In California, medical marijuana is legal. It is still illegal at the federal level, which stifles research nationwide. There are huge gaps in our knowledge about the medical use of marijuana because of this. From my readings, it did seem to help some people with fibromyalgia. I decided to do some experimentation on my own. I will continue to document what I am learning.
Keep in mind that I have never tried marijuana and have no interest at all in smoking anything. I have a friend very familiar with this area, so I turned to her for information. Marijuana is available from the dispensaries in several forms. Besides the smokable product, there are tinctures and edibles. I decided to try the edibles.
There are a wide range of edible products available. My initial products were a caramel, a brownie, a cereal bar, and a chocolate bar.
There are two main types of marijuana used in these products, based on the two main sub-species of Cannabis sativa L. These are indica and sativa, and there are also cross-breeds containing the properties of both. Indica dominant strains are higher in Cannabidiol (CBD), sativa dominant strains are higher in the THC cannabinoid.
What I was looking for was something to help alleviate the pain when it becomes so bad I can neither function nor sleep. Normal pain killers are ineffective. So, which is best, sativa or indica? Here is what the Canadian AIDS Society had to say:
“The different strains of cannabis contain different blends of cannabinoids. Many people report experiencing different medicinal effects from different strains. There is not much research into the medicinal effects of different strains. Most people rely on word of mouth and trial and error to choose a strain that works for them. Your best bet is to try one to see how it works for your symptoms."
The general belief is that indica is best for pain relief, although it is also believed that the opposite is true for some. I began with indica.
I waited until I had some fairly harsh leg pain, the kind that experience has taught me tends to hang around awhile and makes it difficult to sleep. I tried a caramel, which had about a gram. I had ¼ piece. Within about 45 minutes the pain was diminished.
I did not feel high or any sense of euphoria. When I got up, I did have the spins. I was able to sleep soundly. The next day I felt fine.
I did find the taste of the caramel disgusting, but it was just a small amount. Despite the candification, it was still like taking medicine.
Experiment two involved upper body pain that can be quite unpleasant. On night one I had significant torso pain all night that disrupted my sleep. On night two, when the pain returned, I tried one of the chocolate bars. This time I ingested about 1/3 gram.
I did not find the chocolate any more effective at disguising the taste than the caramel. It was still terrible tasting.
This time, though, along with the pain I was also fuzzy. The pain was reduced in about the same amount of time. I still had the spins when I got up. Also, both nights after ingestion as I was trying to sleep my thoughts were very discordant. My brain spun from thought to thought without being able to focus on anything, like giving my wife the remote as she spins though channels. Since sleep was my goal, this was not a problem.
The next morning after the larger dose I did feel less clear headed, but since I also had fibrofog issues, I can not say for sure whether the dosage impacted me the next day or not.
On day three, I again had the same torso pain which impacted my sleep. So, it does seem that on three days in a row with similar pain patterns, on the middle day I did get pain relief from the dosage I took.
This is a big deal since nothing, absolutely nothing, has done anything for the pain in the past. It is still early in the testing, but it does appear to help significantly with the pain. I am not so sure I am all that functional with it, as the spins makes walking a little difficult and I have not done any testing to see if I can get both pain reduction and functionality enough to do things like write. At this point, it does seem to reduce pain enough to let me sleep, and that is a big deal.
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