My opinion is that if someone does it moderately, then its fine. Like drinking.

I know people who are in medical school who smoke on a daily basis and are doing fine

davOD, You have not been following my posts regarding MM. I support using CBD oil. It has proven medicinal value. THC has very limited medicinal value. The calming effect of THC has a serious rebound effect too, for many. The research says that THC has more value in very small doses that do not cause a high. Very small doses of THC combined with stronger doses of CBD tends to enhance the value of the CBD.

The exception to THC is those undergoing cancer chemo and dealing with glaucoma. They need a stronger dose.

I also agree with the need to carefully consider pharmaceuticals. For some, they are a life saver. For others, they can cause more problems that they solve.

I've been hesitating to post my experience with medical marijuana, but now that this is back at the top, here goes.

First off, this is MY experience and my experience only. Please don't take this as medical advice or anything along those lines. Just sharing my experience.

My TBI was nearly 4 years ago. I spent just over 3 years as an outpatient at the rehab clinic of our local hospital. I have a physiatrist that has been following my case since 6 months after my injury, so nearly 3 years, I was seeing him every 6-8 weeks.

After my TBI, I was left with a constant headache. From the moment I fell on my head, until trying cannabis, I didn't have any breaks from the pain. At its best, it was around 6/10, at its worst 9.9/10. (I never liked to say 10, because it always seemed possible / likely it could get worse.) I'd wake up many times a night crying in pain, sometimes just crying in pain while asleep.

I had many other symptoms, including debilitating fatigue (no matter how much I "paced" myself and all the other accommodations that my OT spent months with me on) but my main one was the head pain.

Early this past summer, my physiatrist discharged me from the rehab center, but left it open that I could come back and see him if needed. We tried so many drugs, from many different classes and none helped. Some made things worse for me, most just did nothing... I did tolerate Topamax, but never found it did too much for my pain.

So I went looking for other options and finally decided to try medical marijuana. I found a doctor that was knowledgable about prescribing it (most docs aren't knowledgable and don't feel comfortable prescribing it) and met with him and he agreed it was worth a try for me.

I started in July and started by vaporizing it. Vaporizing was not for me, it made my throat dry and sore and I didn't find it worked on my pain. I was discouraged. Then I made the remaining cannabis into edibles and they worked!

For the first time in nearly 4 years, I can control my head pain! I find if I use a fairly strong indica with something higher in CBD content, I can get my pain down to 2-3/10. For ME, that's nearly gone!

So I take some before bed each night, takes about 1.5 - 2 hours to kick in, but then RELIEF and now I sleep easily 8-10 hours a night, straight through. I rarely need to take a nap during the day any more, only if I've really overdone it, but before, I was sleeping during the day 2-3 hours, plus 8-10 hours at night, but it was always interrupted by the pain.

Finding the right strain and dosage is a bit trial and error, so its absolutely not perfect, but this is the first thing that has helped me at all. For me, I need a balance (about 50/50) of THC and CBD to get the maximum benefits.

I know many pro marijuana sites say its a miracle drug and I'm not so sure about that, but it sure has been miraculous for me. I look forward to leaving the years of prohibition behind and real research starting. Its absolutely improved my quality of life and I've had moments here and there of feeling more like my old self.

Due to its classification as a schedule 1 drug, research has been very difficult, but things are starting to shift now. Thus far, the studies have been small and all over the board as to effectiveness and risks of it, so small, I don't put much stock in any of the studies, whether they find in favour of MM or against it.

Yes, drug companies may not be overly interested in pursuing the research, but given that it has shown some promise at all in so many areas, the research will happen.

I'd be just as happy if the drug companies didn't do any of the research, in fact, their results tend to always be skewed in their favour.

Anyhow, again, just my own experience, I'm not making any recommendations. If you're considering marijuana, please look at all the research available, from BOTH sides of the issue before deciding.

Starr

Great to hear another success story....Its not for everyone, but when nothing else works, its just a miracle through our eyes...

I wish I could write and express myself as well as you do...

Isnt sleep wonderful now?

"Starr"

How much combined CBD/THC do you take at each before bed dose ? Do you obtain it as an edible or make the oil into an edible ? Is it dosed in a joint equivalent or what ? What strain is it ? ACDC, Charlotte's Web, Harlequin ?

I know the research often tries to get real technical with dose amounts but in real life, that would be difficult. The sellers may know general ratios and and general concentrations. 'This edible has 50/50 and x grams per brownie/cookie, etc.' I'm just trying to learn how the sellers quantify dosages other than the oils.

Mark,
As of right now, the only medical marijuana available in Canada (with the possible exception of BC) is dried buds.

I grind it myself, as you might for smoking or vaporizing, but then I simmer it with butter and a bit of water for 3 hours and make cannabutter. Then I use the cannabutter to make brownies or banana muffins (either covers the marijuana flavour a bit) and eat it that way.

Oils and extracts will soon be available in Canada. Health Canada has mandated that they be available, but are still doing their final inspections at each licensed producer.

Edibles will not be available for sale even under the new rules. Perhaps once marijuana is legalized that will change and our new federal government has promised to legalize it, even for recreational use, so we'll see what happens eventually. (As I mentioned, some things are different in BC, so while the rules apply across Canada, BC is challenging and pushing the limits.)

I'm hoping the last order I made will be my last before the oil becomes available. The oils will save me quite a bit of effort.

My "prescription" is for 30 grams a month... 1 gram per day. There will be some equivalent when the oil is available, but I don't know what the translation will be yet. 30 grams of dried product requires about a pound of butter.

As for strains and dosages, it requires a bunch of math to know how much I'm getting per piece of edible, but the batch I just made is about 3/4 - 1 muffin or one brownie that's about 1 inch x 1 inch. But that would vary depending on the amount of cannabutter and the strength of your strains... lots of variables.

When I get a new order, I make it into cannabutter, do the complicated math to estimate what each piece of edible contains and then when I start eating from a new batch, I start with about half of what I normally take to see how it works for me.

Last night was the start of a new batch and I took about half of what I had calculated to be my dose and it was not enough, so last night I did not sleep well and today is a bit brutal for pain. Tonight I will take a wee bit more and just trial and error it until I get to be where I want.

I've used different strains over the last few months, none are the ones you've mentioned. Later I'll have to look them up and see what I have now (can't remember the names!). Often I end up buying some fairly high THC (they have ranged from 12% - 19%) to get the good "couch lock" effect for a good night's sleep and as high a CBD content strain that I can, usually around 8%-10%.

(The licensed producers do label the bottles of dried product with the exact amounts of THC and CBD, but it does vary based on available strains. Not every strain is always available when I'm able to order.)

Then when I cook it to make the butter, I combine them. I generally only take MM right before bed or occasionally during the day if I'm having a really bad head pain day and will be laying in bed anyhow. I generally avoid taking it during the day, so I can still drive etc.

I find that with just taking it once a day before bed means that my head pain will often be better the next day anyhow, whether the pain relief effects hang on or whether its just sleeping better that helps, either way its amazing.

Having never used pot before, not even as a young adult or teen, (I was always against it) its been quite a learning curve and I try to err on the side of not taking enough than taking too much.

The nice part with edibles is the effects last much longer than smoking or vaporizing, though they are not as immediate either, it can take up to 2 hours to really feel a difference.

So its a bit of a complicated process right now to make the edibles and honestly, they don't taste great. No worries about taking too much because you're hungry! LOL! I choke them down because I know I'll feel better after. I'll be happy when the oils are available and I'll just put the oil in capsules and swallow it.

No more yucky gluten free brownies or banana muffins! (I'm also celiac).

As far as effects, I never feel particularly stoned or anything like that, usually just relaxed and very tired (not THAT different from my normal!) and I don't get the munchies or anything like that. In fact, since I started with the MM, my appetite has decreased substantially, similar to when I was on Topamax, actually.

Other than the MM, I'm drugs free, both OTC and prescription. In my case, nothing ever touched my pain, until now.

Starr

Wow, A pound of butter for 30 brownies or muffins. They must taste rich. If you use the whole 30 grams each month, then it sounds like 1 gram a night. At 25% active CBD/THC, that would be 250 mgs of active ingredient. If you strain out the solids, maybe less due to incomplete extraction in the simmering process.

"Bioavailability also varies greatly depending on route of administration of CBD. Studies have demonstrated bioavailability of the administered dose of 34%-46% for intranasal administration and 40% for vaporization. In contrast, the bioavailability of oral CBD is thought to be as low as 6%, owing to significant first-pass metabolism." http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/839155_9

Maybe you are only getting 25 mgs or less to your blood stream. 250 mgs would appear to be a very strong dose.

Here are some links to some common CBD strains.
http://synergycbd.com/cdb-rich-strains/
http://www.leafscience.com/2014/10/1...t-cbd-strains/
ACDC is also very high in CBD.

Ty,

Based on my experience with employees who can't keep there marijuana at home I sure hope I don't end up with one of the students you mention for a doc.

Not sure if I can say that here but it really does scare me.

Bud

Anyone know what dosing what be good with CBD oil? How many mg?

Planning on going to Denver soon

I called the dispensaries earlier and they had no clue

As with CBD oils, you dont have to worry about being zoned out...

I was using 4 drops under my tong 2x a day...Then upped it to 3x.....I was trying to calm down my headaches....

Just be VERY cautious....and it takes time to get in your system