Where do I begin; completely new to this content and I am ill.

[JoeDobbins]

Howdy.

I was gifted a few items to potentially help with my ailment. I am asking for some clarification to a few questions, along with any "how-to" videos, or general advice.

My background:

I am terminally ill and being treated by Hospice. My terminal disease is called Multiple System Atrophy, and it is being treated via a plethora of opioids and other medicines. I have never consumed any drugs, nor have I simply smoked tobacco before. Hence, I am quite uneducated in the usage or handling of THC - but aware of its potential to help medically.

What was given to me:

- Eleaf iStick TC40W (brand new in box)
- Unknown solid aluminum container, comes apart in four pieces:
-- cylindrical inhaling tube with an o-ring (looks like the part where I would inhale from)
-- Top dome; screws into the bottom dome; inhaling tube snaps into the top; has space to hold mass.
-- Bottom dome; screws into the top dome; holds the coil components; screws into the Eleaf iStick
-- Coil insert. There are two coils.
- Rubbery container that holds two THC Wax molds. Brown in color.

I have watched a quick video on the iStick, and see that I can set the watt value or temperature.

From what I gather:
- I set the temp/watt value of the iStick.
- I put a "chunk" or "piece" of the THC Brown wax into the aluminum container. I unscrew the container, and put the wax on top of the exposed two coils?
- I push the "go" button on the iStick and start inhaling?

Putting the wax on the coils directly seems questionable to me? Do I pack it in, o r just set it in loosely? What temperature should I set the iStick to, or watts, or ??

I have a few pictures below:

Thank you,
Joe.

 

[Vitolo]

A small half pea sized dab of wax goes on the coils... just sits on them, and then keeping that atomizer (coils) upright, close it all up with mouthpiece at top.... screw it onto battery and inhale as you depress the battery.

just set it in loosely

yes loosely.. just drop a bead in there.
Don't lay it down when youre done.. try to keep it in upright orientation, so residual wax does not leak out.

 

[valleysquirrel]

Nice set up dude. Not 100% sure about the quality of the coils or wicking in there, but if you want to try it out ..

*important note: if you haven't dabbled with consuming cannabis, you're def going to wanna take it easy with your hits (even if your stuff isn't that potent). Just take a hit and wait like 10 minutes before deciding anything else. Anywho,*

For sure don't mess with temp control. Leave it in wattage mode and I'd say don't go over 4 or maybe 5 watts for now just to see what happens.

Yes, you load the THC material directly onto the coil. Take a couple nice small pieces about the same size as the coils and place them on each coil. Then, between like 2-5 watts PULSE the power button so that the waxy material melts down onto the coils more and coats them nicely.

One thing you don't wanna do is dry burn these coils without wax on them. You wanna keep em slightly sticky always.

If you have the option to buy more gear, I'd suggest checking out W9 tech wax carts. They're similar to the one you have, but of better quality and probably a safer bet overall. They have 510 threaded options that will work with your mod.

Sorry to hear about your illness. I hope we can be of some sort of help here on FC

 

[KennyPowers]

Welcome to the right place.

How long have you been living with the diagnosis ?

 

[HomeFree]

Someone made mention of it, but I want to make it clear you only want to use solvent extracts or rosin in it. Not flowers, bubble hash, kief, nor traditional old school hash.

I hope you find some solace in cannabis. It might not be for everybody but if you approach it with an open mind you may be very pleasantly surprised at how medicinal it actually is depending on your ailment.

 

[Vitolo]

They call the substances that go in this type of tool, "full melt" concentrates.
Those that turn completely to liquid when exposed to heat.

 

[Winegums]

I hope this works for you, take it easy with the wax.

You might not feel anything from it for the first few times if you're a cannabis virgin. If you aren't feeling effects keep trying a puff here and there over a few days until you feel effects. The bio availability of vapour might eliminate this issue all together.

 

[DrNick420]

The coil system like this can be pretty intimidating if you're new to it. The basics to remember are keep your coil saturated, but not oversaturated. as long as you're not doing dry burns you'll be all good.

If you're new to it I'm a little confused why you got given a more ecig oriented apparatus, but that's neither here nor there now. Let's get you blazed!

 

[JoeDobbins]

I wanted to thank everyone in comments to help. I apologize I have not replied sooner, yet life has not been very friendly to do so. Further, I haven't yet tried to use the vape setup yet. The "wax" that I have is in a circular rubber two-piece jar, and seems some-what intimidating on its own, let alone having to "break" a piece off of it and set it on those coils, screw it all back together (making sure it is held upright) and then trying to vape with the machine.

Yet, based on the feedback posted here - I think that is the process I am supposed to do?

To answer some questions thrown my way:

- I am 37 years old, have a wife and two children (7 and 9) and two dogs who are also our children (Saint Bernard - Charlie) and a German Shepherd (Gunther).

- I fell sick about 2 years ago initially, when I lost vision in my right eye. The doctors said I had 6th nerve eye palsy. Ultimately, my eye went a weird direction AND I lost any clear picture out of it (even alone). Further, I am a type-1 diabetic and use to minor complications from diabetes - but have always had it held in "good" check (6.1 A1C). I hadn't had any other real conditions from the 30 years of Type-1 diabetes.

Soon after the eye palsy, I began going into DKA (Diabetes ketoacidosis) at least once or twice a month! This was a big change, without any reason for it (no eating, drinking, physical, outside influence, etc.) changes to cause it. Regulation of the diabetes went from controlled to uncontrolled quickly. I was on an insulin pump, but had to be taken off of it due to the erratic nature of what was going on.

After six to eight months of this, the real bad things started occurring. I will just summarize all of it as a completely horrible experience that makes me emotional even to type out. Yet, I have (and still go through many today) paralysis, blindness, unbelievable amount of muscle and neurogenic pain; all associated with major organs of my heart, kidneys, bladder, eyes, (whole central nervous system), digestive track (gastoparasis), etc.

After visiting every local and "professional" medical institutions (John Hopkins out of Baltimore MD, Mayo out of Rochester MN, Kansas University MO, and Bringham out of Boston MA) - I was diagnosed with a rare disease called Multiple System Atrophy (MSA); MSA is an incurable, terminal disease that impacts patients differently, yet all remain terminal. In short, it is a neurogenic disease that causes me extreme muscular and nerve pain. The majority of my day, I fight the paralysis of my GI track (peeing and pooping), involuntary muscle spams for the entire body, and eyesight issues.

Pain is something very evil with what I have.

Hospice currently has me on a Pain pump that delivers 40mg of Dilaudid an hour (basal) and a 40mg bolus amount, 6 times an hour (10 minutes of separation). In addition to the Dilaudid, they have me on a strong amount of Ketamine. I am also on 20 other drugs, but these two drugs I hate, as the doctors are going all in on them, as they are the last two to help cope my symptoms away.

This is why I was turning to Cannabis and trying to see what it could possibly do for me?

I really appreciate the warm welcoming of this thread, and will be continue reading as much as possible to better understand the what/how/etc.

Thank you!

 

[CarolKing]

I'm hoping cannabis can be a comfort to you. Maybe it can help you to relax your muscles a bit and help you have some kind of an appetite. I'm sure all this has created a lot of anxiety as well. Cannabis helps me with anxiety and I use it for pain.

I hope that you can get some relief so you can have some quality time with your friends and family. Sending positive vibes your way friend.

 

[HomeFree]

Maybe you can get your pain meds down a bit lower with cannabis. You may already be aware of this but cannabis should make your meds work better. Here is just one study.

http://www.maps.org/research-archive/mmj/Abrams_2011_Cannabinoid_Opioid.pdf

Another thing to consider is edibles, especially after a tolerance. Until you get a tolerance you could use 2.5 mgs or so, if you can make or obtain tincture/edibles in such strengths. I have given people mild tincture and had them start at 1 drop, then 2, 3, etc, with each drop being around 0.35-0.5 mgs of THC. This allows the tolerance to build with very little psychoactive effect at first.

I do believe cannabis normalizes blood sugar.

Cannabis and ketamine play off each other and make it more psychedelic. But I am not sure if you are using a psychoactive amount of ketamine, or just a light amount spread out.

Sorry to hear about all that. I hope cannabis will help you.

 

[KennyPowers]

Definitely give it a try! The first time I had cannabis i laughed my ass off for hours.
Maybe you'll find it's something you really enjoy.

 

[Madcap79]

@JoeDobbins
Thanks for sharing your story and welcome to FC!

I feel for you and your family and hope that cannabis can help alleviate some of your pain and spasticity. Positive vibes sent your way. Don't be afraid to ask any questions about vaporizers or cannabis in general. I hope you're in a cannabis friendly state so you can get it easily and safely.

 

[Vitolo]

@JoeDobbins
I was on Morphine and 10 other drugs for a long while, and then the Doctors swiched me to Oxycodone as result of my unhappiness over feeling drugged.
I then took 80 mg of Oxycontin three times daily, with breakthrough meds, and 3 spasticity drugs (Baclofen, Tizanidine, and Diazapam).... and antidepressants.
Using cannabis in many forms.. topical, medibles, and Vaporizing, I got all the way down to one spasticity drug and only 30 mg twice a day of Oxycontin.
I got all the way down to 20 mg for a few months, but they had to move me back up to 30 due to nocturnal teeth grinding.

I feel for you and your family and hope that cannabis can help alleviate some of your pain and spasticity.

It can.
Medical Marijuana helped me to cut my Narcotic drug usage from 240+ mg of Oxycodone daily down to 60 mg., and allowed me to stop taking Baclofen and Tizanidine completely.
Blessings to you.
Be patient and find your combination, and you will be able to feel as well as one in your situation might.....and retain a proud and clear state of mind.
I wish you great healing, and well being.

EDIT:
And a big edit at that.
I read and re-read your posts.
I am a positive thinker by nature.
Ingestion of cannabinoids is proven therapeutic in most situations.
Before I became so strong an advocate, I did not know how cannabis would start to help me.
I just knew it put me in a better mood.
When in a better mood, I cared less about all the problems my prescribed Medications were causing (constipation, lethargy) and began to find entertaining moments.
If you can be placed in front of a TV ...immobile.. and get a chuckle out of Dharma and Greg Re-runs, you can likely find a positive side to anything!
It was not until later that I asked about reducing my pharmaceuticals.
Then I noticed relative levels of improvement where the Doctors said there would never be any.
I think what I am trying to say here is that Medical Marijuana was beneficial to my feeling of well being, based solely on the merits of my being in a better mood.
Everything else was gravy.