Cannabis Microdosing

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Scott 2
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Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Scott 2 »

Anyone experienced benefits from taking microdoses of Cannabis? It's something I'm curious to try. I've picked up some 2.5mg THC pills. No specific goal, just taking my time not working to explore life a little more.


I've already learned by accident that it's common to add stuff. I wanted to try a 1:1 THC to CBD ratio as well, but ended up with drops taking more of a nootropic shotgun approach:

https://weedmaps.com/brands/1906-new-hi ... bd/reviews

They might make an interesting pre-workout, but not exactly what I was intending to try.

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Alphaville
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Alphaville »

i don't know about this but there are simple ways to increase endocannabinoids and i'd start there:

https://www.leafly.com/news/health/how- ... t-cannabis

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Sclass
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Sclass »

I actually have some experience with this. A good friend of mine is a very heavy user and grower.

His wife doesn’t use weed at all. Nada. Zip. She doesn’t like it but she tolerates it in their tiny home because...well, love I guess. Anyhow, she routinely tests positive for THC metabolites. Our guess is second hand smoke.

Strange backstory. They test themselves routinely when they look for work. They have these home diy test kits from the druggie shop. It came up many times when they were asking me for a urine donation. I’d just say hell no use hers. Nope. No good. She tests Stoner positive. Amazing.

The effects? She is the most patient wife among all of our friends. :lol: Healthy and strong. Nice. Loving and supportive. She lets my pal get away with all kinds of stuff that I’d get thrown out of the house for.

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Alphaville
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Alphaville »

weird. i have this pothead ex-friend who is a supercontrolling rager. has reduced her husband to total meekness. different strains i guess :lol:

(or maybe that's the mellowed out level, which without the weed would be... sheer terror)

Scott 2
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Scott 2 »

@Alphaville, I've been pretty deep down the diet, exercise and mindfulness rabbit hole in the past. This isn't about fixing a specific problem, so much as exploring what else might be out there.

@Sclass - Funny. My wife smokes daily to help manage her chronic illness, but the smell puts me off. She does it outside. It's a different use case than what I am looking for, primarily non-narcotic relief of pain. Stronger dosing, a preference for CBD heavy strains. We've thrown around the idea of growing it at home (up to 3 plants would be legal for her), but the break even would be awhile. It'd have to be justified from a skill development and interest angle, rather than financial.

This is the first I'm exploring the idea. I've been too busy in the past, frankly.

Job related testing hasn't come up for us. In her field (yoga) and mine (tech) it's a very accepted substance. The discussions I was in around drug testing at my prior employer, they had real concerns about severely restricting the talent pool.

white belt
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by white belt »

I think it might be a good idea to better define your purpose/outcome for using a particular substance prior to diving into it. I get that CBD and Cannabis are trendy in certain circles right now, but just from a systems perspective I generally opt for having a clear purpose whenever I am adding in a mind-altering substance (caffeine, alcohol, etc). Even microdosing cannabis is going to have some side effects. I'm also of the opinion that if one can function in a typical day without using substances, then adding them might not have a whole lot of benefit.

I think you're on the right track looking at edible forms of cannabis. I understand that there are legitimate medical applications for Cannabis, but I still am confused by the "health benefits" of inhaling carcinogenic smoke. Maybe I'm missing something though and smoking/vaping are terms that are used interchangeably nowadays.

Edit: If you want to explore your inner psyche/stream of consciousness/transcendence/etc, then my understanding is that microdosing hallucinogenics is the common route for that.
Last edited by white belt on Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.

white belt
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by white belt »

Scott 2 wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:36 pm
@Alphaville, I've been pretty deep down the diet, exercise and mindfulness rabbit hole in the past. This isn't about fixing a specific problem, so much as exploring what else might be out there.
This seems to imply that you feel like you are missing something from life. What do you think you're missing? Why do you feel that way?

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Seppia
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Seppia »

You may be drawing a conclusion that’s incorrect.
Some people are very curious by nature, and they find purpose in life in learning/exploring new things.
Doesn’t necessarily mean they’re unhappy with their life.

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Sclass
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Sclass »

Alphaville wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 3:41 pm
weird. i have this pothead ex-friend who is a supercontrolling rager. has reduced her husband to total meekness. different strains i guess :lol:
@alphaville no dude! We are talking about microdosing here not raging pothead. :lol:

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Alphaville
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Alphaville »

Sclass wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:53 pm
@alphaville no dude! We are talking about microdosing here not raging pothead. :lol:
oh! i have no experience of that.

my original point with the link i posted was that if micro is really micro, then it might be achievable endogenously since we produce our own cannabinoids same as we produce our own opiates.

i used to know a guy from an alcoholic family who less destructively got himself addicted to running instead, because endorphins are endorphins. i fear what may happen should he be benched by injury. :D

anyway this thread got me the idea of pursuing the endogenous strategy. the stuff is not legal in my state yet, though medical is ever more popular. but nobody will place me under arrest for eating more chia and flax seed.

but seriously, i'm not joking, i will look into this. my fear of supplementation would be blunting internal production. so first i'll try to produce more and then see about next steps.

eta: will start here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789136/

Scott 2
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Scott 2 »

@alphaville - In our state, once medical was well established, access had become straight forward. We found it was a matter of paying someone to walk you through the approval process. Establishing a relationship with a doctor participating in the program was the most expensive part. I think my wife's medical card was initially about $800, all in. The allowed amounts were really high. I assume many people were sharing with friends and family.

white belt wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:12 pm
What do you think you're missing? Why do you feel that way?
My path to FIRE was linear and achievement driven. Effective, but a narrow existence - boring outside of the focused venues. It's time to explore.

Cannabis is accessible ($25 for 40 2.5mg THC pills) and low risk. It offers a path into states I may or may not have held. It's broadly relatable - an interesting conversation to have with others. Most people I know are casual or regular users, but I thought people with an ERE mindset might offer a new perspective.

My plan is to try a little, wait a couple days, then try a little more. And so on, until I dislike the result. With the other drugs I use - caffeine, alcohol - I've found the amounts I prefer, my minimum effective dosing. I understand how to get a positive impact, where the limit is, the price of using too much, etc. I don't think this is much different.

Re: smoking - when you are managing a chronic, progressive illness - optimal health isn't the goal. Every treatment is a tradeoff - a little risk to the future, for good days now. My wife greatly prefers the immediacy and dosing control of smoking. She dislikes vaping. She's comfortable with the long term risks. Especially compared to opioids.

Even with medical access, it was a matter of trial and error, to find what works best for her. THC and CBD are broad categorizations, with the specific cannabinoids varying by strain. Digestion also has an impact, with processing through the liver changing the chemical structure. She doesn't like edibles, FWIW. Her friend with chronic pain loves them.

Even with prescription medicines, I've observed this trial and error. The doctor might have an evidence based flow chart, but often the decision tree is driven by insurance requirements, as much as patient benefit. Subjective feedback from the patient also strongly influences the flow.


Psychedelics are on my list, but being illegal, are lower priority. I'm not prepared to take on significant risk for access, or to health (ie the wrong mushrooms). The legislative picture on them is changing. I have time. There, I am more interested in the full experience, at least initially.

Ideally, I'd work with someone experienced and have guidance in set and setting. In reading Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind, I think I'd see real benefit. I am by nature an extremely rigid and logical person. Experiencing another end of the spectrum could be eye opening. But, setting that all up is hard. Cannabis is easy.

I did find a thread on this board about microdosing psychadelics:

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8723

white belt
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by white belt »

@Scott 2

Thanks for the insight. In my career field of government employment, I’m subjected to regular drug tests so I admit I don’t keep up with these sorts of things.

I do recall Tim Ferriss had a number of podcasts and blog posts about using psychedelics and other things in an intelligent way to explore/expand one’s own mind. That’s all I can offer for possible resources.

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Sclass
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Sclass »

@Scott2 something you may want to look into is asking a Chinese herbalist for advice. Cannabis has been part of the Chinese apothecary for thousands of years. It’s use as a medicine has been empirically studied there for a long time. I’ve heard several TCM practitioners say that recreational users are using too much and it interferes with traditional herbal prescriptions because it is so overwhelming. This is a particularly difficult problem for TCM people when their patients don’t tell them they’re using which is often the case. So my feeling from that is the Chinese apothecary probably prescribes smaller doses than what is consumed recreationally. Kind of like chewing coca leaves vs. doing a line.

In terms of your dosing experiment above I think you may have to wait longer before increasing dosages. A persons first responses to weed can be muted. You may just inadvertently increase your doses to a garden variety recreational user before you feel something.

How do you control a micro dose of smoke? Even a couple of hits of potent weed can get somebody pretty high. This can be a slippery slope that leads to recreational use fraught with excuses and made up needs for “medicine”. Even though I feel weed is for the most part harmless, it may not be where you originally intended to go when you started this experiment. It depends a lot on the user’s psychological makeup.

I have been told by a martial arts teacher that the herbal remedies work slowly when they work at all. Perhaps this should be considered in your experiment. Decreasing the slope of your ramp up may change where you end up with this.

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Alphaville
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Alphaville »

Sclass wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:20 am
I’ve heard several TCM practitioners say that recreational users are using too much and it interferes with traditional herbal prescriptions because it is so overwhelming.
this is also my concern with habitual recreational use. not that it might interfere with prescriptions (i have none) but that it might interfere with my existing endogenous system.

anecdotally, many years ago i read a book on the subject where they mention the case of an indian girl who was having low weight problems. the physician prescribed a daily infusion of bhang which she took for some months with no psychoactive effects, and after she gained the required weight she was taken off it.

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhang

Scott 2
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Scott 2 »

Fair point in slowing the dosage increment. I don't have much fear of creating a problem for myself here, so expert help is low priority.


I am not trying to microdose smoke. I wouldn't say my wife is either. She is taking what gives her relief. There are definitely times where she gets a little too much, especially when varying the strain. I do believe there are vapes designed around microdosing.

I am also finding the definition of microdosing is broadly interpreted. I was thinking in terms of taking a little on the days where it seems beneficial. I've read accounts of people taking 20mg+ a day, every day. That doesn't sound so micro to me. Best as I can tell, 10mg THC is the standardized unit of dosing. If it's fair to take that as a 1 drink equivalent, 20mg+ every day seems past the point of enhancement.

I've also read accounts of people consuming 100's of mg in a day. From what I've understood, once you fill all the receptors, that becomes a waste. It's not territory I plan to play in, so I haven't explored it deeply.

I did try the 1:1 THC to CBD pill today. It's 5mg of each. As I understand it, CBD competes with the same receptors as THC, so the effect is blunted compared to a pure THC pill. Unfortunately, the caffeine (60mg) totally overwhelmed any impact from the other substances. My normal caffeine consumption is a cup of green tea (around 20mg caffeine) 3-4 days a week. My system was impacted by 60mg. Lifting went great, but I won't use that much caffeine more than once a week.

ellarose24
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by ellarose24 »

I microdosed pretty religiously when I lived in CO.

disclaimer: I am mentally ill, so YMMV

Marijuana in general seems to fix some parts in my brain--for instance, if I am unhealthy, marijuana will make me feel all the joints/muscles/etc that are sore. It will also make me think "My body needs better fuel" and I will down something like an entire pack of spinach. It also helps me get out of depression, clean, workout, etc. But if I take too much, it simply turns into paranoia.

Microdosing worked wonderful. I am pretty sensitive to any substance, so I would cut a 10 mg gummy into about 6 pieces, or just nibble on one--not very accurate in terms of mgs but that's what I did.

I now live in a state where marijuana isn't legal. I buy "hemp" joints from a place called horn creek farm. The marijuana in them is even less, most is CBD--that's what they say anyways. I still feel "something," but honestly, I liked regular old gummies much better. I'm looking for a better distributor because the above leaves me with almost arthritic feeling joints.

I agree with the above that smoking cannabis, if you have access to edibles, makes no sense. I WAS a pot head in high school. I had a smokers cough just like my mom who smoked cigs. The only problem with edibles is that you have to be extremely disciplined, not like literally every Texan I had come visit me who said "I don't feel anything!" and then downed two more gummies--having a traumatizing experience of being WAY TOO HIGH up in the rockies. Take a small amount, wait several hours, put on some good music. The mgs in gummies I would think are more standardized as well.

If you suffer, or your family suffers, from any mental illness--I would tread very carefully with psychadelics. My mother, who was pretty fully functioning before, tried peyote and has had psychosis almost yearly since then. I, because of the above, will not venture anywhere beyond marijuana.

Scott 2
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Scott 2 »

I appreciate the perspective. I've tried 5mg of THC, got some mild noticeable effect, but also dry mouth after. That was off putting.

I paused for my 2nd covid vaccine. Once that settles down, I'm going to repeat 5mg again, see how it feels.

I'm guessing, I'll bump to 10mg from there, confirm it is not the experience I am looking for, then feel out the difference between 2.5mg and 5mg. I don't think I knew what to look for the first time I tried 2.5mg.


I hear you on the psychedelics. Any experience there would be much less experimental. I think legislation is changing fast enough that when the time comes, I'll be able to find an affordable, legal, low risk option. The past year seems to have been a turning point:

https://www.leafly.com/learn/psychedeli ... lucinogens

Scott 2
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Re: Cannabis Microdosing

Post by Scott 2 »

I tried 7.5mg of THC last weekend. I took it with food. Now that I know what I'm looking for, it hit me hard. Ingestion at 11:30, high from around 1 to 7. My body isn't adapted to the substance at all. It was way beyond a micro-dose impact.

The experience itself, not taken with a goal of escaping or getting messed up, was great. It provided a shortcut into a deep state of single pointed focus. The difference from getting there via meditation - hanging onto it was effortless. Putting all my attention on any one thing slowed down time, enhanced sensory input, etc.

It's not dosing I will make a habit of. But, it did broaden my perspective. It also highlighted an unconscious bias I carry. I grew up during the war on drugs. I went through DARE. I was indoctrinated - drugs are bad, anyone using them is screwing up their lives. They are a mechanism of last resort, at best.

I was surprised to observe this all bubbling up. Re-evaluating my perspective through experience, I disagree with the education. The time was very worthwhile. Granted, I am mature enough to enjoy what was, without continually chasing more, but damn. I'd like to think I am more open minded than that.

I have since spent some time educating myself on the political history of drug control in the US. It's a lot more complex than drugs = bad. I'm not going to seek opiates, or hit a rave to drop some E. But, I feel much less inclined to judge people for using. I totally see how a reasoned chain of decisions can lead down that path.


I am going to retry a 2.5mg dose of THC at some point. I do think there could be a place for it.

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