- After two back surgeries and the insertion of a spinal-cord stimulator, I still have chronic pain.
- I’ve tried chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, and more. Nothing worked.
- I tried medical marijuana on a trip to California, and it helped. But now I can’t get it at home.
I suffer from chronic nerve pain in my legs and feet after two herniated discs in my lower back, two back surgeries, and the insertion of a spinal-cord stimulator. While the medical interventions helped with the acute pain, the nerve damage is extensive, and the chronic pain lingers.
Sometimes pain pulses in my toes as if someone’s stabbing me with thin railroad ties. Other times my feet burn as if they’re on fire. The slightest touch of the covers hurts so much that I bought a blanket lifter, a metal frame that lifts the blankets off my feet.
Muscle spasms are part of the package, too. The muscles around my ankles and calves twist and spasm uncontrollably, pulling my toes back toward my body and waking me from sound sleep with screams I pray my children have never heard.
I’ve tried many things to resolve this pain: CBD, creams, heating pads, ice packs, chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, and even tapping, but nothing worked enough for me to repeat it. I wanted to try weed, but it’s not legal where I live in North Carolina. So when I booked a business trip to California, where weed is legal, I decided to give it a chance.
I would’ve tried anything the budtender recommended for my pain
Research on whether cannabis works to relieve pain isn’t conclusive, though many studies have suggested it can be helpful for some people.
Even so, I was nervous when I walked into the dispensary. For my whole life, weed has been illegal where I’ve lived. And though I’d tried it as a kid, it had been a long time, and I had forgotten what it felt like. The big dudes with guns guarding the entrance to the dispensary only added to my anxiety.
But when I met and explained my symptoms to the budtender, who began recommending products as if I were at the drugstore, I began to relax. She said there were two main types of cannabis: indica and sativa. She said that both would relieve the pain but that indica would give me a full-body high; it would be more sedating and relaxing. Sativa, on the other hand, would deliver more of an energizing head high.
I’m not a smoker, so I chose chewy, fruity gummies in both indica and sativa, figuring I could try them at different times. The budtender said that unlike a vape or smokable flower, which I’d feel within a few minutes, cannabis edibles like gummies can take up to two hours to work. She told me to start with a quarter to half a gummy.
I returned to my hotel room. It was 3 p.m., and I didn’t want a surge of energy. I opted for half an indica gummy, which equated to 5 milligrams of THC. I wasn’t sure whether that would be too much, not enough, or just right; I had no idea how my body would react. I didn’t want to be a stereotypical stoner — I just wanted to ease the pain.
I took a gummy and waited to see if I’d feel relief
I gradually relaxed. My body was feeling heavy, sinking deeper into the couch. The TV pulled me in, though I don’t recall what I was watching. I noticed that the tightness in my lower back was gone. The burning sensation in my feet turned down from medium high to low.
I smiled. I felt relaxed and at peace. Sleep carried me away.
I tried the indica again for the next few nights, and it continued to work. I was able to fall asleep easily, and I stayed asleep.
I tried the more energizing sativa during the day, and though it did help my back feel looser and more relaxed, it was a little too intense to use with people around whom I didn’t know as well, during times I wanted to be able to focus. I decided I’d save the sativa for weekends when I was relaxing at home with my family.
I can’t get medical marijuana in North Carolina, and delta products aren’t quite the same
When my supply ran out, I was faced with a quandary. Now that I’d found something that worked for my pain, what should I do? I didn’t want to fly to another state where medical cannabis is legal and try to smuggle it home. I also didn’t want to risk driving to another state to replenish my supply, because it’s also illegal to drive it across state lines. Plus, the closest place I can get legal weed is in Illinois, an eight-hour drive away.
I decided to turn to the delta-8 products that are available in most states. Delta-8 THC is milder than the delta-9 THC that we typically think of when we think of marijuana — it’s the most abundant cannabinoid in the plant — but there’s still a debate about whether products containing it should be legal, because while it can have fewer side effects, there’s also less research on it as of yet.
These products are also unregulated, which means it’s up to the buyers to be diligent in researching and choosing them. And there are so many to choose from. The website CBD Oracle suggests more than 160 companies in the US sell delta-8 online. Do I go for the best overall, the best effects, the best lab report, or the highest potency? I’ve been relying on word of mouth from the vape stores where I shop. Vape-store owners are knowledgeable, which gives me a little sense of security.
It’s so frustrating to know I can take gummies and be relaxed and out of pain within two hours, but I can’t get those products without driving for eight hours or flying to another state and transporting the products back home illegally.
Medical marijuana is legal and regulated in dozens of states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, DC. I find it incredibly maddening that in North Carolina, I can visit any ABC store and legally buy enough liquor to drown my pain and make me as mean as a stepped-on snake, but I can’t get legal cannabis, which also kills the pain but makes me as limp as a sleeping kitten.
H/T: news.yahoo.com
