Another Tincture Thread - Try it, You'll like it

I was told that Medicare would now pay for it so my choices may be limited. I have good friends who swear by it and I've always been a skeptic but now I've got to think outside my normal box, again. So now I'm using CBD and acupuncture. Who'd a thunk it?

 

My current level of pain has probably come about because the CBD was working so well as I mentioned in my first update. I did feel great. And as usual, I pushed it too far. My clarity and the control of the pains that normally keep me limited allowed me to do a lot of computer related activities beyond that marathon plumbing related house detention and I should have known better but I had a good excuse and couldn't take consequences into account.

To put it simply, I have a crushed vertebral body at C3 on my spine from my original fall at Yosemite or from the other 4 falls I had a little later when my legs stopped working right and that can't be fixed and those often are fatal when that close to the skull. Then I have a fusion at C6-7 and all those issues then I have a reversed curve in the neck and this is the problem child of the three although they all play a role in the results.

The reversed curve means that I can look down easier than I can look forward, my head down instead of up, which causes some compression. The crushed vertebra is called a wedge and besides all the nerve compression it causes, there are a lot of little ligaments there that keep your head upright. The crushing really screws those up. I try to do exercises to help strengthen those areas so that I can keep holding my head up but I have to be careful not to make it worse.

So the CBD-only got me through the first few days nicely and I was pleased with it. Then came the evening of my intense neck flare-up that sent me straight to the dispensary for a heavy Indica because the CBD wasn't enough for that. I want to be clear, though. I have not increased the dosage of CBD during any of the period of time. I am not using the CBD for intense pain relief but long term neuroprotection at a consistent dosage. I only take 20mg daily and I've seen some fairly high dosages listed for cancer and pain, several hundred mgs. I don't have the resources to go that route so I'm chronicling this experience as a "get to know you tour" with emphasis now on the interaction with THC.

So that gram was the first interaction that I had between the CBD dose and a THC dose and I wasn't sure what to expect. Would one offset the other and if so, how much and can it be countered? Google doesn't seem to know, either.

By the time I got the gram it was getting towards early evening, several hours after I had taken my daytime dose of the CBD oil. Because I'm trying to cut back, if not quit, toking I vaped a small bowl from my Air that's usually in exile and got just what I was looking for. My pain immediately melted away and I had a really good buzz going, too, something I had missed. Ah, those CB1 receptors (sigh). It was just what I needed, though.

Because I hadn't been smoking, the effects of that small bowl really lasted quite a while plus I only had that gram and wanted it to last. It lasted until I did my nighttime dosage. As it began to take effect, the psychoactive effects I had been feeling, including the heavy pain relief, began to noticeably decrease but not be completely neutralized. I didn't get straight but I wasn't what an old stoner would call "high" either. I was relaxed, mellow, "chill" and it seemed like I may have taken a xanax or something similar. The other pains were still pretty much controlled but the intensity of the neck pain was more apparent.

Since the pain was so bad that evening I immediately vaped another bowl and I did get back to the previous level.....for a while. I could get the relief over the CBD oil from the toking but I had to keep it toking to continue that level of relief. I didn't use any tincture or caps because I was still judging the CBD-only regimen. The gram would be gone that night and everything would proceed. Fortunately, the gram got me through the night to the point I could get to sleep and sleep through. After the rest, the neck was back to "normal" and the CBD-only continued for a few more days before I started the combined usage and I felt pretty good.

I'm now several days into the combined usage and every day seems to bring some new thought. I'll go into those thoughts after a break. Sorry for drawing this out. It would only take a few minutes if speaking but takes forever to write out sensibly (I hope).

 

Greetings, Herbaliser, and thanks for joining our conversation.

The skim you see on the top of the syrup is from the sugar content meeting the air, kind of like a glaze. Keep a lid on it as much as you can and stir/shake it before using. You'll see the same thing with pancake syrup, too, once it's poured out.

The brown crusting is a different story and could be plant compounds from the rosin. More heat may get it infused but be sure to keep it stirred. Get it hot enough but not too hot. You don't want it to crystallize. 180-200°F for a short while, stirring a lot. Before you add more heat, add a few drops of alcohol. If it's cannabinoids, that crust will dissolve then you'll just evaporate that out. Stirring and the right heat are the secrets for syrup.

Keep me updated with your results.

 

1-4 drops is what I saw on the website. That is for a liquid dilution, like oil or tincture. It never says specifically. In fact, I'm finding the amount to be different for different things. I actually saw 1-4 for a gram and did a little automatic math in my mind that told me that an ounce of decent GD is 450mg and a gram of concentrate is 600-700mg then it should be about the same. But then I've found higher volume, 1-5%, for oil tinctures used for more therapeutic purposes.

I just made a CBD oil for someone that used about .3ml each of 6 isolated terpenes for a cancer tincture for what the website said was a medium dosage. It's all kind of confusing. We're finding our way through it so much is going to be trial and error. Like Stiggy says, some of them are pretty strong and it's going to depend on your personal preference. We should all read the COA for the terpenes we have.

 

I made some honey today from a gram of shatter and added 8 drops into the 2 ounces and it really seemed to put a kick in it that made it past the CBD buzz restrictor. Interesting flavor using the Sativa blend.

 

The CBD could very well be affecting your results. I'm having some difficulty getting the effects I want for very long and it seems to be the agonistic effects of the CBD on the THC. When I'm not using the CBD then all is well.

 

Of course it's okay.

 

I have just the opposite situation. I have nothing to do all day most days and the psychoactivity has always been the lynchpin for getting through it. Plus, I was of the philosophy that if nobody ever saw me straight, they would never know I was stoned. I usually don't do anything unless I am heavily under the influence. I've been a functioning "mariholic" for all these years and now I'm trying to figure out how to act. A complete paradigm shift.