High Tea and Pot Chocolate

Because I don't really want to smoke, I tried various ways to get the benefits without inhaling it. I tried it as a tea. I put a bunch with German rock sugar and let it seep in the water for a while. It tasted pretty good and seemed to help, but when I tried it again, it had no effect so I guess that first time was a coincidence. I tried it as a addition to other tea, but it tasted bad and didn't do anything.  I looked online to find different ways of eating or drinking the stuff and found the famous "Stoners Cookbook." I discovered from there and other sourcs that that neither THC nor CBD is water soluble; that would explain it. I tried making the cannabudder, but I don't think I did it right; I used what I made on toast and it was pretty gross. They say to use the budder in tea, but I never could get myself to try that, so I made some pot milk, mixed it with Hershey's and drank a nice cup of Pot Chocolate. That was good. I put the pot milk in tea; that was okay too. I even drank cold chocolate pot milk. Using the milk is probably the way I liked best but there is one problem. To really get the full effect, the milk has to be mixed with a lot of marijuana. According to "Stoners Cookbook," one cup of milk should be mixed with 1/8 oz. marijuana! At these prices, forget it. Of course since this stuff is so strong, it doesn't have to be that bad, but it still took too much for me to do that all the time. Oh well, sorry lungs, smoking it is. When I get my next batch, I will ask about a different kind of vaporizor or something. Maybe I'll find something helpful yet. Until then...stay tuned.

Strange filter?

I decided to take a few more hits from a joint to see if I can finally finish that part of this little experiment. My lungs must have gotten a little used to having harsh smokey stuff rudely forced into them because I just coughed a little this time. I seemed to feel the effects a lot faster and stronger than most of my experiences with the vaporizer. I wonder if I should just go with the old fashion way for the remainder of this batch.

Other Effects

I used the vaporizer a few more times before switching to another method. I still feel bad about not doing more of the joint or pipe, so maybe some day I will try those again. I find that it only takes a litttle  to get the effects from the vaporizer. I did some reading and writing after smoking some to see what other effects it has besides letting me sleep. I was able to do both, but as I sat there, it got harder to concentrate. I didn't always feel stoned but really felt it when I stood up. I was able to play games on my Kindle okay. Since I am an editor, the reading and writing were the most important things I was checking. It didn't take long to lose concentration and start reading the same line over and over. Clearly this is only a nighttime medicine for me, though I still think it makes me less dopey than some other medicine I have been on in the past. Makes me wonder how many things I screwed up when I was taking them. It's fine though because the help with sleep is really the only thing I think is benefitting me from this strain; I guess they don't call it Death Star for nothing. It is supposed to help with pain but I didn't find it to help with mine. It's possible that certain pains I have were lessened, but it was hard to tell. After a few days of vaping, I found that it is probably better if I don't use it every day. By the 5th or 6th day I felt a little sick and on the 6th day, I couldn't even sleep. I was back to being up all night and feeling the need to sleep all day the next day. I guess there are lingering effects or perhaps it's because I'm not used to smoking. Either way, I don't think I'll be using it daily.

Vaping

There seems to be a new trend starting thanks to the introduction of e-cigarettes. It's called vaping. Vaporizers are basically e-cigs that you can fill yourself. They also have oils and various herbs that you can use the vaporizers with. I don't get it really, but since smoking the marijuana is threatening to stop me from breathing, I bought one.

Day 3 I tried using the vaporizer. It is supposed to be stronger this way and supposedly uses less marijuana...and at $535/oz. that sure does appeal to me. I started by taking 2 hits from the vaporizer just to check it out. I don't fully understand why it should be better for people around you, you still exhale smoke, and it still smells like pot. I'm still not doing this in my house...no one smokes in my house; I don't like what it does to the walls and furniture.

The 2 hits seemed to do the trick to help me sleep, and I got up early and felt nice and awake...still not energized, but wide awake anyway. Things seemed to be picking up.

Day 2

After the debacle of the first day, I decided to try a pipe. I put about 3 buds worth in it and took about 5 or 6 hits off it. It seemed less potent right away, but I may not have packed it tight enough. It still hurt my lungs, but not as much as the joint. I still don't like this though. I don't smoke regularly so my lungs are not used to this at all.

I felt extremely mellow; not as obviously stoned as the first day. I woke up okay, but at 4 in the morning. I got up again at around 8 but wasn't very energized. I didn't take another hit in between. I'm thinking the part about being energized might not be working for me. Oh well...I seem to be sleeping okay, even if it's not lengthening the time I'm asleep, it seems to make my sleep deeper and therefore better.

Background

The main reason I am trying the medical marijuana is to relieve anxiety and help me sleep when my anti-fatigue medicine keeps me up. I also have some pain and am always fatigued (hence the anti-fatigue medicine. The person at the distribution center recommended the blend Death Star, to be used at night. It is 30.58% THC and 0.74% CBD. The effects are relaxing, calming muscle spasms, and providing relief from nerve and muscle pain. He said I should wake up energized also. So that is where my MM journey begins.

Day 1 I smoked a few hits off a joint that I rolled myself very badly. It took me two tries to even get one to the point of looking like a joint. I'm not sure how well the stuff burned since I did such a horrible job, but after two lame hits that didn't seem to do much, the third sent me into a coughing fit. It seemed pretty strong and hit me hard. I was lightheaded. I tried reading and at first was able to do so with no problem. However, as I grew more relaxed, my eyes seemed to not match up with my brain, like I was on a time delay. I couldn't walk straight and about 20 minutes since the first hit, I was very stoned.

I went to bed and got up about a half hour later to eat something (yes, the munchies). I fell asleep less than 2 hours later, but only slept for 2 1/2 hours. That is not that unusual for me, but I was hoping the marijuana was going to solve that. I woke up tired and achy and after an hour or so I decided to take a few more hits. However, instead of the direct inhale of pot smoking, I took the drags like you would a cigarette, hoping it would be easier on my lungs. It was, but also probably not as effective. When I finally woke up for the day, I was okay but not wide awake. I had a lazy day, even after taking my anti-fatigue med.

I know this experiment should be repeated to really get an idea of how it would work, but it really hurt my lungs, so I am sorry to say that this may be the last joint I smoke. At least for a very long time.

Welcome to my online journal of my journey into trying medical marijuana to help with my MS symptoms. I will start with explaining some things about medical marijuana and the various things I am learning about it and ways to consume it. You can find an overview of information in my main blog, or click on the links to the right.