Cannabis and Autoimmune Health
Getting Personal About My AS (Ankylosing Spondylitis) Diagnosis—And How Cannabis Consumption Has Saved Me Time & Time Again
One of my favorite organizations, Realm of Caring, dedicated the month of March to bringing awareness to various autoimmune diseases and how cannabis may serve as an ally to those who suffer.
To wrap up Autoimmune Awareness Month, I joined in their final webinar to discuss my own personal journey with cannabis for Ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
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Can you speak to your experience with cannabis? What led you to it? And how has it played a part in your autoimmune journey?
My usage started with cannabis when I was 19. I had recently gotten a 0.87 GPA my first semester in college. Meanwhile, the resident pot head on my floor was the only one that made the Honor Roll.
And that made me want to try cannabis—because this was not what the D.A.R.E. program had told me about weed!
Once I tried the plant, I could sleep better. I felt better about life and the world. I was happy, I could eat. There was so much inside me that felt fixed once I consumed this plant.
So from that moment on, I would not shut up about it. I’ve been telling people about cannabis ever since.
Last October I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that takes about 10 years to get diagnosed for: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Only 0.5 - 2% of the population has it.
I suspected I had an autoimmune issue for a long time, but didn’t know what it was. But it literally takes over my life at times, and from 2021 to December of 2023 I was very sick.
My doctors & family have all been wondering how I made it this far without any traditional medicinal intervention, such as pharmaceuticals.
And 100% of the way it was the cannabis protecting me, helping me feel better, helping me get into a state where I can heal and survive.
So unbeknownst to me, cannabis has been saving me in so many ways all these years, more ways than I ever initially realized.
I only learned all of this after becoming The Cannabis Cutie, and I’m still processing it all.
A lot of our viewers are mothers, and so they wrote in and asked about what your experience has been like as a mom in cannabis.
There was a period where I didn’t want my kids to know anything about cannabis. And so I hid it for a long time.
Then one day I was out on my patio doing a live with some friends, and we had champagne and joints.
And one of my kids came out there, and I hid the joint under the table, but the champagne I didn’t do anything to hide it.
And in that moment I realized—wait, wait, wait—one of these things is harming my body and the other is helping. What am I doing?!
Shortly after that, the pandemic hit, so I had the opportunity and time to grow my own cannabis outdoors.
After we finished growing, I asked my kids, was there anything evil about that plant?
They were so confused, so I finally explained to them that this plant can help with your eczema, and it can help peoples’ brains, and help with cancer—but a police officer is going to come to your school and tell you the exact opposite and you cannot correct them.
That was the beginning, and now when we go to family functions, my children are observing how the alcohol consumers are behaving versus the cannabis consumers.
Now my daughter is 13 and she wants to try it, I am NOT ready for that! But she does associate cannabis use with people eating, relaxing, and having a good time, versus the ways she has seen drunk people behave.
So that’s how I began talking to them about it via plant education first. And then I was able to explain to them why mommy uses it.
And even more so now that I have my diagnosis, and they did watch how I changed so much and how cannabis helped me. So that was the organic way of doing it.
What would you advise a mom who would prefer to keep her consumption more private from her children?
I would tell her to wait until she’s ready and comfortable to talk to her kids about it, and then just lead with education.
Kids genuinely just want the truth about things. And they can tell when something isn’t true, and they’ll keep hounding you until they get the truth.
So if you can come at an age appropriate level and give them the science behind how it’s helping mommy, kids just want their moms to be happy! So if you focus on that and your responsible use, that’s all they need.
Another mom wrote in asking if this has been hard for you to bring up with family and friends?
Yes, it was really hard. I stayed in the closet for 10 years, for a full decade, because I was a square!
I was a really good kid that never got in trouble, got good grades, and all the awards and scholarships.
So I was scared, because in Oklahoma in 2008 when I started consuming, it was like the equivalent of crack or heroin.
And then I was judged by a lot of people I loved. My mother tried to do an intervention, and my brothers were like, “She’s the most successful one in family, we’re not going there. It’s working.”
So there was a lot of judgment, and now those same people are asking me, “Indica or Sativa?”
People get over it.
Someone else wrote in asking for someone brand new to cannabis, how would you recommend they go about trying it if they’re nervous?
That nervousness will play a big part in how your first experience goes.
Intentionality is so important with consumption.
People know this when it comes to mushrooms: you don’t take them when you’re in a loud place with people you don’t know.
The same thing can happen with cannabis. So you want to make sure you’re not thinking about that job you hate, that relationship that’s stressing you out, those bills you’ve got to pay…
You really want to set your intention with the plant and say: “I’m using this to calm myself.”
Or, “I’m using this so I can be creative.” Or, “So I can get some good sleep.”
That matters so much. And also smelling the bud and seeing how your body reacts.
If you smell it and it makes you nauseous, do not try it. But if you smell it and your body reacts positively to it, that’s something for you.
And most importantly, you have to start low and go slow. Do not try to start with a huge bong rip or 20 mg edibles to impress your friends.
You really have to be mindful because this plant can turn on you. And you want her to be your ally.
So if you’re scared, find a strain that you react well to, and take one hit of a joint or bowl. But do not go in with any ego because this plant will humble you.
You address this some in your ebook, but what led you to wanting to help people craft their experiences?
These questions are always in my DMs. Why do I get anxious when I smoke sometimes?
So that’s part of why I wrote this ebook to address questions like that. And I have a cannabis book club that’ll be 4 years old this year, and we’ve read several books on cannabis and spirituality.
That helped shift my perspective even more that this is a sacrament that requires your respect, and mindless use of anything that can alter your mind is NOT the way to go about it.
That’s when I decided people need to know this, that with intentionality we can better guide our cannabis experiences.
Some of our viewers are asking do they need to consume cannabis daily to receive the benefits or just for an autoimmune flare-up?
That one is up to preference. Some people don’t like feeling intoxicated, so they may want to only consume when having a painful flare-up.
Because when you’re in pain, you generally won’t feel as intoxicated anyway.
For daily use, you could try CBD. It’s known to help reduce inflammation in the body, but because there’s not a lot of studies, we don’t know how it could affect someone with rheumatoid arthritis or Hashimoto's long term.
It really depends on the person.
Ultimately we have to learn how to be our own doctors with this plant. Our doctors can’t give us advice, I give my doctors advice when it comes to this.
My doctors know what I do, so they often ask me how they themselves can get started using cannabis for pain.
So it’s really up to you—if you don’t need to consume every day, more power to you!
But for someone like myself, I have to consume daily because I’m absolutely going to wake up every morning in pain. So sometimes I use a topical, sometimes an edible, sometimes inhaling.
This is an opportunity for you to really get to know your body and find out what it needs! Day to day.
Yes, so often is the patient or the patient’s parents that end up having to advocate for their needs in this system.
For someone not living in a legal state, they’re wondering if CBD could be a helpful alternative for them?
Yes, CBD has definitely been known to help the immune system. Theoretically, a daily dose of CBD should be equivalent to another NSAID like Ibuprofen, but again we don’t know enough yet.
You would have to be the one journaling your experience: I did this for 30 days, I took this much, and I felt xyz.
This is how we learn our dose, you have to find the sweet spot. Cannabis works on a bell curve, too little there’s no therapeutic benefit, too much there’s no therapeutic benefit…or you can feel even worse.
So CBD can be a great option if you don’t live in a legal state.
Someone else asked, do you feel like cannabis enhances the medicines given by doctors, or could even replace them?
I would never replace any medication without talking to your doctor. They can work together.
There have been studies that have shown people who are prescribed opioids need less when combined with cannabinoids, but I wouldn't stop treatment altogether.
So talk to your doctor, and maybe you can do both. But I wouldn’t ever stop your treatment plan until you’re sure you’ve found relief with the plant.
Personally I use it in conjunction with my medications, and I seem to have success there. Versus when I try to do it without medication—I tried to do that for a long time—and those attacks used to beat me up.
So now pharmaceuticals are also an ally. It’s all about finding the balance.
Do you have a lot of people who ask you how to personalize your own experience with this plant? Do you teach on this ever?
Yes, I speak on this quite a bit. One of the most common questions is: what’s your favorite strain?
And the answer always is, it depends on how I’m feeling. But it’s never anything orangey or citrusy.
My answer is always get some pencil and paper. You need to start studying yourself and journaling about your usage and the effects, it’s such an introspective journey.
But when it comes to autoimmune conditions, especially for women, they don’t take our pain seriously.
I went to the hospital in a full blown AS attack, and the ER told me I had a UTI.
I felt so gaslit and I was just beside myself.
So especially for women dealing with autoimmune issues, YOU HAVE TO KNOW MORE THAN YOUR DOCTORS KNOW.
You’re the one that’s living in your body, so I will preach until the end of time that YOU have to figure this out.
So in a situation like that, how would you advise they advocate for themselves when their needs are being dismissed by traditional medicine?
For me, I had to get a female, woman of color rheumatologist. My last rheumatologist was like, no, 90% of people that have AS are white males.
Which is true because white males are believed when they say they’re in pain!
For me, they wanted to see permanent damage before I got my diagnosis.
And unfortunately, by the time I got my diagnosis from my new doctor, there was permanent damage that would have qualified me for that AS diagnosis.
If your team is not willing to listen to you or respect you, then that’s not your doctor.
And that’s fine, doctors are someone you’re in a relationship with as a sick person. And if you don’t like that relationship, break up!
Get a new partner, there are people that will advocate for you and fight for you. And my new doctor fights for me, with the insurance companies, with whoever she has to.
She was the first person to take me seriously, and say she didn’t need to see my spine fusing together. She’d get an MRI if she couldn’t see it on X-ray.
So find a team that really wants to help you and cares for you.
Do you recommend journaling for consumers?
Yes, definitely journal how you’re feeling before you consume. Document what product you’re using, where it’s from, strain name, date it was harvested, how it smells.
Then record how you’re feeling about 15 minutes after consumption, and then again an hour or several hours after. To really see how it’s affecting you.
This is how I figured out that orange terpenes weren’t working for me.
Speaking of terpenes, someone else asked about cannabis for working out.
Again this is so personal, because some people really like citrus terpenes.
That can rev up their heart rate and get them to go and be a really effective pre-workout for some people.
I personally love cannabis for post-workout. Working out puts your body into a state of stress, which is a trigger for autoimmune conditions.
So after I work out, it’s so important for me to get my heart rate down, and consuming with intention cannabis aids me in feeling calm.
So I love it for post-workout. And if you’re using a pre workout that makes you jittery, cannabis is a great way to get that to go away afterwards too.
To find a terpene that will give you energy, you’ve got to put on your science hat.
I personally do not have any cannabis that helps me with energy anymore, I have autoimmune fatigue.
So again, totally up to personal use.
Would you say there’s a good amount of research people can dive into when it comes to using cannabis for pain and inflammation?
Yes, there’s tons of research out there—not coming out of the US unfortunately. Israel, Italy, Canada, they’re definitely looking at this, especially when it comes to adolescents.
But we do know that the CB2 receptors are responsible for modulating the immune system. And we know that cannabis is an amazing pain alleviator.
Professional athletes have been talking about this for years and years and years.
PubMed is my favorite place to go for anything health related. And if you see anything alarming, pay attention to who funded the study.
Typically if it’s US government funded, you may notice some bias.
So I like to go with studies from outside the US for my information.
For someone that prefers smoking and inhaling cannabis, what advice would you give them for modulating the residual effects of that?
So for me, I prefer inhalation methods. Which is actually helpful for my asthma.
Inhalation is not a new form of medicine. As an asthmatic as a child, I had 11 medications, and about 6 were inhalers and breathing treatments.
We’ve been conditioned to think that smoking is bad because of cigarettes. But it’s the way that tobacco plants are conventionally grown today, they end up becoming carcinogenic.
So smoking a pack of cigarettes is like exposing yourself to 30 x-rays. It’s absolutely terrible.
But if you want to consume plants by smoking them and protect your lungs—based on a study that came out of UCLA—you want to make sure you’re using clean glass for starters!
Do not smoke out of dirty, moldy glass or water. Just clean it.
And I prefer smoking with hemp papers or blunt wraps, and that gives me the least amount of irritation.
Regular rice papers cause me to wheeze, and bong rips are too much smoke generally.
This is a great reminder that the quality of the products you’re consuming, and how you're consuming them matters. So how would you recommend people find quality cannabis consumption products?
You want to always look at the Certificate of Analysis, their testing results, to make sure that it’s healthy cannabis.
If you’re buying from the legacy market, just do a good job inspecting. This is something you’re putting into your body, so if it looks weird, and especially if you’re someone with an autoimmune disorder, you want to be really mindful of what you're putting in your body.
And check the dates on things and ensure it’s been properly stored. If it’s old and has been stored in a moist environment, it could be moldy.
Also filter as much smoke as you can, I love using Moose Labs Mouth Peaces for this reason. They catch a lot of resin and particles. It’s all about doing your best to remove the bad so you can just get the good from the plant.
Once you find a brand that you like, stick with it. Once you find something that your body responds well to, stick with it.
Any thoughts on dry herb vaporizing? Someone else is asking….
I’ve stepped away from that because whatever they’re adding to it can make my lungs feel horrible.
There are some companies that have great products, like Puffco. But there are too many horror stories about vaporizing and people being hospitalized for it.
So dry vaping if you have a good product like a Pax, I’m all for it. But it’s a little controversial, we’re still learning about what it’s all doing.
What do you want to leave people with about your Bless the Blunt ebook or just in general?
I hope the ebook and this whole discussion gives you the confidence to not fear the plant. Yes, it's a powerful plant, but it’s all about how you approach it.
I hope this inspires you to take the leap of faith and begin your journey with caution, and love, and intention.
And/or educate other people that are curious about it. I’m just one person, and when I started there wasn’t a lot of people on the internet doing this.
Now there’s a lot, but we still need millions more to really get this plant back to normalcy and not being demonized.
There’s no need to fear this plant. You just need to give her that guidance so that she can.
Bless the blunt
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