I have been using cannabis for a little over a year now. I suffer from MS and in the last 12 months, I have had very few relapses. My doctor is amazed at improvement and lack of progression of my disease. I look forward to waking up pain-free and my mobility and balance has improved by leaps and bounds.
-JLucido
Hi, my name is Mary and I would like to give my testimony in how this medicine has helped me. I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis. I’ve had it for a couple years now. I would inject medicine in my stomach to control the inflammation in my bones. I would also take prescribed pills, but after so much use it affected my stomach and damaged it causing me to have gastritis. I found out about this medication and tried it myself, and everyday I feel less pain because it’s not a narcotic it’s not hurting me at all. It relieves all the pain away during work, exercise, and home chores. Overall, this medication helps me function and concentrate more during any physical activity. As the days go by, I keep feeling better, and also live a healthier way of life.
-Mary
As a teenager in the 1960’s, I experienced a couple of bad falls which left me with one hip higher than the other and chronic, occasionally severe, sciatic nerve pain. During that time in the U.S., most MDs, when presented with such symptoms, only had pain pills to offer. Treatments such as intensive bodywork, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, etc. were dismissed at that time by the vast majority of people as only practiced by so-called quacks, and very few practitioners were available. I am very sensitive to pharmaceuticals physically, and the only medicine that helped me survive the physical pain, as well as the occasional depression that accompanied living with chronic pain during my late teens, twenties, and early thirties, with no horrific side effects, was cannabis. Thank goodness I was in places where I could get it on the black market!
Although in my thirties I finally got some real help for my structural issues, when I turned fifty, I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis; and although allopathic medicine wasn’t worthless in this case, once again, it was cannabis that really has made my level of functionality possible. Now at sixty-seven I use it daily for both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, and am using a combination of various forms of ingestion and vaporizing. For the last several years I have not been on any RA pharmaceuticals. Using the whole plant is what works best.
-Alice
My Journey To CBD- Being in the construction industry for 30 years certainly took its toll on my body, and as such my spirit as well. I experienced various injuries over those decades. Not all injuries heal well… Especially my shoulders. When they don’t heal well, and actually progress, living with increasing chronic pain was part of my life. Not only was the pain difficult to manage, I was experiencing depression as well. Chronic pain is a double edged sword. Tylenol and Advil did the trick for my 30s & 40s but my fifties and 60s I graduated to various opioids, vodka, opioids & vodka, cortisone injections for relief. It was affecting the quality of my daily life. I couldn’t do many activities that I love and make my life enjoyable. Motorcycle riding was limited to 1 -2 hours tops. Forget about all day rides unless I took a Vicodin. Vicodin and riding don’t really mix well… All of the afore mentioned “remedies” bring with them side effects. Constipation, hangovers, and only treating after work while at home. CBD has been instrumental in my ability to stop treating with narcotics and alcohol. I dose morning and night with full spectrum CBD. I’m completely free of opioids and attribute that from CBD. This is my journey to CBD
-S B Friedman
I thought my journey with cannabis in recent years might help other people that also suffer debilitating migraines. Here is my story on the continuing journey with this amazing plant.
I was brought up in a strict religious household, where, the plant cannabis was considered a bad drug. During my teenage years I used it recreational along with alcohol. I also began to have migraines at age 14 as well as struggled with OCD during those teen years. My parents sent me to a psychiatrist to help with my OCD. He prescribed pills. Lots of pills. Before I knew it, I was addicted to many opioids from those prescriptions. Then, I got pregnant during my college years how to choose between addiction or my baby. I chose my son. I went to rehab 23 years ago, finished the program, stayed on and mentored there, go married and continued on with making my family, having three more boys and lead a very active life. I ran marathons and road century rides all while working on an organic farm.
Then about 4 years ago, my migraines increased dramatically. After consulting neurologist, he said it was caused by genetics and not something like a tumor he prescribed strong medicines and Botox injections. Although helpful, these come with many unpleasant side effects including, but not limited to, nausea diarrhea tingling and face and extremities muscles, cramps, liver damage, and one that actually makes it hard to talk. Without all these, my migraine days are over 20 a month. So excruciatingly painful as to be debilitating forcing me to hide from the light and smells. The pounding in my head is so bad it makes me vomit. I was unable to function. When I take my medications and botox, my migraine days are reduced but with all the negative side effects. That’s where cannabis has changed my life for the better. My good friend, that also suffers excruciating migraines and takes many of the same medications, asked if I would like to try cannabis because it alleviates many of her symptoms and side effects. She asked me if I wanted to try some. I was scared at first because cannabis had always been shunned in my marriage and life. Cannabis was thought of as a bad drug. It was hard to think of cannabis as a medicine at first, but I was in so much pain and so depressed for not being able to function that I decided to try it. I took it slow. I tried CBD flower at first but that didn’t help much. I found out that I needed THC as well as CBD and got some granddaddy purple to try for the first time. It worked! I was blown away by how it took the pain and pounding away the pressure was instantly relieved. The nausea was gone. So began my new cannabis journey.
I started to journal to track the trains that helped me the most. I began to think of cannabis as a medicine. I began to teach my children the benefits of this medicine and they could physically see the improvements in me. I found out I don’t like eating it.
I also found out that I have had asthma all my adult life that went untreated, and now I had 72-year-old lungs at the age of 45. Just when I found something to help with my migraines it was becoming more difficult to smoke flower with my asthmatic lungs.
Good friend to the rescue again! My friend told me to try wax or rosin as its concentrated and not as harmful as smoke. I found out that works great and now that is my preferred method of consumption. My husband built a rosin press so now we make our own rosin using only heat and pressure. I like rosin the best because of it potency and purity. It only takes a little bit, is very effective, and is much gentler on my lungs than regular flower smoke.
Thanks to cannabis I am beginning to get my life back. Thanks to this plant I have been able to reduce or eliminate some of my migraine medications my side effects are alleviated from Botox and these medications and I am beginning to enjoy being outside once again. I have regained 10 migraine free days a month. I shared my cannabis use with my neurologist and he was truly happy that I found migraines relief. My life is looking up again as I’m getting back to an active lifestyle, and I owe that to cannabis. Thank you for your time.
-Karen