6-Day Sensitization Protocol: Resetting The Tolerance Levels

[Reave]

My stomach is still a wreck. I’m not blaming on this, just FYI... So I started some Probiotics. Just want to make sure this isn’t a cruel joke...
I’ll try changing strains.

Nope each time I quit because of cb1 receptor overload I get sick. I get every symptom. Night sweats. Can’t eat. Depression. Insomnia. Pretty much all the listed ones online except head aches. Takes me 2weeks plus to level out. I’m clean again right now and feeling good.

 

[InTheShed]

And more for your wife!

 

[Amy Gardner]

I’m well through day 1 of abstinence. It was time to clear the receptors.

It’s now 130am tho, godammit

I had a really good day with no difficulty abstaining or cravings as such. I didn’t plan this ahead either, I just woke up this morning and it was like - today is the day. That’s probably why it went fairly well.

Until now.

It’s still going well - just sleep is elusive, and pain levels are tricksy and some night sweats (but have probs with those anyway so I’m never sure if it’s connected). I went to sleep at a good hour - 930 - and woke at 11. That’s not long enough!

Sometimes the pain levels can break this process because nothing else works as well. I have opioids on hand and while it always seems strange to take them so I can clear the cannabinoid receptors, I usually do and probably will. Pain is prob’ly most of what’s keeping me awake. Ill try a ‘go to sleep’ guided meditation thing and see if that will settle things into more sleep.

One more day and then I can start resensitising with a fresh batch of 20:1 CBD oil

 

[Archiweedies]

Good for you to cleanse AG. I know you can do it and if the pain is too great it would be worth the reset to take the opioids. I’ve been meaning to reset as well...
Make sure to get some good jar smells in today!

 

[Amy Gardner]

worth the reset to take the opioids

Drink water. Drink more water!

I got back to sleep. I can highly recommend using guided mediations during this reset cleanse. I mean I use them all the time but they’re particularly useful at the moment - like last night to help me get back to sleep. I use an App called Insight Timer which has thousands. Lot and lots of them a r crap of course, but there are some great ones. I particularly recommend ones by Richard Miller and Mooji and TheStillPoint. Miller and Mooji have stuff online, YouTube etc, but they’re not all guided meditations so the App makes it easy to sift through. I listened to the beginnings of many to find the ones I like tho - so there’s that.

This morning I’m not sure if how wretched i feel is becasue of the abstinence itself or becasue the cannabis is helping to reduce these symptoms - I have a raging headache and sore throat and feel like I haven’t slept for days. See, that’s all the usual symptoms of the condition I manage and they’re there to some extent all the time (depending on my activity/rest levels) - but today they’re ramped up a lot. It’s also possible that the pain response is what’s driving those symptoms and the cannabis is managing that response. We’ve talked (docs and me) a bit about the joint degeneration and stress on my body being part of what’s driving the immune system to think it needs to crisis manage all the time. It makes sense that the ease brought in by the cannabis therapies is helping to temper that “somethings’ wrong!” response from my immune system. There are also immune modulating actions performed by certain cannbinoids and terpenes that I’m looking further into. The CB2 receptor can effect immune suppression and maybe that is part of it as well. My immune system certainly needs suppressing - it seems to be freaking out this morning.

I’ll ride out the day on a paracetamol/oxy cocktail - one day out of a year ain’t bad for someone who had to take it regularly, before cannabis

So far all is good with the stomach so that’s wonderful - keep up the water!

Make sure to get some good jar smells in today!

Thanks for the reminder. I now have the blue dream jar close at hand

 

[Amy Gardner]

Well I made it - and I spent the 3days of sensitising using a straight 20:1 CBD elixir made from Candida CD-1. And now I’m slowly adding the high THC on top of that. I haven’ found a CBD dose that manages the pain yet - although I have a friend for whom it’s doing that - but I’ll try some highter doses tomorrow w-out THC and see.

This protocol is extremely useful for resetting when wanting to assess new meds or a new combination. It’s not easy when the cannabis is managing difficult symptoms becasue they flare when you stop and that will possibly scare me off doing it again very soon. However, I do think that the therapeutic effects can get muffled after a time and doing something like this is the only thing that will shake that out. It’s also a good idea to do days 3-5 just the way Dr Sulak describes because of the way it slowly makes you more sensitive to the cannbinoids - it really works, and it avoids that tendency we can have to take 2 days off and then land right back at the same level of dosage. Today I got nice and high of one hit from the vaporiser - I’ve been cruising through a whole bowl in a sitting prior to this week.

Thanks Archi for dropping with a show of support that other day - it was a pretty tough day 2 and your message helped @Archiweedies

 

[Archiweedies]

Well I made it - and I spent the 3days of sensitising using a straight 20:1 CBD elixir made from Candida CD-1. And now I’m slowly adding the high THC on top of that. I haven’ found a CBD dose that manages the pain yet - although I have a friend for whom it’s doing that - but I’ll try some highter doses tomorrow w-out THC and see.

This protocol is extremely useful for resetting when wanting to assess new meds or a new combination. It’s not easy when the cannabis is managing difficult symptoms becasue they flare when you stop and that will possibly scare me off doing it again very soon. However, I do think that the therapeutic effects can get muffled after a time and doing something like this is the only thing that will shake that out. It’s also a good idea to do days 3-5 just the way Dr Sulak describes because of the way it slowly makes you more sensitive to the cannbinoids - it really works, and it avoids that tendency we can have to take 2 days off and then land right back at the same level of dosage. Today I got nice and high of one hit from the vaporiser - I’ve been cruising through a whole bowl in a sitting prior to this week.

Thanks Archi for dropping with a show of support that other day - it was a pretty tough day 2 and your message helped @Archiweedies

Aww that’s great AG! I wish I could’ve been here for more support this week but I thought about you daily. I’m excited to hear your thoughts on the CBD oil. I have only ever tried the high CBD strain ACDC. It was dispensary weed but it was very mellow, I remember.
I am due for a reset real soon. I’ll post up when I go for it.

 

[SweetSue]

Interesting Thread, I have taken off 6 months at a time before, but was back to my usual too much within 2 days of restarting! That first go was quite the ride though! Now taking time off due to hyperemisis, more to confirm it, although my symptoms are not completely the same. Funny, but once I decide I'm taking a break I find it quite easy even though I am surrounded by stoners! And it is nice to actually remember my dreams, but not always!! I will start very slow when and if I resume.

Welcome to the room buzz.

How’s the reset going, and have you confirmed hyperemisis? I’m really fascinated by this expression of cannabis in the gut. It’s a diagnosis that’s being bantered about with little protocol on how to even diagnose.

Nope each time I quit because of cb1 receptor overload I get sick. I get every symptom. Night sweats. Can’t eat. Depression. Insomnia. Pretty much all the listed ones online except head aches. Takes me 2weeks plus to level out. I’m clean again right now and feeling good.

I have a difficult time with the reset myself. My entire system rebels and I feel like I’m deathly ill, or it opens the door for illness to creep in. Whatever, I’ve determined for myself that my tolerance levels aren’t a problem for me or my social obligations.

I still recommend everyone give it a shot, and I’m not suggesting I won’t ever do a reset again.

And more for your wife!

@Amy Gardner, well done my friend. You amaze me in the he way you jump in there again to find the path. I know it’s a painful and frustrating experience for you, but your personal journey through this process is probably teaching us more about the value of the reset than any other. Thank you for your candid reporting.

I find it fascinating that some people respond well to CBD to pain and others have no sense of relief until they stop and realize how much good it was doing in the background. How are you dosing the Candida oil? I have a theory brewing that there’s a CBD:THC ratio that softens the mixed signals that cause Auto-immune response. May you find the ratio that brings you he relief you seek.

Hugs

 

[InTheShed]

Congratulations @Amy Gardner! I'm so glad you got through that and got to use your new Candida oil. Newty just did a 36 hour abstention using only Candida as well for her ulcerative colitis.

 

[Amy Gardner]

Thanks Shed! Newts and I had some insta exchanges around that. Was total coincidence that we both cleansed at almost the same time.

I did about 55hrs of complete abstinence before introducing the Candida oil for 3 days and then introducing THC, first with oils and then a little vaping.

have a theory brewing that there’s a CBD:THC ratio that softens the mixed signals that cause Auto-immune response. May you find the ratio that brings you he relief you seek.

Thanks Sue - I’ve certainly modulated the immune overrespone somewhat over that last 18minths or so - through a variety of interventions. It’s very challenging to get clarity on it - such a complex thing with so many effecting elements. Still the case that any activity causes massive immune flare. It’s not clearly an auto-immune thing with me. The usual markers don’t show. Working theory is that the connective tissue disease and the trauma/stress on the system this causes is possibly what’s driving the immune over-response bc it thinks there’s something wrong - which there kind of is. So it’s not the usual auto-immune drivers. Early days for me knowing about the connective tissue thing so there’s lots to figure out and many things to instigate over the coming months that may alleviate things a lot.

At the moment I’m back to dosing through mostly sub-lingual and/or mucosal pathways. Sometimes I’m doing half and half sublingual-mucosal/ingestion. It’s tricky to gauge CBD bc it isn’t so obvious.

I can say that the bell-curve response they speak of with CBD is quite real. At low doses we both find it sends us pretty manic - happy mostly, but manic and prone to irritable flashes as it tapers. Having learnt about the bell-curve aspect to the biphasic properties of CBD I proposed we both double our dose, and it worked! A much smoother, far less intense response without manicness (is that a word? lol).

Something I’m wondering about, and I should post this in the oil thread perhaps, is what happens to CBD in the liver? We know that THC either gets metabolised to 11-hydroxy-THC or is excreted as waste (which is more likely on an empty stomach), but nowhere have I seen anything about CBD and first-pass metabolism.

Similarly, nothing gets written about CBD degrading to anything the way THC degrades to CBN. Maybe it’s the case that CBD is just very stable and doesn’t break down or convert to anything - or just that the research hasn’t been done yet.

I’ve been hoping to gauge the difference btw mucosal dosing and ingestion for CBD but I think to get a better read on it I’d have to stay off the THC for longer and I’m not prepared to do that right now. I haven’t found any literature about this aspect of CBD.

Anyhoo - I feel better for the cleanse and resensitising. It’s always a rocky second day for me with the abstinence. This time I felt much better on the third day than the second. It can be rough for heavy or therapeutic users (and especially if you’re both!) but it’s so worth it. Newty just posted that even doing a THC only cleanse has massively reduced her needs

Thanks all for the supporting thoughts and words and presence.

 

[buzz62]

Welcome to the room buzz.

How’s the reset going, and have you confirmed hyperemisis? I’m really fascinated by this expression of cannabis in the gut. It’s a diagnosis that’s being bantered about with little protocol on how to even diagnose.

Thanks! I am taking a hard break, almost a month so far and haven't cheated in any way. I have done this before and really seem to have no issues other than vivid dreaming as I mentioned, which weed seems to suppress or keep me from remembering when I am smoking daily. So my sleep isn't as solid but that seems to be a thing when your an old fart! As far as hyperemisis confirmation, the fact that it only shows up in the winter makes me wonder if it really is heyperemisis, despite smoking the same amount all year, but no doctor that I have seen seems to know much, if anything about it. I plan to stay off it through next winter and if I am attack free after that, I guess I can say its confirmed.

 

[SweetSue]

I’d appreciate learning your thoughts at the end of the winter buzz.

Amy.... lots to think about in that post. If I’ve a bit of free time while in Phoenix I’ll see what I can learn that might shed light on CBD. It’s been nagging at me like terpenes have.

 

[Amy Gardner]

lots to think about in that post.

 

[Scottsquatch]

I did not anounce that I was trying this for fear that I wouldnt be able to resist smoking more than 1 puff three times a day. Well today is the last day of the protocol and tommorow i can chase my full dosage. Im excited to see how well this has worked. My last puff yesterday actually had me going with a very nice buzz. That used to take at least a bowl. Id say this is working well. I see this in my future several times a year.

 

[SweetSue]

I did not anounce that I was trying this for fear that I wouldnt be able to resist smoking more than 1 puff three times a day. Well today is the last day of the protocol and tommorow i can chase my full dosage. Im excited to see how well this has worked. My last puff yesterday actually had me going with a very nice buzz. That used to take at least a bowl. Id say this is working well. I see this in my future several times a year.

You’re a stronger man than me Scott, and glad I am to say it. If I had a limited supply I’d likely put myself through the protocol again, but my gut tells me two things:
* I’m unlikely to have a limited supply anytime soon, and
* SweetSue works best on high octane.

I heartily support this procedure, and when I have someone in my life to physically be there with me through the rough spots I may do the protocol more frequently. That sense of awe at how little it takes is kinda magical, isn’t it?

Good job. Your ECS thanks you for the effort.

 

[Amy Gardner]

shed light on CBD

Hey Sue, and anyone else interested, FYI - I found this article from late last year.

A Systematic Review on the Pharmacokinetics of Cannabidiol in Humans - PMC

Background: Cannabidiol is being pursued as a therapeutic treatment for multiple conditions, usually by oral delivery. Animal studies suggest oral bioavailability is low, but literature in humans is not sufficient. The aim of this review was to ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

There’s no conversion talked about like what happens t THC but CBD bio-availability also lowers during digestive and first-pass metabolism. I wasn’t up to reading it all, i just skimmed and rad teh discussion. I will continue with mostly sub-lingual/mucosal, it seems to always come out the best. I eat my nighttime dose of THC tho, because I want it to last and while the metabolic conversion lowers the bio-availability, 11-hydroxy-THC (which is what it becomes for anyone unaware of this so far) is actually massively stronger than the version of THC that goes in (delta-9) - so that’s a differnt story. That’s why was curious about the CBD and metabolism thing - but there’s nothing in any literature about it changing at all.

 

[Hazeri]

sub-lingual/mucosal,

Consumption below the tongue has been shown in most diseases as "fast and effective Cannabinoid Intake". Rectal for some diseases is much better and biodiversity is longer and longer lasts. My opinion is that CBD is isolated in most cases to be consumed below the tongue.

 

[Amy Gardner]

 

[phillychill]

Hi all-

I stumbled across your wonderful thread while googling for MMJ tolerance reduction techniques -- and I think you all might be a gd-send.

I am a 36/yr man in an MMJ state -- I have my card to treat my ulcerative colitis and anxiety. But, like many of you, I've really been in a rut of over-indulgence and experienced diminishing returns from our favorite medicinal plant. There is nothing more frustrating than hitting a vape / rig for acute symptom relief -- and getting little to no of it -- and having to visit the dispensary far too often.

Your experiences have been really heartening and give me faith that Dr. Sulak's 6 day method works. If anyone's around and it is cool by you, I'd like to follow your example and use this thread as an accountability mechanism for myself as I'd like to plan to begin some time this week.

Encouragement would be appreciated.

-phillychill

 

[Reave]

You got this philly chilly. 2 days shouldn’t be too bad. I havnt done this exact method but I have quit cold turkey a number of times to reset. You can do it.