If you're not taking "any" prescription drugs, CBD is about the best medicine to keep your good health intact (along with diet and exercise). But if you are already taking several medications; you just need to figure out how and when to take CBD with them, so you don't hurt yourself. That's all.
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I enlisted in the Army and trained as a medic at Ft. Sam Houston, San Antonio Texas. The year was 1968.
I lost my best friend in Vietnam and many other friends as well. Wounded or not they all came back damaged. Many of them with damage to their central nervous systems due to toxic smoke or agent orange. I understand.
What's new is CBD, a wonder drug that is totally unregulated and grossly under studied. More research is coming in every day and it couldn't be more clear what a wonder "drug" it truly is. Modern pharma has nothing even close to as effective in specific areas.
On the other side of the coin, most of us of my vintage take some kind of blood pressure meds. Here's the rub. In the simplest terms, some blood pressure meds like Metropolol are processed in the liver as is CBD. What that means is that if you are taking CBD and a blood pressure meds commonly used on a regular basis .... the CBD can dominate these receptors and not allow a drug like Metropolol in. This causes a traffic jam and an unwanted buildup. Making it strong enough that when it finally gets an opening, it can come in like Putin and all his tanks. It can and has, under these circumstances, caused blood pressure to drop to dangerous levels and at the least can cause you to be dizzy and unstable and even pass out (or worse). If your blood pressure is all over the place... this could be the reason.
Metropolol is not the only hazard in using CBD. Do yourself a life saving favor and look at the long list of medicines you should be very careful using with CBD.
We are presenting both the positive and negative effects... so we (and our doctors) are able to help us make well informed decisions. On the theory that without good information the product itself will be gobbled up by BIG PHARMA "to protect us".
When you are our age and drop dead (I've had several friends and relatives who have literally done that... one hit the kitchen floor so hard he broke his nose). How did some of them die (one was 45)... we'll never know in most cases. They died because their hearts stopped. In fact that's how we all die. Cardiac arrest. If you are on more than three or four meds you're already brewing up an unknown cocktail. Just be sure that you don't add anything that's already proven to have negative results. Nuff said.
CANNABIS
Today pot can be 6 times as potent as it was when you first smoked it and 30% THC is everywhere. The result is that if you give a compromised old or young person a joint with that concentration of Sativa in it. They can, crudely put, freak out and blow a tube.
We used to fantasize about one hit pot. Well, my friends, it's here. So here's my strategy for keeping my own blood pressure under control:
Most of us older soldiers die in the morning when we all have elevated blood pressure to get us up and going according to the nature of things.
Smoking a strong Sativa in the morning is not good at this age... in fact it's flat out dangerous. So find a good indica instead.
Indicas actually lower your blood pressure when used properly. And for Pete's sake let your doctor know what you're doing and why. Show him the CFAH list of drug interactions as well. They won't have it most likely.
Smoke your pot and leave your blood pressure cup on. When you first smoke it... take one hit and check your blood pressure. Then check it again in a half hour. It can drop as low as 30 points in that second check with the right indica. I know first hand. and the right indica (or balanced hybrid) in moderation won't give you an unwanted and dangerous spike... in fact it will do just the opposite.
How do I test this pot? I have a pressure cup that also reads arrhythmia (which I have if I get off course). I read my blood pressure, check it for arrhythmia and write it down. Three times a day initially with many different varieties. I've done this so much that I just feel my pulse now to see how hard it's having to push and to feel for any arrhythmia (but I trust the cup for recordable effects). My best advice... if your blood pressure is hard to control or "resistant" to blood pressure meds; is to find a dispensary that's been in business from the beginning. Has 8 or 10 years experience and lots of good reviews.
Don't go for the cheap pot no matter how much thc it promises. I've bought pot like that at unbelievable prices and coughed so hard smoking it that I put it in the garage and forgot about it. Indoor well cultivated pot will not make you tear your lungs up. The difference between top shelf pot and mediocre pot is not even 2 bucks a gram. Yet top drawer pot is often twice as potent and "easy/healthy" smoking.
So if you can control yourself and not get catatonic by taking 4 gigantic hits. You're getting twice the smoke for just a fraction more of the cost. Top shelf will stretch your precious dollars a whole lot further if you are sensible in your consumption.
Well, that's all my preaching for the day.
1. Find a dispensary with lots of good reviews and a long track record in the business. And when you find a great strain that works for you... BUY THE GROWER you like, who has a commitment to grow that strain and buy it from a dispensary you have confidence and a relationship with.
2. Buy good top shelf pot from at least a tier one producer with 8 or ten years in the business.
3. Smoke just enough to get the effect you want and don't hurt yourselves needlessly overdoing it.
4. And... smoke on in good health my friends.
Your Friend, Captain Ron
P.S. "AGAIN" Buy the Grower". At the mininum... find the best "tier one" producer you can. 500 plants is a serious business commitment so they're in for the duration. A thousand plant grow would be even a better shot for availability these days. Unless you can find that grower there is too much opportunity for the next ounce to be radically different than the one you last bought.
Feel free to email me at thierfelderron@gmail.com