Pain relief

[Qwert13]

i was wondering what might be best for back/knee/elbow etc. pain. i am new to growing so i am hoping for the best. unfortunately i mixed up the plants and don't know what is what. i am growing indoors, in soil, want to use it topically mainly but willing to explore, especially when i am experiencing restless leg syndrome.

 

[golfer420]

I enjoy cannabis to help relieve my back pain and other aches. I was able to come home from major surgery and only take two pain pills, transitioning to smoking as soon as I got home. For me, any decent smoke will help. I've read a lot about CBD. Plants higher in CBD may have better healing powers. I'd do a search for CBD on here and you should find plenty of information.

Enjoy

 

[Old Salt]

to the forum...

I currently use a high CBD strain for chronic back pain, whatever I can find in the local dispensaries.

I've just completed a grow of Crown Royale I intend to use until my next grow of higher CBD plants is complete.

I don't smoke or vape it. Currently I decarboxylate and grind the buds before putting it into capsules. A size 2 holds 150 mg, and size 0 holds a quarter gram. This is not the best method as the strength varies. Oil would be better, but I currently don't have the equipment.

If you are looking for strain information, that can be found in the medical marijuana section of this forum.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I started a thread once asking about pain relief and got quite a lot of helpful answers there. Here's the link.
Pain

 

[SweetSue]

Are we talking chronic pain? In that case you’ll be looking for a plant with a 1:1 or 1:2 THC:CBD ratio. But if you’re planning to stick to topicals I’d go with high THC and use it often. Use it proactively. If you know you’ll be working muscles that’ll get painful, use the topical going in.

You can sometimes mitigate deep pain with a topical by applying it to the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet. You can modulate mood by applying it to the pad of skin on the upper back where neck and thoracic spine join. That spot’s really good to stop the onset of a headache or migraine.

Reading over your original post it seems you’re interested in managing the aches and pains that build with age, in which case a topical will likely meet your needs.

If it’s more than casual wear-and-tear pain a capsule regime might be worth looking at. The ratio of major cannabinoids would depend on the type of pain. Care to share?

For restless leg the trick may be microdosing. Getting too high before bed may make things worse. You just want to be high enough to fall asleep. Taking the dose right before bed may give enough relief to fall asleep. Restless leg is a tricky one to find the sweet spot on.

 

[Greenleaf910]

I started a thread once asking about pain relief and got quite a lot of helpful answers there. Here's the link.
Pain

Hi Weaselcracker. Hey I was reading your words about the pain your in, and the recommendations of others. So I thought I'd tell you about a strain I happened to come across BT accident. Its called Zensation by Ministry of Cannabis on the Seedmans website. Its supposedly good for pain. Just thought I'd try to help as you helped me quite a bit. I really hope you get some relief from your pain, I wish I knew more about cannabis for pain back in 2000, that's about when I was getting hooked on Morphine in the hospital for severe pain. What followed was almost the death of me from not being able to get pain meds, which turned into a Heroine addiction. Thank God that's over. Hang in there, I'm sure you'll find what your looking for.

 

[Old Salt]

...What followed was almost the death of me from not being able to get pain meds...

I ran into a similar situation here in Nova Scotia, Canada. Health Canada issued new guidelines for the use of opiods to treat non cancer related pain, which our province enforced. This led to my family physician refusing to prescribe any controlled substance, which includes opiods, for any reason. I went to emergency, and they gave men four percocets, a shot, and sent me back to my family physician for treatment. It took six months to get a CT scan, and then another two months to see a pain specialist. During the wait I was taking more than twice the maximum dose of ASA to get through the day. Needless to say, this caused stomach problems. The only reason I didn't use street drugs is that I didn't have the connections to get them out in my rural area.

I managed to get my hands on some Charlotte's Web dried flower. I used two parts of this, to one part of a high THC strain, Tora Bora or MK Ultra, by weight. I decarboxylated the flowers and ground them up before encapsulating them. This was the best pain reliever I could get from the local dispensaries. I just finished a grow of CKS Crown Royale, and have started V.C.D.C. and Nightingale. I'm hoping these will do it for me.

 

[Greenleaf910]

Hi Old Salt, thanks for the comment. That sounds absolutely terrible, I'm sorry you had to go through that. What your saying about waiting for med. help sounds a lot like what I have to go through a lot of times hear at the Veterans hospital where I'm a patient. Right now I'm on dialisys, but I do it at home( thank God) .

 

[Old Salt]

Hi Old Salt, thanks for the comment. That sounds absolutely terrible, I'm sorry you had to go through that. What your saying about waiting for med. help sounds a lot like what I have to go through a lot of times hear at the Veterans hospital where I'm a patient. Right now I'm on dialisys, but I do it at home( thank God) .

I was saved from your journey only by ignorance, and a lack of connections. Your path was much tougher than my own.

One of the main pitfalls of using a dispensary, or licensed producer here in Canada is a lack of consistent availability for the products you need. That's the main reason why I chose to grow my own. A strong secondary reason is the expense of buying product. My health insurance will not cover it.

 

[Greenleaf910]

I have to be very careful, if the V.A.(veterans administration) catches me with t.h.c. in my system I could loose all my benefits. They don't care what the state law says, only the federal laws. And its still federally illegal to have anything to do with cannabis. I hope things will change soon, so many vets say that cannabis helps with their p.t.s.d. Including me!!!

 

[Weaselcracker]

Thanks for the tip and well wishes Greenleaf. I really have nothing to complain about and haven't had to face what you guys have.
In the last year the situation has improved a lot. Some of my problems are curable with didligent exercise and stretching. I'm trying to keep on top of that, and things at least look hopeful. Chronic pain tends to beat you down mentally, so finding hope is important.
A big part of my issue was opiates. It was treating myself from natural sources, and always trying to walk the line of taking as little as possible. I feel like a complete dumbass, but I didn't realize that a lot of the aching pain I was feeling was actually caused by opiate withdrawal.
I wandered away from the opiates and that helped a lot.
I do get some relief from pot, but I'm really averse to the indica high, which is what's kept me from being brave enough to start making and eating capsules. Still something to explore a lot more- but even the high CBD weed with 1% THC makes me feel a little off.

I still have great respect for the poppy plant, same as I do for cannabis. It's life saving medicine when used carefully.

Old Salt I'm seeing the same thing happen in BC. A friend of mine is in extreme pain from a crippling disease. The doctor won't give him anything more than tylenol 3, and most of the time won't give him that. He can't sleep, can barely walk, can't find street drugs reliably, and is constantly contemplating suicide.
I'd rather see him hooked on opiates.

He probably doesn't mind some indica side effects considering what shape he's in now. I think I will have to get back into figuring out something with cannabis to find some treatment for him.

 

[Greenleaf910]

To me, opiate withdrawal is theeee most awful physical, and mental torture. I'd rather die.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Oh it is. And I've been through the more extreme versions of it, which was hell. Shudder. But I thought that I'd found a way to just take enough, every few days, to help the pain down a bit and only face minor withdrawal. Stupidly, I didn't realize that a lot of that mysterious aching pain that wracked my body as soon as the opiates wore off, was actually opiate withdrawal and not really related to the problem I was trying to treat.

 

[Old Salt]

A friend of mine is in extreme pain from a crippling disease. The doctor won't give him anything more than tylenol 3, and most of the time won't give him that. He can't sleep, can barely walk, can't find street drugs reliably, and is constantly contemplating suicide.

Tylenol 3 worked for me previously, and was all I really needed. I can relate to what your friend is going through. That was me last year. If your friend doesn't have his ACMPR yet, get him going on that, and register with an LP to get his card. I opted to grow my own and sent the recommendation to Health Canada. It took five and a half months for them to approve my application. Your friend can get another recommendation and submit it later to get his grow license. It's good to go this route, as from recommendation to harvest took almost ten months for me going to Health Canada from the start.

Edit: If he is a vet, and his condition is from his service Veterans Affairs may cover his medical cannabis.

 

[Weaselcracker]

He's not a vet, unfortunately (or not). I feel like he is in way too rough a shape to grow. He's basically nearly f$&)ked at this point.
There are no dispensaries anywhere near here. Maybe that will change next year. I never heard of a dispensary before I joined 420.
However, I do grow, so I'll have to experiment on him and see if I can help. He doesn't know I grow which is largely why I haven't talked to him much about it.
If he gets a medical card I assume he could buy 'government weed', but from what I've read it's not very good.
I'll have to go read up and see what the oil makers say.

 

[alltatup]

to the forum...

I currently use a high CBD strain for chronic back pain, whatever I can find in the local dispensaries.

I've just completed a grow of Crown Royale I intend to use until my next grow of higher CBD plants is complete.

I don't smoke or vape it. Currently I decarboxylate and grind the buds before putting it into capsules. A size 2 holds 150 mg, and size 0 holds a quarter gram. This is not the best method as the strength varies. Oil would be better, but I currently don't have the equipment.

If you are looking for strain information, that can be found in the medical marijuana section of this forum.

Hi Old Salt, You really don't need much to make oil if your bud's decarbed. How I make oil: 1. decarb; 2. soak in Everclear 190 in freezer (I let it sit for a couple-3 weeks, with a shake now and then); 3. strain; 4. evaporate PGA in a baking dish covered with fine cheesecloth (to keep out dust, cat hair) in a cool place without much light, and then scrape into container.

Thanks for the tip and well wishes Greenleaf. I really have nothing to complain about and haven't had to face what you guys have.
In the last year the situation has improved a lot. Some of my problems are curable with didligent exercise and stretching. I'm trying to keep on top of that, and things at least look hopeful. Chronic pain tends to beat you down mentally, so finding hope is important.
A big part of my issue was opiates. It was treating myself from natural sources, and always trying to walk the line of taking as little as possible. I feel like a complete dumbass, but I didn't realize that a lot of the aching pain I was feeling was actually caused by opiate withdrawal.
I wandered away from the opiates and that helped a lot.
I do get some relief from pot, but I'm really averse to the indica high, which is what's kept me from being brave enough to start making and eating capsules. Still something to explore a lot more- but even the high CBD weed with 1% THC makes me feel a little off.

I still have great respect for the poppy plant, same as I do for cannabis. It's life saving medicine when used carefully.

Old Salt I'm seeing the same thing happen in BC. A friend of mine is in extreme pain from a crippling disease. The doctor won't give him anything more than tylenol 3, and most of the time won't give him that. He can't sleep, can barely walk, can't find street drugs reliably, and is constantly contemplating suicide.
I'd rather see him hooked on opiates.

He probably doesn't mind some indica side effects considering what shape he's in now. I think I will have to get back into figuring out something with cannabis to find some treatment for him.

Weasel buddy, I posted some philosophical musings the other day on the CBD thread about HOW we use the THC high. I'm responding because you wrote that you were averse to the Indica high. I've come to believe that we can learn how to ride different highs if the circumstances are right. I only have one friend I vape with nowadays (and I like to be high when I'm on the forum with all my homies). I've definitely learned what the right and the wrong circumstances are for getting high. You might be surprised how therapeutic an Indica blend could be for you (I never grow mine for "couch lock": I harvest with milky and some clear triches). I love to blend different strains together for tincture, which has become my favorite way to get high.

 

[Old Salt]

Hi Old Salt, You really don't need much to make oil if your bud's decarbed. How I make oil: 1. decarb; 2. soak in Everclear 190 in freezer (I let it sit for a couple-3 weeks, with a shake now and then); 3. strain; 4. evaporate PGA in a baking dish covered with fine cheesecloth (to keep out dust, cat hair) in a cool place without much light, and then scrape into container.

The problem is getting high percentage alcohol. The highest available in my province is 75.5% (151 proof) rum. I do not particularly want to use methanol, isopropanol, or naptha. I have an induction hot plate, and a pot that I could use for open air extractions. I think it would be much safer and more cost effective to recover the alcohol with a condenser or reflux column.

My choices are to make my own alcohol, using a still, or a rosin press for extraction. The still would also be useful for recovering the alcohol during an extraction. Both the still and rosin press will cost about the same, so I'm leaning towards the press. I just need to do some more research on using the squeezings, and gather the funds.