How to stop weed shakes right now
Written By: Jay Hyung
Bong Engineer
If you just smoked THC or ate an edible and are having uncontrollable weed shakes, don’t worry this is actually very common.
The TRPV1 receptor regulates the temperature in your body and lets you know when to cool down (sweat) or heat up (shiver).
Usually, this receptor is triggered by external temperatures, but it also can be triggered by cannabinoids such as THC and even CBD.
When you consume THC, the TRPV1 receptor will be triggered into thinking your body is overheating (when it’s not) causing what is known as THC-induced hypothermia.
Relax, THC-induced hypothermia is not dangerous at all but will result in what stoners commonly refer to as “weed shakes” or “THC chills”.
In this guide, I go over three ways to stop the shake and more ways to prevent it from happening in the first place.
How to stop shaking now
I put together 3 easy ways to stop shaking from cannabis that is based on science and what worked best for me over the years, personally.
You may also notice uncontrollable shaking after eating edibles, this is because edibles are much stronger than smoking cannabis (learn how to sober up from edibles).
No matter what form of THC you take, this guide will help you stop the shaking and warm your body up right away.
1. Drink a warm glass of milk
The transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member (TRPV1 receptor) functions primarily to regulate body temperature in your body.
This receptor is responsible for the uncontrollable shaking in your body as a result of THC, and research shows that the cannabinoid activation of the TRPV1 displays significant dependence on calcium levels.
Solution: Calcium ions speed up your body’s vascular response to warming in your TRPV1 receptors. So a quick way to counter the shakes is by loading up on some calcium.
Simply throw some milk on your stove and wait for it to get hot enough to drink. The calcium will help ground your TRPV1 receptors and since the milk is hot it will also help to warm your body down as well.
2. Spicy foods reverse THC shakes
The National Library of Medicine found that spicy foods like chili peppers contain a molecule called capsaicinoids which activates your TRPV1 receptor in the opposite direction that cannabis does.
Eating spicy foods will immediately trigger your TRPV1 receptors to trick your body to cool down, which will heat your body, open your pores, and even sweat. This will help neutralize the cannabis shakes almost instantly.
You don’t have to eat spicy foods like chili peppers, you only have to eat what is the most tolerable spice level to you to level out the THC shake.
3. Load up on Vitamin B12 and Iron
Your body needs both Vitamin B12 and Iron and without enough of either your body can get anemia making you much more susceptible to shaking while high.
This is the result of too few red blood cells to move oxygen around your body and it’s a very easy fix.
Make yourself a calorie-rich meal loaded with Vitamin B12 and Iron rich foods.
Vitamin B12-rich foods: Chicken, eggs, cheese, milk (again), and fish.
Iron-rich foods: Poultry, red meat, seafood, beans, dark green leafy vegetables, and chickpeas.
How to prevent shakes before they happen
In this section, we focus on common ways to prevent marijuana chills and also the differences between shakes, jitters, and twitches from THC consumption.
Besides the TRPV1 receptors triggering THC-induced hypothermia, there are also other reasons you may be experiencing the weed shake.
1. Heat up your environment
Shaking can be alleviated tenfold by simply turning up the temperature in your house.
This may bother other people in your household so what I do is I use a heat dish and point it right where I know I’m going to spend my time after smoking.
That way by the time you sit down the temperatures are already warm enough to help your body adjust to the temperature drops.
Also, make sure to dress warmer, socks and even a neck warmer if your shakes are much more intense.
2. Twitching is not the same as the shakes
Another common misconception is that twitching from weed is the same as shaking but they are completely different.
Shaking is from your body temperature and twitching is from the presence of THC in the plant.
THC compound interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system, which plays a role in regulating muscle movement.
When THC binds to cannabinoid receptors in your muscles, it can cause involuntary muscle contraction which is the reason why so many people twitch when high.
Everybody is different and some people may experience twitching while others don’t.
This can also be a strain issue so if you notice you are twitching more than usual from weed you can simply switch out the strain.
3. Slow down on the caffeine and nicotine
Some people confuse the weed shakes for the weed jitters.
Too much caffeine and nicotine while ingesting THC can throw your central nervous system off by producing far too much dopamine.
When ingesting cannabis for THC, I recommend laying off caffeine and nicotine as this can overstimulate your body.
So if you are feeling jittery, this is not from marijuana-induced shakes, but instead an overload of dopamine-enhancing substances.
4. Try a pipe or chillum
A lot of cannabis products such as bongs, gravity bongs, dab rigs, gas mask bongs, and steam roller pipes are all built to deliver far more THC in one hit than you would normally get from smaller devices.
That means it forces a large amount of THC into your body in one hit (which sometimes isn’t necessary for most people).
If you switch to a smaller device such as a weed pipe or a chillum it allows you to reduce the amount of THC intake significantly.
This allows for a much more controlled and gradual high, which puts far less activation upon the TRPV1 receptors which will reduce the shaking tremendously.
5. Why the shakes are common with edibles
Edibles are known to break down the THC in your liver to form a much stronger form of THC called 11-Hydroxy-THC.
If you are taking edibles I recommend you try to dose a bit lower and work your way up.
Edible highs can be uncontrollable at times so you can prepare a spicy meal so later if you get the weed tremors you can simply heat the dish up and let it stabilize your TRPV1 receptors.
Trying to cook a full meal on an edible high is something you definitely want to avoid, so the best plan is to push for preventive measures.
Does cannabis shake cause paranoia?
There is a common misconception that marijuana shakes go hand in hand with paranoia and anxiety.
This is not true. The weed shivers is your body naturally trying to cool you down. The anxiety and paranoia are coming from the strain that you smoked or ingesting too much THC at once.
Only buy weed from trusted sources, PGR, pesticides, and other chemicals are common in unregulated cannabis which causes paranoia.
By switching strains and buying from reputable dispensaries you can reduce the paranoia and anxiety but it is completely separate from weed shaking.
Final thoughts
It’s very common for weed to make you cold because it triggers the receptors in your body. This results in your body shaking and is commonly referred to as: weed shakes, cannabis shakes, marijuana chills, or weed shivers.
Shaking after smoking weed can be remedied by simply drinking a warm glass of milk, eating spicy foods, or eating a hot meal loaded with Iron and vitamin B12. High shakes are harmless and will pass but you can prevent it next time by dressing warmer and heating up your environment.
