Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Practical Usage of Pot

Marijuana: It's not perfect. But it's the best painkiller I've tried yet.

I've tried using it in various ways. Eating it in brownies, cookies, butter, and candy tasted good but never had a noticeable affect on my pain. Vaporizing it wasn't as effective and was a huge to-do with machines and balloons and nonsense. Applying it in lotion form may have helped with some muscle tension but I wouldn't swear to it. And taking an "extract" in a pill possibly made me hyper for twenty minutes, an hour after I took it. That's not particularly helpful. I've also tried some derivatives of the cannabis plant, such as hash, which actually triggered some head pain, and keef, which I currently use in addition to substandard grades of marijuana, when I can't afford the better stuff.

Through trial and error, I've found that the best way for me to use marijuana is by very unoriginally smoking it. I most frequently use a small pipe that folds in on itself to cover the bowl, and any ash or embers, when it's not in use. When closed, it's smaller than my thumb, so it's easy to carry discreetly, and it comes apart with a screwdriver for a mostly painless cleaning process.

Marijuana doesn't totally eliminate pain, but it does reduce it, changes it, and makes the pain somehow more dealable. With marijuana, I've gone from a suicidal 10 on the pain scale to a relieved 8. Or a non-functioning 8 to a slow-moving, yet productive 6. Or an irritable 7 to a cheerful 4. After that it's just gravy.

But pot is not without its side effects. Sometimes I'll seem "high", (talking a lot, being sillier than usual, the giggles), but it's only at first, if at all, and mostly I feel normal on it. It makes me a little stupid sometimes, but usually I think better on it because my migraine isn't overwhelming every synapse. If I've been smoking frequently, I can get coughy, so if my head pain is outrunning my lung capacity, I will put down the pipe without hesitation. I've had bronchitis and it's really not fun.

Sometimes I can feel the muscles tensing in my scalp more after smoking pot (this happens more often with indica strains, so I try to stick with sativas), but it has never triggered a migraine. However, coughing has, so again, I try to be gentle with my lungs. Pot doesn't give me rebound headaches, but if I've been smoking frequently, a day off can feel sluggish. And that's it. Marijuana has less side effects, for me, than pretty much every pill I've tried. It's like nature made it just for me. And then people stumbled onto it and cross-bred it for thousands of years into its current migraine pain fighting potency. Teamwork!

My boyfriend likes to tell me about canniboids and why marijuana works for me, but it goes in one ear and out the other, so I don't have any of that information for you. Though I did do some cursory googling and discovered that Wiki looked pretty darn thorough. Though it is still wiki, so grain of salt, y'all.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm relieved that you've tried pot lotion before. One of my well-meaning relatives SWEARS by it, won't leave me alone until I try it. I've been resisting because they're so vehement about the whole thing and it bothers me that they think this is the end-all, be-all cure. I'm sure that has to do more with my own darn stubbornness than anything else. Oh well -- still nice to know that you've been there too.

WinnyNinny PooPoo said...

Marijuana legalization is gaining strength. So glad you live somewhere you can get reliable and legal sources of the medication that helps you the most!

steph said...

Hey savvy,

I hear that some people do find relief for arthritis and such with the lotions. IMO, it's worth a try if you have access to it, but I can guarantee that it's not going to cure anything. But jeez, are there vehement cure-pushers for every obscure treatment, or what? Heh. People are weird.

And Win,

Me too. :)

Sue said...

I'm so glad you're getting some relief. I tried everything - the brownies, lotion etc.... but like you the only thing that had any effect at all was smoking it. My husband uses it for his MS, so it's always around. I use it as a last resort, because honestly, I'm not that *good* at smoking. I do a lot of coughing and sputtering, so if I'm in a lot of pain, the process of smoking it actually hurts.

I'm just so glad it's working for you.

steph said...

Thanks Sue! Yeah, the coughing is definitely dangerous for migrainey heads. Have you every tried alternating smoking with sucking on a cough drop? It doesn't stop the irritation totally, but it can help.

Sue said...

No, but i'll try that. It makes sense that it would work. Now all I need to do is find a cough drop... :)