Study: The effect that smoking Marijuana has on Blood Sugars.

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum. I just joined actually. My name is ashpow and I just happen to have Type 1 Diabetes. I've been smoking weed for 2 and a half years now. I've been thinking about doing a study on marijuana and it's effect on my blood sugars. But I need your help.

First I will tell you what I have thought of so far, then I will ask a list of questions that I'd like you to possibly answer for me or help me find an answer. I am doing this study for my own personal reasons and if, when I am finished, anyone would like to see the results I would be happy to show them.

A Little About Myself:
I take 2000mg of Vitamin D, 100mg of Zoloft (prescription) and 1 triple strength Omega-3 pill every morning. I drink a supplement of PEG (prescription) every day at Lunch. I have been diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Depression, Anxiety (social and general as well as the OCD) and possible disordered eating. I also have slight constipation. I take Vitamin D because I live in a place where there is not much sun. The Zoloft is for my Anxieties and Depression. The triple strength Omega-3 and the PEG are for easier bowel movements.

Concerning the Diabetes:
I wear an insulin pump (Medtronic Minimed Paradigm Revel in Pink). I use a Contour Link glucose meter. Every time I check my blood sugar with this meter (which is every time I check my blood sugar) it transfers over to my insulin pump so I can easily take my insulin. Also, I can upload my insulin pump to the internet on a private account so that I can see my blood sugars and insulin rates over a period of time, such as two weeks. I can see my blood sugars and insulin rates in pie charts and graphs as well. This is so my doctors can check up on me, but I will also be using this to help my study. I will be checking my pump site every day that I conduct the study so that I can be sure I am getting all of the insulin I want. I feel low blood sugars when I reach 4.2 mmol/L (about 75.6 mg/dl), and high blood sugars when I reach 11.5 mmol/L (about 207 mg/dl). I take 1 unit of insulin for every 10 carbohydrates I consume. My basal rates are 12am-1.1 units/hour and 3am-1 unit/hour.

I decided to keep a journal. In order for this to work I need to record everything I do, eat, smoke and any stress or other factors that could contribute to a high or low blood sugar. I also need to record my blood sugars and the amount of insulin I take, which the insulin pump I wear already does for me. I will be recording this in my journal also to make looking back on it easier.

I'll be conducting the study once a week. I smoke marijuana daily, but I don't want to have to eat the same meals every day. On this day I will wake up at 8am and eat a low fat, high protein, medium carbohydrate, low sugar meal. Every meal I eat will have generally the same amount of calories as every other meal on this day. The same goes to my snacks. The only exception is supper, but I'll get to that later. I will be eating 3 meals and 3 snacks in 2-3 hour intervals. I will also eat 22 grams (more or less) of fiber a day, as that is the recommended intake for someone of my gender and age. Every day that I do this study, I will be eating the same meal plan.

I will have a planned day. By this I mean that I will have a relaxed, (hopefully) stress-free day, lacking much exercise of any kind. This is because stress and exercise can affect my blood sugar in a way that could make this study invalid. My day will consist of checking my blood sugars, eating, taking my insulin, watching tv/movies, gaming, reading, things of that sort.

For every meal/snack I will wash my hands and check my blood sugar before I eat. I will record this in my journal. I will count my carbohydrates and fiber and take the correct amount of insulin for myself with every meal/snack minus Supper. I will also record this. Every 15 minutes after I have eaten, I will check my blood sugar once again and record it.

Before Supper I will check my sugar then smoke some marijuana. Then I will wash my hands, check my blood sugar again, record it, take only half of the insulin I need and then eat. Like my other meals/snacks today, I will check my blood sugar every 15 minutes after I have eaten.

Month One:
For the first 2 weeks I will smoke a 0.5 gram joint before Supper. The joint will consist of the marijuana, a Ziggy blue paper and a cardboard filter. The next 2 weeks I will smoke 0.5 from my metal pipe, which I will have cleaned immaculately the day before.

Month Two:
The first 2 weeks of this month I will smoke a 0.5 gram joint just before Supper and another one a half hour after Supper. The last 2 weeks I will smoke 0.5 from my clean metal pipe before Supper and a half hour after supper. I will be checking my sugars before and after I smoke up after Supper as well as before.

My Smoking Method:
I take big hauls from joints and hold my hits for about a minute. I will take multiple-quick-little-hits a few times throughout the joint. I tend to take slow but big hits and hold them for about 30 seconds when I smoke from my metal pipe.

All of this information will be recorded. The only thing I may drink between meals/snacks is water. The only time I can eat anything that isn't on my menu for that day is if I have a low blood sugar which I will be preventing by checking my blood sugars so often. If I do have a low blood sugar I will cancel the study for that day and try the next day.

Independent Variable:
-The Marijuana (The amount smoked and how it is smoked)

Dependent Variable:
-Blood Glucose (How it is affected by The Marijuana)

Controlled Variables:
-Amount of calories consumed (Carbohydrate, Fat, Fiber, Sugar, Protein)
-Time that calories are consumed
-Subject stays mostly sedentary and avoids stressful situations
-When The Marijuana is smoked and how much
-When I check my sugars and how often
-How much insulin I take

I will also be recording in my journal the following things:
-How I am feeling emotionally before and after each meal
-How I am feeling before and after I smoke the joint
-Any sudden changes in mood/emotion
-The amount of marijuana smoked in grams
-How the marijuana was smoked
-The type of high I have gotten
-Anything that I feel is important for the study

My questions for you are:
-Is there anything you think I should add?
-Is there anything you think I should change?
-Do you think I gave myself enough time to get accurate results?
(Should I do the study more than once a week, more then 2 months, etc.)
-Are there any other Controlled Variables that I should add?

Thank you very much for reading this, I appreciate it very much,
ashpow

This is very interesting to me...despite my low post count I have been reading these forums every day for a little over a year. Ever since reading about RSO (Rick Simpson Oil) I have been interested to try and find out what Marijuana truly does for blood sugar, in "Run from the Cure" there is a person in there who stated that it does control blood sugar. Personally I don't really think that it will affect your blood sugar all that much up or down...especially since you are smoking it and not consuming orally, I would tend to think that oral consumption would be a better test to see how you react. Actually I think that I may go out and buy myself a glucose monitor and run a test of my own...smoking vs. oral and see how my own results turn out. This plant never ceases to amaze me though and even though I have my doubts I definitely think that it is a worthwhile endeavor to see how it works since the small minded feds can't seem to approve MMJ for Medical research to show us exactly which benefits we are missing out on.