Warning Signs Worth a Doctor

This isn't a scare page. The great majority of what cannabis does passes on its own, the racing heart, the bad high, the rough night, and the rest of this section is about keeping those to a minimum. But there are a handful of signs that are genuinely worth a doctor, and they share an awkward feature: they're the easiest ones to rationalise away. If you've ever thought "I really should stop" at 3am and then used again the next day, this page is for that moment.

Your lungs and chest

If you smoke, especially joints with tobacco, or high-temperature dabs, some cough and irritation is common. These, though, are not "ride it out" symptoms, and mean a GP or a same-day service rather than another session:

• Coughing up blood, or a metallic/blood taste when you cough or wake.
• Breathlessness that doesn't pass, struggling to get a full breath, or getting winded by stairs you used to manage.
• Chest pain or tightness, or a wheeze that's new for you.
• A cough that won't shift over weeks, or that keeps waking you.

None of these automatically means something dreadful, but they need eyes on them, because the things they can point to are far more treatable caught early. The genuinely reassuring part: the lungs are good at healing, and people who switch away from combustion (to a vaporiser or edibles) or stop for a while very often find the breathing and cough settle within weeks. Dropping tobacco from the mix is the single biggest thing you can do for your chest.

Relentless vomiting: the one people miss

There's one pattern that's worth knowing about by name, because it's routinely mistaken for a mystery stomach bug for months or years: STRONG If you're getting cycles of intense vomiting and you've found yourself taking long hot showers for relief, that combination is worth raising with a doctor and is a strong reason to stop. Severe vomiting also carries its own risk. If you can't keep any fluids down and are getting dehydrated, that's a same-day medical problem in its own right.

Your head

Most of the mental side of cannabis is covered in Your Mind & Use and the risks, but two things belong on any warning list: paranoia, hearing or seeing things, or a loss of touch with reality that doesn't clear up once the cannabis is out of your system, and any thoughts of harming yourself. Both mean reaching out rather than waiting it out alone: to a GP, or urgently to the services below.

Where to turn (UK)

• Your GP is the right first stop for a lingering cough, breathlessness, or repeated vomiting. It's ordinary to ask about, and they've heard it all before.
• NHS 111 (call 111 or 111.nhs.uk), for when you're not sure how urgent something is.
• 999 or A&E, for chest pain, real difficulty breathing, coughing up a lot of blood, or vomiting you can't stop and can't keep fluids down through.
• FRANK, free, confidential, non-judgemental help with the cannabis side itself (0300 123 6600).

Outside the UK

The signs above matter wherever you live. Only the services have different names. For anything urgent, chest pain, real trouble breathing, coughing up a lot of blood, or vomiting you can't stop, call your local emergency number (112 across most of Europe, 911 in the US and Canada, 000 in Australia, or your country's equivalent). For everything else, a local doctor or pharmacist is the right first stop. They've seen it before and it's an ordinary thing to ask about. And most countries have a free, confidential drug helpline like FRANK. A quick search for one where you are is usually enough to find real help to talk the cannabis side through.

Getting one of these checked is not an overreaction and it isn't dramatic. It's the ordinary, sensible thing, and catching something early is exactly what makes it a small problem instead of a big one. If reading this has landed a bit close to home, Is It a Problem? is a gentle next step.