Cannabis and Lupus

[TxOld Dude]

Howdy all!

Just call me Fish. I'm known here as TxOld Dude and Hippy Fish in others. I'm fifty-ish and my mom, sister, and I have Lupus. I am not "officially" diagnosed yet, but I present more than mom or sis ever did. It has taken nearly 15 years to find a doctor to deal with it and now that I've found one, I don't have much use for them.

I've had vitiligo and skin plaques since I was 10 years old. Where the plaques developed the vitiligo appeared after they healed. I was first tested for Lupus by the Air Force Med Center at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Tx back in '96. Most of the bad symptoms were just starting to present themselves when I left the Houston area for temporary duty at Kelly AFB, San Antonio, Tx. After being there a couple of days, I started getting bone dry eyes with blinding headaches and photophobia. Light was like a knife driven through my skull. The docs had me tested specifically for Lupus; i.e. rheumatology, hematology, dermatology, opthamology, and every other "ology" they could think of. Their results were inconclusive, but they "suspected". Since then the neuropathies and neuralgia as well as the rheumatics have come on like gangbusters. Daily muscle twitches, cramps, and full on spasms in my rib muscles and right eye (shaking/jitter), rheumatic pain and loss of strength in my hands, "icepick" stabs in the legs, feet, and wrists, "restless leg" and on and on. The worst was when an attack would damage a nerve, leaving that spot numb. The pain is a severe burning, stinging, tearing sensation that lasted a couple weeks or so and are permanently numb afterward. None of the numb spots recover feeling.

This was EVERY DAY ALL DAY LONG!

I had quit herb when I got married and just restarted last year to deal with my sleep apnea and hyperactive insomnia (I'm pretty fucked up, aren't I? LOL!). Those of you who have seen my photo grow are familiar with Miz Dubya. After the harvest, I was able to smoke regularly every day and after a while noticed the frequency and severity of all the Lupus symptoms declined significantly. Flare-ups still occur, but very infrequently and are WAY less painful than they were before. Cramps and twitches became almost non-existent. Harvest was last June.

I think we've found a winner!

Thank God for the most versatile plant on the planet!

And thanks to all you guys for all the help! :tiphat:


Fish

 

[Eekman]

Hey Tx Old Dude,

Glad to see ya again.

Just wondering how you consume your cannabis? I was wondering if you use the vape


Eek

 

[TxOld Dude]

Wassup Eek!

I've made a bunch of coconut infused oil, but discovered early on with pills that my intestines don't move properly and things can sit in my stomach for days sometimes (neurological malfunction of intestinal rhythm). I've actually had pills I'd taken at 9pm not kick in til after 9am the following day when I'm at work. So anything by mouth is going to be a no-go. I tried to find a way of making something for my e-cig, but that turned out badly. I've been smoking a mixture of the bud with bits of the tarball from the failed glycerine attempt, but no matter what I'm constantly hacking up a lung with any of this stuff. I may have to do a butane extraction or some other "clean" method so I can get off smoking the plant material. Unfortunately, glycerine is "anhydrous" and therefore doesn't mix with hemp oils. I REALLY don't want to go the way of "shatter" but...

Fish

 

[GCase]

Tx--check with Yoda. He makes glycerine infusions for his e-cig. And he raves about effect.

Cheers

 

[TxOld Dude]

Thanks! ...done deal!

 

[pop22]

Wassup Eek!

I've made a bunch of coconut infused oil, but discovered early on with pills that my intestines don't move properly and things can sit in my stomach for days sometimes (neurological malfunction of intestinal rhythm). I've actually had pills I'd taken at 9pm not kick in til after 9am the following day when I'm at work. So anything by mouth is going to be a no-go. I tried to find a way of making something for my e-cig, but that turned out badly. I've been smoking a mixture of the bud with bits of the tarball from the failed glycerine attempt, but no matter what I'm constantly hacking up a lung with any of this stuff. I may have to do a butane extraction or some other "clean" method so I can get off smoking the plant material. Unfortunately, glycerine is "anhydrous" and therefore doesn't mix with hemp oils. I REALLY don't want to go the way of "shatter" but...

Fish

You should try some green dragon then, its fast and potent. The other option is to vaporize. most vape pens are best used with comercially made vape oils as they are homogenized tto give the oil consistency. Get a tabletop vape machine. The Extreme Q is a great machine at a fair price.

 

[natertots]

My father has lupus as well, im glad to hear cannabis helps with it. He smokes but only a few tokes at night. Im gonna get him some eddies here soon.

 

[TxOld Dude]

Pop
Can't get the commercial vapes in Texas, I'm afraid. Not yet (Dammit Texas, Hurry UP!!). All that I've made was Green Dragon (everclear extraction) method, but can't use it due to the intestinal malfunctions. It'll have to be smoked/vaped. I put the word out to Yoda, hearing that he makes glycerine infusions and can maybe shed some light on my malfunctioning process.

Nater
The same with me. Only at night and then I toke the pipe off and on all evening til bedtime. The effect on Lupus is cumulative and took a while for the longer term effects to be apparent as a lessening of incidents. It was a couple months before I realized, "Hey, no cramps today!" and soon it was every day. What a blessed relief! Remember that Lupus is auto-immune and the body attacks itself. The effect of lupus on the nervous system is similar to MS. Cannabis is an immuno-suppressant that slows the body's attack on itself and allows the myolin sheath damaged nerves to heal a bit. It's not the cure-all, but it does help a bit.

 

[TxOld Dude]

Pop
Do you know much about this stuff? I'm at a loss with all the selections. Admittedly, I know more about e-cigs than these. That one is pricey for my blood. Can you recommend one that can do bud as well as "tarball" for a little more reasonable price or maybe direct me to a site for brand / model comparison?

Thanks!

Fish

 

[Eekman]

I was saying about the vape because it helps with those spikey pains, like someone is jabbing you with and icepick. For some reason the "atomizer" works best for me.

Found on amazon, you might get one in texas. It is an "Aromatherapy Diffuser".

I use it for dry herb.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OXA6A1Q?psc=1