This Is Why I ALWAYS Talk About Cannabis

“Why do you always talk about pot?”

I was recently asked by someone on Facebook about why I keep writing and talking about cannabis.  (Actually, she used the word pot.)

I belong to several online groups for sufferers of multiple sclerosis, chronic illness, and pain. I also belong to numerous cannabis and MMJ groups.  I even write about my journey with cannabis and multiple sclerosis on my blog, Boobs, Boots, & Hair with MS.

But this wasn’t a woman I knew, so she wasn’t familiar with my story.

This was an acquaintance, a friend of a friend, that I possibly met, once, years ago.

She genuinely wanted to know.

The question didn’t feel like an attack.

It didn’t seem as if she was criticizing or mocking me.  She genuinely wanted to know, “WHY? Do you always talk about cannabis?”

So here is my answer.

For years I had little to no control over my body or my mind.  My existence was dependent on doctors, their statements, and the medications they recommended which managed my long list of unbearable symptoms.

 

I live with chronic illness.

So, doctors told me what meds should work, how to take them, and how much to take.

I was an “obedient” patient.   I tried their recommendations and when one pharmaceutical didn’t work, I would return to the doctor’s office for a slew of new medications.

This cycle may have gone on indefinitely, except the pharmaceuticals completely stopped working.

 

MS causes severe pain.

As patients, many of us require heavy-duty pharmaceuticals to ease the pain and relax the muscle spasms and spasticity associated with MS.

But unfortunately, medications don’t work for everyone. For me, they stopped providing any relief.

Severe and chronic pain loomed over my life.

The pain was so deep and so all-consuming, it was all I could think about. In those desperate days, all that mattered was the pain.

 

Honestly, I didn’t know how I could go on.

One year ago, I  reached the end – I didn’t know how I was going to continue to live every day just simply trying to survive the pain. I’d make it to the end of the day, only to know tomorrow would be exactly the same.

I lost hope.

I couldn’t imagine anything could give me my life back.  I wasn’t dreaming of being MS free–I wasn’t dreaming of being pain-free–I just wanted hope.

I wanted something that could make me believe that things could get better.

 

I ditched pharma.

It took about 3 months to wean off of all the prescription drugs. I wondered if maybe they were helping a little and I just didn’t recognize it because the pain had increased.

But the pain hadn’t increased. Coming off of the medications didn’t make my life or the pain any worse. That’s when I realized the pharmaceuticals weren’t even working. 

 

The pharmaceuticals stopped working.

For years, I had been diligently putting toxic medications into my body and they weren’t doing a damn thing.

Coming off of them didn’t make my life or the pain any worse.

 

I endured terrible side-effects.

I had endured side effects like weight-gain, constipation and dry mouth–I had risked my life with potentially deadly and addictive medications–and they weren’t even helping.

Trying MMJ took courage.

I’m fortunate to live in a state where cannabis is, both medically and recreationally legal so gaining access to it wasn’t my issue. 

Even so, it took a while to muster the courage to visit a local cannabis dispensary.

I feared the stigma.

My issues were getting over the stereotypes that exist around “marijuana.”  The couch-potato stoner chick wasn’t an image I was eager to apply to myself.

I worried about others judging me, I wondered what I would tell the five teenagers that I live with, and I feared my family wouldn’t understand, or that they would view it as me trying to “get messed up” to forget about my cloud of MS bullshit.

I wish I knew then, what I know now.

I wish I hadn’t worried what others might think.

 

Now I know, MMJ Helps.

Now I realize, this is about me and my body and what helps.  Not what others think.

In the past year, I have written about my “MMJ Adventures.”  I have shared what I have tried, what I have learned, what I have told my children, what has worked, and what hasn’t.

To sum all of it up in one sentence:

 

Cannabis has been a life changer for me.

Cannabis has restored my quality of life and it has brought me hope that life can continue to get better.

You’re not alone.

When I started my blog I wanted to share my stories of living with a chronic illness.  I always aim to be open and honest and I share all the crazy shit that goes down daily when living with MS.

I have written about peeing my pants in public and wearing diapers, issues with sex, the ending of my marriage and even a naked 911 call, all in an attempt to let others know “it isn’t just them.”

If I can make even just one person feel less alone by having them think “someone else gets it, someone understands” then I feel I have accomplished something.

I want to share my experience to help others.

So when it comes to cannabis, of course I want to share, of course I want to try and explain to people that it is a legitimate medicine that is helping me live a better life.

I’m passionate about cannabis.

So, I write and talk about pot–maybe even a lot–because I am passionate about this plant and how it has helped me.

 

Thanks to cannabis, I am living again, rather than just existing.

Cannabis awareness is on the rise. Major media is covering it more often and people are realizing it’s not an evil substance, but as a substance with health benefits.

A plant that can help people living with a variety of illnesses and medical conditions.

I write and talk about pot to educate.

Education is key, and I hope to play a role in letting people know the truths about this amazing plant and how it has helped me find the joys in living once again.

About the author:

Meg was an active 37 year old with three young kids when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  Ten years have passed, her kids are no longer little and she continues to find the reasons to laugh and smile at all this disease doles out.  She believes that her kids are better people for seeing her embrace all that comes with the disease with a positive attitude.  In her blog (bbhwithms.com) she talks about the good, the bad and the downright funny shit that happens when living with a chronic illness.  She has begun to use cannabis to help with the chronic pain and is now also sharing her “MMJ Adventures” with her readers.Trending Now