protocols - Project Chronic

My Cannabis First Aid Protocol

Miyabe — Sat, 27 May 2023 19:24:16 +0000

**DISCLAIMER** I’ve written these as if we’re hanging out just having a conversation. It is my opinion based on my experience as a scientist and as a part of our commuity.The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

COMBINE TOPICALS AND SMOKING (OR EDIBLES?) AT MAXIMUM TOLERABLE AMOUNTS FOR REDUCED INFLAMMATION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING AN INJURY FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS

I hurt myself often (on accident – if you didn’t know poor proprioception is a neurodivergent thing). Today I ran over my left foot with over 700lbs of soil at my local Home Depot, so I thought it was as good a day as ever to write about my acute injury protocol for cannabis. I’ve been honing this one over the past decade or so and believe that it helps to reduce my initial inflammatory response which speeds overall recovery.

I combine topicals with smoking for a two-pronged approach. The key is to prevent the body from reaching critical local thresholds of inflammation that can lead to positive feedback loops and ultimately exacerbate the injury, prolonging or complicating recovery.

First, I use the highest concentration topical I can find or make on hand. Today it was 1g of CBD isolate that I mixed into the minimum amount of olive oil (probably around 30mL total making 33mg/mL which is decent). Ideally I’d have something full spec at that concentration, but re-upping my topicals has been something I’ve been putting off for a while, because I don’t like to have to clean the dishes. Anyways, I put this topical on all over the site of injury as well as “upstream” leading to the spine. Reapply the topicals as often as possible, at least 3-4 times per day.

Next I smoke a combination (I usually always have my 40/40/20 mix pre-rolled). I smoke the maximum amount that I can be comfortable with for that next hour or so, then I try to maintain that maximum for the rest of the first day.

In the next 7-14 days following the injury, I continue to treat with both topicals and smoking at as high of doses as possible. But after the first 24-36 hours, it is less important and more maintenance to promote healing.

The point of following this protocol is to maximize the cannabinoids both locally at the site of the injury via the topical and systemically by smoking to reduce inflammation.

I know some of you are going to ask about edibles.. so I think that it’s possible they can be helpful in this context as well in lieu of smoking, but they are more difficult to dose up to the maximum for me. I dislike the feeling of being too high, and edibles are a fine line for me. I am able to better control that dosing through smoking, which is why I prefer it, but we all have our own best methods. In theory edibles would also circulate cannabinoids systemically.

I’ve found that cannabinoids are super helpful to reduce inflammation and promote healing this way on a myriad of common first-aid issues from minor bruises to poison sumac to second-degree burns, but probably the most useful for me is with blunt force injuries (like running over one’s toe at Home Depot). Without cannabis, the inflammation that can build in the first hour of an injury can take days to calm down. I much prefer preventing the inflammation in the first place.

One of my mentors, Dr. Bruce Hammock, once said that inflammation is all about thresholds and exponential growth. Each of us has a specific threshold where, once passed, our inflammation/immune system is completely out of control and explodes in an exponential fashion. My whole life has been constructed around keeping my baseline inflammation well below this threshold. But try as I might, I always seem to have something pro-inflammatory going on…

Just another reason for me to be grateful for this magnificent plant

The post My Cannabis First Aid Protocol first appeared on Project Chronic.

Find Your Therapeutic Minimum

Miyabe — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 01:48:06 +0000

Therapeutic Minimum: The smallest amount of any molecule you can take and still receive beneficial desired effects.

Knowing your own therapeutic minimum will help keep tolerance down and build more conscious use practices into your daily behavior set.

Here are my approximate therapeutic minimums for molecules that are gifting me with a livable life:

- - - D9-THC – 1mg (edible), 10mg (~50mg of ~20% flower, smoked)
    - CBD ISOLATE – 200mg (edible), 10mg (dabbed, low-temp), 5mg (dabbed, high-temp with transformation)
    - CBD HEMP FLOWER <0.3% THC – 30mg (full spec edible), 250mg flower, smoked
    - CBG HEMP FLOWER <0.3% THC – 30mg (full spec edible), 250mg flower, smoked
    - PSILOCYBE FRUITING BODIES – 80mg (edible)
    - TOBACCO – do not know the minimum, because I use it as minimally as I can as blunt wraps (<2 per month) and occasionally a cigar (<2 per month)

This doesn’t mean that I don’t use more than this amount, but this is the lowest dose I can take of each while still receiving the benefits of anti-inflammatory pain reduction, reduction of GI inflammation, increased focus, improved sleep, and improved mental health.

Okay so here's how to estimate your own therapeutic minimums:

** DO THIS EXPERIMENT AS THE FIRST THING YOU ARE SUPPLEMENTING WITH THAT DAY **
Write down the following info in a way that is easy for you to understand at a glance:
1. 1. Date
  2. Time
  3. Best estimate of total amount of product (I suggest getting a digital scale that goes out to 0.00g and measures 5mg with up to a 2mg deviation)
Next take the starting hit or starting edible dose and wait to feel effects (15 min for inhaled, 20-75 min for edibles). Record your level of symptom relief from 0-10.
If you feel more than enough relief, stop the experiment. Repeat the experiment starting at step 1 the next day with half the starting dose.
If you feel enough relief, stop the experiment. Your therapeutic minimum is this dose; record it.
If you did not feel enough, take another hit or another edible dose starting at step #3 until you reach your level

**NOTE – for edibles, it’s not ideal to repeat more than twice due to the amount of time absorption may take. If after two doses, it’s still not enough, try again the next day starting with one higher than that dose.

I would never suggest that anyone try this without the consent and supervision of a medical professional (nurse, MD, DO, PsyD, etc) or therapist who can answer questions on a 1:1 basis. This giant gap in knowledge between scientists and public service workers who keep our society healthy and safe is a huge problem. And it’s a problem we are far too delayed in addressing and why I’m so passionate about sharing my information with everyone, including doctors, therapists, and, yes, even the police and politicians if they are open to learning about how these medicines can be powerful tools to help reduce harm in the community.

The post Find Your Therapeutic Minimum first appeared on Project Chronic.

The Multi-Microdose Schedule

Miyabe — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 17:48:24 +0000

**DISCLAIMER** I’ve written these as if we’re hanging out just having a conversation. It is my opinion based on my experience as a scientist and as a part of our commuity. The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Minimal doses of cannabis or psychedelics spread evenly 3X per day.

Purpose: To describe a dose schedule I have been using for years with cannabis, but only recently extrapolated to mushrooms that allows me to stay at a steady-state that is subtle, maximizes therapeutic benefit, and contributes minimally to tolerance building.

Background: In the pharmaceutical world, a steady-state is reached when the amount of drug in your body stays relatively constant all day. It is a standard dosing procedure used in many different types of medications, but especially mood-stabilizers, antidepressants, and anti-psychotics. It’s very common for prescription medications to be dosed multiple times per day to achieve this. I have found additional benefits from applying this theoretical knowledge to my life…

Protocol: Use your therapeutic minimum (the least amount of any substance you need to receive the main desired effect) 3X per day

EXAMPLE SCHEDULE (CANNABIS) –

- - 8:00AM – 3 hits of a 40/40/20 CBG/CBD/THC blend
  - 2:00PM – 2 hits of 40/40/20 ^^^
  - 8:00PM – 0.5-1g joint of 40/40/20***

*** I wind down with this 0.5-1g dose almost every day regardless of any schedule, but I do add in more THC for different situations (like socializing).

EXAMPLE SCHEDULE (MUSHROOMS) –

- - 8:00AM – 0.10 – 0.15g
  - 2:00PM – 0.10 – 0.15g
  - 8:00PM – 0.15 – 0.3g***

*** The reason I up this last one, because it helps overcome the increase in metabolic enzymes (monoamine oxidase) and feels fairly comparable to me by that point in the day.

NOTE – I rarely combine these two protocols and instead alternate them on a cycle as needed (on my mushroom days I do consume cannabis, but typically only at night as I’m winding down). A 7 day week for me could look like: Monday (cannabis), Tuesday (mushrooms), Wednesday (cannabis), Thursday (mushrooms), Friday (mushrooms or cannabis or nothing), Saturday (ad libitum/no schedule), Sunday (mushrooms or cannabis).

Discussion: I started experimenting with this protocol in late 2018, three whole years after I first introduced CBD into my medical cannabis routine and blasted everything I thought I knew about cannabis wide open. It took three years, because that’s how long it took me to finally feel comfortable understanding how CBD affects THC for me, and could feel confident moving forward without introducing too many other new variables.

The active molecules that make us feel things each have their own half-life, which is the amount of time it takes for half of the active molecules to be deactivated by our body. The longer the half-life, the longer the molecule will be actively circulating, the longer we will feel the effects.

The half-life of cannabis and mushrooms are both fairly low, meaning they fall below the amount needed to feel the effects after a few hours. Using low doses typically means the half-life is perceivably shorter, because you’re starting off at the threshold of feeling things to begin with.

The post The Multi-Microdose Schedule first appeared on Project Chronic.

Mixing flower for mellow and reduced negative effects (40/40/20 CBG/CBD/THC)

Miyabe — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 03:36:41 +0000

I first combined these three different types of cannabis flower (CBD medicinal-hemp, CBG medicinal-hemp, and high-THC medical are all subtypes of Cannabis sativa) together when friend and colleague Dr. Allison Justice, PhD sent me some of her new CBG hemp strains. I’ve experimented with a lot of different ratios, but this one seems to be the most repeatable experience regardless of the specific strains/batches of the flower.

This made all the difference in being able to trust the effects of my medicine, because I don’t get any anxiety, body chills, tinnitus, heart palpitations, or joint pain. I’ve turned a lot of people onto this blend and I want to share how I measure it out. Here’s a video of me rolling one:

I keep my largest grinder filled with 50/50 CBG and CBD hemp flower and usually measure it out by eye, but the small scale pictured on the left was $8 at a head shop.

This base 50/50 mixture can be used with different amounts of THC flower added in. A breakdown of the different breakdown of ratios/doses is at the bottom of this post.

My favorite is by adding in THC flower so that the ratio is 40/40/20, so it’s 80% hemp flower mix and 20% THC flower. In joints it is 0.80g of the mix and 0.20g THC flower. I like to keep the THC flower separate, because I do still feel strain specificity at these levels and like the ability to choose on the fly.

Here’s a video of me rolling a 1g joint of 40/40/20… At the bottom of the page is a dose guide! If you like it or have your own ratios you’ve enjoyed give me a shout!

My other favorite go-to mixture is 25/25/50 CBG/CBD/THC flower! That one is a big heavier hitting and great for social events.

In that case the weights would be 0.50g of the hemp flower mix and 0.50g of THC flower.

If you’re curious how often or how much I use this mixture, I usually stick to The Multi-Microdose Schedule.

The post Mixing flower for mellow and reduced negative effects (40/40/20 CBG/CBD/THC) first appeared on Project Chronic.