Soooo, how about those opioids?? Thank our creator for their availability when needed to insulate our senses from serious pain, but OMG, look at the destruction in its wake from addictions!!!!!!!!
Powerful enough that trusting them to the individual user to regulate usage, has as a matter of public record proven one of mankind’s serious shortfalls.
Once in its grips, sensibilities change, as can morals and public responsibilities. Like so many tools misused, there is nothing worse or more dangerous than a dumb hammer.
Today I watched a news presentation relating that the average US citizen’s projected live span was just reduced, after the number of overdose deaths since the previous study doubled. Not the down and out drug addict from a bad fix, but family members that we can all relate to.
Our family lost my lovely, bright, vivacious and gifted niece to a Fentanyl patch OD in her thirties, and most families have lost a member or a close friend to prescribed pharmaceutical opiod OD, either natural or a synthetic.
Brandy strutting her stuff
Enter the cannabinoids, especially Cannabidiol (CBD), which is not only a powerful analgesic, but has no psychoactive properties. In fact, its presence in concert with Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), moderates the psychoactive properties of the THC.
Cannabinoids don’t dull out the pain like an opiod, they simply make the pain cease to be, possibly because our bodies endocannabinoid system controls our immune system, a part of which is telling us that something is amiss and needs attention, using pain.
The answer to that is above my level of expertise and pay grade, but since arthritic pain is the primary reason that I use cannabis, I can relate my own personal experience with opiods and cannabinoids, and because us’n Pharmers supplied cannabis concentrates to opiod addicts, going through withdrawal after extended addictions, we also have experience with hard core withdrawals.
My own experience with cannabinoids for pain started after I went through the available anti inflammatories available and all had ceased to work. My doctor offered me opiods as an alternative, but I declined for two reasons.
The first is that they don’t really work for me at doses that don’t make my skin crawl and the second is that I was aware of how addictive they are. I asked him for a Dronabinol prescription instead, which didn’t work, and subsequently for a signed OMMP physician’s statement, which led to where we are today.
I’d read of cannabis’s analgesic properties, but my experience was limited to smoking it, or eating a brownie, so it wasn’t until I tried a cannabis topical that my eyes were opened. That topical was actually made by cooking scrap cannabis in Canola oil and was both stinky and messy, but still worked better than anything else I had tried. Within a few moments, the pain just ceased to be, affording me the epiphany that the cannabinoids were trans dermal.
Since then we’ve come up with several different topical blends, all of which work wonderfully, and each more sophisticated in ingredients, see 9.5 Formulations at
Sadly topicals can’t touch all of my pains, so thanks to Dr Welch, Pharm D, who corroborated with us’ns, we also have sublingual troches, that can deliver up to about 200 mg cannabis concentrate each, and are scored for division into quarters.
I take one 200 mg troche in the morning for my primary cannabis medication. I also vaporize as required to maintain dosage, usually toward the end of the day when I don’t want to take another troche that close to bedtime.
With the vaporizer, I can also vary the strain to adjust to need, ranging from pure CBD crystal, to pure THC crystal, with various combination essential oils in the middle. It avoids smoking either the plant material or concentrate, which produces free radicals and some of the same carcinogenic byproducts of pyrolysis that cigarettes do.
On the down side, while that combination continues to keep me opiod free, the heavy dosage for pain has taken away any ability to experience a euphoric high from THC, which I did enjoy while it lasted. A loss, but one I’m willing to suffer to manage pain.
Moving on from opiod avoidance, to relief from opiod addictions, is a giant step, but one we’ve supported patients though, but never personally experienced.
A couple of notable major hard core successes were an OMMP patient that had been addicted to Morphine sulfate for over 8 years, at the rate of 270 mg per day and another addicted to 60 mg Morphine sulfate and 4 mg Klonopin per night for 15 years.
The first patient sought withdrawal out of health concerns and the second was first motivated by his new medical provider refusing pain prescriptions as long as he was an OMMP patient, and not terminal.
In both cases we supplied cannabis concentrates extracted using QWET techniques. Patient A, aka Southpaww originally tried refluxed ethanol extract from others, but chlorophyll at that concentration gave him gastric distress. He successfully totally withdrew over a 90 day period, and continued to remain opiate free at last contact.
Because the concentrate that we supplied Southpaww worked well, he attended classes where we taught him to extract and formulate on his own, making him self supporting.
Here is a copy of the letter Southpaww sent us in gratitude, but watching from the sidelines was far easier than what he went through, so we salute his determination and fortitude.
I want to thank the people whom taught me to be healthier today.
Graywolf, Eloquentsolution, Joe, Growgeek, you are just awesome.
You taught me to make the oil in Nov. and as of then, I was able to reduce the Morphine intake from three, to one 60mg a day by months end.
In Dec. I returned the script for 90- 60mg. Morphine and asked for 30′s instead. The Dr. does know of my oil intake.
I used 24 of the 90 pills 30mg. this month, and for the last 10 days I have been RX free.
I had my Dr. appt. today and was able for the first time in over 8 years, to not get a refill.
I am for the new year FREE of the Morphine.
Thank You: The 4 Amigos
Southpaww
Patient B aka Eddie Kirk was a former cancer patient of ours in remission, also able to withdraw completely and kept a log of his trials and tribulations, which demonstrated that the process was not a walk in the park, especially withdrawing from both Morphine sulfate and Klonopin at the same time.
He suffered though constipation, deep back pain, pain in right leg, chills, sweats, nausea, lack of appetite, headache, sleep disorder, irritability, tiredness, diarrhea, shakes, cachexia, shocking sensations in hands, feet and shoulders, as well as stomach pain and a burning sensation in his liver, mood swings, rapid vibrations in lower extremities, and leg cramps.
He was fortunate that Southpaww had just gone through it and was available to commiserate with him and offer experienced advice. Besides commiseration, he aided by advising EK to up dosage until withdrawal symptoms cease.
He also withdrew over a 30 day period and both he and Southpaww remain opiod free after 5 years.
At day 30, still having sleepless nights, seemingly Klonopin withdrawal, but free of Morphine sulfate and no desire to consume the pills left over.
Cannabinoids are not the great panacea for pain, so that no other are needed, but they are extremely effective for many of the pains currently medicated with opiods.
In addition, one of the strongest cannabinoid analgesics is CBD, which is not psychoactive, and can be extracted from Hemp instead of Marijuana, so as to be legal regardless of where the current administration takes their war on Marijuana.
How many beloved friends and family members would be saved annually if we exploited CBD and eliminated opiods where ever possible???
RIP beloved Brandy
Brandy