Hello friends & HAPPY SPRING!

Cody bought me these flowers this morning and they make me so happy it is finally spring!

I am so grateful to have some time to share some of my personal experiences with CBD and Medical Cannabis.

I feel that I’ve been distant lately on the blog but I want to say thank you for reading this and following along on my journey. I LOVE taking photos and capturing a place that I can later associate a feeling with. I love to travel and meet new people and experience new things. The reason why I am explaining all of this is because I am so spotty with blogging but I have a strong desire to share more. I have been working to become more active with videos on my Instagram and have been considering trying a video blog series so that I can share information more quickly. The hard part is slowing down enough to sit still and type up my thoughts. I usually have wonderful thoughts and ideas but then forget to write them down or never get around to it. So thank you for sticking around and following!

Please know you are always welcome to message me to talk about a topic or just connect. I just want to share my journey with you all in hopes of inspiring YOU to “live your best life” (this was my sister’s line the whole night we danced and sang along with Taylor Swift in Cleveland last July). Let’s get into it… CBD and medical cannabis. And yes they fall into the self-care category for me. CBD helps with my bodily pains from cancer and the more psychoactive components of cannabis help me to chill out and sleep at night.

So here I am sitting on my couch in my Denver apartment. I have centered my focus the last year on listening, observing, experimenting, changing, and loving my own body. I have breast cancer and I always will. We have put it to sleep by removing my ovaries, resting, eating nutritious foods, taking meds to fight back, and many more things. Throughout all of this I guess the biggest thing I learned is to take care of my body. This includes listening to it and adjusting our lifestyle based on the needs of our bodies. It is okay to cancel plans to rest – maybe you can prevent a cold this way, or give your body the boost it needs to fight off an impending flu. So we will start with this principle to self care – Listen to your body. Now onto the topic of CBD…

CBD was something that I never understood until I personally needed to learn. I never had a chronic pain to test out its effects on until about a year ago. Once I got to the point, maybe six months ago, where I wanted out of this pain in my bone (pain from cancer invading it, not a broken bone or surgical bone pain), I tried it as a way of running away from the pain, finding relief no matter how fleeting. It is a temporary fix and it can get costly to take this regularly but it has drastically changed my quality of life. I jump around sometimes just because I physically can. So let’s get you some helpful info on approaching CBD. I am not a doctor, just a cancer patient. Consult your doctor before trying anything new.

Here is what I have learned. CBD stands for cannabidiol and is a naturally occuring compound found in cannabis. CBD can be derived from a hemp plant or a cannabis plant and our body has receptors for CBD – this is why it is so helpful for relieving so many different symptoms. CBD can help with body pains, anxiety, inflammation, seizures, and many many more symptoms. If this is something that you are interested in trying this is where I would start:

1. Do some research first (and make sure it is a reliable source).
2. Discuss this with you doctor and make sure it will not affect other medicines or treatments you are currently undergoing.
3. Determine where you want to purchase.*
4. Discuss with the doctor/CBD manufacturer what dosage they recommend you start with. From what I have read and experienced, 10mg is a good amount to start out with. (I currently take 25mg each morning and some nights. There are options to take gummies throughout the day to help with symptoms.)
5. Explore your options!
6. Ask questions!
7. Do more research (this is important with any alternative medicine treatments. Find out more!)
8. Give it a few days and see how it makes you feel.
9. Listen to your body and adjust accordingly.

*I have tried quite a few brands out and explored my options. I was looking for something natural with no additives, made out of intentionally sourced ingredients. Contact the brands and explain what you are looking for. With my research two brands that I have found success for my bone pain and some anxiety with are Infinite CBD and Clearly Edibles.

Now onto the more taboo topic – cannabis as a medicine. I have smoked cannabis in the past but my smoking habits changed drastically with cancer. I am much more mindful of what I am putting into my body and this includes cannabis. What chemicals do they use when growing? With edibles – how much sugar is in this, what kind of preservatives are in it?

It is all a tough topic, especially if you live in a state where it has recently been legalized and the market is new OR it is not legal at all. So I am not going to tell you what you should or should not take but just some things to look out for in the cannabis industry in your search for comfort in your body and mind. So if you’re thinking of staring the search for something to help you in the medical cannabis world here’s where I would start…

1. Research laws in your state and start finding companies you want to try or contact for resources.
2. Know what is in the products you are buying and consuming (butane, propane, sugar…)
3. Try it out when you have nowhere to be to see how it affects you.
4. What are the effects on my body – (lungs and smoking, grogginess after some edibles…)
5. Recognize that everything affects everyone differently and try what works for you after discussing with your doctor. Some doctors may not be comfortable discussing this. I live in Colorado and my doctor is very well-versed in cannabis as a medicine.
6. Ask questions! (Can you tell I ask a lot of questions?)
7. Start somewhere and be patient.

I only take edibles for sleeping. No matter how many I try and how little I take they make me tired. So when I started the search for something to help me snooze through my worrisome mind I thought that edibles may work… and they do. I take an edible most nights before bed and I sleep like a baby. Again, this is all from my experience in my BODY (which is different than everyone else) and this worked for me. I research everything and check with multiple sources before trying a new alternative medicine option. If you find any interesting articles or studies in your research, please share with me in the comments!

Good luck in your search! Never stop trying to heal your pains in your body and worries in your mind. You are the power and you are doing so great! Just remember that!

As always, thanks for reading – I love you and thank you so so so much for the support!

Don’t forget that YOU are the power!

Paige