Weed has crippled me!

Oh my word, thank you! A really decent, intelligent response..

You're absolutely right, of course - if it's a combination of factors, it'll need to be a multi-pronged approach. I guess there's a part of me that wants to believe it's one specific thing that I can change, and I can carry on as normal. But there's another part of me that knows - and has known for years - that its larger than that.

It was amazing, when I started searching last night, to read all the posts from people who've suffered with back pain as, they suspected, a result of smoking weed - people who had no history of such, describing symptoms identical to mine (that have baffled several doctors, who I furnished with only partial information), and even using the word 'spasm' with frightening regularity.

It's decidedly un-amazing to get trolled by idiots who have nothing valuable to add. I very rarely use forums, or any social media for that matter, because of those types. Seriously, of all the communities where you'd hope and expect to find chilled out, inclusive, thoughtful people such as yourself, it's a real shame to find oneself in that kind of company. That kind of person gives pot smokers a bad name.

I smoke mainly - with tobacco mostly. I've tried vaping, and will probably go back to it as part of my ongoing trials, and my continuing effort to quit. I do use a back support belt, and I've recently invested in a kneeling chair, which should improve my core muscles. I'm not an especially stressed out person, but life has its ups and downs, you know. The period I mentioned earlier was some time ago, and no coincidence that it was a particularly bad time for my back, and the first time I experienced the cramps. I bought a lot of weed when she dumped me!

So yeah, they are ongoing trials. I waited a long time to google my symptoms because, from my doctor's reaction, I figured there was something anomalous going on down there. But I waited to post anything online until I was sure of the connection, and I am sure. Other decent people were good enough to speculate on what might be causing the same problems for others, and organic fertilisers, growing outdoors and particular strains were suggested as possibilities. Sadly, I don't think that's the case for me.

Anyway, thank-you again. I'm sure others will surface in time who have experienced this, though it is clearly uncommon. Your words were a great comfort.

 

Sorry that was meant for Reod above..

You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little blunt.. and for the pun. Cheesemonger clearly took offence to the 'cart and horse' comment, which wasn't narky at all, and was simply because he'd/she'd got the wrong end of the stick. I guess it made him feel daft, though it wasn't intended that way. The other guy was just being a twat, and he's been trolling my responses to other fora aswell. I don't really have the patience for that right now, to be honest, and certainly don't like being accused of lying.

You're right, Rose - I'm quite sure it's a combination of factors. But the undeniable fact is it happens when I'm 'on' and not when I'm 'off'. Just to be clear, my 'on' routine is 24-7, from morning coffee to daft o'clock bedtime, and was constant from my early twenties to my mid thirties. Since then I have been experimenting and diarising in an attempt to figure it out, and there's no doubt as to the correlation. I am fully employed and lead an otherwise active life that doesn't change in nature whether I am on or off.

I am fully accepting that the causes may be many, and that there is no magic bullet. But that electrical charge that causes the spasm is a signal from the brain. A stoned brain. That doesn't sound unlikely to me at all. Most people who've experienced it can handle it, though it's unpleasant, because it doesn't trigger a bigger problem. I live daily with the psychological causes of my back injury, and I am a zen master now when it comes to keeping that muscle relaxed. I could bring on a cramp now, just by thinking about it. When you're stoned, as you know, controlling the direction of your thoughts can be tricky, so there's one connection right there.

So when you had your spasms, would you describe them as cramps? Did they lock on and not release for some time, and come and go with that labour-like rhythm? It would also be good to determine whether the initial spasm is the same thing as the cramp, or whether one just brings on the other. I would also be very keen to hear from a doctor who knows about how the spinal column stores and utilises chemicals. I have an inkling there's something there, but it's far from my area!

 

Wow, Rose, that's really useful! Thank-you. Just gonna read through again...

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I suffer from chronic insomnia, which is why I took to pot in my twenties, and why I'm back on it now. That, plus asthma and a bad back - it's the holy triumvirate of debilitation. Can't walk, can't breathe, can't sleep! Cannabis helps with all of those, and I've always extolled its virtues. Which is why I so desperately want to find a way through this..

 

Don't get me started on what it does to my asthma, lol! That's a whole other story. The answer is no, it doesn't. But the bigger answer is I'm not convinced I have asthma. I only get it for three months of the year - June to August - and at its worst at the end of a dry spell, just before the rain comes. And I only get it when I smoke weed. I think it's a fungal spore allergy, but the tests are prohibitively expensive, so the NHS won't perform them routinely.

I kinda wish you hadn't asked that, coz now I look like a massive hypochondriac, and I'm laying guilt at weed's door again, which is bound to enrage at least two people! I have a friend who has the exact same problem as me and, amazingly, it turned out we were both hospitalised on the same night!

 

Ah hah! Yes! I have a curling bar, and I used to go hang off it occasionally. It was amazing. I haven't done it in recent years though, coz the last time, the second I put my feet on the floor, it triggered a cramp. Gutted.

 

Yeah, I think what's unusual about mine is that the disc is pressing on a nerve, and when the cramp kicks in, it's basically compounding the whole lot. I'm not making it up - the paramedic in July said he'd never seen anything like it, and he was in his fifties. I've known some pain over the years, not least of which was a tooth infection that was so painful I forgot who I was and was living in cartoon-land for two days. But this is something else.

 

Ion imbalance.. Google time.

 

Holy shit. Could smoking weed cause or exacerbate that sort of chemical imbalance?

 

Jesus, that's fucking it!! You're a genius! It's an electrolyte imbalance - causes muscle spasms!

 

Time to get a new doctor..

 

Magnesium deficiency. I just know it. Cause: excessive sweating. I sweat for England, and regularly soak the entire bed, to my partner's dismay. It's a perfect storm - Tramadol makes me sweat like hell, I'm confined to bed for days. Just bought a memory foam mattress, which is not helping. Obviously I should get some tests.
What's the weed connection? Is it really purely psychosomatic?