My experiences with Cannabis

[JimmYLegsCanada]

I have had insomnia in one form or another my entire life. Even as a child. I remember laying awake, reading a book with a flashlight in Jr High. Every day getting up for school was a drag. I took so much crap from my mother who called me lazy and every other name in the book. Truth be told, she was a very abusive narcissist.

Any job 9-5 type job I ever had has been an ordeal. Never able to sleep before 3 am and getting up at 7:30 for work took its toll on me. I started looking for jobs where I could work a midnight or evening shift and it made life so much better for me. That wasn't always an option.

In addition to my RLS I must have some other type of circadian rhythm disorder.

In my early 30s I had a fairly successful career in finance but of course, insomnia was a problem. Years of sleep deprivation was taking its toll. I starte having night terrors. Dreams in which I would physically act out what was happening. One night while having a dream that I was fighting with an intruder breaking into my house intent on harming me I woke up in the middle of it. I had my gf pinned down to the bed and was choking her, I thought I was choking my assailant. It was a huge wake up call. That morning I quit my job and started a business where early mornings were not a regular requirement. It definitely changed my life for the better.

Years later I still had trouble sleeping, and of course I had the RLS, so upon advice of a friend I tried smoking cannabis. I laughed like I hadn't laughed in years and had the best sleep of my life in decades. 9 glorious hours of unbroken sleep. Incredible. So I started smoking cannabis regularly for sleep and sometimes recreationaally.

About 10 years ago I started growing my own and making THC oil. I had chronic pain issues from injuries, plus the RLS and insomnia were getting worse. I had a very low tolerance to the oil. 20mgs THC made me uncomfortably high. However, I slept well and RLS was at a minimum. I needed to increase my dosage and tolerance to a higher level because I am at a very high risk for a particular type of cancer. It runs in my family, killed my mother and almost killed my father. What are the odds that BOTH parents would have the same genetic risk?

I felt I needed to get to at least 250 mgs THC per day in order to get that cancer mitigating effect. I firmly believe THC fights cancer, along with other cannabinoids. It took a year and lots of really uncomfortable highs to get there but I made it. Still couldn't have a normal sleep schedule but RLS wasn't bad and the insomnia was under control... as long as I kept the late morning sleep schedule. Average bedtime was 3am, and would rise 9-10 am. I was good for about 8 years or so.

Over the past two years the THC has not worked as well and now it doesn't seem to work at all. For the RLS or the insomnia. I am not sure if it just got worse on its own, as RLS seems to often do, or I maybe I augmented on the THC but if I did it took a very long time. I am inclined to think that it just got worse with age, and my tolerance to THC is so high that I don't really get high. Even at 500 mgs THC.

Right now I am taking a break from THC to clear my receptors. They say it takes a few days to regain so effect and 28 days for a complete reset back to your first tolerance level. I can't go back that far but I am taking a few days, microdosing, then taking a few days off again. Meanwhile I am in insomnia and RLS hell. I was there anyways so its not just withdrawal. It wasn't working anymore.

I have another thread on the go in the just joined section so I won't repeat myself. I just wanted to share my cannabis experience.

CBD did NOTHING for me. No benefit, no side effect. I have taken up to 1000 mgs at once. Nada. Probably because my CB1 receptors are so closed off, hence my cleanse. CBD did nothing for me in the early days either so I don't expect to try it again. Waste of my time.

In short, the THC worked very well for a very long time, but I will take breaks from it now to ensure my tolerance doesn't become a problem.

If anyone has questions about THC and its products, ask away. I am happy to help. I have amassed quite a store of knowledge on it. Growing, processing, usage.

I hope this helps anyone considering it as an option. Compared to any of these pharmaceuticals it is very benign. Note that death is NOT a side effect of cannabis even in extreme doses unless you are a dog an eat chocolate with it. Then its deadly to dogs.

[badnights]

Over the past two years the THC has not worked as well and now it doesn't seem to work at all. For the RLS or the insomnia. I am not sure if it just got worse on its own, as RLS seems to often do, or I maybe I augmented on the THC but if I did it took a very long time

WED/RLS does not get worse very fast on its own. It gets worse fast from augmentation, but the only medications that cause augmentation are the dopamine-type medications. Nothing else. (Technically, I should mention that there is a single (I think) anecdotal report of Tramadol causing augmentation.)

I suspect you simply grew tolerant to the THC but it is also possible that you are using a chemically different substance than you were using at first, from a different strain of plant. Strains are hard to identify and they keep changing, and some strains will actually worsen WED/RLS whereas others seem to help it.

I should have asked in your other thread - - - have you made any changes in your life in the last 2-3 years or just before the time the problems worsened? Any new medications, even supplements? A change in timing of things? Exercise levels? Anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications can cause or worsen WED/RLS symptoms.

[jul2873]

Just got home from the worst experience of my life, due to cannabis. I'm 78, and have been using cannabis oil for the last two years to help with sleeping. Every night I would take a little of the oil; maybe two or three days a week I would also take a little in the afternoon, so I could nap.

Then a few months ago my adult children planned a Disney cruise with the grandchildren, and invited my husband and I to go along. Disney is really fanatic about no drugs being allowed, not even medical marijuana, which was what mine was. I didn't want to fool around with an illegal substance, and so decided I wouldn't take any with me.

I was fine for the first couple of days, and then went into a massive withdrawal. It was so horrible, and I was so out of control for a few days, that the ship was going to put me off in Greece or Italy. They only allowed me to stay on if my adult daughter agreed to stay with me while I detoxed, as they did not have the nursing staff to take care of me.

The withdrawal finally started to ease up, but I still felt so sick, and could barely eat. And the RLS was very bad too.

We flew home today from Rome, and I was so nervous about the ten hour flight that I took a fair amount of kratom this morning. Which ended up making me nauseous, so was throwing up in the Rome airport. I was so afraid United would think I had Covid, and wouldn't let me on the plane, but luckily no one noticed.

So I have a good primary care, and have an appointment with her next week, to talk about meds. I'm through with cannabis. I'm afraid of it now' plus I think my daughter would disown me if I tried taking it again. Perhaps if I could have foreseen this, I could have tapered off, and it would have been okay. But I'm just too afraid of it now.

I really had no idea that stopping cannabis like that would throw me into such a massive withdrawal. So I wanted to post this note right away, perhaps to stop someone else from going through this. Since there are still so many places where cannabis is illegal, someone else could get caught, like I did.

[Polar Bear]

What a horrible experience you had to go through. The withdrawal plus the fear of being put off the ship and what that might have entailed. Then to cope with the long international flight home. Did you have the Kratom on your journey with permission as it is illegal in some countries. It's illegal here in the UK although I do have it delivered.
I'm glad you finally made it home and wish you a positive appointment next week with your primary care doctor.

[jul2873]

Thanks, Betty. I really appreciate the note.

I've been using kratom for at least ten years now, and have probably used some every day. But, after this last experience, I'm a bit afraid of it too. I'm thinking I might try a DA drug. Since I'm 78, I'm wondering if I can get ten years out of one, since I doubt I'll live much longer.

Sigh. I really wish our medical people would have better options for us!

[Polar Bear]

I don't use my Kratom very often just occasionally if it's a bad evening when my normal meds (codeine and pregabalin) aren't enough and I try to keep the kratom at about 2 teaspoons.
You are probably aware that the DAs are no longer a first line treatment for rls because of their likelihood to cause augmentation. I augmented on ropinerole having been on a much too high a dosage of 5mg daily. That was in the days when 4mg was deemed the max daily dose. Nowadays most rls experts would say that 1mg daily for ropinerole is best and indeed to keep it lower if possible and starting very low. I spent 10 months weaning off it which is much longer than most folk. That was when pregabalin was added to my meds regime to support my tapering.

[jul2873]

Thanks, Betty. That's good to know.

[Dr.Placebo]

I am new to cannabis. Moved from Colorado to Massachusetts, two cannabis-legal states, but until just recently hadn't used it since adolescence. did some research and it seemed that an equal balance of THC and CBD was the theoretical recommended prescription. Tried a gummy and seemed to help at first but one night it made me very anxious ;near panic (when I was young I remember I was one of those people who got really paranoid when smoking marijuana) and after that have been afraid to try it again. I imagine there is a wide range of different responses to this as well as all the RLS meds. Maybe I will give it another try , taking just a half a gummy. I have always been a light-weight with drugs (I always split a beer with my wife because a whole beer is too much for me). Any suggestions from other light-weights would be appreciated.

[badnights]

I've never been able to handle cannabis well. How jealous I was of my friends who enjoyed it! All it ever did for me was make me sick or put me to sleep. But every few years, or decades ha ha , I would try it again to see if anything had changed. Once, I tried it after I'd been suffering from WED/RLS for a few years, just for fun. It helped the WED/RLS, so I kept trying it, but most times after that, it made the WED/RLS worse, so I stopped.

A year or so ago, I tried it again when I was quitting zopiclone and wanted something to help me sleep. I tried vaping, I bought 4 different kinds of flower to try. I tried making my own oil and baking goodies made with the oil, to eat before bed. And I tried gummies, I forget the dose of THC plus 1/4 that dose of CBD gummy. The upshot is the same as back then - - it is inconsistent. I thought back then that some strains were helpful and some were harmful, but I've decided it's not strains, it's something else, though I don't know what. I would take the same dose of the same strain, and sometimes it was mildly helpful for sleep, sometimes neutral, sometimes caused crazy WED/RLS and therefore no sleep.

After about 3 months and hundreds of dollars, I gave up on cannabis. I doubt I will ever try it again. That was more than enough for me.

[Scooter]

My experiences have been positive. Better sleep which means less RL severity.