What Is Cannabinoid Replacement Therapy?

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I’ve been using multiple cannabinoids to handle a multitude of issues that arise when a person decides to exchange a pharmaceutical protocol used for decades to cannabinoid medicine only for chronic pain management. The hurdles can make things a bit tricky, what was identified through a lot of trial and error is that there is a trifecta of events that must be considered and managed.

The Trifecta: What is it and how do we fight it?

1.) The Wean & Withdrawal:

This is the first stage and for most will require larger doses of cannabinoid medicine. For me personally, the THC doses were in the 100’s of milligrams, CBD followed behind at about 10-20% of the THC dose to help comfort the inflammation that seemed to engulf my body. CBN, which comes from oxidized THC, seems to provide the most relief in calming the muscle and body spasms as well as allowing rest. The initial withdrawal, the physical part, was intense but seemed to be over within 10 days.

At that time I thought that opioids were out of my system but was wrong as they started back up again. Long-term use (such as in my case – decades) will generally require double the time to exit the drug from both blood and urine. This still doesn’t mean it’s completely gone from the system. But during withdrawal the main focus isn’t on the substance itself at all, it’s on making sure hydration and food intake are kept up and for the most part, keeping seizures at bay – even for people that don’t have Epilepsy. I had a bit more of a challenge and was faced with a lot of floor time (breakthrough seizures from withdrawal) that caused even more pain. High THC oil was used as a rescue to stop seizures and did on every occasion within seconds after being given.

High doses of THC inhaled and ingested along with CBN seemed to be the answer but it certainly didn’t stop all the pain nor did it get me up and going again. For lack of better words after the initial withdrawal I was so depressed I didn’t want to write articles on here or post anything – I had to force myself.

I decided I needed to be better and shouldn’t be making dates to speak in public until I knew I could keep them, depression was spiraling out of control and anxiety was far worse than it ever had been. I didn’t know what PAWS were yet – but quickly found out this is what I had.

2.) Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS):

This is known as a protracted withdrawal and can last for many months – even years for some. Opioids are by far not the only cause for this, alcoholism comes in at number one in causing this long-term recovery that’s thought to be due to a change in our brains chemical balance from the years of use of substances – even substances prescribed to us that we never abused. What I found was that the super-high doses of THC without enough CBD to mitigate them did two things a.) didn’t relieve some of the intense pain that hits our body hard as our brain and CNS wake back up b.) had me in bed watching Netflix depressed and still feeling that withdrawal ‘tug’ vs. getting up and trying to live life without Opioids. I always thought that they had such a little effect on me.

After 100% cessation over 2 months ago, every nerve and sense in my body woke up.

Some weren’t too fun – pain sensations from old injuries and new ones from masked injuries that I didn’t feel due to the numbing sensation of the pharmaceuticals.

What I found out was that I needed a very big boost of CBD to go along with the THC. I started playing around with formulations and found that multiple Cannabinoids together would, without a doubt, not only replace opioids but do a much better job at it. And, at the same time, allow me these new sensations which include the ability to smell, taste, and see better.

Our entire body is numbed by Opioids and it happens so fast we don’t even realize it. We are addicted so quickly and fall into a trap that put nearly 50,000 American’s in a casket last year – we’re not talking street drugs – these are pharmaceutical overdose deaths.

With PAWS there’s a wicked circle going on – as the person either quits or is forced off of opioids often a depression follows such as with this, and what happens next is downright scary. SSRI’s and ‘pharmaceutical replacement therapy’ are then offered.

They were even offered to me. A life on more drugs including Suboxone?

It seems that the pain killer manufacturers in the pharmaceutical industry made their plans on making income in other ways once the Opioid game was tamed. I don’t think they counted on CRT – Cannabinoid Replacement Therapy.

With the likes of THC, CBN, and even CBG working in our favor to combat pain along with CBD and CBC doing the same on inflammation issues, as well as assisting us in higher doses to help wake up a bit from the depression and anxiety that comes with this syndrome, that vast majority that quit any long term addiction whether medically created or not can and will find relief with Cannabis. But one thing is for sure, it’s not for those that want an easy way out. You’ve got to want your life back and your health back, and be willing to fight for it regardless of how you feel.

3.) Replacement of Substance:

Although this tends to be easier as time goes by vs. battling depression while you have increased pain, it’s actually very tricky. While replacing the pain medication or anything a person was addicted to that had negative consequences (Alcohol, you name it) there are two elements that have to be considered in this one category. One is replacing what caused the ‘relief’ – and figuring out what we were truly getting relief from. Although I was treating very intense pain and still have it, that’s not what I was dulling on the inside – it was much deeper. I believe we have to come to grips with what’s really bothering us in order to recover from any substance addiction regardless of how we get that substance. With pain, it’s very easy to say “I just want to stop the pain” and not realize that some of it are on the inside – or maybe a lot of it. We’ve been given a pill by a doctor so we now have the perfect excuse to take it as it was ‘prescribed’. Personally, I can’t believe I talked myself into that for so long – but live and learn – right?

So first things first are we must look at when we took whatever substance we are replacing and why. If it was for pain, I have news for people they won’t like as I know I didn’t like it at all. In order to fix opioid receptors that are naturally there for our own opioids our body makes (endorphins) – it means avoiding all of them – even the natural relief many run to with Kratom. For the person who has quit opioids and is using CRT, I found the Kratom leaf set me back and kickstarted PAWS again as the compounds in Kratom resemble an opioid (this is a whole separate debate/article as I am a fan of Kratom – it’s just when it should be used which would be in the initial withdrawal for a short period and with only one dose per day if it’s too harsh – and then after a period of time of allowing the receptor system to heal with no opioid agonist if that’s the person’s choice).

What we’re looking for is to let the Cannabinoids do their job in creating a new dopamine reward system, to create a new balance in our brain chemistry by fixing the old one. Long-term use of opioids creates an abundance of receptors our body naturally does not need as well as damaging what our body does need. – and when we combine opioids with cannabinoids we’re not at all allowing cannabis to do its job in complicity – when looking at a map of where opioid receptors are in our brain we see an overlay of where an abundance of cannabinoid receptors.

Theoretically, the use of the two could cause synergy where they work together or could cause one of the two to be less effective. The fact that THC is combined with the pharmaceuticals causes CNS depression and makes a person more tired doesn’t prove to me that it’s of positive synergistic value.

I prepare different oils with different ratios to test them and see how they will work.

I was amazed when I found that high doses of CBD – something I’ve been like a Ralph Nader critic of for years, got me out of bed and behind my home office desk it was a definite eye-opening ‘ah-ha’ moment. I find myself wanting to do more than I can do physically now with high CBD doses used along with the protocol I already had in place, instead of thinking about what I should do and then thinking and staring while doing nothing.

The Depression and Anxiety that spur from a withdrawal or protracted withdrawal are medical issues themselves.

One thing I’ve noticed is I don’t need as high of doses of THC as I used to take even with pain medications. I used to use 1/2 ml which had 400mg of THC at once along with the likes of Oxycodone! Now I can take half the amount in a dose or sometimes even less, along with an ample portion of CBD, a good dose of CBN, along with a mix of terpenes and other cannabinoids and the job is being done without causing all the side effects the pharmaceuticals do. Pain levels are kept in better control while the THC levels are balanced by CBD which is also helping pain by reducing the swelling in my clavicle and neck. I’m working on experimenting with CBG and CBC as next on the agenda. While Cannabinoids heal and cause nerves and bones to grow back healthy, the pills we thought we needed for so long do the exact opposite. Cannabinoid Replacement Therapy makes sense and should be now in medicine. The future will, without a doubt, be filled with many more opioid and other withdrawal stories that easily could end in Heroin overdose stories. Right now I could go to the streets and end the pain for 30.00 a gram. 1,000mg of dirty drugs – and many will make that choice out of desperation. I’m not here to judge anyone at all – I want to help end this nightmare and will continue to share my journey.

A special thank you to Xceptor Labs for sponsoring the CBD end of this, it’s a pleasure and humbling as I was truly wrong about the benefits of CBD. I discounted them at first not knowing what their products could do for me. What I’ve learned is it’s all about the delivery of the CBD – as it’s the same molecule regardless of how you slice and dice it. When it’s delivered with multiple others and terpenes too, there’s no longer an issue of whether or not it’s isolated.

One of the hardest issues we face as patients, regardless of how many people may know of us or know us, is access. I’m always thankful to have some help!