Cotton Mouth: Most people who have vaped, smoked, or eaten cannabis now the feeling. Your mouth becomes the Sahara desert. You stumble over simple words that are normally easy to say. Your mouth may feel thirsty, but your body does not. If you get cotton mouth when you enjoy cannabis, you're certainly not alone. While everyone experiences side effects a little differently, cotton mouth is one of the most well-known side effects of cannabis that nobody's found a good use for.
The feeling, fortunately, fades along with your high. But why does smoking weed give you cotton mouth? Why does CBD not give you cotton mouth? And, most importantly, what can you do to stop cotton mouth fast? At Kind Seed Co, we have all the answers and are happy to share all the cool facts, tips, and tricks, for dealing with cotton mouth in the middle of a relaxing sesh.
What Is Cotton Mouth?
Cotton mouth means the dry feeling in your mouth when you smoke, vape, or eat marijuana. Not everybody gets it, and not everybody gets it with the same strains or strengths. However, most people experience cotton mouth as a dryness of the tongue and inner cheeks during the height of a cannabis high. It makes you feel kinda thirsty and, amusingly, it goes hand-in-bag with the munchies.
Cotton Mouth Symptoms
- Dry mouth
- Clumsy speech (from dry tongue)
- Feeling parched and enjoying beverages more
- Having a hard time not snacking once you start
While we are all familiar with the symptoms of cotton mouth, the reason why cotton mouth happens is actually much more interesting.
Why Cannabis Gives You Cotton Mouth
Why does cannabis with THC give you cotton mouth, but CBD products do not? Why do you get cotton mouth when you smoke weed, but also when you eat or vape it? Good questions, all.
Cannabis Reduces Your Saliva Reduction
The first answer is that THC has a knack for temporarily reducing your saliva production. It's an odd side-effect, but one that millions have experienced for themselves. Interestingly, cannabis does not actually dehydrate you, and cotton mouth isn't a sign of that. Smoking dehydrates you and can dry out your mouth a little bit, but you get cotton mouth with edibles and vape because it's not actually the smoke causing cotton mouth; it's the cannabis.
CB1, CB2, and Cotton Mouth
So, why cannabis causes cotton mouth - and why CBD products do not - has to do with your endocannabinoid system. This system helps to regulate many functions of the body like digestion, inflammation, and sleep - but also saliva production.
Saliva amount can be influenced by both CB1 and CB2 receptors, and THC interacts with both CB1 and CB2 receptors. However, CBD only interacts with CB2 receptors, which only regulate the consistency of your saliva, not the amount. The human body is weird and cool like that.
The Effects Are Temporary
The reason dry mouth goes away is because the THC fades from your bloodstream along with the regulatory effects it may have. So don't worry, cotton mouth will go away on its own.
How to Get Rid of Cotton Mouth
Let's say you just smoked a wicked joint, a nicely packed bowl, or ate a powerful pot brownie. You can feel your saliva membranes drying up in response. But if you dislike dry mouth and want it to stop, there are several (pretty tasty) ways to stop drymouth fast.
Understand The Source
The first thing is to understand that you're not dehydrated - although drinking water can help - you're just combating slow saliva production. The best way to counteract cotton mouth after you are already stoned is to help your mouth produce more saliva. You can do this by sipping the right kind of drink and finding something to chew.
Sip Sugary Drinks
Normally, this is where we would tell you to drink plenty of water - and you should. Water is great for you and will help promote your saliva a little. But really, there's a reason you crave sodas and lemonades when stoned. Cotton mouth is best soothed by the cool, fizziness of a soda and the sugary film that soda leaves behind actually helps your mouth to retain some moisture even when cotton mouth is at its worst.
Chew Gum
Gum might be the best way to stop cotton mouth fast because chewing on a tasty, sugary gum will promote saliva production manually. You don' tneed the cananbis-affected saliva regulatory function because you can crank up production manually. Chewing gum makes your mouth produce more saliva to help break down the gum and process the sugar.
Grab a pack of gum before your next smokeout and you'll quickly realize how much a single stick or packet of gum can make in not experiencing cottn mouth even if you are susceptible to it.
Get the Munchies
You can also keep your mandibles and saliva production busy by giving into the munchies. We advise delicious low-calorie snacks like popcorn so that you can enjoy a whole lot of it mostly guilt-free and without a stomach ache. You can also binge on a package of cookies, which will be equally effective at fighting cotton mouth, but you might regret the cookies more than the popcorn later on.
Enjoy Hard Candies
For a similar reason that gum works, you can swap your popcorn bowl for one or two hard candies. Enjoying a peppermint or butterscotch hard candy can help to seriously increase your saliva production while also keeping you from going snack-overboard as the THC munchies kick in.
Juicy Fruits
Not the gum, the water-rich sweet produce. Want a healthy alternative for the cotton mouth munchies? Try water-rich fruits and vegetables like, perhaps, a deliciously juicy watermelon, slices of apple, or a box of fresh berries. Juicy and water-rich fruits will help you stay hydrated, satisfy your desire for munchies, and provide that sugary boost that makes it all worth it.
Enjoy Some Citrus
Citris is amazing at stopping cotton mouth because it promotes saliva production all on its own. While some would say to suck a lemon, there are better ways. If you have oranges or clementines, eat them slowly one section at a time. It's a tasty way to snack and to stay healthily hydrated during your high. If you have lemons (or a mix), then make lemonade. You get the benefits of a sugary drink and citrus at the same time.
How to Avoid Cotton Mouth When Smoking Weed
Of course, if you really don't like cotton mouth or don't plan on spending your next high smacking gum or on a snack binge, you can avoid cotton mouth altogether. If you don't want to get any cotton mouth at all, we have a few tips that can help you do this, as well.
Take It Slow
First, the easiest answer is to get a little less high. It can be easy to go overboard and when you're toking at home, going over the moon is both fun and safe. However, the more cannabis affects your body, the more likely it is that you will experience cotton mouth. Some people get cotton mouth more easily than others - everyone has a slightly different reaction to cannabis and terpenes - but taking it slow will definitely help you reduce the risks or severity of cotton mouth with each sesh.
Try Different Strains and Terpene Blends
Another option is to mix up your cannabis selection. Everyone responds differently - not just to cannabis as a whole, but to each strain and blend of terpenes. You might find that a different family of cannabis strains does not cause you cotton mouth - or not as bad -and you can more happily enjoy these other types.
Or you may find that specific terpenes or terpene blends make you more likely to develop cotton mouth. If so, you can check the contents of any cannabis flower or product to avoid the ones that make your mouth feel munchy-craving dry.
Enjoy Cannabis a Different Way
You can also change up the way you enjoy cannabis. If you smoke weed, try vaping. If you vape, try an edible. if edibles give you cotton mouth, try smoking a bowl or rolling a joint. There are concentrates to dab, cannabis sodas to try (two birds, one stone), and tons of different flavors and blends to explore. Why limit yourself to a traditional experience when that tradition might just come with the cotton mouth you're trying to avoid? Change your cannabis style and see if your body responds to that change with a different regulatory effect on the Sahara-status of your tongue.
Avoid Dehydrating Drinks and Habits
Lastly, avoid things that can actually dehydrate you. While cannabis causes cotton mouth by mis-regulating your saliva production, things that actually cause you to become dehydrated will definitely make the problem worse. So avoid black coffee (lattes are OK), alcohol, and standing directly in front of the AC or heater.
Know Your Cannabis with Weed Seeds
Dry mouth is one of the most common side effects of cannabis, but you can plan ahead to counteract the effect. Learn more about cannabis strains, growing, and your ideal cannabis experiences with Weed Seeds. Contact us today to ask questions of find seeds for your favorite strains.
