Marijuana for Sleep?
I discovered the use of marijuana when I was fighting breast cancer. Even though I am now about a year into recovery and remission, a few months ago I started having trouble sleeping again. Previous to cancer, I had been on and off of Ambien for about 11 years.
I talked to my physician about going back on Ambien, but because of some issues I had in the past, he said he would not prescribe it for me. The issue kind of ended there. However, I continued to struggle with sleeplessness. It was drastically affecting my life, and after 2 months of once again dealing with it, I had to take matters into my own hands!
I decided to try marijuana again. One of the problems was that my card, which allows me to purchase marijuana, had expired. It would now cost me another $125.00 to get a new card for a year. The second problem was that we were flat broke and could not afford to purchase the card……
I talked to my son about the issue, and once again, he offered to help us!! I just love this kid to the moon and back! He is such a sweetheart! He said, “Mom, I am very worried about you. The last time I saw you, you looked completely worn out!” Boy, he hit the nail on the head. I was at the point of near total exhaustion.
So he came down the next weekend and gave me the money to get my card. I had to go back to the marijuana doctor to get a new card. It took me about an hour. Then we headed to the medical marijuana dispensary. I once again purchased a “Red Velvet Dankie”. It is kind of like a twinkie. It is about 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. I was so excited that they still had these. It is actually red cake with the white frosting on the inside(I believe this is where the marijuana is located.)
Because I am so sensitive to any kind of drugs, including marijuana, I can cut this thing into twelfths and only take one tiny piece. I take it a couple hours before bed. I took a piece the first night, not knowing what to expect???
Well, it took another 30 minutes or so before I fell asleep. I wasn’t holding out much hope. However, I slept for 12 HOURS STRAIGHT THROUGH the first night!!! I was completely blown away. Finally, SLEEP!
I had been taking it every night for almost a month and sleeping like a baby!! I was finally beginning to feel good again and had high hopes of getting back to a schedule.
Awful News at an Awful Time
Then, out of the blue, the landlord called and told us we had to move out of the house we had rented for 5 1/2 years. She gave such short notice that it threw me into a total tailspin. We had an entire house to pack and we had to find a new place to live. And she did this to us in November. To make matters worse, it was pouring rain almost everyday and we could not find any place to rent in our price range!! We were absolutely petrified we were going to end up homeless! Then, on top of everything else, my Irritable Bowel Syndrome flared up big time and I became very, very sick. I was NOT a happy camper!! And because I was so sick, I could not get into Santa Cruz to get more Dankies. No one else can purchase the marijuana for me. I have to do it myself in person.
So now I have been very sick for almost 2 1/2 months and without my nightly fix for over a month. I am finally getting better and hope to get into the dispensary within the week. I am, once again, looking forward to 12 hours of sleep!! Fast forward a week! I got into Santa Cruz and purchased some more Red Velvet Dankies. These are the best for sleep, in my opinion anyway. I did well the first few nights. It does seem that after a while I must become immune to such a low dose. I have had to increase it to 1/12 plus 1/2 of a 12th. That seems to be working for now. I am getting between 9 and 12 hours every night. It is amazing what sleep can do for the body!
I also want to give everyone an idea of the cost. This little Dankie cost $14.00. Sometimes there is a small discount or sometimes it might be on special. But for all intents and purposes, I always assume the cost to be $14.00. That may sound expensive to some people. But because I can take such a small dose, it costs me between $1.25 and $1.40 per day to get a really good nights sleep. I definitely do not have a problem paying that for a good nights sleep! Some of my other drugs over the last couple of years have cost me as much as $6.00 a pill. When I have to take Lovenox shots (because I am on Warfarin for blood clots) before surgery, those shots run from $20.00 to $80.00 PER SHOT!!! Yep, you heard that right. Of course, the $80.00 is only after we have fallen in the donut hole for drug coverage. But that did happen to us when I was first diagnosed with Cancer.
I live in California in Santa Cruz county where marijuana is easily accessible for medicinal purposes. I realize not everyone has this good fortune. And for that, I am very sorry. My heart goes out to all the people who do not have access. I have always been an advocate for Medicinal Marijuana and I will continue to do what I can to promote it. I honestly do not know what I would have done if I had not had marijuana when I was fighting Breast Cancer. Marijuana allowed me to eat (very little, but I did keep down small portions) and to sleep when I really needed it. Personally, I do not like any of the side effects, but it really is a small price to pay for the benefits.
However, if you have any questions about marijuana and its uses, or how it might help you, PLEASE feel free to contact me. I am by no means an expert. But I can share how it has helped me and continues to help me. It can be very confusing in the beginning.
