back pain question

I'm 40 years old and have smoked pot maybe 3x in my life and last time was in my early 20s. The reason I didn't smoke was that it made me paranoid.
For the last few years I've had back and leg pain that's only been getting worse. I've tried pills that would numb the pain but since I've lost my insurance I can't really afford that option. I'm sleeping less now and am tired more often then not, but because of my personality, I force myself to be active, regardless of pain level of exhaustion. (So I do a lot of backpacking, sailing, car repair, etc but I am always overly sore for days after)
I'm considering MMJ as a solution but I'm a little hesitant. I don't want my motivation levels to go down. I want to continue an active life (but I'm getting to the point that I can't do that without some kind of meds anyway)

Do you think Medical Marijuana is a good solution for me?

Sounds like you have the same issue (or close) to what I had. Severe pain in the legs after walking a few yards and constant pain in the lower back. I got my card for that pain but my legs would burn so bad I had to sit down a lot. Finally after 4 years of the pain I got surgery and fused six of my vertebrae. After taking pain pills for 3 months and a lot of weed I got myself off of the perks and now just use weed. Of course my back is fine, very little pain but I've got glaucoma too so...

The weed is better than nothing since I can't take NSAID's due to my blood thinners (different issue). At least you won't get addicted and you'll have a lot nicer evenings medicating the pain away. If the pain remains it won't be the only thing you think about anyway. There are many strains now so finding one that won't make you paranoid shouldn't be too hard.

Sorry, forgot to mention the bad side affect. > 1. Arrest and incarceration in many states or countries.

http://www.theanswerpage.com/

Maybe some helpful stuff on that website too.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Since I lost my insurance I've been taking 16 to 24 ibuprofen a day but I can't believe that is good for my kidneys or liver. I still have some leftover percs that I take on really bad days (maybe 2x or 3x a month)

I don't know. I made an appointment with a dr. I figured I'll give it a shot and see if it helps. If not, I don't have to continue.

I hate the pain but I miss my activity levels.

I'm really not looking forward to the surgery but I'm sure it's in my future.

One more thing, should I look for higher levels of thc or cbd's.

Whoa! My liver started bleeding when I saw how much ibuprofen you take daily. I have chronic knee pain so medical cannabis helps most days. Extreme cases, I'll need a couple ibuprofens but not like the 6-10 daily that I used to take. Cbd helps w pain more directly but for me, a good sativa before heading out distracts me from pain and allows me to do stuff. Indicas give great pain relief for me but LAZY... I use that at night once the kids are down.

Sorry about yoour situation hillbilly. If you're worried about the paranoia, you might want to look into edibles.

For me, it's a totally different high/buzz from smoking, and I find it great for arthritis pain.

Since I hate the taste of weed, I prefer to make ISO extract and use that in a recipie.

All the best

I got my Cali med card. Wasn't to hard. Especially since I have MRI's. I haven't used it yet, mostly because back and legs haven't been as crazy painful as they normally are.
I'm a little nervous about using pot, its been so long. I mean who really starts at 40 but I've got to try something.
The Dr said I should try oil or edibles. I think that's a good starting point.

Thanks for the help and info.

HillBillyBuddha

There's a hilarious YouTube video of a guy who's in his 50s or 60s and is using mmj for the first time... ever. He smokes and goes to the park. He says stuff like, "They should make something out of that tree stump over there. Yeah... they could totally make that into something." Lol "they" who, dude? I'm sure I've said similar stupid s*** while high but the video is still funny.