How to Sober Up When Feeling Too High
Many use cannabis for its medicinal benefits. Medical marijuana has benefits for mental health, PTSD, cancer, and many other health conditions. However, there is a euphoric high with these positive effects that some may not like. Even those who enjoy the psychoactive effects of THC will not like the uncomfortable anxiousness that comes with feeling too high.
The unpleasant feelings of being overly stoned will eventually wear off, but there are some methods to get rid of them sooner. Do you want to know what to do if you get too high? Keep reading as we give you some practical tips to help you sober up quickly.
Why Are You Feeling Too High?
Every person has a different experience with marijuana. The main factors that determine your experience are the dosage and the strength of the marijuana you use. Each strain has a unique potency, so it’s good to understand different marijuana strains before using one.
The type of product you use can also be why you’re feeling too high. For instance, edibles like cannabis gummies and brownies create a more intense high. Your age, physical condition, metabolism, and tolerance to THC also play a part in your overall experience with marijuana.
How to Know If You’re Too High
When you get too high, the unpleasant feelings will outweigh the regular euphoria you feel with cannabis. The symptoms of an intense high can vary from one person to another. However, these are the most common ones:
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Panic and paranoia
- Increased heart rate
- Nausea and vomiting
- Impaired judgment and coordination
Remember that drinking alcohol or using other substances when feeling too high will worsen these distressing effects. So avoid them at all costs.
What To Do If You’re Too High
There are a few strategies to help you sober up quickly. Here are 12 of the most effective ones you can use.
1. Drink Plenty of Water
Marijuana makes many users feel dehydrated and thirsty. This dehydration can increase your anxiety and deplete your brain’s energy, exacerbating the symptoms. Drinking plenty of water is the best way to fight it.
You may feel like drinking alcohol or coffee instead of water to satisfy your thirst. However, drinking alcohol when feeling too high can intensify the condition and make you lose your cognitive function entirely. Coffee may also not be helpful. On the other hand, water will hydrate you properly and help remove the THC from your system.
2. Eat Some Snacks
Along with drinking water, you should also eat some snacks to sober up faster. You may already have some snacks on hand for your munchies. So dig in and replenish your body with food to clear the marijuana from your system.
Try spicy snacks with a bit of pepper on top of them if you’re feeling too high. Pepper has terpenes that occupy THC receptors in the brain and offset its effects.
On the other hand, there are snacks high in myrcene, a terpene that can enhance the effects of THC and make your high worse. What you need to do if you’re too high is to stay away from these snacks. Mangoes, hops, parsley, guava, and thyme are some of the foods that belong to this group.
3. Take Ibuprofen
Another way to battle the high from marijuana is to take ibuprofen. Studies show that anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen or COX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex can help you sober up when feeling too high. They do that by inhibiting COX-2, an enzyme that causes inflammation in the body.
While these drugs extinguish the high from THC, they allow the cannabinoid to produce painkilling and anti-inflammatory effects. This is promising research as these findings can be used to treat conditions that cause inflammation in the brain, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
4. Chew on Lemon Slices or Peppercorns
An effective way of fighting THC high is using the power of terpenes. These aromatic compounds can enhance or reduce the undesirable effects of THC. If you’re feeling too high, you can consume some anxiety-reducing terpenes. You probably already have some in your pantry!
Black pepper, as we already mentioned, is an effective solution. You can also chew on lemon slices. These two contain some of the best terpenes for stress and anxiety, such as pinene, caryophyllene, and limonene. Pine nuts are also high in these stress-relieving terpenes. Take your pick and use the power of terpenes to sober up.
5. Balance out THC With CBD
As you may have already figured out, what you need to do if you’re too high is to reduce the undesirable effects of THC. You can do that by adding more CBD to your system. Taking CBD when feeling too high may sound illogical, but it works.
CBD is a non-psychoactive compound that can reduce the paranoia and intoxication caused by too much marijuana. It can do this by binding to the same receptors as THC, leaving fewer receptors for THC to activate. Meanwhile, it enhances the positive effects of THC, such as pain relief.
6. Avoid Other Substances
Some users who feel very sleepy after taking too much marijuana may turn to other substances to recover. They combine drugs like cocaine or prescription stimulants like ADHD medications to feel more energetic. However, these substances will not help you the way you expect.
Using stimulating substances when you’re feeling too high will add to the paranoia and worsen the situation. So stay away from other substances when using marijuana.
7. Stay Calm and Relax
Experiencing intense anxiety and paranoia after using cannabis can be scary. You will want these feelings to disappear as soon as possible, but you must stay calm. Freaking out will only make the situation worse.
Try to get in a comfortable position and relax. You can experiment with different relaxation techniques to see which method works best. Breathing exercises are very efficient. You can try the 4-7-8 breathing technique when you’re feeling too high. Inhale for four seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and exhale for eight seconds.
8. Give It Time
What you need to do if you’re too high is to give it time. There is only so much you can do to accelerate the sobering process. But at some point, you need to accept that it takes some time for the effects to leave your body.
You can expect the high from smoking cannabis to last up to four hours. Edibles will peak within three hours but stay in your system for six to ten hours. However, all the highs will eventually end over time, and you won’t be trapped forever.
9. Distract Yourself
It’s hard not to focus on the overwhelming effects of THC when you’re feeling too high. However, you should find a distraction while waiting for the symptoms to wear off. Giving them your attention will only make you more anxious.
Some things you can do to distract yourself include watching a movie, talking to a friend, or taking a walk. You can also listen to calming music, which will help distract you and also lower your anxiety.
10. Create a Safety Plan
Do you experience overwhelming highs too often? One thing you can do is create a safety plan for these situations. Monitor your symptoms and emotions when feeling too high, and write down what helped you feel better.
Create this safety plan when you’re sober and use it when you experience the distressing effects of THC again. Having this plan will not only help you come down from your high sooner, but it will also help you stay calm.
11. Check the Dosage and Potency
Do you want to avoid wondering what to do if you get too high? Then monitor the dosage and strength of your product beforehand to avoid getting too high in the first place.
Start small and increase your dosage slowly if you’re new to cannabis to avoid feeling too high. If you’re smoking weed, take a puff and wait up to 15 minutes before taking another one. If you’re ingesting it, use our edible dosing guide to find the optimal dosage for your needs.
12. Get Professional Help
You can seek out professional help when you’re too high. It’s not necessary in most cases, but some react more intensely to marijuana.
In situations when you’re exceptionally anxious, paranoid, and behaving in strange ways, you can visit the ER. They can help you recover faster by removing marijuana from your system.
Reap the Benefits of Medical Cannabis With Ozark MMJ Cards
Feeling too high can be scary, no matter how experienced you are with marijuana. What you need to do if you get too high is stay calm and use the solutions we gave you. These strategies will help you sober up quicker while still benefiting from the medicinal properties of cannabis.
If you want to reap the health benefits of marijuana, we are here to help you. Ozark MMJ Cards offers affordable medical marijuana certification and card renewal services in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. We can help you get certified and renew your certification online so you can find the relief you need as soon as possible.
Contact us now to talk to an expert and begin your certification. If you liked this article, visit our cannabis blog for more educational reads.