Post Nasal Drip
Have you heard of it? It sucks. Apparently, after doing some blood work at the allergy clinic, I’m allergic to just about everything in nature. Consuming cannabis daily helps me keep my post nasal drip at bay.
So what is post nasal drip? Well, it can be characterized—at least for me—as a constant mucus condition where mucus drains down the back of the throat all the time, in addition to constant salivation. I have two options to deal with it when I experience this. One is to swallow it, which will result in obscene bloating from swallowing so much air that will end up in my stomach. The other is to hack up the mucus. The mucus is so consistent, and I have to hack so much, that eventually I will start hacking up blood from my throat becoming so irritated by the constant vibrations.
My plan was to start taking allergy shots in an attempt to stop the post nasal drip and not have to smoke weed every day. I’ve admitted this in the past: I (surprisingly, I’m sure, for a cannabis farmer) prefer not to smoke every day. I like having a low tolerance and depriving myself of it so that I can look forward to smoking even more when the time comes to actually smoke. I think when it becomes routine, it’s not as special, even though I do always enjoy consuming regardless of the frequency.
Well, then I was sitting on the couch stoned one night, and I was watching some Big Pharma ads—since they are unavoidable in this country—and I started to have second thoughts about actually going through with the allergy shots, and for good reason, if you ever listen to the endless list of side effects that are mentioned in those commercials. I would like to only smoke on the weekends, but if that means I have to deal with the potential side effects of these pharmaceuticals, then count me out.
How I Determined I Had PND and What My Initial Experience With It Was
Way back in the day, my mom got a dog from the local rescue. His name was Rascal, and he was a Chihuahua-Pug mix, or a “chug” as they are often called. He shed a lot. The funny thing was, I didn’t initially have a negative reaction to him. It was only after I started a six-month tolerance break from cannabis, a couple of months after getting Rascal, that I started to develop PND. It never occurred to me that abstaining from cannabis was actually the root cause of the post nasal drip (in conjunction with dog dander, obviously).
Eventually, I moved out of my mom’s house, and although my post nasal drip improved, it wasn’t by much. I think that Rascal’s dander was probably still on some of my stuff. About four months after I moved out, my six-month tolerance break was over, and I was actually hesitant about smoking again because I thought it would make my condition worse. However, a couple of puffs from a joint and my PND all but disappeared. I couldn’t believe it. Not only was I happy to be smoking again, but the condition that had plagued me so horribly was finally over.
This was long enough ago that I didn’t really understand how well cannabis worked as medicine, and I certainly had never even heard of the endocannabinoid system. In the past, I had taken Benadryl to curb my PND, but mainly it just made me drowsy. I also took Mucinex. Man, what a horrible drug that is. Basically, Mucinex made me extremely irritable, to the point where I didn’t feel comfortable getting behind the wheel of my car due to extreme road rage.
So Why Did Cannabis Work for PND?
Cannabis—specifically THC—acts (like Mucinex) as what is known as an expectorant; it helps to break up mucus and expel it from our bodies. Cannabis is also a bronchodilator, which also breaks up mucus and allows us to breathe better through lung tissue dilation. Unlike Benadryl, which is known to cause cardiovascular disease and dementia over long-term use or abuse, cannabis doesn’t cause anything but euphoria.
This is just one example of a natural, holistic medicine helping us become well the way Mother Nature intended, versus putting toxic, man-made chemicals into our bodies. Cannabis has just become Schedule III (on the medical side, at least), so we are just getting started in understanding how cannabis works as medicine. But makeshift lay scientists like myself have been testing out the medical effects of cannabis without even knowing it.
Grow your own to get the best version of what Mother Nature intended, as going to the dispensary could potentially be worse than Big Pharma considering what is allowed at the retail level.
One Love.
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