Have you been able to treat your lyme at all in hopes of treating the neuropathy?

Yes, I have done a number of treatment programs over the years with 80% success in resolving the neuropathy.

David

Interesting and wonderful to hear. Now I'm curious: what have you done? It might be worth detailing some of it to help others on here, or perhaps you've already done that on another thread?

Also, on a side note, the salve from Fully Activated is excellent for more surface issues, including neuropathic itch and burning. It alleviates mine immediately.

I’ve read and re-read this entire thread - thank you for your knowledge and experience. I’ve had severe body-wide neuropathy/neuralgia for 7 years. The doctors now feel it’s more of a centralized pain problem because they’ve never seen it so widespread. It’s unexplanable, except that I had a severe case of parvo virus b19 months before it began. I contemplated pursuing medical marijuana for years, and finally obtained my NYS license a couple months ago. I had such hope. I must say, though, I am almost wondering if it is making my pain worse. Could that be possible? I’m using less than prescribed, which is 5 mg 1:20 thc/cbd sublingual or capsule 2-4 times daily, both because of cost and the fact it makes me feel a little spaced out and tired. I’m still experimenting with what might work, but am wondering if anyone else has experienced an increase in pain? If anything, it does relax me a bit through my pain so it’s worth something. I continue to be an enigma - not a happy place.

I'm sorry you're suffering and conventional medicine hasn't been able to help so far. I'm in the same boat.

You raise a number of issues here. I'll try to address some of them and hope that helps.

First off, you will need to experiment yourself, since no one else can tell you what is helping or harming you except you, to the extent that that's possible, to the extent that you feel it. Cannabis might be making things worse for you, but only you can tell, and after some experimentation with dosage, strains and methods of administration.

Cannabis is very diverse and each strain has a variety of phytochemicals. Some strains are terrible for me, others work magic. Some make my symptoms worse because of the combination and/or ratios of cannabinoids and terpenes, others relieve them and give me great comfort. If you're using dry flower that's easy to know, but each oil or edible is also made from some specific flower with specific ratios and kinds of a variety of phytochemicals.

You're using 1:20 THC to CBD, so you might need to change that ratio, or maybe try another oil from another plant with other terpenes than the one you're using. You might increase the THC, or you might even try CBD isolate since THC and other cannabinoids could be what is causing you problems.

Regarding dosage, 5 mg is very low. In studies the doses administered are usually hundreds of mg for human adults. Sublingual is a good method of administration for bioavailability.

Hopefully this answers some of your questions.

Thank you! Yes, your response is helpful - your posts have been sincere too. Living this has been a nightmare, not something anyone can understand, even the doctors - except the few others who have had the misfortune of such a bizarre experience. I have ZERO recreational marijuana experience and the NYS dispensary didn’t consult with me about strains - only ratios. I didn’t want to use the vape pen so I opted for the tincture, but maybe that would offer more options that could help. So far I think the 1:20 thc/cbd has done nothing. I really hope society, culture, politics change nationwide to allow medical marijuana at least, then maybe recreational. It seems like a reasonable alternative to opioids.

Thank you and I'm glad to hear it.

It's immensely difficult to live with this illness and all the many forms it takes. We need whatever we can get in the struggle.

Vaping flower might be an option for you if you want to experiment more with different strains and such things. It might also be worth increasing you dose if you're willing. Studies show you need much higher doses than that for pain management and pretty much any benefits. But you will know best what you're willing to do.

If you do vape, you won't need a vape pen, but a dry herb vaporizer, say like a Pax or even better an Arizer vaporizer like the Air or Solo. This will be easy to use for a newcomer. And it goes without saying that it's a reasonable alternative to opioids, a very reasonable one!

Hi David!

I want to give you some early feedback regarding my first use of CBD.


First, I am using the "Fully Activated" company's CBD "Full Spectrum" capsules. I am taking a total of 90 mg daily (I was told to take half my weight of 180 pounds for a total daily mg dosage).


Here is an example on the website of the capsules I am taking:


Full Spectrum Capsules – Activated Shipping


After taking 90 mgs daily (60 mg at bedtime and 30 mg midday) for 72 hours (three days), I developed a faily severe headache centered in my forehead by the third day.


I also did not notice any pain relief (and, if anything, my overall pain seemed to be worse in addition to the headache). Indeed, the headache was bad enough I skipped today's dosing completely.


This was a disappointing start, and I would like to get what feedback you can offer (I will also call Nick on Monday).


Many thanks!


David

Thank you for this thread, which has prompted me to experiment again with CBD.

I've tried a number of different CBD/Hemp oil products and have been mostly disappointed (as in no benefit seen despite hundreds of dollars spent). However, I'm trying again, with higher doses in mind.

(GENETICS
I suspect genetics may play a role in sensitivity to CBD; for example, the 23&me test has some cannabinoid receptors tested for polymorphisms; but I've never seen genetics mentioned in any discussions or studies of CBD use).

DOSE
As other posts mention, some suggest the dose of 5mg for every 10lb (or, 1/2 your weight in miligrams).

CONCENTRATION
However, dosing is not so simple, as different products have different "percentages" (of CBD, CBDa, other stuff...).

For example, an Endoca oil looks appealing (organic, high 15%, etc.).
(I can't post the link yet...)

BUT, if I go for that 90mg daily dose, this $130 bottle will last me 16 days, costing about $8 per day (1500 mg / 90 mg/day = 16.67 days. $130 / 16.67 days = $7.79)

Not COMPLAINING (I'd rather put this stuff in my mouth than Lyrica, etc.), but just pointing out an example of the costs involved here, and the complicating factor of concentration.

Most of the CBD options out there are way over-priced. It's the Wild West with the cannabis industry, and greed and fraud are everywhere.

It seems it may take a while to titrate up (at least for me--I guess I was trying with far too little before) and figure out a useful dose.

(One more opinion: watch out for the miracle stories--"one drop and all my pain was GONE!"--they're likely B.S. and irrelevant to anyone else's experience.)

David - You mentioned in an early port that you have done a number of programs over the years with 80% success. Can you please share these programs and which ones yielded the best results?

Thanks