Low back pain from smoking?

One idea- make sure you stay really hydrated when smoking. Is the pain centered over the kidneys? Even if not, drinking a lot of water is good. Maybe try a vape and see if it makes a difference. Bummer, mate.

 

Does your back hurt worse when you sit?
Ya know, sit down to smoke a bowl, enjoy the bowl but then your back starts hurting because you're sitting?
Just my guess man. I have back issues too and it all depends on what I'm sitting in. Booths at restaurants kill me.

Medicated in the Middle of the Mitten

 

I can tell you this. Weed makes you relax, if you have lower back issues go see a back specialist. The problem with relaxing is you are probably relaxing your core and it causes you to notice your back issues more. Strengthen your core and if you are early stages of degradation of L1 to L3 you can live a reasonably decent life still with just getting into better shape. I did therapy, got stronger now the pain is mostly gone. L1 is the bone right above the tail bone in your lumbar area which goes to L5. Most issues are the lower 3 but can go higher.

Your bones are the frame but it's your muscles that actually support you. If you don't keep your core strong enough to support your weight.........you get back pain due to joint degradation. If you are overweight the obvious is to lose weight also. I did and it made a world of difference.

Pot may be enhancing your pain or bringing it to your attention but it usually helps me way more than hurt. I've been working on my back issue for years though.

 

Holy cow! I should've Googled this years ago! Here's my story...

I've been smoking weed, on and off (mostly on) for almost thirty years now. It's really the only thing I like - I'm not a big drinker, and the only pills I take these days are heavy bouts of Tramodol and Ibuprofen. I've had back problems since my late twenties - persistent ache in my lower back, difficulty standing for long periods (feels like my lower spine is being compressed) and general fragility. I am a slave to a prolapsing disc, that would put me out for about a week at a time, maybe five or six times a year. The prolapse is accompanied by a violent muscle spasm (like being kicked in the back) which can occur when performing the most innocuous of activity - sneezing, brushing my teeth etc.

Six years ago, things took a more sinister tone. I had a prolapse that was accompanied by the most violent lower back cramps - spasms that last up to a minute at a time, every two minutes or so. They are white hot agony, and form a pattern that, it has been pointed out to me by a couple of startled paramedics over the years, resembles going into labour! Seemingly the only thing that will break the cycle is gas and air, and the only thing that will make the pain bearable is industrial painkillers.

The first time it happened, I was so scared that my doctor sent me for an MRI scan - a very unusual step, as back problems are so common. I was diagnosed as having a prolapsed disc 'pressing on a nerve' - again, not an uncommon diagnosis - but no one could explain the cramps. I initially suspected it was dehydration (which can also cause prolapsed, as the discs become flaccid and deprived of water) and/or muscle damage that had accompanied the original injury.

The cramps have happened four or five times since that first occasion - most recently in June, when I was delivering DVDs to my local primary school and ended up in reception for two hours, screaming the place down waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The recovery period can be anything up to six weeks, and is getting longer with each incidence.

It's only recently that I've started to notice a pattern. In 2015 I gave up smoking weed - through lack of supply, as opposed to choice - for 18 months. During that time, I had only two prolapses, which were very minor and from which I quickly recovered. This year I decided to start growing again, and since then, I've had five major attacks. I'm currently writing from my bed, barely able to move. I'm having to keep very Zen because, if I so much as twitch that muscle in my lower back, I will go into labour. I've just come off the back of a six-week recovery period. I went back to work yesterday, and lasted half an hour before it went again!

So finally I decided to google the problem and, would you believe it, it's everywhere! And whatever anyone else says, I can fully confirm, this is a thing. And I am, quite possibly, the living embodiment of how bad this thing can get. And it's very bad.

I would love to believe the cause is more specific - chemical fertilisers maybe, as others have suggested - but I have been growing in soul and using fully organic supplements for years. Could it be an indica/sativa thing? I would love to believe so, but I've grown both and can't say I can see that as part of the pattern. It's not dehydration - I have a very strict fluid regimen these days - and it's not general physical weakness, as I have a regular exercise routine, as prescribed by my chiropractor.

It's a crime that more research hasn't been conducted, and that people like us are forced to either grow ourselves or purchase from the black market, without any real idea of what we're putting in our bodies, and what long-term effects that might have. Has anyone else found themselves in my situation? Does anyone have enough medical knowledge to answer some crucial questions? Will the spasms only occur at the time of use? Is there a safe breed or method that will stop them? I am a long-term advocate of the wonders of weed, but now, sadly, I think I know what I have to do.

And so the last question: will I ever smoke weed again?

 

I just found the other person's post above lol. I'm having the same issue. Sativa is particularly brutal. I've had new X-rays and there's nothing really wrong but my back lights up for a while after I smoke. I switched to indica, my back still flares up but I don't just sit in my chair and wait for bed time. Good luck.