Why does weed make you dizzy?

In this article, we will answer the questions, “can weed cause lightheadedness?”, “can smoking weed cause vertigo?”, and “can weed make you feel dizzy the next day?”

Dizziness is a common but alarming side effect of cannabis. Dizziness can describe several different sensations like feeling faint, lightheaded, nauseous, unsteady, or woozy.

Dizziness is an impairment of spatial orientation. And vertigo is the feeling that you or objects around you are floating, spinning, or tilting. Rapid changes in head position can produce vertigo. That is why if you are lying down and quickly stand up you may experience dizziness or lightheadedness.

While dizziness can happen at any time, cannabis users often experience this side effect when they take a large hit of weed and experience an immediate drop in blood pressure.

What causes dizziness?

Several conditions can cause dizziness, from a drop in systolic blood pressure, to issues with your inner ear, to migraines, medication, vision issues, alcohol use, or even anxiety and stress. Treatment for dizziness or vertigo depends on the cause.

Can weed cause lightheadedness? Can weed cause dizziness?

Many seasoned cannabis users have experienced vertigo or a feeling of dizziness when using cannabis.

Why does weed cause dizziness and lightheadedness? THC can reduce cerebral blood flow and decrease blood pressure, causing dizziness and lightheadedness.

How common is it to feel dizzy after using cannabis? A small study from 1992 indicates that dizziness from cannabis is common. The researchers note that marijuana is known to cause orthostatic hypotension, which is a sudden drop in blood pressure when you stand from sitting or lying down. Sixty percent of a small sample size experienced moderate to severe dizziness after smoking weed, but not after smoking a placebo joint. Subjects who reported severe dizziness had a drop in blood pressure as well as reduced cerebral blood flow.

Many people describe this feeling of dizziness after using cannabis as “greening out,” although greening out involves some other elements. To learn about greening out, check out our article What Is Greening Out?

Why does cannabis cause dizziness?

Cannabis produces its effects through chemical compounds that bind to receptors in your body and brain. Researchers indicate that the endocannabinoid system (ECS) may play a role in modulating blood pressure.

Anandamide (AEA), which THC mimics in the body, has been shown to produce vasodilatory effects. That means that AEA expands blood vessels and decreases blood pressure, just like THC.

Research indicates that cannabis users build up a tolerance to this side effect, so new users are more likely to experience dizziness than seasoned users.

How to mitigate dizziness from cannabis

Here are some general suggestions on how to mitigate side effects from cannabis, and then we will explore some specific suggestions about how to fix dizziness.

Try a new product

Different cannabis products will contain different chemical compounds like cannabinoids and terpenes, which may exert distinct effects. Use Jointly’s Product Finder to discover new top-rated products.

Try a new ingestion method

Additionally, the way you ingest a product will change how it affects you. Smoking a joint of cannabis flower may produce slightly different effects from vaporizing it, although both ingestion methods involve heating cannabis and inhaling the active compounds. Each ingestion method has its own advantages and may produce different effects or side effects. To learn how different weed ingestion methods produce different effects, read our article The Best Way to Take Cannabis for Wellness Purposes.

Add in a companion food

Did you know that weed companion foods can enhance your cannabis experience in different ways? Mangoes, dark chocolate, green tea, and thyme are all weed companion foods. Chemical compounds in these foods may alter your cannabis experience, and potentially mitigate adverse side effects like drowsiness. To learn about these foods and how to add them into your cannabis wellness routine, check out our article Do These Foods Get You Higher?

Find your minimum effective dose

Most adverse side effects from cannabis are caused by ingesting too high of a dose of THC. While you cannot die from ingesting too much cannabis, a THC overdose is a real risk. The single most effective way to mitigate side effects is to microdose and titrate up your dose until you find the minimum effective dose of cannabis to get the effect you want.

Turn the dials on 15 factors

According to cannabis experts, there are at least 15 factors that can impact your cannabis experience and play a major role in whether a cannabis product is giving you the feeling you want, or producing adverse side effects like dizziness. You might find that the amount of sleep you got last night has the greatest impact on whether cannabis gives you this side effect or not. Or maybe you will discover that a yoga session before using cannabis eliminates any lightheadedness, even when all other factors are kept the same. The Jointly app lets you to track the 15 factors that can impact your cannabis experience. As you optimize how you consume cannabis, your favorite cannabis products will perform better for you.

How to not get dizzy from weed

What can you do to avoid dizziness from weed?

Ingesting cannabis with CBD could mitigate adverse effects like dizziness by buffering some of the psychoactive effects of THC.

Additionally, you could try making sure you are well-hydrated and have gotten adequate sleep to decrease your chances of experiencing adverse side effects.

In general, building up a tolerance to this side effect is the most effective way to eliminate it.

If you are still experiencing adverse side effects, try microdosing. For some people, just 1mg might be the perfect dose. Don’t be afraid to break up a single serving into multiple servings: cannabis affects different people differently. Purposeful cannabis consumption involves experimenting and recording your results to find out what works for you as an individual.

Find top-rated products for your goals 

Jointly is the cannabis discovery app that makes it easy to find and shop the best cannabis and CBD products for your goals. Your matches are calculated from the real product ratings and experiences from hundreds of thousands of people using the Jointly app.

If you're ready to discover new products and reach your goals, download the Jointly app today on the App Store or Google Play, or shop your matches on the Jointly website.   

Are you curious about Jointly?

Whether you want to improve sleep, relieve daily stress, or just relax and refresh, Jointly can help you reach your goals with cannabis.  

With Jointly, you can shop your top-rated products, and save lists of your favorites to share and bring to your local dispensary to help guide your shopping experience.  

The Jointly app also helps you improve your cannabis experiences by uncovering what’s working and what’s not with reflections and personalized insights. In fact, the quality of your diet, how much you slept, who you’re with, and the time of day are just some of the factors that can impact your cannabis experience.  

So if you're ready to find your best products and enjoy your perfect cannabis experience, download the Jointly app today on the App Store or Google Play, or shop your matches on the Jointly website. Discovery awaits.