CBD from Hemp and How It's Helped My MS
Over my time battling Multiple Sclerosis, there have been a few moments where I could point to something and say, wow, that’s been extremely helpful and life-changing for me. Starting my current disease modifying therapy (DMT) has been certainly been one, in that it has slowed my progression when other DMTs couldn’t. We don’t take DMTs for our everyday symptoms though, so it’s hard to realize their importance when we are still falling down, fatigued, or in pain. When it comes to my everyday symptoms, I’ve mentioned before how medical marijuana has been a game changer for me. Today, I want to discuss something related, but more accessible, to medical marijuana that has made a major impact on my life: CBD (cannabidiol) derived from Hemp.
Hemp and CBD
When we talk about marijuana, the two cannabinoids we get the most of are CBD and THC. THC is the compound associated with the more psychoactive effects of marijuana. These effects can be helpful to those with MS, however, they are also the reason marijuana is constantly fighting a legal battle. THC is what we associate with people getting “high.” The hemp plant, however, contains a good percentage of the CBD cannabinoid and a very low percentage of THC. So people can’t really use it to get “high”, but they can use it to extract CBD for its medicinal properties. Because of this, it is much easier to obtain CBD oil produced from hemp than from the cannabis plant.1
Quality issues
This sounds great, right? It does, but the problem is that it isn’t regulated. Producing and selling CBD oil has become a big business, but it can be extremely hard to find consistent and effective product. There are various extraction methods for getting CBD oil from the hemp plant, some more effective than others, and you rarely know which method a company has used. That can making finding a consistent and effective CBD product difficult. It can also mean that many will try CBD oil and not have a positive experience and think it simply won’t work for them, when in reality, they just acquired a batch that was poorly extracted.
Consistency and quality
I’m most certainly not an expert on all things CBD, but I did do some research and found a place online that seemed well-reviewed and looked like they knew what they were doing. I was still very skeptical, more so than I was with medical marijuana. I purchased a bottle of CBD tincture that contained 500 mg of CBD into a 2 ounce bottle. I then began using this tincture each day by placing a few drops under my tongue. I found that the key for me was doing this every day regardless of how bad my symptoms were. For me, it is not an instant helper, in fact, if I know I will be extra busy on a Tuesday, I’ll take extra on that Monday. Consistency has been the important factor to me. When I take it every day, or even close to every day, my body is much better off. Less pain, less spasticity, and less fatigue. Hard to believe, even for me. This is one of the few things I’ve taken where I’ve had multiple people come up and asked me if anything changed, because they can see that I am out more and I am more active. I’ve been using this for close to eight months now and I can honestly say it’s made a huge difference in my life.
Do your own research
I know not everyone will have the same experience as me (remember, we’re all a little different), but I wanted to share what it’s done for me. I stress that consistency and quality are important aspects of CBD usage for me. Quality CBD products can be expensive, though in my experience, less expensive than medical marijuana and much more easily obtainable. As always, do some research on your own, there is a wealth of resources and groups related to CBD use for chronic illness.
Thanks for reading!
Devin
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