How to Prevent a Marijuana Hangover

With legalization of cannabis spreading, more people are using for the first time. With the introduction of new and stronger strains, more people are selecting products randomly. That means increased reports of cannabis hangovers

But, you can prevent a marijuana hangover with little more than common sense.

What is a marijuana hangover?

It does not take much science to define or explain a weed hangover. That’s because the FDA’s position restricts research of all kinds. But, there is a long history of anecdotes reporting on mornings after.

Users complain of dehydration, fatigue, headaches, and memory loss. If you smoke, you should clean up during the night. If you overdo the edibles, the weed may stay in your system because it metabolizes slowly.  Either way, if you don’t get enough restful sleep, you may hurt in the morning.

Cannabinoids trigger some receptors found in your salivary glands. The affected receptors turn off the saliva secretion, and that leaves your mouth dry, tear ducts itchy, throat dry, and head hurting.

Alcohol consumes water whereas cannabinoids turn it off, a difference than can be prevented or easily corrected. But, as with an alcohol hangover, symptoms might include nausea, congestion, shortened attention span, cognitive loss, and difficulty with speech and motor skills.

How to prevent a marijuana hangover?

• Eat well before, during, and after using. You need more than munchies. Smoking affects your respiratory system, and edibles metabolize through liver and kidneys. So, you need more in your stomach than non-nutritious munchies.

With some good nutrition under your belt, you will distribute the impact, level your blood sugar, and jump start your recovery. You might consider loading up with complex carbohydrates and sugars in fruits, protein, and vegetables.

Eat well the day of imbibing, prepare a spread for visitors if you have them, and eat after using. (You can throw in a munchy or two.)

• Exercise until you sweat — and more. Exercise clears your lungs and stirs your blood flow. Business Insider reminds you that aerobic workouts “train your body to use oxygen more efficiently, a practice that gradually reduces your resting heart rate and your breathing rate — two important indicators of cardiovascular health.”

While you’ll find much chatter about exercising while you are high, prudent exercise before using can help prevent hangovers. A study reported in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology suggested, “Marijuana's cardiovascular effects are not associated with serious health problems for younger, healthy users, although occasional myocardial infarction, stroke, and other adverse cardiovascular events are reported.” Research also indicates smoking never appropriate for those with or prone to cardiovascular disease.

Absent thorough research on exercise before using weed, you might infer that moderate exercise will increase blood pressure and heart rate for a short while. So, it is likely that, exercising before using will prime your blood pressure and heart rate before consumption, even improving the marijuana experience.

• Hydration wets your whistle and regenerates body and brain cells. Good water is always good for brain and body. Systems need the hydrogen and oxygen. Water feeds the bio-chemistry and neurology. You should hydrate before, during, and following consumption. This goes for indirect “consumption” through transdermal applications, vaping, and recipes. Hydration is just plain good for you.

However, don’t mistake alcohol for hydration. Mixing marijuana and booze is not a good preventive move. As a further precaution, you should seek hydration through natural sources like melons and citrus or through fluids prepared with electrolytes and critical salts like those sold as sports drinks.

• Vitamin intake proves smarter than taking over-the-counter or prescription pain killers. Taking high dose vitamin-C and vitamin-B complex supplements before and after consumption, preferably through actual food consumption, offsets cannabis negatives.

You should supplement your blood, liver, and kidneys with oxygenating multivitamins, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. If you are pregnant or likely to be, you shouldn’t be smoking in the first place, and you should use medical marijuana only with your doctor’s advice.

• Step outside and get some air. You just create and prolong your cannabis hangover if you stay in the same smoky room. If your hair is hungover your face with your nose to the gaming keyboard, you do not get even the necessary oxygen.

Your systems need replenishment with oxygen. Even without chemical influences, you will feel foggy in the morning when you have slept in a stuffy environment. It’s the same effect that emphysema and asthma produce without good air.

• Moderation prevents all bad things. Heavy and repeated use will diminish your resistance. High-potency strains will aggravate your hangover. And, low-quality weed will endanger your health.

Veteran users are still prone to marijuana hangovers if they do not use some common sense. Only newbies are inclined to light up one toke after another. They should stretch out their use over an evening, eating and drinking smartly in between. Veterans might think about varying their strains to alter the experience and reduce their emphasis on high-strength trips.

Today’s strains are more potent than “old-school” stuff. Any user must assess his/her reaction to using and following consumption of an unfamiliar strain. If you like the strain but not the after-effects, you should lower the dose and frequency or move on.

And, legalization promises to supply the market with clearly labeled and quality-controlled product void of chemical residue of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and other toxins. Only smart consumers can drive that market behavior.

Your hangover takeaway?

Cannabis hangovers don’t usually measure up to those following an alcohol binge. But, they can be uncomfortable. If you understand that using marijuana while drinking alcohol or smoking tobacco is only looking for trouble, you appreciate that there are precautions you can take to prevent or manage a marijuana morning after.