In 2003 I was 31 years old, I had the job I had always dreamed of, I lived in a beautiful city, I had what I thought would be my last relationship and an amazing 5 year old son. From where I was standing, life was looking pretty good, even though I had experienced a pretty severe trauma a couple of years before hand with the sudden death of my son’s father. I was a Clinical Liaison working with Seriously Mentally Ill individuals who also happened to be substance abusers; it was tough work that I found highly rewarding, even though the hours were long and the emotional stress could take it’s toll. I believe the people I counseled benefited from working with me because I had a bit of a different outlook on mental illness than others. I truly believed that the only thing that separated myself from my clients was a traumatic life event, and I didn’t realize how close to the truth my philosophy ended up being. By 2006 I was in chronic pain, I couldn’t keep food down, I couldn’t sleep, I had severe anxiety, all of my muscles were in a full on revolt, I was taking more medications than I could list without a post-it note, I was no longer able to be an effective parent or partner, and my entire world was turned upside down. Needless to say all of my education and life experiences suddenly meant nothing when it came to dealing with this new obstacle in my life and I spiraled into depression, self-pity and I literally stayed in bed for 3 years.

Every day my son would peek in the bedroom door to see if I was awake before he went to school and give me gentle kisses and be off, yet when he got home, or on the weekends, he would grab his pillows and blankets early in the morning, along with his video games and he and I would spend all day in the bedroom playing games and napping. My partner sank into depression right along with me, well beside me in bed, as our lives had changed so drastically and we were still trying to catch up. In less than a year I had gone from hiking, fishing, hunting, walking everyday and being an active family member to living in the bedroom. I had become a walking pharmacy and the amount of opioids I was being prescribed was truly insane! I was not an advocate for myself or my health yet, so I took all of my pills just like the bottles said, which turned me into a bobblehead who didn’t drive, didn’t cook, didn’t parent, didn’t partner, I didn’t DO anything. One day I realized I had a choice to make, live or die, and I wasn’t ready to die yet, so it was time to get educated! I truly believe education is the greatest weapon a person can have in their arsenal in life, so I embraced the education sources in the new “green” rush that was in full swing in 2009-2010 and dove in with entire soul into my journey to wellness through marijuana! The person I had thought I would spend my entire life with was not part of my wellness plan as he was not ready to change his life like I was, so as my journey began, I left some things behind that had been holding me down, and I have never looked back.

Now it’s 2019, I have been a medical marijuana card holder in Arizona for several years, I am engaged to another card holder and marijuana enthusiast, our children are part of our journey, and although I still couldn’t hold down a regular forty hour a week job, I am back to LIVING and wanting to share my experience with the world. Along the way I have been able to leave quite a few medications behind, and although I am sure I will dedicate an entire blog post to this subject, I thought showing people exactly the things I have eliminated from my life on this journey would be incentive to start their own voyage to wellness!
*Buspar
*Ativan
*Seroquel
*Gabapentin
*Cyclobenzeprine
*Metformin
*Oxycodone (down to 5mg once a week, from 10mg 4x’s a day)
I hope if you have found your way through to the end of this post that you too are wanting to start your journey into wellness through marijuana!
Sincerely,
Nicole

Since I started this adventure, I decided it was in your best interests and mine to educated myself more in cannabis! Since the covid-19 pandemic I have been busy studying and gaining certificates from Green-Flower Academy and my brain is on fire with all of the amazing information I have been gathering!

** It is now November of 2020, and I have taken on the study epigenetics and helping people balance their endocannabinoid systems through genetics through training from David Krantz of CannaDNA and Apeiron ZOH Academy! I went straight to the source of the most cutting edge science to find out how to better manage our endocannabinoid systems!! Ask me how!!!

Photo Credit – Kimzy Nanney at Unsplash