looked remotely as blonde as my stuff does, and it only tested at 80%. Meanwhile I still get good relief from my lower grades that are probably around 30-50% by comparison.

So anyways tolerance is tricky to deal with as a medical user. Recreationalists have the ability to take breaks, but as a medical user that means leaving things untreated. If you can discipline yourself to smoke little amounts, seldomly use high potency stuff, then it's possible to keep it at a certain level for long periods and not have it keep increasing. However, I think for that to work you have to be okay with denying yourself the more euphoric highs the drug can provide, and so for some it's worth it more to take long breaks.

Anyway I am kinda rambling. It's tricky managing supply as a medicinal user. I basically decided to give up the recreational benefits to ensure the medical ones still worked. Some might look at that as a sacrifice, but I don't think I'd be here today without it. If weed keeps me alive, I can find other things for recreation and fun.

 

[Dwight Monk]

I don't go thru very much myself so not really anything to base it on, but I have heard that mixing up the Strains helps for some reason (not smoke the same one for weeks at a time) as they all can have a slightly different high or taste. But then one hears all kinds of "old stoner tales" so who knows if something real or not I like to mix it up with different strains pretty much every few days, but many folks don't have the variety option as those of us in a Legal State, as the kid in a candy store thing at a Dispensary not the way it is when you get whatever your guy on the street has as rarely do they have much variety (or do they always even know the Strain for that matter).

 

[Jackalope]

Nice response here. Like I figured tolerance would mean different things to each of us.

Fertilizer. I have found lots of strains over the years that do what you are saying. However good it is it just doesn't get you HIGH. I saw them as bad strains strains for a long time. Now I see it as they were just not for me. I have searched through maybe 50 strains by now. I have found only a few favorites. Lots were good but to me they were boring or just didn't fit my needs.

Picking the strains that fit YOU personally is more important than most people realize. Because of chronic pain. Strains that fit me the best are very psychoactive. Both indica and sativas can and will have it.This helps them make themselves known whether they are strong or not. It still took a long time to find those certain strains. Everyone is going to be different. I do think that there are strains for everyone. It's the finding which ones that is the hard part. Lots of times it is not where you thought it would be.

I have to agree with you on water hash. It is by far my favorite concentrate. I make it a lot but I use it only in certain situations. I grow lots of different strains for the same reason you save the water hash just for meds. I have to be sure it is going to work because it is my only help. It is easier for me in ways. Mostly I just use it to distract me from the nerve pain and elevate my mood so I don't want to rip peoples head off because i'm in pain. I am finding strains that seem to help with the pain which is going to help in the future. Though the distraction is enough for now.

When it comes to swaping strains around. I don't smoke the same strain twice in a row. Half the time I have not decided which one I am going to smoke till I get to it. Having choices really helps. Every day is different for me. Some start out hard and are that way all day long. Variety gives me options on days like that.

 

[Gadfly]

I’m a heavy daily user. Also a person that throughly enjoys many forms of vice. MJ helped me to cut out tobacco and alcohol. But I largely replaced smoking cigarettes and drinking with mj, healthier living and exercise.

So here’s my perspective. I don’t believe in paying mind to % of a strain. I don’t trust the testing standards, or the accuracy of the stated THC/CBD content—as there an incentive for them to pump numbers—regulators are busy playing catch-up, and I’ve personally seen nasty weed grown by less than honest folks score big and make its way into the dispensaries here in CA. At this point, I don’t even really believe in an indica vs Sativa highs, I think this is just great marketing and placebo effect—Stoner science. I look forward to being proven right or wrong over the next decade or so. Exciting stuff for me.

The properties with mj are psychoactive, and a minor hallucinogen. For me, mental state has a huge impact on how it will effect the high. I could have pick-any-strain, take one hit in a certain environment and feel dramatic effects, and feel completely different in another scenario with that same strain, taking a dozen tokes. Mental state, plus environment. Sometimes, I take a few days off from using, and if I stop long enough, anything will send me to the moon on just a toke or two. Within a day, I could smoke all day and hardly feel a thing. When I get excited about trying something, I tend to feel euphoria, when I’m busy as all hell and just sneak a quick session in, I may not feel stoned at all but the edge or craving is gone. Similar to what I feel after a minimal amount of edible. The urge to use is gone, mentally calm, but no stoned feeling—serenity.

In short, as a heavy habitual user, I can still get high as a kite, or not, on just about anything to my liking and the effects can shift dramatically based on what is going on in the background. Also, I love Marijuana.

 

[falstaffo]

im a wake n baker, and pretty much smoke through a day, less during the week i guess because of work, but i have for many years and yet, i find my tolerance varies, i try to keep a lot of ‘flavours’ to smoke through, often coctail them up or pick when i get to the box any pot will do lol
some days i find i become more heavily stoned than others though, and when i smoke in some of my friends spliffs compared to mine they can wreck me lol a couple of em roll fatties

i dont use medicinally or not for a particular ailment at least.
i think i smoke because being on a level helps me through a day in a world i am thoroughly and utterly disgusted with for many and every reason lol
without a little green in my life i dont see much going on around the world to be excited about.. this beautiful plant is one however

my wife on the other hand, she used to smoke daily with me, moreso it started at night, she never had before we met and didnt for a long time after,but she suffered with gastrointestinal issues which became quite severe for a while, and so started smoking before bed to help her sleep and sleep through a night, something which was becoming almost impossible due to the constant pain and bleeding stomach,at first she couldnt smoke much, after a while her tolerance vastly improved and she could smoke through whole days and weekends with me and even chuff on those previously mentioned friends doobs lol

now her stomach is much improved and rarely causes issues, she stopped smoking daily a good few months back after starting a new job and now only smokes through a saturday with me once or twice a month,
tolerance has gone, after attempting to smoke through 2-3 with me she is done for lol

 

[Jackalope]

While I view weed as medical for me. I would never be in this situation if I didn't see it as recreational also. I smoked for years with no medical issues. So I can't say it is all medical.

Bottom line I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it. The fact that it helps me with lots of issues medically is mostly a bonus. I do know my life was a lot more miserable when I couldn't smoke. While I may not know how much it helps with pain. I know it helps me sleep. It also helps my frame of mind.I find if my mind is right everything else follows. You can't dwell on pain you keep forgetting about. It is amazing what a little distraction can do.

Gadfly has it right. Just because you have the ability to get baked doesn't mean you need to do it all day every day. That is where you can really tell the difference between High THC and a Great high. My Cinderella 99 isn't the strongest weed in the world. It works fast, lasts long, and it only takes a hit ot 2 to bump up to comfortable levels. Even at high levels you are still functionable. For sleep and later in the day it just can't keep up.

It is easy to find strains that put you to sleep. Finding a strain that covers the rest of your day is a little trickier. C-99 will not be for everyone what it is for me. That brings me back to my first thoughts. Where everyone needs to find the strains that work best for them.

That is harder to do today than it ever has been. Virtually nothing can be learned about the from genetic make up. At least when you consider indica/sativa anyway. There have always been simularities in some of the highs. Now everything has been blended to the point that highs can take you anywhere.

Once you find a strain you like and fits you. Then you need to see if you can find seeds and grow it. I have never had the same outcome between dispensary weed and what I have grown myself. It is always different. It isn't that one is better than the other. It has kind of went both ways. Not sure why but I find very little simularities between strains I grow and the ones I buy in dispensaries. Not better or worse but always different.