Cannabis and Type 1 Advice

Just a couple of questions, by “great” HbA1c scores, what sort of numbers do you mean? Are you having lots of highs and lows to average “great” or are you running relatively smooth lines? What kind of range are your daily blood sugars bouncing between?

zjoseph0726 said:

I do not live in the UK, it is legal where I am from. And why are there tons of other posts on the site about cannabis? Do a quick search if you don't believe me.

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To be fair, a quick google tells me it legal In Minnesota for medicinal use but not recreational as yet.

@zjoseph0726 we live in the real world where we know people use cannabis and sometimes post about it. However we are a UK-based site and abide by UK law so discussion is allowed, advice about use not so much.

zjoseph0726 said:

I would say I tend to bounce around a lot between too high and too low because I am a very active person, but I would say that 95% of the day I am at 140 or below. I do tend to find numbers throughout the day in the 60's a few times and in the 240's sometimes but I am always quick to correct. Are you saying that my A1C's could be great but that might not be indicative of my actual sugar levels? I never thought of that. So hypothetically, I could spend half my day in the 200's and the other half in the 60's but I could still have great A1C's?

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Exactly. HbA1c is just an average of the last three months (the lifespan of a red blood cell). All it is, is a chemical measure of how much glucose has irreversibly welded itself to the haemoglobin. Standard deviation is a much better indication - are you using CGM or fingersticks?

zjoseph0726 said:

So I am about to turn 30 and have been type 1 diabetic for 11 years and have been smoking cannabis on a daily basis for a long time now. My A1C's are always great and I am in great shape and eat fairly well. But I've started to notice that on mornings following days on which I smoke more than usual, I would start to get a tingling in my hands and feet, especially if it was cold out. It would get even worse when I would stay at my parents place in Minnesota where it is even colder. I just moved to Minnesota and this problem is occurring everyday now and it is very annoying and depressing. I use a good quality vape pen and recently had a friend in the medical field do a scan of all my extremities and she said everything looked normal. Edibles just don't do the trick for me, and giving up cannabis is not an option because I need it to create art which is my life's passion and how I pay the bills. I also just love cannabis. Does anyone have any advice or know of a certain type of vaporizer that might help. Doctors won't help and not sure where else to turn and this is becoming a major point of stress and constant worry for me. Thank you.

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Hi @zjoseph0726 ,

Welcome to the forum.

I believe that medical legislation use of cannabis in Minnesota does not cover T1 diabetes.
"possession or sale without remuneration (the exchange of money) of less than 42.5 grams of marijuana was decriminalized in Minnesota in 1976, meaning a first offense is a petty misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $200 fine and possible drug education. Additional infractions may face increased penalties. Possession of larger quantities of marijuana or the sale of any amount is a felony in Minnesota."

Not to bring a "downer" on you. But save yourself some possible expense from potentially getting caught out by the law..

So, moving on to the expense of the actual controlled substance. You may save considerable time & money habitually "scoring" there too... Time you could use applying to your art, money on expendables.

Creativity. I write music, have stuff published & have personally found that cannabis does not enhance my ability to do my job as lyricist & tunesmith as a member of a rock band. If anything, from a comercial buisiness sense. It wastes time with "cutting room floor" rejections?

There are bold claims that the CBD element helps manage BG. That's down to the focus of the diabetic. "The jury is out" on an easy CBD fix.

Don't get me wrong. I'm no rock star in LA. But certain positive decisions have at least helped me continue to persue my personal passion after 42 years of T1. & maintain integrity. (Everything else is just one of life's "lottery.")

Smoking is detrimental to human health in so many ways. The risks outweigh any perceived benefits..

Kindest regards,

J> in the UK.

maybe your blood vessels have been narrowing over the years ... so that when smoking they are contracting even more... there is a vitamin B which can lead to blushing maybe this vitamin which is rather harmless could help you a bit if what I suggested could be the case , I don´t remember which vitamin B it is ... but guess you can look that up yourself,

vitamin E can also be good for helping the blood stream more easily, BUT it can be dangerous to take in larger amount because of the risk of inner bleedings and the blood not being able to coagulate fast enough

Until you stop asking favours of friends to do testing of bits and pieces of you and find a
diagnostician you can be honset with you are likely to be living in continued suspense.
We cannot diagnose, just provide experience and support of a general nature (and as a collective they are vast resources).
It is someone there on the ground, able to fully assess you that can best sort out your troubles, to dtermine if they are diabetes, or cannabis related or due to something totally independent if both, such a Vitamin B 12 deficiency for example or neuritis of some tyoe etc.
Please try that approach with an independent person to obtain the best unbiased answer.
And be assured this is the answer i give whether you are in USA or living next door.

zjoseph0726 said:

My friend is literally a diagnostician, this is what she does for a LIVING all day, every day. She said everything is perfect. I have consulted several doctors and endocrinologists on this and have been completely honest, they have no idea what to tell me, especially being that none of them have diabetes. That is why I am reaching out for help on this forum in case anybody else has had a similar experience, because I have no idea where else to turn. And that's great that others can be artistic without it but people have different brains and I can't write a single usable word without it, so goodbye job, goodbye passion, goodbye life. Also, one thing I forgot to mention is that I am living in Minnesota with my parents until my broken ankle heals and then I am back to my home in Colorado, where cannabis is legal.

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zjoseph0726 said:

My friend is literally a diagnostician, this is what she does for a LIVING all day, every day. She said everything is perfect. I have consulted several doctors and endocrinologists on this and have been completely honest, they have no idea what to tell me, especially being that none of them have diabetes. That is why I am reaching out for help on this forum in case anybody else has had a similar experience, because I have no idea where else to turn. And that's great that others can be artistic without it but people have different brains and I can't write a single usable word without it, so goodbye job, goodbye passion, goodbye life. Also, one thing I forgot to mention is that I am living in Minnesota with my parents until my broken ankle heals and then I am back to my home in Colorado, where cannabis is legal.

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It is still unwise to use and accept services from a friend. IThere is a loss of objectivity which is a barrier to effective diagnisis and is frowned upon, If you were to consider someone in the neurology side of the spectrum, someone who can perform nerve studies and the like you may be able to find a cause or eliminate some that the endos would not routinely investigate.

kitedoc said:

It is still unwise to use and accept services from a friend. IThere is a loss of objectivity which is a barrier to effective diagnisis and is frowned upon, If you were to consider someone in the neurology side of the spectrum, someone who can perform nerve studies and the like you may be able to find a cause or eliminate some that the endos would not routinely investigate.

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The world is not perfect neither are GP’s sometimes they are almost robot like

Given that smoking is bad for your blood circulation, I would imagine it being quite likely to worsen or bring about neuropathy. I know you said you're not keen on edibles, but it could be a better option.