I have recently returned from living in Asia and the Middle East for 12 years, this has been a very enriching and enlightening time. Experiencing different cultures and meeting new people as well as visiting beautiful and amazing places has been highly educational and food for the soul! However, one area which was denied me was experiencing medical marijuana due to its legal status in most of Asia. Marijuana has two main properties CBD and THC, both of these are reported to have medicinal properties but only THC invokes the high euphoria associated with smoking a joint / getting stoned. Well, to be honest, I have experienced both, as a young man I used to smoke a lot of marijuana. Unfortunately or some would argue the opposite the marijuana today compared with 40-50 years ago has been bred to increase the potency of THC! Effectively to make you more stoned (high). This has sadly been to the detriment of CBD. Compared to the 60s the average strain of marijuana had 6% THC and 6% CBD. Today the strains of popular marijuana have 25%+ maybe even 30%+ THC and less than 3% CBD. Not surprisingly medical science is identifying problems with THC in terms of effects on peoples mental and emotional stability increasing occurrences of psychosis and other mental health issues. What is fascinating the same research, we have discovered that CBD actually blocks THC uptake. Now I could start regurgitating the science around the endocannabinoid system with B1 and B2 receptors but I’m not an expert and there are many articles floating around out there to educate you on these chemical processes. But the bottom line is that it appears that CBD is a protector as well as a healer or if you like it was the Ying of the THC’s Yang – keeping the perhaps damaging effects of THC in check. Now that’s not saying THC doesn’t have healing properties it’s just that is not what this blog entry is about for the following reason. Personally, I don’t fully enjoy the feeling of being stoned on THC, at times it can be pleasant but overall it leaves me feeling perhaps paranoid and or anxious and definitely mentally impaired – short term memory loss is a well-documented attribute from consuming THC. So for the reaons, I have listed I’m happy to avoid THC.
Since being back in Europe I have discovered that CBD products are mostly legal and do not have any of the negative attributes of THC and in fact quite the opposite. The title of the blog says my journey, so let me continue in that theme – despite all outward appearances I believe I have suffered from severe anxiety most of my adult life. This was demonstrable with acute insomnia, which I self-medicated with various potions from melatonin, valerian, GABA, 5-HTP, magnesium, you name it I had tried it to try and get my head to shut down to allow me to sleep at night – quite often I would be tossing and turning until 3 or 4am – often if not regularly reverting to a few or excessive amounts of alcohol to achieve knock out sleep. This, of course, was counterproductive, you don’t get good sleep on alcohol so sleep quality is bad, you will, of course, suffer from mood swings and of course it is a depressant so actually heightening my anxiety. all pretty dumb! But the debilitating condition of insomnia is the worst recurring nightmare you would ever want – for people who sleep easily I was always immensely jealous and exacerbated by their lack of understanding – it is a horrible condition and I hated being me for this reason – on the rare occasion, I got a good nights sleep I was a totally different person the next day who I liked! So fueled with reports on its healing properties for insomnia and with the new freedom of being allowed to purchase CBD oil, I went for the plunge, thinking to stop drinking and smoking and start vaping CBD oil. Well, first off stupidly I actually bought CBD oil and not CBD e-cigarette juice – DoH! This was simply a sublingual dose which I applied 30 minutes before bed, and wow for the first time I can remember I fell asleep quickly and whilst I still woke up a couple of times thru the night, my ability to put my head back on the pillow and get back to sleep was never experienced like this before. I felt invigorated, ecstatic had I finally found the miracle cure I had been looking for? Not only that but for some prophetic reason I had just been experiencing acute lower back pain which I had experienced on and off for some time but this time it was like a knife digging into the base of my back and to some extent I was even having difficulty walking. After a couple of days of using CBD sublingually, this pain dissipated and has since disappeared. I was amazed! Other improvements continued – I guess with the increased sleep and what I was identifying as alleviation of my anxiety I felt more confident, my relationships with people seemed to have less friction. I was able to respond to things without invoking a fight or flight response which I now realize was a huge part of how I had been dealing with things for a long time. The best way I might explain it to a stoner would be to say it was like being stoned but not being stoned, for the rest of you it was like a layer of calm had descended over me allowing me to be more circumspect of all things without feeling an urgency to defend or attack. It has been two weeks now and I think I will continue to use CBD but I will also try a period without to see if it actually makes repairs or whether this will be a continual subscription. There are some concerns on the impact to the liver but on close examination of the scientific study which highlighted this the actual use case didn’t look realistic. But I will, of course, keep an eye on this area of concern. So for me personally CBD is a miracle, I now vape CBD infrequently thru out the day a simple 3% mixture which I often dilute with some other e-juice. (Yes I have stopped smoking with no desire to start again) I will also keep in my medicine cabinet some 10% CBD hemp oil for occasional use when I feel it might be beneficial. Now before anyone jumps online and starts ordering their first trial of CBD, for some people it doesn’t appear to affect them or bring them benefits – I have read an article which claims for some people you need to jump-start the endocannabinoid system by super dosing at first. But its also worth considering we are all different as well. So I can’t make promises on the effects it will or won’t have for anyone but it might just be worth it spending 70 euros and trying it out as a no-risk experiment – perhaps the main side effect I have read is it can make you feel sleepy 🙂
CBD continues to be researched with this video of a doctor explaining some of the finer points https://youtu.be/2VffKGWafwM From anxiety, diabetes, to potentially suppressing cancer growth, it’s anti-inflammatory properties are reported to be amazing hence the associated pain relief. It would appear on the face of it as well as initial scientific research to be a well being product which should not be missed in anyone’s medical pantry. I would also recommend https://cbdoilusers.com/ as an excellent source of information.
So in passing, I would like to say thru CBD oil I now feel like the potential of a person I knew I could always be. I truly hope you also find the same if you choose to try this substance out.
Nutrition for Life! 
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