CBD

I tried cbd to try to help my anxiety but I didn’t notice any improvement, I’ve tried 3 different brands - none seemed to help. It’s so expensive that I decided to accept that it didn’t work for me. I did like the taste though (I hear a lot of people say they hate the taste). If I had more money to spare I’d probably try it for longer - but as things are I can’t waste money on something that doesn’t seem to work. It’s disappointing as I had high hopes for it. 
has anyone tried actual marijuana to help with anxiety? I haven’t had any since I was a student and I didn’t much like it then. 

Yup.  I am now registered with the Sapphire Clinic under their access to cannabis based medicines scheme.  And just before the first lockdown I became a member of a local cannabis club, which offered meetups, products and information on cannabis, in all its various forms.  

It's not something I ever imagined doing and certainly, after one bad experience at university years ago, I'd decided it wasn't for me.  But at the cannabis club they had a range of really tasty looking edibles and, taken in that form, I found it as much more pleasant experience.  

Then, once I realised both oils and bud were available via the new cannabis clinics and both autism and anxiety were qualifying conditions, I decided to try it.  

Result:. excellent for my anxiety, sleep issues and to promote overall relaxation.  The doses can be standardised and I really like the oils.  Reliably effective and, after years of failed prescriptions (SSRIs and beta blockers) plus OTC remedies (passiflora, valerian, rescue remedy a etc) plus self medicating with alcohol, I realised that this came closest of all to being what I always needed.  

I wish it hadn't taken me until age 56 to discover it!

Yup.  I am now registered with the Sapphire Clinic under their access to cannabis based medicines scheme.  And just before the first lockdown I became a member of a local cannabis club, which offered meetups, products and information on cannabis, in all its various forms.  

It's not something I ever imagined doing and certainly, after one bad experience at university years ago, I'd decided it wasn't for me.  But at the cannabis club they had a range of really tasty looking edibles and, taken in that form, I found it as much more pleasant experience.  

Then, once I realised both oils and bud were available via the new cannabis clinics and both autism and anxiety were qualifying conditions, I decided to try it.  

Result:. excellent for my anxiety, sleep issues and to promote overall relaxation.  The doses can be standardised and I really like the oils.  Reliably effective and, after years of failed prescriptions (SSRIs and beta blockers) plus OTC remedies (passiflora, valerian, rescue remedy a etc) plus self medicating with alcohol, I realised that this came closest of all to being what I always needed.  

I wish it hadn't taken me until age 56 to discover it!

Same here ... St. John’s wort made me feel really strange and I knocked it on the head pretty quickly.

Well, I think responses are individual and also depend upon the strain used and the manner and frequency of ingestion.  As it stands i've been using it for around 2 years with no ill effects.  However, I do take tolerance breaks every so often plus I'm monitored by the Sapphire Clinic.  I'm getting standardised doses plus taking it either by vaping or oils under the tongue. 

I'm currently taking temazepam when i need it, often call the doctors and they'll prescribe me a weeks worth. suffer from chronic insomnia

magic mushrooms & cannabis highly recommended avoiding them if you have ADHD, i say this from experience. 

I have no experience of mushrooms, although a contact from the local cannabis clinic did recommend microdosing with magic mushrooms for managing ADHD and settling the mind. 

Diazapam actually worked for me.  However, this was as a teenager when my dad (probably in a misunderstood and misdiagnosed bout of autistic burnout) was prescribed the good, old-fashioned massive capsules that probably would have sedated a horse!  The tablets just seemed to put him in a more sleepy and detached state but I found they helped me at 6th form when I had to do a presentation and felt I couldn't get out of it.  Nowadays they are, of course, much more careful and you can only get tiny pills - much safer, no doubt, but they probably wouldn't help me with extreme anxiety.   

I tried St, John's wort many years ago, it just made me appallingly angry and short-tempered, the Incredible Hulk had nothing on me. CBD seems to lift my mood in a general sort of way, I haven't noticed any unpleasant side-effects.

I'm very happy with Sapphire and get everything through them but the Project 21 cannabis is price capped - currently at £5/g but they are proposing to increase it to £7.50/g, I think.  Sapphire no longer do Project 21 but I think that the Project 21 site gives you a list of clinics that do.  However, Sapphire are prescribing an increasing range of products at £5/g anyway, both sativa and indica, plus their consultations are cheaper and there are no prescription fees.  So it may be a case of compare and contrast.

I would check out the answers on the FB group if possible as there you'll be able to harness a much wider range of knowledge and experience.  I've only been registered with Sapphire for just over a year, although my cannabis club experience provided a useful lead in.   But the FB group is growing rapidly (currently 4500 members) and there are some useful pinned posts. 

There are some teething problems around stock levels and waits for prescriptions but, as I see it, this is a fairly new area and I feel glad to be involved from the beginning.  As part of the Sapphire Access Scheme I am required to complete questionnaires, maybe quarterly or so, to feed into their database of patient experiences.  They're building up an evidence base so you'd also be contributing to that as well as getting their access scheme discount.  Maybe follow Sapphire on FB too, to get a feel for what they're doing?

All of my consultations are over Zoom so I find it very quick and convenient.  You do need to have tried two other meds first, before they'll be able to prescribe medical cannabis for any particular condition, but with a long history of anxiety and failed attempts to adequately deal with it, I had all the information to hand.  You may well find the same. 

Thank you - I had no idea about all of this. I really appreciate you explaining it. So do you get all this through the Sapphire website? Or Project 21? Where is the bast place for me to start? Thanks :) 

Yes, it's really helped.  I was amazed and my sleep has improved massively.  It can get pricey but it works.

My THC oil is £80 for 30ml but this lasts 3 months.  The bud (which they call "flos") starts at £5/gram which is half the price of street cannabis.  It can work out more expensive if that strain is out of stock though.  However, the advice is to start low and slow so you might not need very much.  My current strain is gorilla glue, which my son thinks is very cool (he knows more about the different strains than I do!)

There's also a consultation fee of £50 per quarter, which I don't think is too bad for private medicine, although to my mind it should be available on the NHS on prescription and being forced to go privately clashes with my left-leaning beliefs.  But we're in a hard place here and I'm doing what I believe we have to.  

NB. For me the Facebook group is the most useful and you can search for previous queries on how to get started.  There are some very experienced users in the group, including several autistic people and ADHDers.  

Thank you. I’ve just googled Sapphire Clinic but it won’t show it - I think the very strict parental controls on my broadband deal are blocking it! Which is quite funny

I will check it out though - I’m very interested in this. Has it really helped you? What form does it come in? And how much does it cost? Thanks :)

I've heard of project 21. I have quite an interest in "drug" science, indeed there's a great podcast of this name. My friend takes cbd and says it helps her anxiety. 

I've started looking more into lions mane and now come across a few other mushroom types so I don't know which one to get. https://totalgardener.com/take-reishi-lions-mane-together/ 

I trust the information as ive heard a well known mycologist talk of the virtues of medicinal mushrooms.

When I had really bad anx, the dr prescribed me some diazepam amd that didn't  touch the sides either. 

I did take St John's wort for a while but lapsed eventually because it only made a slight difference and my anxiety was off the scale.  Not tried lion's mane though.  

THC and CBD definitely hit the spot though.  :)

If you look up Project21, the cannabis pages, Sapphire Clinic or join the Medical Cannabis Forum UK on Facebook that should give you some idea.  Or maybe just Cancard, if you're just concerned about being stopped by police and want something to indicate that it's for medical use.  

Some of it is expensive, mind, although I find the oil lasts me for around 3 months each time.  

I'm currently taking st John's wort if I need it but I know when I'm in a high state of anx it makes no difference. I'm looking into lions mane extract. I don't think it helps with anxiety as such, I think it's more for brain function overall.  I'm hoping if it'll help with focus and concentration, I'll have more reserves for dealing with the anx.

Can you recommend a place online where I can get this? Thanks :)