A friend brought THC-O gummies to a small gathering and offered them around. I smoke cannabis daily and regularly eat 50mg THC edibles, so when he said "these are like regular edibles but a bit stronger," I ate two 15mg gummies without much thought. This was a significant miscalculation.
The first 45 minutes were uneventful. I was socializing, having a good time, feeling normal. Then the effects arrived — not gradually, but in a wave that felt like it went from zero to maximum in about ten minutes.
The body high was immediately overwhelming. My limbs felt like they were made of concrete. I sat down on a couch and could not motivate myself to stand up again for the next three hours. My heart rate accelerated noticeably — not dangerously, but enough that I was aware of every heartbeat, which fed into a cycle of anxiety about my heart rate, which elevated my heart rate further.
The mental effects were intense in a way that was purely unpleasant. Every conversation around me sounded like it was happening in an echo chamber. I could not follow what people were saying. My own thoughts were racing but circular — the same three anxious thoughts repeating endlessly: my heart is beating fast, I took too much, when will this end.
About two hours in, I asked my friend to drive me home. I lay in bed with the lights off for the remaining duration. The anxiety gradually subsided into a heavy sedation. I fell asleep at some point and woke up the next morning still feeling slightly off — groggy, heavy-headed, and mildly anxious.
Here is what I wish I had known: my 50mg THC edible tolerance does NOT translate linearly to THC-O. If the 2-3x potency factor is accurate, my 30mg THC-O dose was equivalent to something like 60-90mg of regular THC — well beyond my comfortable range. A 10mg THC-O gummy would have been the appropriate starting dose for my tolerance level.
I do not blame the substance. I blame my own failure to research before ingesting. THC-O requires more respect than regular cannabis, and treating it like a slightly stronger edible is a recipe for a bad time.