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Disclaimer: this is not medical advice. It is my opinion based on my experiences.
My last post on my cannabis use for medicinal purposes got quite a bit of engagement so I am writing another post to discuss how I use cannabis and how it helps my varying symptoms due to chronic illness. Today I am going to discuss "waking up exhausted" and how cannabis helps me.
Just to clarify my cannabis use does not make me wake up exhausted, you can blame that on my chronic illness(s). Every morning I wake up absolutely exhausted. As if I haven't slept at all. This has been consistent since the onset on my illness in childhood. Not only do I wake up feeling extremely jet-lagged every morning but I also wake up in pain and stiffness, often with a headache.
As you can imagine waking up like this every day in itself is very difficult. I often describe it as a constant itch you can't scratch, because waking up exhausted and never getting refreshing sleep is hard physically and mentally to say the least.
Cannabis helps a lot. I have also found that having other things to look forward to in the morning can make this easier as well. I try to have things set up in the morning so I have a few things to look forward to. Kind of like a reward for getting out of bed. That may seem silly to a healthy person but for me the act of getting up in the morning is so difficult I can't really explain it .This isn't a "will power" or "motivation" problem. For me it is a problem with energy production on the cellular level. You can't will power yourself out of that. Believe me, I have tried.
For me having stuff to look forward to is a huge help. Here s is my basic checklist of things that help me in the morning. These things aren't always enough, but they do help me at least psychologically and in the case of cannabis help with my physical symptoms as well.
- Have cannabis ready for consumption immediately after getting up. I prefer to smoke / vaporize dried herb as my delivery method. Cannabis helps a lot with my stiffness and joint pain. It also helps tremendously with brain fog and other cognitive symptoms. I have inflammation in my brain and spinal cord and I think cannabis' anti-inflammatory properties really help a lot.
Wake and Bake for the win!
Have coffee readily available. I enjoy coffee and as long as I don't consume too much it's actually pretty healthy for me. If coffee isn't available I substitute with tea and sometimes soda (though I try not to drink too much soda in general). The caffeine also helps my headache.
Breakfast option that's easy and delicious. I usually wake up pretty hungry and I can't really have coffee or my medication(s) on an empty stomach. Having delicious nutritious food easily available gives me something else to look forward to when the morning dread hits.
Something else fun to look forward to, like playing games or other (in my case) crypto "work" related things. I genuinely enjoy these things and they help me earn crypto while having fun.
Though this list may seem simple having these things or most of these things really helps me get going in the morning. There are still days where no matter what I really can't get out of bed ,but having this list of goodies essentially waiting for me makes it easier on days when I can get up and be active(ish).
If you suffer from chronic illness or anything that makes getting out of bed difficult, maybe you can have your own list of goodies to help you.
If you are suffering please remember you are not alone. If you are struggling to get people to take your chronic illness or symptoms seriously know this: I believe you. You are valid. You deserve help and support.♥️🦄
Thanks for reading. I hope this was helpful. If you want to see more content like this, please let me know in the comments.