How Cannabis & CBD Saved Buddy Mary
From 16-19, Id say I was as close to a functioning alcoholic as I could be without my parents noticing, although I did nearly get expelled from a school from being drunk on vodka in yr12, the headmistress taking pity on my crying mother and letting me stay.
At 19 I was introduced to cannabis through an ex. Within months I had stopped drinking and was a full time (functional) stoner using it with tobacco. Little did I know I wasn’t just treating unacknowledged alcoholism but also helping to deal with sensory overload from my irlen syndrome (sensory sensitivity), manage my anxiety, depression and undiagnosed (until recently) ADHD and possibly Asperger's, I became a person I didn't deeply loath, my perspective of the world, myself and my place in it changed. I matured and grew so much in these years to follow, learning compassion and my ability as an empath, going on to study Holistic Massage therapy and taking a keen interest in plant medicine thanks to Mary-J.
When I was 23 I had an infection that made me very ill and which decimated my digestive tract bacteria. After months of agony & developing a fear of eating for triggering the pain, cannabis was one of the only things bringing relief to the pain and causing me to want to eat when I wasn't feeding myself. I was diagnosed with post infectious IBS with no medical chance of relief. The only thing I use to treat this is cannabis and pre/probiotics, now at 30 I am nearly fully recovered.
Since I was a teenager I always had trouble with my jaw and locking in my left hip. I was diagnosed with tension headache which either was misdiagnosed or developed over the years into severe temporomandibular joint disorder coupled with trigeminal neuralgia...aka the suicide disease. This is inflammation of the trigeminal nerve in your face. It felt like your jaw bone was broken in multiple places with hot fire wire and electric punches with every pulse. I collapse, I can't scream, that causes more pain, I can’t move, I can't ask for help, or tell the person trying to comfort me that her gentle strokes of my shoulder are causing even more inexplicable pain flashes. When this happens cannabis & cbd are the only thing that can guide me out of it. There have been times where I have collapsed and been paralyzed, dosed with CBD & 20mins later been whistling and skipping around the house. If the CBD doesn't cut it, the RSO does the job. I have been in and out of remission for years and TMJ has its ups & downs. I have been prescribed a cocktail of pharmaceuticals in increasing doses which due to the sensitivity, I would only end up worse off, experiencing a good chunk of the listed side effects which all the doctors could suggest to help was more of the same poison. It got to the point I was on 5GRAMS of gabapentin before I had enough.
Over the years I have experienced descrimination against my use of this gentle and healing plant from medical professionals, my partners, jobs (despite working to a high standard, ha), friends and even my husband (now ex). Before I knew the science my intuition knew I wasn't wrong about my use. Cannabis saved my life on a daily basis and has been my pillar of strength and guidance through my life when others have failed. She allows me to be well, to focus, to create, to calm, to sleep, to be pain free, she connects me to people I wouldn't have normally met. She is the salt to the soul food that is life.
After 12yrs of use I don't know how I can put into words the gratitude and love I have for this plant medicine and what its done for me and my loved ones.
From having to sneak out the living room window after my parents have gone to bed to smoke, over many years of conversation and education, to them using cannabis for their own health problems.
I do not hide my use, I do not feel I should, for all the good she does me. I believe the less we hide and the more we are honest about our consumption the more quickly it is normalized and breaks the antiquated narrative & negative stigma that still surrounds Cannabis and Hemp. Because of my open use I am regularly approached by curious people who are scared or have been misinformed in the past, asking questions about cannabis and its uses, I am more than happy to help. I am always keen to learn what I can about this plant and our relationship to it. This passion urges me into the cannabis community and to progress legalization and safe access to all is whatever way I can. What can I say?! I love weed.
Amazing artwork I love it ❤❤❤
Thanks for sharing, a fantastic honest blog post. I also suffer with TMJ and have spent a long time taking gabapentin/pregabalin among others. Much love 💚🌱
💚💚💚 love this! Thank you for sharing some of your cannabis journey so far 💚💚💚 xoxo
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