Numbness And Tingling Persisting Days After Smoking

Hi there,
I've created this thread in an attempt to collate as many reports as I can of numbness, pins and needles, electric tingly sensations and discomfort experienced for several days after smoking cannabis. This was prompted after SWIM experienced these strange symptoms for himself. Here I present seven cases of the phenomena I am describing. If you have had a similar experience, or you have a friend that has had a similar experience please post on this thread. I'm keen to raise awareness of what may be an under reported effect of cannabis in some individuals. If you have a background in pharmacology or medicine and you have an explanation for the symptoms these people are experiencing please feel free to contribute.
 
Now I understand that I cannot clearly establish cannabis as the causal factor from the online reports as there are many uncontrolled variables and thousands of cannabis reports online. I can't get around the fact that the reports I have chosen have been cherry picked to some extent. However, there does appear to be specific similarities between the case studies which indicate that perhaps further research is needed. The quality and duration of the experience is consistent between reports and all of the subjects believe that the cannabis is the precipitating factor, however I'm open to alternative suggestions.
 
 
Case 1

Spoiler

(SWIM) In the past year I have had two experiences with cannabis that have resulted in an increased sensitivity to certain textures and the intensely uncomfortable feeling of electric tingling and numbness in my face, hands, back, legs and feet when in contact with certain materials. On the first occasion this occurred after smoking two hits of cannabis from a pipe, accompanied with laughing gas. These sensations lasted 4 days with gradual improvement each day.
4 weeks after the first occasion the symptoms returned after one hit of cannabis from a pipe with no other substance taken. The paraesthesia was less uncomfortable this time and lasted 4 days.
The sensation was most uncomfortable when lying face down on a pillow, putting my hands in my pockets, putting on clothing and rubbing the back of my hand against soft material. In contrast I had normal sensations when touching smooth surfaces like plastic, wood and stone.
Prior to these experiences I was an infrequent smoker and had tried cannabis 10-15 times. I believe that I have a low tolerance for the drug as hallucinations, paranoia and extremely disordered thinking were common for me even at what most people would consider a low dose.

 
Case 2

Spoiler

(http://forum.grasscity.com/apprentice-tokers/1019550-numbness-tingling-after-smoking.html)

I'm 20 and I've been smoking for a few years, but really only several times a year. So I expect that I'm still not used to it yet .About a year ago, I experience something funny. I was very drunk and I had just smoked, and I started feeling numbness and tingling in my hands/legs. Then, for some reason, I couldn't stop moving them. That sounds really weird so I won't go into detail. This persisted until at some point I fell asleep. Three months later I smoked a joint with my boyfriend in a parking lot. We shopped around in the store and all was fine until I had a panic attack. I decided we needed to leave the store, but when we left, the radio turned on, and the numbness/tingling/moving started again! I would force myself to stop moving them but as soon as my attention was directed elsewhere, it would start again. So at this point I decided I was fucking crazy. After about two hours the movement stopped but the numbness/tingling went on. Lasted until I woke up the next morning. Three times smoking since that, numbness/tingling recurred. It happens mostly in the arms and legs, but when it's the worst, it is all over my body. I can't stand feeling certain textures, and I can't stand being touched when it happens. Something like taking off a sweatshirt HURTS. It's like my skin is really numb, but there are waves of tingling. And being touched hurts. One night, before an exam, all of these symptoms happened again. And I had not smoked at all. So I was really weirded out... the movements only lasted one day, but the numbness and the tingling lasted for 6 days. I thought I was dying so I went to the ER, the doctor dismissed it as anxiety. This happened four more times (without the movements), three times it only lasted a week, but the last time it lasted for about two months. Now I feel like I have very slight permanent numbness. I've been seeing a neurologist and I've had an MRI (to rule out ms). Every doctor I talk has no idea what I'm talking about.

 
Case 3

Spoiler

(http://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-forum/archive/index.php/t-78984.html)
I've had quite a few strange experiences from smoking weed/hash that is very uncomfortable. It has happend from time to time the last 7 years or so. It's not a "whitey" (had those), and not a "panic attack" (I can feel percetly calm when it happens), it just fucks up my sensory percetion. I can smoke a very small amount, and feel good, and then suddenly "pop" and my hands and legs feel really numb, and buzzing in a cold strange way. And in this state, when i touch things i cant feel them properly, i just feel like an blurry, buzzy, electric current that is very strong and uncomfortable. It is so strong that im unable to for example put my hands in my pocket, unbutton/button my pants, open the fridge, give someone a hug, or even sit down in a sofa. The electrical sensation gets to intense so I start screaming. The symtoms is similar to some kind of "sensory neuropathy" or "peripheral neuropathy" wich is a proper disease that one can get diagnosed with, often caused by diabetes. But i dont have that. I think it's due to some peripheral nerve damage that i might have gotten from side effects of a medicine I once used that was neurotoxic. And cannabis seems to exaggerate the symtoms. I usually have a bit of numb hands and legs all the time, but much much less noticable, and my brain filters it out most of the time. It' has gone so far that I almost dont dare to smoke any more, cause I can get these symtoms from very small amounts. I mean like 1/20 of a normal dosage I once in a time used to use for a joint. I think it's mostly when smoking a strain very high on THC, early harvested, with less CBD and CBN it usually happens, but I dont know. I cant smoke "better quality street hash of maroccan kind" anymore, it seems to too easily fuck up ny nerves. What I can smoke is good grown weed that has "gone the distance" and makes me feel more relaxed / couch locked, in small amounts then.

 
Case 4

Spoiler

(https://www.erowid.org/ask/ask.php?ID=88)
hello, i have always consumed cannabis and deriveds, but lately i have had to diminish the frequency of this marvellous habit because of the next problem of which no one seems to know anything and i have not been able to find any info to solve it. It has happened repeatedly for the past years but randomly. after smoking pot i feel the normal effects, but after a while it gets to a point in wich i start loosing sensibility in my hands, like if they were put to sleep. i feel a strange tingling, like pins and needles in my hands, that gets more intense when touching things. depending on what i touch the feeling gets stronger or softer (touching my skin or hair the sensation is very intense but touching plastic or glass it almost disappears). it is nothing pleasent. when i'm high all my attention goes to this problem almost obsessively. but the worst part is that this disagreeable sensation does not disappear with the marihuana effects, but it lasts even for several days, vanishing little by little.

 
Case 5

Spoiler

(http://www.healthcaremagic.com/questions/Persistent-tingling-numbness-over-different-body-parts-post-smoking-weed-Cause-and-remedy/282135)
please help me. three weeks ago, I smoked weed for the tenth or so time. I was super high. the highest I ve ever been. My vision was going in and out and I had no control over my hands at most points. they were tingly and moving without my control. my feet were tingly too. then my whole body got tingly. I felt like I was gonna throw up. I soon after fell asleep. then the day after that my high didnt wear it felt awful. my body was and still is just soo tingly all over. the high was gone two days later. but the tingly and tenseness of my hands is still there. my whole body tingles. like for example. i lay down in bed, when different parts of my body touches the bed i can t make out the feeling anymore. my body just tingles al over. its like overloaded my brain and my whole body gets this tingly numb sensation. i m really scared. ( and today its still the same. and both of those nights i had the airconditioner on soo my body becomes more prone to that feeling . and sometimes when i feel an itch on my body and i try to scratch it, my hands and the spot i m trying to scratch suddenly becomes numb and tingly thus i can t really scratch the exact spot.i m really scared now, whats happening to me. is this permanent? will this wear off? pls help. . ( i ll never smoke that stuff again.

 
Case 6

Spoiler

(http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Anxiety/Numbness-and-waves-of-tingling/show/1636656)
Hi, I have this problem and I'm not sure if it is anxiety related. I have strange bouts of tingling/numbness accompanied with a strange problem feeling texture. It only bothers me really when I move or touch anything, including walking. Sometimes it is worse and sometimes it's not bad. It is mostly in my hands/arms/feet/face. When it's really strong I can describe it as waves of tingling. It can get quite painful/bothersome. This usually happens when I'm stressed. It used to only last a few hours but the last couple of incidents lasted for days. I just don't see how effects from an anxiety attack could last for days. One doctor I saw said it was anxiety and the other had nothing to say. Does anyone have any ideas? It may be helpful to note that the first few times this happened, it was after I smoked weed. Does anyone have any advice? This lasted 6 days. I can also describe it as having a numb sense of touch, like fabricy texture just feels awful. Sometimes I wake up in the night and it is happening again.

 
Case 7

Spoiler

(http://www.rollitup.org/t/have-to-quit-tingling-in-arms-legs-etc.112206/)
I seem to be having an adverse reaction to marijuana and was wondering if anyone here has ever had a similar experience or heard of it happening to someone else. I'm not a regular pot-smoker. A couple days ago, I smoked for the first time in about a year and half. I took three or four hits, then my arms and legs started to get a tingly, pins-and-needles kind of numb. I figured this would go away, but when I awoke in the morning, I was completely sober and my arms and legs were still numb and tingling. I had this same reaction after smoking marijuana the last three or four times I've smoked, which were over a year and a half ago. I never had the problem during the time I was not smoking or when I first began smoking pot when I was 16 (I'm 20 now). One time, in the past, the tingling sensation spread to nearly every part of my body and lasted over a week. The feelings became so intolerable that I went to the emergency room, but they basically told me to wait it out. It eventually went away. It's been almost three days since I last smoked pot and I still have tingling numbness ALL OVER. Even my forehead is tingly and numb. I originally thought I had a B12 deficiency, but I have recently come to believe that this is not the case. I've tried searching the internet for information about this type of reaction to marijuana, but haven't found much of anything.

 

I'm aware that Paraesthesia is a common symptom with many causes (e.g vascular disease, metabolic conditions, vitamin deficiencies, arthritis, anxiety, drug side effects etc.) and so it could be coincidental that these symptoms are experienced by some after smoking pot. However there is a chance that it's not coincidental and cannabis plays a causal role in a minority of individuals. I'm not against weed and I know that the majority of people don't have any problems with it, it's just these reports are interesting and I'd like to find out if there are more out there.

 

 
There may well be millions of reports that are nothing to do with marijuana, all caused by things other than marijuana. But is it not possible that out of the small percentage that are to do with marijuana, some of them are caused by marijuana? It may well be a waste of time, but I've made the thread now so all I have to do is watch and wait and see if anyone replies. Threads don't disappear so maybe a few months down the line someone will type into google  "numbness / electric tingling / paraesthesia / in hands, face, back, legs for days after smoking cannabis" find this thread and be reassured that they're not the only one out there. Or perhaps these reports I have posted (there are many more out there, I just chose the ones with the most information and background provided) really do have nothing to do with cannabis in which case I've wasted about 3 hours of my life, but unfortunately my time and effort isn't that precious so I don't really mind.

 

Yeah SWIM hasn't smoked since the last incident but has noticed that on a few occasions after drinking (around 5 pints) the tingling returns in the morning for a few hours but is more mild.

 

 
UPDATE: Ok guys thank you for your responses it's good to hear your experiences. SWIM hasn't smoked since the first post and hasn't experienced the tingling again I'm particularly interested in your report <span>AndersonLuisdeSouza as it seem to be the most similar to SWIM's experience. The onset, quality and duration of the symptoms are almost a perfect match which suggests that the cannabis may be the causal factor.(not that the other reports aren't of interest! They just don't have all the similarities) I'm just monitoring this thread  now purely out of interest.</span>
 
The commonalities that I've noticed so far are:
 
Onset: During or several hours after smoking.
Quality: Tingling abnormal sensation in hands, face, feet, legs. Difficulty identifying objects with hands. This abnormal sensation is present upon light touch of particular materials and objects. Especially uncomfortable when hands are placed in pockets.
Duration: 4-5 days
 
I think that what is most interesting is the distribution of the abnormal sensation. If the tingling were caused by a peripheral nerve lesion then one would expect an abnormality of sensation in a specific dermatome or nerve distribution, however this does not appear to be the case as both the hands, feet and face are affected. If the tingling were caused by a circulatory issue then one would expect the problem to get worse upon exercise/exertion (no-one has mentioned this). If the tingling were caused by anxiety/hyperventilation then how come people haven't reported feeling overly anxious? SWIM has had many stressful/anxiety inducing experiences since I made the last post but the symptoms have not come back.
 
If you're reading this and you have had the same/similar problem then please post, the more reports that come in the easier it will be to pick out a theme or trend.