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Weed has crippled me!

Discussion in 'Seasoned Marijuana Users' started by Gadaran, Aug 25, 2017.

  1. I wrote the following in response to another post, but feel it's important enough for its own thread. My experience is clearly not unique, but is the worst I have heard described. I'm sure some devotees will attempt to rubbish what I'm saying - I'm a tobacco smoker and ride a motorbike, so I'm very familiar with wilful denial - but take it from me, this is fact. Weed has crippled me. Here's my story...

    I've been smoking weed, on and off (mostly on) for almost thirty years now. It's really the only thing I like - I'm not a big drinker, and the only pills I take these days are heavy bouts of Tramodol and Ibuprofen. I've had back problems since my late twenties - persistent ache in my lower back, difficulty standing for long periods (feels like my lower spine is being compressed) and general fragility. I am a slave to a prolapsing disc, that would put me out for about a week at a time, maybe five or six times a year. The prolapse is accompanied by a violent muscle spasm (like being kicked in the back) which can occur when performing the most innocuous of activity - sneezing, brushing my teeth etc.

    Six years ago, things took a more sinister tone. I had a prolapse that was accompanied by the most violent lower back cramps - spasms that last up to a minute at a time, every two minutes or so. They are white hot agony, and form a pattern that, it has been pointed out to me by a couple of startled paramedics over the years, resembles going into labour! Seemingly the only thing that will break the cycle is gas and air, and the only thing that will make the pain bearable is industrial painkillers.

    The first time it happened, I was so scared that my doctor sent me for an MRI scan - a very unusual step, as back problems are so common. I was diagnosed as having a prolapsed disc 'pressing on a nerve' - again, not an uncommon diagnosis - but no one could explain the cramps. I initially suspected it was dehydration (which can also cause prolapsed, as the discs become flaccid and deprived of water) and/or muscle damage that had accompanied the original injury.

    The cramps have happened four or five times since that first occasion - most recently in June, when I was delivering DVDs to my local primary school and ended up in reception for two hours, screaming the place down waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The recovery period can be anything up to six weeks, and is getting longer with each incidence.

    It's only recently that I've started to notice a pattern. In 2015 I gave up smoking weed - through lack of supply, as opposed to choice - for 18 months. During that time, I had only two prolapses, which were very minor and from which I quickly recovered. This year I decided to start growing again, and since then, I've had five major attacks. I'm currently writing from my bed, barely able to move. I'm having to keep very Zen because, if I so much as twitch that muscle in my lower back, I will go into labour. I've just come off the back of a six-week recovery period. I went back to work yesterday, and lasted half an hour before it went again!

    So finally I decided to google the problem and, would you believe it, it's everywhere! And whatever anyone else says, I can fully confirm, this is a thing. And I am, quite possibly, the living embodiment of how bad this thing can get. And it's very bad.

    I would love to believe the cause is more specific - chemical fertilisers maybe, as others have suggested - but I have been growing in soul and using fully organic supplements for years. Could it be an indica/sativa thing? I would love to believe so, but I've grown both and can't say I can see that as part of the pattern. It's not dehydration - I have a very strict fluid regimen these days - and it's not general physical weakness, as I have a regular exercise routine, as prescribed by my chiropractor.

    It's a crime that more research hasn't been conducted, and that people like us are forced to either grow ourselves or purchase from the black market, without any real idea of what we're putting in our bodies, and what long-term effects that might have. Has anyone else found themselves in my situation? Does anyone have enough medical knowledge to answer some crucial questions? Will the spasms only occur at the time of use? Is there a safe breed or method that will stop them? I am a long-term advocate of the wonders of weed, but now, sadly, I think I know what I have to do.

    And so the last question: will I ever smoke weed again?
     
  2. I've had a similar situation occur. Out of the blue sativa quit working on my back pain. It gets really intense. I took a tolerance break and it's still brutal. I switched to indica...the pain in the muscles in my back still light up but I can get through a day. Hope this helps.
     
  3. Thanks for the advice, but it's cart and horse - I'm not using weed to combat back pain. The weed is causing it :(
     
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  4. There are too many variables to blame this on weed. That's just silly
     
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    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Winner Winner x 1
  5. TLDR: weed didn't cripple you just like guns don't kill people, mate. You did it (whatever happened) to yourself because nobody forced you to smoke cannabis. I think you answered your own question- if you suspect, and have evidence it's cannabis, then no, don't smoke any more. I wish you good luck and improved health, mate.
     
  6. The answer to that last question would be determined by the answers to those that preceded it. I haven't given up hope. Cheesemonger - my account above is a process of analysing variables, narrowing the list of factors and reaching a conclusion. Given that, your contribution is not very helpful, sorry to say.

    Clearly I don't know precisely what the problem is, and what particular combination of factors is the overall cause - that's the discussion I'd like to have. But it's relationship to my marijuana use is undeniable. I have calendars for everything, and it all ties up. Talk to any chiropractor (and I know a few) and they'll tell you that the base of your spine is intricately linked to your brain. It bears the brunt of a lot of the baggage that we carry psychologically, as human beings. I often recount the incident when, walking along the street, I had a vivid flash of memory of my previous relationship, which was not a happy one, and it was like someone walked up behind me and punched me in the kidneys. It took me over an hour to cover the quarter mile to my car. I could tell you any number of similar stories.

    I don't believe for a moment that this a problem that would affect all regular users - like paranoia, it's horses for courses. I'm sure you need to at least be susceptible to back pain for spasms to wipe you out the way they do me. Psychosomatically, I'm sure that people who don't suffer with anxiety and the like would suffer less.

    My powerful gut feeling is that the muscle spasms, which many complain of, are the physical manifestation of a mental state and that, in my case, they trigger a pre-existing physical condition - the prolapse. It's either that, or a build up of chemicals in the spine, or both. My medical knowledge is limited, I confess.
     
  7. This is not related to cannabis use.
    You obviously have a physical issue with your back.

    Cannabis has not crippled you.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. Here come the deniers! Not helpful!!
     
  9. And based on what evidence?
     
  10. Writing from your bed barely able to move aye? Still managed to type this up? Cannabis is not for everyone, your most likely poisoning yourself, you don't sound very educated on Cannabis so I guessing you could be making multiple mistakes while growing, causing adverse health effects. Lol at the tobacco and motorcycle reference, you're one of those "riding is dangerous, you'll die" people. No it's not everywhere, all of you have different symptoms, you can't all be smoking he same exact weed, stop blaming Cannabis and start blaming your unhealthy lifestyle. If you happened to smoke Cannabis with mycobutanil, your symptoms are not even close, that's one of the only poisons infecting the Cannabis Market currently.
     
  11. Okay, so that's patronising, and clearly coming from someone who has no experience of the things Im talking about. If you don't have experience, any contribution you make is effectively meaningless.

    Did you know that back problems can be caused by the fillings in your teeth? I love the fact that you admit that 'mistakes is growing' could be the cause, whilst at the same time arguing from a position of 'weed has nothing to do with it'. You blame an unhealthy lifestyle, which implies a combination of factors, but you rule out the possibility that 24-7 cannabis use could play any part.

    You hurl my lack of knowledge at me as a put-down, when clearly I'm here to expand that knowledge. That makes you rather an unpleasant person. I have posted in a forum maybe half a dozen times in my entire life. Sadly, it's people like you that ensure I won't be trying it again.
     
  12. Ps. Yes, riding a motorbike is dangerous, and an unnecessary risk for a car owner. Any motorbike rider who insists otherwise is an idiot. That's precisely the reason most people ride a motorbike. Did you think skiing was the safest way to get from the top of a mountain to the bottom?
     
  13. PPS. Yes, on my back, barely able to move. Just had my lunch delivered to me. Did I mention it was my back, and not my frickin arms? Numptie.
     
  14. You're not here to expand knowledge, you're here to spout BS about an bad experience that has nothing to do with Cannabis, in attempts to brain wash others. Half your post is stating you have other medical problems then trying to put the blame on weed. Please don't try Cannabis again, it's not for everyone, it's obvious you're one of those people. Now please, be a smart adult and stop using the thing causing you so much pain... You're not going to get the answers you seek, which is someone to backup your bullshit statemnts with that evil Cannabis is the culprit causing you so much pain. Another reefer madness troll is so much pain yet typing full paragraphs in real time.
     
  15. Walking across the street is dangerous. Unnecessary risk for a car owner? I'm sure 99 percent of riders would disagree. It's surely not a risk for myself, and calling people idiots who think otherwise is a great way to prove your point. Wait? And people ride because it's dangerous? Are you that naive? I bet you don't even ride. Funny you have back problems yet ride a motorcycle. Let me guess? To Starbucks and back?
     
  16. You think I'm slamming weed, and the people who smoke it. Clearly I'm looking for a way to continue doing the thing I love, whilst trying to ascertain why it's causing the prolonged spasms that are ruining my life. You're demonstrating a kneejerk reaction to something you don't like the sound of, have not experienced, and have no answers for. I'm not trying to brainwash anyone. I'm trying to get through to the people who have also experienced muscle spasms as a result of weed use, to see if we can figure out the more specific cause, be it solely due to the habit (and whatever mutable aspect of it is, hopefully, to blame) or a combination of it and other physical, psychological and societal factors. Sorry to condescend in return, but you clearly don't have anything useful to contribute. That makes you the troll, I'm afraid.
     
  17. It's simple. Stop smoking. The specific cause has nothing to do with weed. The mere fact you all are smoking different strains from different sources, with different ailments makes it clear as day Cannabis is not the linking factor. If you broke your leg you'd blame Cannabis and be doing the same thing. Your sick and want to get to the bottom of it, so you'll blame Cannabis, because of course it has to be the drug and not my own Body failing me. Cannabis didn't cause muscles spasms, or local pain of any kind. Studies proves this. You obviously have no clue what you're talking about and rambling. That makes your a Reefer Madness troll. Now watch as your thread falls into oblivon, go ahead and keep bumping old threads too. You'll soon realize your not making any progress and hopefully go back under the bridge you crawls from under. :smoke: Maybe get off your ass and stop getting food delivered, can't be healthy, probably the reason you can move now.
     
  18. My last long ride was to London and back in a day. No, crossing the road isn't an unnecessary risk for a car driver - it's an unnecessary risk for someone who doesn't need to cross the road. Just like smoking tobacco is an unnecessary risk for someone who doesn't smoke tobacco. Except that that's an addiction, and therefore a more complicated analogy. Yeah, it is amusing to have a medical condition that compromises your favourite things in life, isn't it? I laugh about it every day. A**hole.
     
  19. Ps. I live in Cornwall.
     
  20. Yeah, I'm think I'm done talking to you. Obtuseness and and hypocrisy dont really make for a coherent or valuable contribution.
     

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