Craig has dealt with seizures for most of his life.
I didn’t use cannabis until I was about 18 years old; at the time I was pretty “straight-edge.” My next-door neighbor had some, supposedly from Mexico. I had the time of my life – I haven’t really stopped, other than short breaks here and there.
I was at a point where I knew I didn’t want seizures or even the fear of a seizure to hold me back from doing what I love, from living my life.
I’ve been taking medication for 19 to 20 years now for seizures, and one of the unfortunate side effects of this medication is very bad tremors. It wasn’t until I really started researching the benefits of cannabis as a medicine; I was around 25 years old, I had heard about Charlotte Figi (Charlotte’s Web) and her CBD treatment for her seizures. She went from having 300 or more grand mal seizures every week, all the way down to two to three a month. It was quite an improvement and made me think, “Maybe I should look into this.” I was at a point where I knew I didn’t want seizures or even the fear of a seizure to hold me back from doing what I love, from living my life. The fact that it worked so well for her was more than enough for me to give it a try. I had been very timid on starting the whole process at first, as I wasn’t exactly sure how I should be treating myself – at that time, there wasn’t nearly as much information available.
I thought, “Wow, I can actually hold this cup of coffee without spilling it all over myself!”
As of most recently, I’ve been self-medicating with very high doses of CBD, approximately 800mg every week. I feel that due to the CBD treatments, my tremors have been greatly reduced and I noticed almost immediately. I also get myoclonic jerks – involuntary movements in my muscles or groups of muscles (think hiccups). I’ve noticed the jerks happening less frequently as well, though not entirely eliminated. I thought, “Wow, I can actually hold this cup of coffee without spilling it all over myself!”
There have been breaks where I have been unable to take my medication for a variety of reasons. During those times I rely on treatments of CBD and THC working together, and I feel that keeps everything at bay when the medication is not available. I was skeptical, and I still am; I’m afraid it could be some sort of placebo effect. However, I’m very positive and open to the possibility of cannabis improving my quality of life.
I feel we deserve to expand our knowledge with more research...
I’m a very big fan of cannabis; it is extremely versatile – there are so many different ways to ingest and enjoy it, all from the same, one plant. It’s amazing! I definitely disagree, however, with many of the laws currently surrounding cannabis and I hope they change soon. It’s a wonderful medicine and an amazing tool. I feel we deserve to expand our knowledge with more research, but we still have to wait for certain things out of our control to fall into place. Until that happens, I am still extremely excited to experience the future of the medicine and industry.
