How Did It Feel Smoking a Joint While Battling COVID-19?

smoking a joint during COVID-19

For the most part, I have been trying to stay out of the Covid-19 conversation mainly because I am not a virologist. Nor am I a health expert.

I’m just a seasoned cannabis consumer who has the ability to string words together in a way that isn’t entirely too boring.

Sometimes I go on rants, sometimes I provide insights about the industry. But for me to talk about Covid would be simply “click bait-y”

That is until now.

Because unfortunately, I tested positive for Covid a few days ago and now have firsthand experience with the disease.

I’ll talk a bit about how I felt in the beginning and how I am feeling now, but more importantly – what happened to me when I took a few hits off a joint.

Of course, this is just one person’s experience with cannabis and Covid. Therefore don’t take this as an “absolute truth” but rather look at it as a “subjective experience” from a seasoned writer.

Reginald B.V (Before the Vid)

I began suspecting that I may have had Covid almost a week prior to writing this article. It started with a headache that persisted.

I would go to bed with a headache and wake up with one. I downed a few paracetamols and some coffee, took a few hits from a pipe and managed to mitigate the pain for a while.

However, after 3 days of the headache intensifying, I knew something was off.

I was also incredibly dehydrated the whole time and began drinking plenty of electrolytes to keep me hydrated. I would drink about 1-2 liters a day.

What did it feel like?

During the first stages of the disease, I felt simply like I was permanently hungover – but then the fever started.

I never truly went deep into fever territory, but I was hovering around there. One night I did hit the fever threshold but a shower helped bring it back down.

At this point, I knew I was fucked.

When my mother in law, who was staying with us at the time tested positive – my suspicions that I also had contracted the virus was confirmed.

Now I had to go get tested because if I was infected, I’d have to make some arrangements in my home.

Up until this point – the disease was harsh, the headache increased in intensity and the dehydration was real.

I also stopped smoking weed naturally. I just didn’t crave it at all and wanted to sleep as much as I possibly could.

However, due to personal reasons I’d rather not mention in this article – I couldn’t sleep much. I was probably getting a solid 5 hours of interrupted-sleep per day with very few meals.

It was not optimal conditions for recovery.

Nonetheless, at this point I had to go get tested and I went to the nearest clinic.

I dislike the test as much as Covid

If you haven’t been tested with the PCR or the Antigen test – it’s basically the process where a medical professional will scrape the inside of your nasal cavity with a long cotton swab.

It’s not a very fun experience.

It’s quick and I decided to only get the antigen test considering that my Mother in law had it, I was almost certain I had it too.

The tests confirmed it – positive!

What the Doctors told me to do

Now that I knew that I indeed had Covid, I consulted a few doctors about what to do. Since my O2 saturation was fine, the recommended procedure was – ride it out.

They prescribed some vitamin C, Zinc, Omega 3 tablets, and Paracetamol for the pain.

For my own mental peace, I decided to not watch Covid News and doubled down on my Meditation & Deep Breathing.

Other than that, trying to get as much sleep as possible would be key.

When the headache subsided…

Eventually, my headache subsided and I started feeling a lot better. I wasn’t good yet, but I definitely felt a lot better than the previous 3-4 days.

And then it happened!

Like Dewey Cox – I went Smell Blind!

It happened recently, but I’m currently writing this article without the ability to smell anything. It first started when I was cooking and couldn’t smell the spice I was preparing.

Then, I confirmed it by opening up my jar of weed and low and behold – NOTHING!

I took a deep whiff in the jar and rolling tray and smelled absolutely nothing. The weirdest sensation ever.

I decided – since I was feeling a bit better – to roll a mini Spliff to see how I would react to it. My wife also has Covid and for her it’s been helping quite a bit.

I took a few good hits from a joint and waited.

What happened when I smoked a joint mid Covid?

I suddenly started feeling hot all over and began doing some deep breathing exercises to stabilize myself. I felt a little agitated, thick in the head and a burning sensation in my eyes.

For me, smoking weed was not going to help with the symptoms, especially since I wasn’t able to sleep as much as I’d like.

It took me a good 10-15 minutes to regain my composure, but I was noticeably affected by the few hits of weed. My body was telling me to refrain from smoking more weed.

For the rest of the evening I was not operating at 100% and eventually managed to level out.

The Sticky Bottom Line

For some people, smoking cannabis helps them with their Covid symptoms – for me, it did the opposite. Perhaps if I had the ability to sleep it would have been a different story, but in my particular case I will not be smoking weed until I’m over the final hurdle of this disease.

I’m not one to tell people how to live their lives. This article is meant only as a reference to those who are thinking about smoking weed while having Covid in making a more informed decision about their actions.