Ok, as per the suggestion from @arty zan it's time to kick off a thread that, hopefully, can be used to discuss treatments for the assorted ailments I have.
The list is a good one, there's at least 4 bad discs in my back, at various stages of degradation, a small dislocation at L3, L5-S1 has "moved", facet degeneration from L2-S1 and the lumbar area is riddled with arthritis.
That's just my back.
Both shoulders are worn out, with tendonosis (not to be confused with tendonitis) on both sides, both knees are pretty much worn out with arthritis rearing it's ugly head there, left elbow weakened, and both hips complaining like a modern-day snowflake. Basically, the little toe on the left foot is fine, which is ironic as I broke that several years ago (dropped something on it, my fault)
That's basically the physical side, on top of that is chronic insomnia, a form of PTSD and what a "professional" called Borderline Personality Disorder (I disagreed, I told him I'm just a normal nutter), plus Type 2 diabetes.
Now the diabetes is not an issue, weight loss and diet change took care of that in 8 months and my blood sugars are well under control, so nothing to worry about there. The biggest issue is the assorted aches and pains plus the insomnia.
As said elsewhere, the insomnia isn't so much of an issue now as I've accepted I have it so it doesn't worry me, for the moment you go down that route is the moment you will not sleep at all, and since I'm unable to work any more I can have a nap whenever I want.
So we come to the pain, and the usual treatment here in Belgium is pharmas which mostly do nothing to me unless it's opiates, and my tolerance to any drug rockets quickly when I take it regularly. Thanks to too much of certain things I can't touch them any more as they just make me puke, so the choice is limited and that's before we think of addiction issues.
So this is where weed comes in, but that's also a minefield as different strains have different effects, plus there's my tolerance issues. I believe in "micro dosing", taking small amounts more often so I don't actually get "high" but there's enough to relieve the pain enough so I can function. It works, but regular breaks have to be taken to keep tolerance down.
Then 2 years ago I found someone selling 50mg CBD vape juice, and since I was having to pop up to 6 different pills per day during work hours alone I thought "try it, nothing to lose". I went to effectively zero pills overnight thanks to the effects of the CBD, but, of course, the tolerance has gone sky high so even 200mg vape juice doesn't do the necessary any more. Getting CBD is a nightmare here as it's illegal, and prices from various places in Holland, IF they deliver to here, are frankly ridiculous, so you can guess how happy I was to find someone at the Putse Kermis with a stand selling CBD hash on Sunday.
Last night was the big test, for on Sunday there was also alcohol and valium consumed so any effects would have been skewed then, but I actually got 5 hours continuous sleep WITHOUT wakening up in the sort of pain that can make your eyes water. Stiff as a board, yes, but, by my standards, pain free, and that was with a very small amount of 10% CBD Amnesia Haze hash in a traditional European splifferette. As today has gone on, another couple of "light" splifferettes have been partaken but the pain is well within "manageable" levels without having to resort to pharmas, and, more importantly, mobility and energy levels are higher than normal so far.
Now, if I want to be totally pain free I know I need THC, but since Pandora isn't ready yet that has to wait because I'm sick of paying over the odds for dodgy street stuff. I'm also looking at assorted "medical" strains, then I'll pick a selection and try them to find the one that suits me best.
So this is a thread which could go on and on as I use myself as a lab rat and hopefully find a way to help others with assorted ailments, hope you all enjoy this ride.
The list is a good one, there's at least 4 bad discs in my back, at various stages of degradation, a small dislocation at L3, L5-S1 has "moved", facet degeneration from L2-S1 and the lumbar area is riddled with arthritis.
That's just my back.
Both shoulders are worn out, with tendonosis (not to be confused with tendonitis) on both sides, both knees are pretty much worn out with arthritis rearing it's ugly head there, left elbow weakened, and both hips complaining like a modern-day snowflake. Basically, the little toe on the left foot is fine, which is ironic as I broke that several years ago (dropped something on it, my fault)
That's basically the physical side, on top of that is chronic insomnia, a form of PTSD and what a "professional" called Borderline Personality Disorder (I disagreed, I told him I'm just a normal nutter), plus Type 2 diabetes.
Now the diabetes is not an issue, weight loss and diet change took care of that in 8 months and my blood sugars are well under control, so nothing to worry about there. The biggest issue is the assorted aches and pains plus the insomnia.
As said elsewhere, the insomnia isn't so much of an issue now as I've accepted I have it so it doesn't worry me, for the moment you go down that route is the moment you will not sleep at all, and since I'm unable to work any more I can have a nap whenever I want.
So we come to the pain, and the usual treatment here in Belgium is pharmas which mostly do nothing to me unless it's opiates, and my tolerance to any drug rockets quickly when I take it regularly. Thanks to too much of certain things I can't touch them any more as they just make me puke, so the choice is limited and that's before we think of addiction issues.
So this is where weed comes in, but that's also a minefield as different strains have different effects, plus there's my tolerance issues. I believe in "micro dosing", taking small amounts more often so I don't actually get "high" but there's enough to relieve the pain enough so I can function. It works, but regular breaks have to be taken to keep tolerance down.
Then 2 years ago I found someone selling 50mg CBD vape juice, and since I was having to pop up to 6 different pills per day during work hours alone I thought "try it, nothing to lose". I went to effectively zero pills overnight thanks to the effects of the CBD, but, of course, the tolerance has gone sky high so even 200mg vape juice doesn't do the necessary any more. Getting CBD is a nightmare here as it's illegal, and prices from various places in Holland, IF they deliver to here, are frankly ridiculous, so you can guess how happy I was to find someone at the Putse Kermis with a stand selling CBD hash on Sunday.
Last night was the big test, for on Sunday there was also alcohol and valium consumed so any effects would have been skewed then, but I actually got 5 hours continuous sleep WITHOUT wakening up in the sort of pain that can make your eyes water. Stiff as a board, yes, but, by my standards, pain free, and that was with a very small amount of 10% CBD Amnesia Haze hash in a traditional European splifferette. As today has gone on, another couple of "light" splifferettes have been partaken but the pain is well within "manageable" levels without having to resort to pharmas, and, more importantly, mobility and energy levels are higher than normal so far.
Now, if I want to be totally pain free I know I need THC, but since Pandora isn't ready yet that has to wait because I'm sick of paying over the odds for dodgy street stuff. I'm also looking at assorted "medical" strains, then I'll pick a selection and try them to find the one that suits me best.
So this is a thread which could go on and on as I use myself as a lab rat and hopefully find a way to help others with assorted ailments, hope you all enjoy this ride.
I've given you a slap for getting this up and running, no time like the present ..right!
