Just introducing myself...

[Scéalaí]

I’m in my mid 30s and have cerebral palsy, severe rheumatoid arthritis and a “frozen shoulder” (in actuality, a 15 year old major rotator cuff tear that my insurance has fully acknowledged since the day it happened, but won’t cover surgery for). I somehow managed to avoid being a casualty of the war on pain patients until earlier this year – whether that’s cause I “look disabled” (lifelong wheelchair user) or because I was vigilant about my pain meds (lowest dose I could possibly get away with and forced myself through a hellish 2 week break every few months to reset tolerance) I’m not sure. Anyway, like so many others, I was cut off with little warning.

I kept my last bottle as a small emergency supply I was planning to put away in a cabinet for those “there’s broken glass in every joint in my body and I want to die” nights. Unfortunately, about a week after I made that decision, I tripped (I can walk short distances on good days, so I usually lurch around my house hanging onto furniture) and broke the living daylights out of my big toe. My house doesn’t have an accessible bathroom and I can’t balance on one foot in any circumstances, so I had no choice but to walk on said toe. Needless to say, I put a pretty serious dent in my supply.

I've been offered a referral to a pain clinic, but I resent the hell out of being treated like a drug seeker. For starters, insurance being willing to fix my torn rotator cuff would cut my daily pain almost in half and drastically increase my mobility. I’ve pointed that out many times to no avail. Given that, being treated like a drug seeker is especially galling. There’s also the fact that, as anyone who deals with chronic pain can attest, keeping monthly appointments is already a herculean effort when moving around is excruciating... I didn’t mind doing it when getting pain meds was a part of an existing appointment with a doctor, but tacking on one more round of appointments to try to keep track of, arrange transportation for, go to, figure out what I’m going to eat that day because going to an appointment kills all energy for the rest of the day.... nope. Can’t do it. I don’t have enough spoons in me to add yet another ongoing appointment just to get one lousy bottle of pills.

So I’m here. Hi.

Picked up a few kratom samples from various local folks I trust – it’s decent (I can move my shoulder without wanting to scream in agony, that’s always a strange sensation), but online is cheaper, so I’ll be putting an order in with Mystic Island as soon as they’re open for business after this hurricane blows through. Suggestions for good pain-zapping Mystic offerings appreciated if anyone is so inclined.... sedating or non-sedating, I don't care. My sleep quality is terrible so I can make good use of both.

Also, just so this post isn’t endless whining, here’s a tip for anyone that’s been going without a scale and is hard up for cash or has a hard time getting around: I have four different small digital scales I got for less than $6 a piece from Fasttech.com. All of them have at least 5 years of twice-weekly use on them and they all still work great... even the one that I accidentally dropped in a sink full of water. If you decide to order from there, use any payment method that's not a bank card (I wouldn’t trust them with my bank info just because it’s a massive Chinese site and thus a sizable target for international hackers), and pack your patience... it’ll take about two to three weeks to get to you. But for those who aren’t in a hurry and want to save a few bucks, or anyone who’s looking for a backup scale or would like a little more variety/a few more options than whatever is stocked at your local megamart, it’s a great way to go. Not affiliated in any way, I’ve just spent lots of money there over the past 5-6 years for exactly that kind of random non-emergency electronics purchase and always been pleased with the prices/service.

Bonus for anyone who reads this far... why would I have four different digital scales, you might well ask? Years ago, in the middle of a 2 year long fight to get pain meds in the first place (“you’re not old enough to be in pain,” they said), I turned to bidis for pain relief. Then they banned bidis. In desperation, I decided to see if regular cigarettes would do anything for pain (yeah, I know, but these are the things you do when you’re desperate). To be fair, they did do “something,” if that something is defined as “get me massively addicted to tobacco.” (Bidis didn’t, cause they’re not treated with a gazillion chemicals... which is why we banned them, cause, y'know, can’t have that.) Anyway, eventually I had a major health scare and went from cigarettes to vaping, vaping to making my own e-juice, making my own e-juice to making e-juice for all of my ex-smoking friends and family because if it’ll keep them off the smokes and alive, sure, I’ll make you some free juice, how much do you want? So yeah... I don’t sell it, but I make a lot of e-juice, in a ton of different flavors, and everyone always seems to run out at the same time, so... four different scales so I can do four batches at once.

[herbalhippie]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry for your mistreatment by the medical and insurance community. It makes me see red when I hear about someone being cut off their pain meds with little to no warning. Or even being cut in half. It's inhumane.

Mystic Island has good leaf and really good prices, good choice there!

[Trailmix]

Greetings, the mystic island strains that I have found that work for my pain are, peridot( supposed to be a daytime blend) red Vietnam, vampire and red Bali. I also like the mystic mermaid at night and the diamond blend during the day. It’s interesring that smoking bidis helped you with your pain I tried those back when I smoked at age 16-17, but i didn’t have chronic pain then.

[BallzDeep9]

I turned to bidis for pain relief. Then they banned bidis.

wow... Bidis!! aka.. beedies. Brings back memories of my cig smoking habit, 20 years ago.

For anyone not familiar, they are cigarettes from India, having a different weird flavor .. I'm an old retired guy. At one point far back in my past, I smoked beedies, I tried Kreteks (horrible) and foreign smokes (Gauloises are terrible!) and brands from Marlboro to Kool's .. man I'm glad I quit smoking. Kratom can actually help people to quit... Welcome to MM!

[Madison808]

Ahhh..... I remember beedies from back in high school.

[Scéalaí]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

Trailmix, thanks for the suggestions - I already had all of those in my cart, so I went ahead and got my order in. Am sure it's going to take Mystic some time to get up and running again, which is fine by me (been through enough hurricanes to know how much patience the aftermath can require), just want to be in the queue as it were.

At one point far back in my past, I smoked beedies, I tried Kreteks (horrible) and foreign smokes (Gauloises are terrible!) and brands from Marlboro to Kool's .. man I'm glad I quit smoking. Kratom can actually help people to quit... Welcome to MM!

Ugh, Gauloises are definitely terrible. Only made that mistake once, lol. I knew better than to start smoking anything ever (had lung issues before I ever started) but bidis did a great job knocking the pain back and I could easily get away with half of one a couple times a week... my bigger mistake was switching over to regular smokes once bidis were gone, but considering the fact that I ended up being the one to get all of my family to switch over to vaping, I guess it's all a net plus. I doubt either of my folks would be around today if they hadn't decided to switch, for starters. Yet another thing the government is intent on banning that does far more good than harm, but I digress.

Madison, I was well out of university before bidis came my way but still young enough that thinking about them makes me feel oddly nostalgic, so I'm with you there.

[BlendsAreMyFriends]

Welcome. Sorry about your issues both health and corporate. Glad you found kratom and that you found us.

And thanks for the info on the scales.

[MetalMamaRocks]

Welcome! Nice to meet you!

[heme2016]

Welcome Scéalaí. Very sorry to hear about your combination of health issues - I have RA, and a relative had CP - that's gotta be a difficult and painful combination of conditions.

A couple of things that come to mind...if you are on once-a-week methotrexate (MTX) for your RA, you may want to avoid kratom on the day you take the MTX. MTX already makes a lot of folks nauseated, and kratom can sometimes do the same thing. Combining the two could make for a really unpleasant day.

Good thinking on the scales! A lot of folks have trouble with "the wobbles" (unpleasant dizziness and vertigo from kratom) because they inadvertently dose too high, from not weighing doses. You really don't need that on top of the CP. With the scales, you should be able to avoid that problem.

The usual recommendations for pain relief focus on red vein strains, but they can be sedating. If, like me, you have a low tolerance for sedating side effects, you might find that "green hulu" or "green hulu kapuas" strains give good pain relief without that tired/drowsy side effect.

Good to have you here!