I’m giving in. Well in a way. Not really. My doctor has been talking to me for years about CBD for my pain and anxiety. Mostly my pain. He’s a big advocate for CBD and now so is my new pain doctor and my physiotherapist at the pain clinic. Here in Canada cannabis is legal and has been for about 2 years. Not just for medical use but for recreational use as well. In Nova Scotia our liquor corporation NSLC (Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation) is the only ones that can sell it for recreational use. Others can apply to grow it and make products for medical use, but it’s still really controlled. As it should be.
Photo by Pot Head Coffee on Unsplash
So I’ve decided to order some CBD from NSLC. I’m still learning about it and find it confusing, especially dosing, laws etc., but at the moment from the research I’ve done I’ve decided to give it a try. I have no idea If I’m right about this but I am starting with no THC just CBD. I also decided with my husbands help to start with edibles, specifically chocolate as I am less confused by dosing and can figure it out better than CBD oil and a dropper. Another main consideration was that the CBD oil options that NSLC has all have some degree of THC in them and in NS there is a ZERO tollerance for driving with even the minutest amount of THC in your system, even if you take it for medical use and have a prescription.
The chocolate I ordered from NSLC has no THC in it, just CBD. So I figure thats an easier and safer option for me to start out with. There is a local shop (well somewhat local) that has a permit for medical cannabis so if this helps then one of my doctors can give me a medical card (prescription) to get it from him and my understanding is he knows his stuff and is great with helping you find the right options for your medical issues so I’ll get a referral to him rather than NSLC’s stuff which is more for recreation than medical as far as I understand.
It’s all kind of fascinating and confusing but I am really optimistic that it might help with my pain and/or anxiety or any other issues I have (POTS, insomnia, etc.). I’ll post more about it and what happens as I go.
It’s good if this could help you, but really if your doctors recommend it, they should help you with dosing, as they would with other medications. Why don’t they, if it’s legal in Canada?
What happens if you would travel to a country where it isn’t legal?
The only thing the doctor told me is to start low at 2.5mg per dose. I am sure he can help to a point and so can my pain doctor with the dosing. The way they usually do it here the doctors just typically do the prescription and then the dispensaries do the rest. But I am not starting out with a prescription so I have to do all the research on my own. Because of the rural area, I am in, and because of Covid I can’t get to NSLC that has Cannabis here. So I have to order it online and have it delivered. So I can’t really talk to them. I am only going to get the prescription or card if I find it helps and decide I want to continue with it.
I hope CBD works for you. I’ve been using CBD and it seems to help with anxiety as well as my sleep disorder. I only do edibles though. I’m in the same boat with you when it comes to trying to get dosage right with an eyedropper – I’d rather have it all measured out for me ahead of time. I have seen some CBD oil that are in capsule form, I don’t know if you can get those. My body weight is so low the recommended dosage is well below the capsule form, so I’ve never tried them.
Sorry I missed this comment somehow. I am still using drops but switched to a brand that clearly states that 3 drops are 2mg which makes it much easier to dose with. We don’t seem to have capsules at the liquor store (recreational cannabis is legal here and sold through the liquor store) but do if we go through a medical distributor but their prices are so high.
Hi! I was popping by after reading your comment on my site and this post caught my eye! I wondered how CBD has been working for you? I tried it and I dosed based on my weight. I can’t even tell you what I used because it didn’t work for me. Or I didn’t like it. Or maybe a mix of the two.
Anyway, how did it work for you? Did you have to go up on dosage? My internal medicine doc was the one who suggested it to me for my anxiety. I think that’s the best kind of endorsement is when it comes from a doctor versus a friend of a friend (lol). They understand our bodies and what might work for us.
I really hope it worked out for you!!!
Hi Angelica, I’m still using CBD and it’s working extremely well for me actually. I had some issues at first with understanding how to figure out the dosage but I got that all ironed out. I did end up going up on it and am using 20mg a day. 10 mg morning and night and I am finding a huge reduction in both my anxiety and pain. I’m not finding it’s helping with sleep any but I do have more energy and just feel better overall and in a better mood. The area I find it’s helped the most is with general day-to-day pain and migraines. It has cut my migraines back by probably 80% and the same with my pain. I am super happy with it but it did take a few months for me to really notice the effects and honestly, it wasn’t until I ran out recently and couldn’t get more for a few days that I realized just how much it has been helping when the pain set back in and I suddenly wanted to sleep all day again. That was a bit of an eye-opener.
I’ve definitely thought about this but as I don’t have a doctor/insurance to talk to, I was always too scared to look into it on my own. I know there’s a lot of confusion out there, mostly because *I* am confused lol. I hope it proves to be helpful! No one should have to live with so much pain and anxiety. It’s just awful, and I wish you you relief and sparkles!
Thanks, that sucks that you don’t have anyone to talk to about trying CBD. I know I have found it very confusing and that’s with it being fairly easy to get here (it’s legal here). I have found it very helpful once I figured out a good dose. I am finding the pain and anxiety are under a lot better control than they were before. Took some time but I was able to figure out (mostly on my own) what worked best for me.