That tumour I was waiting for might have been cannabis-induced pain...
Hello again after half a year... Apparently I signed up here 21 years ago, eh? Nearly half my life... of course, since 2007 or 2008 or whenever that was I've been on Facebook instead. Bah. Still wish we'd all stayed here.
Soooo... after my first heavy psilocybe mushroom experience in decades on March 12th (which was very special btw, exhausting but special), subtle changes in how I perceive things have snowballed into me taking two weeks off cannabis (after 4 years of uninterrupted daily and fairly heavy use). I'm on day 5 of that now and already noting down all kinds of things that I wish I'd known about cannabis years ago... there is a sweet spot for autoimmune disorders, I clearly see this now, and I have been going way over that point. I think tobacco (quit in 2017) conditioned me to overuse cannabis and I had to kick my default mode network in the pants with the mushrooms to realize this and readjust my relationship to cannabis. I suspect I still need it, but not daily (there is a bit of a lupus flare-up starting during this abstinence, so, yeah, buuut it doesn't feel as bad as some of the side effects of heavy cannabis use were starting to get, and flare-ups don't last forever).
Truly is fascinating how this experiment is playing out. Have subconsciously suspected I needed to do it for a long time but it only became possible when the mushrooms subtly changed my perspective on it, it was a terrifying idea and still was even last Wednesday but somehow I was able to face it this time.
Heh, and yeah... I was correct to be a little scared of this. They say cannabis isn't physically addictive. For 12% of us that simply is not true (I looked up some research), ESPECIALLY if one is primarily dabbing, the more effective the delivery method, the worse cessation gets... I tapered down from 2.0g dried flower equivalent (about 0.5g concentrate per day) to 0.6g dried flower equivalent (about half and half flowers and concentrate) before ceasing and... day one was annoying but manageable... day two started to get bad... day 3 was hell, I rank it up there with opioid withdrawal (that I am managing to leave my stash in my fridge alone is... remarkable). NASTY hot and cold flashes, zero sleep, zero appetite, zero dopamine, muscle spasms, probably more but I'm already blocking that nastiness from my memory apparently. Didn't get a proper sleep until last night, and wow, the dreams have returned after years of not dreaming...
I don't really know what comes next. Thinking of getting a driver's license again... I switched to a BCID because they asked me if I was on anything at a license renewal and I answered honestly and they said without a doctor's note saying I was OK to drive, well, they couldn't renew me.. anyway if I'm only using cannabis as-needed now, that means there will be days, possibly the majority of my days, that I can drive safely. And that would be soooo useful.
Soooo... after my first heavy psilocybe mushroom experience in decades on March 12th (which was very special btw, exhausting but special), subtle changes in how I perceive things have snowballed into me taking two weeks off cannabis (after 4 years of uninterrupted daily and fairly heavy use). I'm on day 5 of that now and already noting down all kinds of things that I wish I'd known about cannabis years ago... there is a sweet spot for autoimmune disorders, I clearly see this now, and I have been going way over that point. I think tobacco (quit in 2017) conditioned me to overuse cannabis and I had to kick my default mode network in the pants with the mushrooms to realize this and readjust my relationship to cannabis. I suspect I still need it, but not daily (there is a bit of a lupus flare-up starting during this abstinence, so, yeah, buuut it doesn't feel as bad as some of the side effects of heavy cannabis use were starting to get, and flare-ups don't last forever).
Truly is fascinating how this experiment is playing out. Have subconsciously suspected I needed to do it for a long time but it only became possible when the mushrooms subtly changed my perspective on it, it was a terrifying idea and still was even last Wednesday but somehow I was able to face it this time.
Heh, and yeah... I was correct to be a little scared of this. They say cannabis isn't physically addictive. For 12% of us that simply is not true (I looked up some research), ESPECIALLY if one is primarily dabbing, the more effective the delivery method, the worse cessation gets... I tapered down from 2.0g dried flower equivalent (about 0.5g concentrate per day) to 0.6g dried flower equivalent (about half and half flowers and concentrate) before ceasing and... day one was annoying but manageable... day two started to get bad... day 3 was hell, I rank it up there with opioid withdrawal (that I am managing to leave my stash in my fridge alone is... remarkable). NASTY hot and cold flashes, zero sleep, zero appetite, zero dopamine, muscle spasms, probably more but I'm already blocking that nastiness from my memory apparently. Didn't get a proper sleep until last night, and wow, the dreams have returned after years of not dreaming...
I don't really know what comes next. Thinking of getting a driver's license again... I switched to a BCID because they asked me if I was on anything at a license renewal and I answered honestly and they said without a doctor's note saying I was OK to drive, well, they couldn't renew me.. anyway if I'm only using cannabis as-needed now, that means there will be days, possibly the majority of my days, that I can drive safely. And that would be soooo useful.