Episode 61 of Utah in the Weeds introduces the audience to the concept of making their own edibles and tinctures at home. Co-host Chris Holifield’s wife, Krissie, was the guest for this episode. Both Tim and Chris were excited to have her on and hear her story.
Krissie’s first experience with cannabis was similar to so many others. [03:28] She tried it in her late teens but had a bad experience. After talking it through with Tim, the two concluded that her difficulty could have been a combination of the drug and her LDS upbringing.
Years later, Krissie started drinking to help with PTSD, anxiety, and a host of other issues that were making life miserable.[05:25] Though drinking helped, she says it left her in a daze. Then she was introduced to cannabis by husband, Chris. She made good use of COVID restrictions to safely make the switch from alcohol to cannabis while working from home.[16:05]
These days, Krissie is making her own tinctures and edibles using a trial-and-error strategy.[26:45] She has reactions that seem unique to her situation, so she has to try lots of different recipes to find things that work for her. She is persistent, if nothing else.
Most of her ideas come from the internet. She does a lot of searching; she watches a lot of YouTube videos.[39:06] YouTube is where she learned how to use a pressure cooker to make edibles.
Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of this particular episode is Krissie Holifield’s perspective.[51:21] She came to cannabis wondering what all the fuss was about. To her, it is medicine. It works for her and so she’ll keep using it. She also plans to keep experimenting with new tinctures and edibles. You might want to catch this episode if you identify with her.
Chris Holifield:
All right. Let’s welcome everybody out today to episode 61 of Utah in the Weeds. My name is Chris Holifield.
Tim Pickett:
And I’m Tim Pickett.
Chris Holifield:
Today, we have a very special guest. I’m going to jump in here and introduce this one, Tim, just because she holds a special place in my heart. She’s my wife. I’m excited. Because she gets to share her story and integrate a little bit of my life into that too. So listeners can even find out a little bit more about my cannabis regimen by listening to her.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah. And this was a good conversation to have, Chris. She has a great story. It resonated with me. And I think it’s going to resonate with a lot of our listeners, because it’s just a real story. And I like to get to know people who are willing to share some of the things that are hard for them. And this was good. Plus, we talk about edibles.
Chris Holifield:
Edibles, tinctures.
Tim Pickett:
Making your own, and go through all of this stuff. So if you’re interested in making your own tinctures, making your own edibles from the flower that’s here in Utah, this is a great one.
Chris Holifield:
Yeah. So listen, maybe you’ll learn something new. Maybe you will discover some new ways you can consume cannabis. And then reach out to Krissie, let her know you heard her on the podcast. Say, “Hey, you know what? I enjoyed you on Utah in the Weeds.” You know what we didn’t talk about? And actually I want to give her some credit now. Krissie is the one behind the whole logo, Utah in the Weeds logo.
Tim Pickett:
That’s right. If you have any merch that is Utah in the Weeds, Krissie. You owe thanks to Krissie. She’s awesome.
Chris Holifield:
Yeah. I meant to bring that up with when we were chatting with her, I completely spaced it. There were so much more I wanted to talk with her.
Tim Pickett:
She’s incredibly creative when it comes to that sort of stuff. There’s no doubt.
Chris Holifield:
Any housekeeping you want to talk about? You’re open in Provo.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, we’re open in Provo. I mean, we are going to make… Listen for the announcements on clinic openings south of Provo, they’re coming. I’ll have more information in the next couple of weeks, I think, on those. Now, the pharmacies that are opening up, we have no idea when Justice is going to open yet. We’ve heard maybe mid-June on that, and Bloom, in Cedar City. Still don’t have a hard line on that. They were supposed to be open already. But we’ll update you as soon as we can. Be sure to go to utahmarijuana.org/podcast, where all of our podcast episodes are. They’re uploaded every week.
Chris Holifield:
Yeah. And if you’re a listener and you’re interested in coming on the podcast, I say this on every episode, reach out to Tim or myself. Let us know, because we’d love to bring you on.
Tim Pickett:
Absolutely.
Chris Holifield:
We’d love to have you share your story. Even if you don’t think you have a story, you’d be surprised because you probably have a pretty cool story. So let’s get into that conversation with Krissie though.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, absolutely.
Chris Holifield:
This is a good one you guys. Enjoy it, and thanks for listening to the podcast.
Chris Holifield:
I know you’re my wife. I hear stories.
Krissie:
What? When did that happen?
Tim Pickett:
I hear stories about that too.
Chris Holifield:
We have obviously consumed together, and I’d love to even maybe share some of those stories on the podcast.
Krissie:
I like to call it the peace pipe.
Chris Holifield:
The peace pipe?
Krissie:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tim Pickett:
That’s cool.
Chris Holifield:
But I’d like to even go back with you, Krissie, to the beginning times of you using cannabis, how it was for you, the experience, your thoughts? Just go back to that time.
Krissie:
Well, once upon a time, a long time ago, I visited a college roommate when I was about 18 up in Washington. And I was a very good LDS girl, grew up, did everything I was supposed to do. And I let loose this one time with a friend, and she’s like, “Hey, try this.” And it did not go well. I was very paranoid. I had to walk out to the car and unlock the car to get something. And the whole time I was like, “Oh my gosh! I’m going to get arrested. Everyone’s going to…” I was just freaking out. So I’ve avoided it since then. And what am I? It’s almost 20 years later now?
Chris Holifield:
Yeah.
Tim Pickett:
Okay. Question on that.
Krissie:
And I’ve just rediscovered it this year.
Tim Pickett:
This year?
Krissie:
Or last year, maybe. Over this horrible time.
Tim Pickett:
Do you think that paranoia comes both from the cannabis, like the THC experience? Plus growing up the way you grew up, being out of town, being at a friend’s house, all of us… You’ve done all of the “wrong things” all of a sudden.
Krissie:
That’s true. I did not have a good, like, spiritual guide, did I?
Tim Pickett:
Nobody gave you permission. It’s not like mom said, “Hey, you know what? I know you’re going out of town. It’s going to be okay. You can smoke a little weed and experiment.” Had you had that? Maybe it would have been a little different?
Krissie:
Yeah, I think you’re very spot on there. And I never would’ve thought about it. I just blamed the weed.
Tim Pickett:
I just wonder this story that you tell is very common. The first time I tried it, I hated it. I was so paranoid. I used it in college.
Krissie:
You don’t know what to expect.
Tim Pickett:
The unknowing, I don’t have permission, I’m doing something bad. All of that’s got to compound, besides the fact that THC makes you paranoid if you use it out of context.
Krissie:
It can increase your adrenaline and excitement levels, but excitement, stress, anxiety, it’s all related. It’s like sides of the coin.
Tim Pickett:
Did you use cannabis a lot during that time, or it was one and done?
Krissie:
Just that one night. However, watching TV was exciting when I was safe inside. I avoided it because I just thought it was bad for me forever. And then I had a lot of things that I went through and developed PTSD, and I had to get really heavily medicated. I was committed for a minute. And it was a really dark time. And I went through years and years of lots of anxiety meds, having to take sleeping meds to be able to sleep, and then also take blood pressure meds so that I wouldn’t dream when I was sleeping, because I had such bad night terrors. It was just like controlling my life. And the only way I could figure out how to get around it was to start drinking. So I would just drink.
Chris Holifield:
You drink a lot.
Krissie:
A lot.
Chris Holifield:
Heavy drinker.
Krissie:
I mean, I have a steel stomach, man. It’s runs in my blood. That’s not good. But it was the only thing that just really numbed it and made me tired enough that I could actually sleep, and I leaned way too heavily into it because the meds weren’t really helping that much. Anyway, I’m a hot mess. And then-
Tim Pickett:
Did the drinking help?
Krissie:
… this is interesting, because it did help in one way. It helped in the sense that it allowed me to release a lot of the heavy anxieties and be a little more present, enjoy what I was doing as opposed to worrying about everything else a little bit. But at the end of the day, you don’t remember it as much when you wake up. This is going to sound weird, but it helps you numb everything so you can just keep going, but it’s a haze.
Tim Pickett:
It’s like a —
Krissie:
You’re like, I know I’m doing stuff, but I don’t know how everything is right now really. It seems okay. And then when I rediscovered cannabis, thanks to you and my fabulous husband, I’ve been learning about-
Chris Holifield:
Which I would like to get into that too, about how you [crosstalk 00:07:25]. Put a pin there.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah. Because I think there’s a point at which maybe the whole time you were drinking you knew.
Krissie:
… yeah, I knew. I was like, I just don’t know what else to do.
Tim Pickett:
So you knew you were using it as a medication, and you knew, “You know what, one day I’m going to have to deal with this.”
Krissie:
Yeah. The whole time in the back of my head.
Tim Pickett:
Oh, my God! But it’s today.
Krissie:
I’m like, “But you know what, right now I cannot survive today if I don’t numb somethings.”
Chris Holifield:
You were just looking to get through the day.
Krissie:
My flight or freeze response has probably been a 12 for the last, I don’t know, 10 years.
Chris Holifield:
Out of what, 1,000?
Krissie:
One to 10. It’s a 12. But really, my flight response is really bad. I still, poor Chris, have a hard time knowing when to react appropriately in situations. But then learning about cannabis and the different cannabinoids and the different… What’s the word?
Chris Holifield:
Strengths or terpenes?
Tim Pickett:
The terpenes.
Krissie:
Terpenes’. I always want to say tannins, terpenes. It’s been really amazing because I found some terpenes that are really helpful, and strains that are really helpful. That actually calm my mind. What it does as opposed to drinking, which just numbs everything, is it calms my mind and I can see what’s going on. I can understand what’s happening. But it doesn’t worry me as much because I feel like I can actually calm down and think through it logically, and then talk myself out of being anxious.
Chris Holifield:
But I want to visit that for second, because this goes off to a side thing of drinking helps you sleep compared to cannabis though. So that’s…
Krissie:
I’m very weird. I have weird reactions to cannabis, I think. I can’t sleep. Everyone else takes it to sleep, and I think that’s fabulous, because I would love to sleep. But my mind, I think it’s because of my ADHD. When I consume cannabis I get very mentally stimulated and I just can’t stop my brain, I can’t stop thinking, I get very motivated. And so sometimes-
Tim Pickett:
You’ve tried all kinds of strains too.
Krissie:
… I have.
Tim Pickett:
Chris and I have talked a little bit about it.
Krissie:
About my strains?
Chris Holifield:
Because of your situation, because I want to understand it. Because me… Dude, I take a few puffs, I’m out.
Krissie:
It works for you. And I cannot figure out why it doesn’t work for me, but I decided I’m just going to take advantage of it and use it when I need it. And nighttime is not that time, I guess. Figure something out there.
Tim Pickett:
It just goes to show you that everybody has a different experience with it. And maybe one day you’ll find something. I mean, Monday you’ll be like, “Hey, this new thing or this thing I made, this edible I made,” which I’m really excited to talk about by the way. Boom, you’re out. Found the ticket.
Krissie:
Okay. And I have been doing… I’m really crazy. And I’ve been really excited about learning how to moderate everything and track it. I started journals. If I infuse this much oil and I take three pills in the morning, three pills in the afternoon, how many milligrams is that? I had all of the math broken down, and I was tracking it for awhile. I was actually doing really good. And then I ran out of cannabis, and I got lazy. And I have to just go make oil again. That’s so bad. But I’ve found for me that ingesting it works best for me. For some reason smoking it seems to trigger my asthma and my allergies. And so I get really bad… I feel like I’ve really bad allergies and wheezy. And so I have to find my method. And I think there might still be another one out there, maybe. I don’t know.
Chris Holifield:
Because I’ll invite you in to use the volcano with me or something, and you just can’t do it with your throat.
Krissie:
I can’t. It’s so lame.
Chris Holifield:
It bothers…
Krissie:
All right. I’m going to tell you something else. Even if you can do it, when you are an almost 40 year old lady who has had four kids and you’re going to smoke, you’re going to cough a lot. And you know what happens when you cough a lot, you pee your pants. And I’m just being honest, and all of you ladies know it. I’m just like, “It’s not even worth it. I don’t want to change my pants.”
Tim Pickett:
I hear this, the coughing, the laughing, the jogging.
Krissie:
Do you hear, “Oh, man,” all the time?
Tim Pickett:
Yeah.
Krissie:
I’ll sneeze and then yell oh, man.
Tim Pickett:
Sorry, I can’t jump rope today.
Krissie:
It’s worth it though. It’s worth it. Kids are cute. We love them.
Chris Holifield:
So talk to me about… I remember when you and I first started even dating, you were very intimidated by cannabis. You wrote Gary…
Tim Pickett:
How long have you guys been married?
Chris Holifield:
Four years. We actually just celebrated our four year… We went to Denver for our wedding anniversary.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, we talked a little bit about that, how the prices are the same.
Krissie:
It was disappointing.
Chris Holifield:
Yeah, I was very surprised. I was like, “What does everybody complain about in Utah? We have a better in Utah.” We can get into that, but…
Krissie:
Yeah, I have thoughts on that too.
Chris Holifield:
But I remember when you and I first started dating and got married. Because you’ve always been more of an alcohol person and I’ve always been more of a marijuana person, just because of the way it agrees with me verses you.
Krissie:
Well, and it’s interesting, because we’ve discussed our differences there and why it works better for us. Really interesting.
Tim Pickett:
I would imagine with your GI stuff, the alcohol just tears you up. I mean, it could.
Chris Holifield:
It tears me up, and histamines and all of that.
Tim Pickett:
And that I never really experienced. So I’m like, “I’m just going to take your word for it. It makes you feel miserable.”
Chris Holifield:
What made you finally give cannabis a chance? I felt like you were kind of nervous to really give it a chance.
Krissie:
Oh, my gosh! I was so nervous, because I just was so afraid I don’t know how my mind and body will react. With alcohol, I’ve been drinking for a couple of years. I mean, I didn’t drink till I was 30, but then I figured out which ones worked for me. Whiskey is going to give you a headache, because it has whatever in it, and then tequila’s not, so yay tequila. But with cannabis, I have no idea. I don’t know how I’m going to respond. And so it’s more of a fear, like I’m familiar with this and I know how to live like this, but I don’t know what will happen if I try that.
Tim Pickett:
You don’t know what the mind shift is going to be like, if you’re going to be yourself.
Krissie:
Totally. And I was like, I don’t know if I’m going to make sense or be spacey. I was just too nervous.
Tim Pickett:
Be able to take care of my kids?
Krissie:
Yes, and that was a big one.
Chris Holifield:
That was a big thing, now that you brought that up. I remember that she was very nervous for sleeping even.
Krissie:
I was always like, “I want to wait till Lucy’s asleep,” or I was always like…
Chris Holifield:
But weren’t afraid to drink so. That’s what’s interesting. You weren’t afraid to have some drink.
Krissie:
Because I stay more cognizant.
Tim Pickett:
I mean, I could see it. I’m looking at Chris and I’m thinking, “Well, he’s a little high, so I better not. I better stick with something on-”
Krissie:
Right. It’s more that. It’s more like, I’m just going to…
Tim Pickett:
I’ll chill over here doing my thing. He’s doing his thing.
Krissie:
You tag team when you’re a couple.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, for sure.
Krissie:
But having a few drinks though wouldn’t couch lock me, or make me sit and think about one thing really intensely. You know what I mean? So I was afraid I would get really distracted. Because, hello, I get distracted. Have you met me? And I’m afraid of enhancing that in any way, because it’s a super huge challenge for me. But you helped me. Chris helped me, and we’ve worked through it, and we found some indicas. And I think I’ve really, really found it.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, having that star-
Chris Holifield:
I didn’t realize that I was actually making an impression on you. I just thought I was, “I’m being a drug dealer here.”
Krissie:
I don’t talk a lot.
Tim Pickett:
… like, “Here, try this.”
Chris Holifield:
Adding humor there for people… I really wasn’t to drug dealing through my…
Krissie:
No, don’t talk about my feelings and thoughts a lot, but I watch.
Tim Pickett:
It really is, you’re just caring about your partner. I mean, [crosstalk 00:15:21], I know what this is like. You wanted your partner to feel better. And you wanted to Use something that helps you, right? Well, this helps me so much.
Chris Holifield:
I was like, “Why doesn’t this help you?”
Krissie:
You know what, yes, I did that to my sister. I was like, “You should up your bupropion like I did it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” She did. She had a seizure, a pretty crazy one. And she’s like, “I’m just going to go get my tincture.” After that, she’s like, “I’m not…”
Chris Holifield:
She has a sister in Washington, luckily. So they’re lucky up there in Washington, legal up there. So she’s-
Krissie:
It’s really helped her. So it’s nice to be able to talk to her about it too. She’s super LDS. She’s an amazing woman. Just carried a baby for her sister-in-law. That was amazing.
Chris Holifield:
… so talk about, how has it helped you get through your work day, especially through this last year with COVID? When you switched to working at home, we’re all here to help you. Kids are at home, I’m at home, you’re at home. We’re always on each other’s throat.
Krissie:
That in and of itself is like, “Oh, my gosh!”
Chris Holifield:
And you probably quickly realized that you could quickly turn into a heavy alcoholic if you’re not…
Krissie:
Yeah. Which was the 2020 joke, right?
Tim Pickett:
That’s right.
Krissie:
And not even a joke, it was a proven fact.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, COVID drinking, “I’m just going to day drink.”
Krissie:
I flipped, because I was like, “okay, I’m at home. I’m in a safe space. This is a good time for me to try cannabis and see how it affects. I don’t have to… I can just be at home safely and sit on the couch, and think.” And so it was actually a really good thing for me because it allowed me to do so many tests and trial and errors, and try the strains and try different oil infusions. And I had the time to do it. And I don’t think that I would have done that if I had to keep going to work every day, because I never would have found the time. It just would have been too stressful. So I swapped during 2020. And I’m so glad I did, because cannabis helped me so much when we got COVID. I could not make it through a day without probably 60 milligrams. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And now I actually have…
Chris Holifield:
Yeah, you’re dealing with a lot of post COVID symptoms.
Krissie:
Yeah, what they call a long hauler or something. So a lot of my physical symptoms, probably all of them, are still here and some of them are getting worse. So I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get rid of it. Disclaimer, I know maybe I should try keto, but I’m not going to right now, because I want to eat bread.
Chris Holifield:
Well, that’s what she’s realizing, maybe-
Krissie:
That might help. I’m like keto would probably help. I have arthritis, tendonitis, fibromyalgia, and just everything hurts all the time, my wrist, my fingers.
Chris Holifield:
… your wrist. Talk about your wrist.
Krissie:
I work with my fingers and they hurt so bad all the time that I can barely move them. And so, cannabis has really helped me continue to power through and continue to work where I don’t think I would be able to work right now if I didn’t have it to help me set the pain aside in my head and be able to focus on other things.
Tim Pickett:
Right. It’s not that it takes away the pain, it’s just that-
Krissie:
Yes. Which surprised me. Well, everybody’s like, “Take it for pain.” And so you think it’s going to be a painkiller.
Tim Pickett:
… the expectation is, “I take ibuprofen. It makes me feel better. I can’t take ibuprofen anymore because it gave me ulcers. This is good for pain. It should act the same.”
Krissie:
Exactly.
Tim Pickett:
Surprise.
Krissie:
And no one really talks about… I mean, I’m sure it affects everyone differently. Maybe it does remove pain for some people.
Tim Pickett:
Some people. But a lot of people are just gives them a break, a mental break.
Krissie:
Yes. That’s exactly what it does for me. I always feel like all the nerves in my hands and my feet… I constantly feel like nerves on fire even when I’m medicating with cannabis. But when I am medicated, it’s like more of a soft feeling in the back of my head where I’m like, “I know that hurts. I can still feel it, but it’s not controlling me as much.”
Tim Pickett:
And you’re able to focus on your work even better because you’re not distracted by the pain.
Krissie:
Yeah. Feels like they’re falling asleep. Things that hurt with that cannabis feel like they’re asleep. Is that weird? I don’t know. I don’t know what other people experience.
Chris Holifield:
See, I don’t know what other people experience either. That’s the fun of this podcast, really is to listen… I mean, I was listening back to some older episodes over the last few days and it’s so interesting the different experiences that we all experience. Because I’m like, “Man, so-and-so just explained a similar thing, but what they experienced is so different than this person and this person and this person.”
Krissie:
Yeah. That’s why you really have to be able to-
Chris Holifield:
Have to find your thing.
Krissie:
… find your thing. Yeah. And we really need more… I mean, I know everyone’s trying, but I really, really hope that there will be good resources available. I know Tim, your place, utahmarijuana.org, you guys have awesome… When I went into your office, you had this little packet and actually everything was so pretty that I was… I still have it. Because you have these perfect little graphs explaining all the terpenes and how they help you, and it was eye opening.
Chris Holifield:
We take a few general concepts.
Krissie:
But people don’t even do that.
Tim Pickett:
Because everybody has different… Yeah, it’s true. I don’t know. I get really cynical that there’s so much money to be made in selling weed that nobody cares about, doing any education about why we should use this a certain way. Recently we released a video about addiction versus… Is marijuana addictive or is it just habit forming? And man, people get uptight when you say, well, no, it’s not addictive. But if you smoke five joints a day, you’re going to have withdrawal symptoms if you quit.
Chris Holifield:
Of course, yeah.
Krissie:
Well, you’re not going to feel great, obviously.
Tim Pickett:
You don’t feel great, and people get so mad.
Chris Holifield:
What were they saying.
Krissie:
That’s different than addiction.
Tim Pickett:
They’re like, “No, I can quit today and it doesn’t matter.” Yeah, you won’t die. But that’s not having a…
Krissie:
You’ll feel miserable again, is what will happen. You’ll go back to normal and then you’ll be mad about it.
Tim Pickett:
And you’ll about that.
Chris Holifield:
I think people are scared to admit that it might be a little addictive because they don’t want their cannabis to be screwed with.
Tim Pickett:
Taken away.
Chris Holifield:
Taken away.
Tim Pickett:
“Well, I don’t want this taken away. I want more access.”
Krissie:
Or judged. People are still.
Tim Pickett:
“We think it should be legal.” I mean, you’ve got to have both sides of the story. You need to talk about it.
Krissie:
Yeah. And that’s what is so fascinating, the science behind it. I’m so excited about all the stuff coming out and the ability to actually be able to study it now.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, I think so.
Chris Holifield:
Well, we still can’t study it enough. I mean just the capabilities of truly studying it.
Krissie:
I mean, we’re obviously at the tiny piece of snow on the tip of the iceberg of understanding, for sure. Which makes me excited because our knowledge will just continue to grow as society hopefully.
Tim Pickett:
Sorry. I’m switching gears here. Did you consciously use cannabis to quit alcohol?
Krissie:
I did. Yeah.
Tim Pickett:
You gave yourself permission.
Krissie:
I didn’t really tell anyone. I don’t like telling people things because then I feel like I’m going to fail. So I don’t really know if I told you, Chris. You were just like, “Why aren’t you drinking all of a sudden?” And he was really confused.
Chris Holifield:
You’ve lost a lot of weight.
Krissie:
Yeah. “You got really skinny. And are you sure you don’t want me to go to the liquor store?” I’m like, “Yeah, I’m fine.” And I could tell he was really confused.
Tim Pickett:
But you didn’t want to give it away because for fear it would shape the [crosstalk 00:22:37].
Krissie:
I didn’t want to contaminate my hypothesis. So always, whenever I want to try something, I’ll get a notebook and write a hypothesis or a problem statement. And then I want to study it without any exterior interference, I guess, or without anybody’s opinions. I just want to study the facts, see how it works out and then apply it if I like it. And so, I did that a lot with cannabis. It took a lot of my time. I was working really hard on it in my spare time, because I didn’t want to start doing it if I didn’t have a plan, which is not like me at all. I don’t know why-
Chris Holifield:
I’m rubbing off on you.
Krissie:
… you’re rubbing off on me. What is wrong? I never do that stuff. I forgot where I was.
Chris Holifield:
But you had to plan to use cannabis to get off alcohol, to quit drinking.
Krissie:
And that it actually happened. So I got appendicitis. I got my appendix out.
Chris Holifield:
This all happened over COVID, man. She had to go in and get her appendix out right at the beginning of…
Krissie:
Right when we got COVID.
Chris Holifield:
When everything’s on locked down and you’re like, “I got to go into hospital by myself to get my appendix out.”
Krissie:
Like, it was about to burst and I was making tea and I’m like, “I’m just going to drink some hot tea. I probably have gas. I’m not going to go to the emergency room, because they’re just going to tell me I’m constipated.” I fatted for a while and that was probably a bad idea.
Tim Pickett:
This is what I did literally for six years of my life, is take care of people like that. And so often people would come in with burst appendicitis, septic. They’re like, “I just thought it was gas.”
Krissie:
It’s hard because if you have internal pains a lot, stomach pains, you’re just like, “There’s another one.” You don’t really think it’s anything different.
Tim Pickett:
Sure.
Krissie:
But then it just gets worse. And you’re like, “Okay.”
Tim Pickett:
I’m really getting sick.
Krissie:
I think we need to pay a little more attention to our bodies probably, I would say.
Tim Pickett:
And then admit when things are bad, but the system should be easier to access too, right?
Krissie:
Absolutely.
Tim Pickett:
You’ve got to go to the ER, you’ve got to register. You’re going to be there six hours. It’s all day. You’ve got kids, you’ve got other things going on. That’s not a very easy process to navigate.
Krissie:
It was very tricky. And when I came out, I was sick for a couple of weeks with COVID and I was just… For some reason I was like, you know what? That was such a horrible experience. That was so painful before I finally went in. I want to start taking a little bit better care of myself. And I should probably tone it down with the drinking, “Let’s try it. Let’s see if anything else can help me stay calm.” So I really doubled down on it during COVID while I was really sick. I got some gummies, because I had applied to be a patient. So I was already a patient and just testing things. And it really helped me be able to get up and function, even though I was so sick.
Krissie:
I mean, it was harder to do things when I had COVID than when I was about to burst with my appendix. I was like, “This is harder.” Because my whole body is just destroyed and it allowed me to actually get up and sit for a few hours and work, or help the kids, or have a conversation with somebody, because when I’m in pain, I don’t like to talk. I was like, “I have to keep…” I’m still on that path. “I have to keep investigating.” But I feel like it’s given me a part of myself back that I forgot existed if that’s, does that make sense?
Chris Holifield:
Absolutely.
Krissie:
I’ve found more of myself.
Chris Holifield:
So edibles, you were getting edibles. You started getting into the tinctures and the edibles. Because again, let’s go back to the smoking here. Remember the listeners, it bothered her throat. So it bothered her throat, even though my preferred is-
Krissie:
That’s why I’ve never been cool.
Chris Holifield:
… well, my preferred has always been flower. Just give it to me the raw, the real, the organic way. There’s no additives. I don’t have to worry about anything.
Krissie:
And that is the best.
Tim Pickett:
Do you feel like the experience is better, when you smoke it, you just can’t really tolerate it. Because we’re going to get into this. You make stuff.
Krissie:
Yeah, I love making stuff. The thing that I found works the best is to take about 30 milligrams at a bowl in an oil or whatever. And then very slowly microdose with a vape, because I can’t take like a big hit on a vape or anything. IT just destroys my throat.
Chris Holifield:
Just like a little one here and there [crosstalk 00:27:08].
Krissie:
Yeah. Just a little tiny one here and there to keep the edge off, I guess. I don’t know.
Tim Pickett:
It’s called layering and it’s-
Krissie:
That’s a thing?
Tim Pickett:
… yeah, layering.
Krissie:
Nice. Well, it seems to work better than just one or just the other. Smoking really probably works the least best for me that I’ve felt, because it doesn’t have the deep long-term effect that edibles do have with my mind and body.
Tim Pickett:
And do you find that you’re using an edible that is getting you… You’re getting a little bit of head change or you’re right at that level where you feel like you could do all of the normal stuff during the day. I hate to use the word microdose with, well, especially with 30 milligrams, because [crosstalk 00:27:57].
Krissie:
Not exactly a micro dose.
Tim Pickett:
It’s not exactly a micro dose. But to some people-
Krissie:
Thank you, COVID. I could not take that much before COVID.
Tim Pickett:
… some people though, 30 milligrams is a microdose. But I’m talking about a dose that you take because you know that’s a baseline. That’s a good baseline dose for me, and then I can add to it a little bit here and there with something inhaled, if I need to.
Krissie:
That’s exactly what I found works the best for my situation. And I’ve tried different strains, been studying different strains, and then I’ll try them in different oils and see how I respond to those and taking notes.
Chris Holifield:
Where are you getting most of your information though for note taking?
Krissie:
That’s a good question.
Chris Holifield:
I mean, you have few books. I mean, is just all over, Google, or…
Krissie:
When I went in for my first appointment to get my card at your office, my provider recommended this book…
Chris Holifield:
Women in Cannabis.
Krissie:
Yeah, a Woman’s Guide to Cannabis. And she walked me through it and explained a lot of things to me. And she’s like, “You have to get this book.” So I got that book and-
Chris Holifield:
It’s the one I got for Christmas.
Krissie:
… yeah, you got it for Christmas for me. Thank you. It’s super pretty. It’s the cutest book in the world and it’s very informative. It’s a lady who’s been making things to help people for a long time and actual experiences, and then she gives recipes and explains why. I found out, I think from her that, emu oil is the best lotion to absorb into your skin. So if you want to make a topical, you should infuse emu oil. And you need to have a carrier oil like a menthol or something or it will not help pull the THC into your bloodstream as, as well. So there’s all these little tiny tricks that I’ve learned from reading books, and some internet. It has to be a real site.
Tim Pickett:
Sure. You go read a blog post and then got to go confirm it somewhere else?
Krissie:
Yeah, for sure.
Tim Pickett:
Thank you. Well, that’s a great idea. Is that really true? I’m going to go double check it three or four times.
Krissie:
It’s like, you start at Reddit, and then you’re like, all right, down the rabbit hole.
Chris Holifield:
It’s like when you told me, “Chris, you know when you eat mangoes, you can get a better high.”
Krissie:
I did. I got so excited, except I hate mangoes. I was like, “I didn’t know mangoes could affect that.” But then aren’t there like terpenes and mangoes, and that’s what does it. It’s just so interesting. It’s just fascinating.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, the terpenes and mangoes, it would adjust the absorption time. Sativa, limonene will make things absorb a little faster.
Krissie:
I love Limonene.
Tim Pickett:
Sativas tend to hit a little hard.
Chris Holifield:
Let’s talk about that.
Tim Pickett:
Let’s talk about making things.
Chris Holifield:
You did some research on Levo. You got Levo too.
Krissie:
Yes, I did.
Chris Holifield:
Let’s talk about that for the listener so people that are listening might even be interested to know about the Levo. Cause we’ve had two Levos go (out) on us now.
Krissie:
Yeah. Okay. This is sad, because I really wanted to love Levo. Levo, it looks like a coffee machine, but it’s an infusion machine for oils and whatever kind of herbs you would prefer to use. So I got one and started making oils. I think I was able to make four batches and then-
Chris Holifield:
Not big ones either though.
Krissie:
… not big one.
Tim Pickett:
Okay. How much are we talking, and eighth?
Krissie:
Probably two eights. What is that, one fourth?
Tim Pickett:
Quarter. Yeah, so you get a quarter of-
Krissie:
I don’t do math. So a quarter to about a quarter cup of MCT oil, because you want it really dense. Otherwise, you have to just take it.
Tim Pickett:
… do you buy the clear MCT oil at Costco?
Krissie:
That is literally exactly the one I use. Yeah. There’s a little spray. Sprays in there.
Tim Pickett:
You spray it in.
Krissie:
I love it. Not messy. And then I learned about the sunflower…
Chris Holifield:
Lecithin.
Tim Pickett:
Lecithin.
Krissie:
I don’t want to say words. Yeah, lecithin, and how that helps. And I tried different ratios of lecithin with different amounts of-
Chris Holifield:
Flower?
Krissie:
… flower and MCT oil. And it was so much fun.
Tim Pickett:
You can adjust the strength of your oil based on how much oil you use.
Krissie:
Yes.
Tim Pickett:
The more oil to cannabis, the weaker.
Krissie:
Yes.
Tim Pickett:
Did you find it like a calculator online?
Krissie:
Lots of them. I found about three or four calculators, and then I would use each one of them every time and see which one…
Tim Pickett:
Are they different?
Krissie:
They’re different. Well, they’re different because they calculate differently. So they’re trying to come up with different outcomes based on the information you give them. So one of them would tell you in a dose, if you put everything in what a dose would be, and how big… If it’s a half teaspoon, here’s how much is in it. And then another one, it did it backwards and it really confused me. It only told you how much was in all of it, but then you couldn’t break it down. It was really weird, and it didn’t make sense. And I tried it forever and ever. So I studied calculators and then found one that made sense to me.
Tim Pickett:
Got it. This is another reason why people don’t make their own edibles.
Krissie:
It’s a lot, and it gets really expensive, because you have to do so much trial and error and you have to continue to buy these things. And all also sudden you’re like, “Oh, my gosh! I spent so much money.”
Tim Pickett:
You just use an eighth of flower or a quarter?
Krissie:
And it lasts about a week. I would say an eighth in an oil.
Chris Holifield:
For you.
Krissie:
For me. I don’t know. Everyone’s different.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, whatever. So you make this oil and then you have essentially your own strain. Does your house stink?
Krissie:
Sometimes.
Chris Holifield:
Sometimes. That’s a touchy subject with me, because I learned you don’t want to point out cause she gets very self-conscious If you bring up that it smells-
Tim Pickett:
You’re like, “Oh, it smells dank in here.”
Chris Holifield:
… this is a different thing, Tim. And this is actually something I’d love to talk about too. I don’t want to get too sidetracked.
Krissie:
Let’s get all the skeletons out.
Chris Holifield:
Krissie and I come from two different worlds. Krissie doesn’t understand that if it smells like marijuana, then you got to be a little concerned, because you don’t want the neighbors to smell it. Krissie comes from a world of, “Well, why is this illegal?” You know what I mean? She doesn’t understand why it’s something to be concerned about. What if the neighbor comes and knocks on the front door and wants to come inside, say, “What’s that smell?”
Krissie:
And here’s the problem with me. I’d be like, “That’s my cannabis oil.” I’m just. “Whatever.”
Chris Holifield:
Because you come from a different world because you’re more of a new school person.
Krissie:
Very.
Chris Holifield:
You don’t understand that the repercussion.
Krissie:
I don’t have the fear.
Chris Holifield:
Yeah.
Krissie:
And I should have a little more.
Tim Pickett:
I mean, society should be more like that. You walk in and you’re like, “It smells like skunks in here. You must be making medicine.”
Krissie:
Exactly. What’s the big deal.
Chris Holifield:
But I’m the type of person that’s like, “That’s two or three years in jail.”
Krissie:
See, I’d be making and Chris would come into the kitchen and go, “Man, it stinks in here.” And I just get all mopey and walk away.
Chris Holifield:
And I didn’t realize… I wasn’t trying to be insulting.
Tim Pickett:
No, you’re just like, “Wow! It smells strong.”
Chris Holifield:
That’s some potent skunky, pungent stuff.
Tim Pickett:
It doesn’t take very long for the nose to get used to it, and you’re fine.
Krissie:
Well, that’s the problem.
Tim Pickett:
I’ve gone home from Zion. I was visiting somewhere-
Chris Holifield:
Your wife’s like, “Whoa!”
Tim Pickett:
Like, “Oh my gosh!” Or my daughter, she gets in the car and she’s like, “Oh, my gosh! It smells like skunks in here, dad.”
Krissie:
That is really tough. But I think people who are a little more naive like me think, “Well, am I going to make it in the oil and I’ll just be able to open the windows and air it out really quick, just like any other herbs.” And so, I’m sitting here hoping I can make it and it won’t bother anyone, and nobody will notice. And then when someone points it out, I get all like butthurt.
Chris Holifield:
But anyway, back to your question, Tim. It doesn’t smell horrible. The Levo does a pretty good job masking.
Krissie:
It does. It does a good job.
Chris Holifield:
There’s only a few moments during there, I think, when you’re opening the canister for a second, it lets out, whif!
Krissie:
And you can never scrub the smell off of it quite.
Tim Pickett:
No, because it’s silicon, right?
Krissie:
Yeah.
Tim Pickett:
It has silicon parts.
Krissie:
And the metal even. Well, some silicone parts and some metal, both. As long as you keep it closed you’re fine.
Tim Pickett:
So have you tried a different… You’ve had three Levos?
Chris Holifield:
Well, two, but they’re all broken.
Krissie:
Yeah. They’re all broken.
Tim Pickett:
So are you switching over to the… There’s a few other ones. There’s one that’s purple.
Krissie:
That’s the one I want.
Tim Pickett:
I don’t quite remember the name of it.
Krissie:
I was showing you… Yeah. You guys talked about it on a previous episode and that’s how found out about it.
Chris Holifield:
I wouldn’t even know where to start Googling. I said I could Google it, but…
Krissie:
Oh, my gosh! I don’t remember the name of it, but it’s purple. It looks like a thermos, right?
Tim Pickett:
Yes.
Krissie:
And you put it in and it in… It’s like an all-in-one, like a thermos that you just use.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah. You put it in. You put your weed in there, and then you push go.
Chris Holifield:
But now you haven’t really made anything for awhile, right?
Krissie:
No. I started using our Instapot.
Chris Holifield:
Yeah, for just [crosstalk 00:36:33].
Krissie:
Because both of the Levo… So my first Levo broke and I wrote, and I’m like, “Can I trade it in? What can I do?” And they’re like, “Well, it’s COVID keep it. We’ll send you a new one.” So I got another one that I was like “Holla!” I mean, one doesn’t work, but, hey, two Levos.
Tim Pickett:
Now you’ve got two of them.
Krissie:
And then I made three batches of oil and the second Levo stopped turning on. And so I’m just really bummed, because I want to love it. It’s such a great product. It’s so cool.
Tim Pickett:
How can this be so hard?
Chris Holifield:
But you’re not the only one who deals with this.
Krissie:
No, it’s pretty common.
Chris Holifield:
I mean, if you go to the Levo Facebook group, I would say 90% of the people in the Facebook group are like, “This thing… the door broke.”
Krissie:
They should be using more solid materials for sure.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah. They’re trying.
Krissie:
They’re trying. Exactly.
Tim Pickett:
Hopefully, when they rebrand as a different name and delete that Facebook page, it’ll be fine.
Krissie:
Then it’ll be okay. But yeah, so I gave it a good try.
Tim Pickett:
But there a few different ones.
Chris Holifield:
Magic butter or something.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, there’s the magic butter machine.
Krissie:
I’ve heard of the magic butter. I’ve that’s good for big batches, but in all reality, when am I going to have enough money to make a big batch?
Tim Pickett:
Like, “I’m going to put a whole ounce in there.”
Chris Holifield:
More commercial.
Tim Pickett:
That I feel like need to go… We need to grow our separate batches.
Krissie:
That’s what I cannot wait for. I can’t wait till we can actually grow our own. Because I’d really like to even make raw smoothies. It would be so great to add it as greens to things without decarb… Words are so hard, you guys. Decarboxylating it. There’s still a lot of health benefits.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah. You could decarb it slightly too. You could do things like… You’re going to get some of the raw effects, but you’re going to decarb just really lightly. There’s some teas you can make that are that way.
Krissie:
Really?
Tim Pickett:
There’s an Indian tea called Bhang. That’s a really light, maybe [crosstalk 00:38:16].
Krissie:
I’m sorry. Continue.
Tim Pickett:
It’s a tea. That’s only lightly decarboxylated. So it’s not super psychoactive. Now if you overcook the tea, no guarantees.
Krissie:
See, I need to learn more about that.
Tim Pickett:
Stuff like that, I mean, you would really like.
Krissie:
I would love it. See, I’ve just been mixing the oil into Chai’s or matcha tea, or taking the leftovers after I make the oil and soaking them like a teabag in a coffee or something to absorb what’s over.
Tim Pickett:
Whatevers. Now we’re talking about like the tannins, I guess.
Krissie:
I don’t know what it is, but it’s lovely.
Tim Pickett:
Be like the plant, you’re making a tea. Man, I just lost my train of thought.
Krissie:
You’re welcomed.
Tim Pickett:
I’m just fascinated by this cooking your own stuff. So the Instapot, what the hell!
Chris Holifield:
Have you heard of people using the Instapot?
Tim Pickett:
No.
Krissie:
I will figure it out if I need to.
Tim Pickett:
The oven seems like that would just make your house stink.
Krissie:
Yeah. I’ve never tried the oven.
Tim Pickett:
I mean, that’s just a recipe for the neighbors to call the cops.
Krissie:
I think it would be the best way to do it because you can evenly distribute everything, but I don’t-
Tim Pickett:
How about in Instapot, can you control the temperature?
Krissie:
You can… Well, kind of. So I use a pressure cook setting and you pressure cook it on high, which is, I believe, 250 degrees.
Tim Pickett:
You learned this on the internet.
Krissie:
I did.
Chris Holifield:
The Internet’s a beautiful thing.
Tim Pickett:
Yes.
Krissie:
YouTube is the greatest search engine.
Tim Pickett:
All right. So you put it in the Instapot, you…
Krissie:
So I put the raw flower in the Instapot. Don’t grind it. I used to grind.
Chris Holifield:
In a mixing jar with a screwed on lid. So you have a lid on the mixing jar.
Krissie:
And a couple of cups of water.
Tim Pickett:
Okay.
Krissie:
So it’s pressurizing. I don’t know. It’s cooking the water and heating the flower.
Tim Pickett:
I got it.
Krissie:
I’ll break it up with my hands, because if I use a grinder… I used to use a coffee grinder, but it’s so sticky, you couldn’t get everything out of it. And you really just need to get enough surface area for the oil to grab onto stuff. So you don’t have to have really fine grinds.
Tim Pickett:
Is the oil inside the jar already?
Krissie:
No, but I have heard people do that. So first I put it in on high for about, I want to say 40 minutes. And so it cooks it at 250 degrees for 40 minutes, and that is supposed to perfectly decarboxylate it. And then I open it up, and put the oil in and the sunflower lecithin, and shake it and top it off, put it back in, and then put it in for another 40 minutes at high pressure. I mean, it’s worked for me. I think I do like the quality that the Levo made, the quality of oil Levo made was really nice. But this works.
Tim Pickett:
Do you put any flavoring in your oil?
Krissie:
No. Should I?
Chris Holifield:
A little blueberry, a little strawberry…
Tim Pickett:
I don’t know.
Krissie:
I never thought to.
Tim Pickett:
Just because the tincture, you’re essentially making the same thing they sell at the-
Chris Holifield:
I keep a little vanilla extract in there, right?
Krissie:
Can you really make it taste better though? I mean, it does not taste great.
Tim Pickett:
Well, I think the two flavors I’ve tasted are peppermint or cinnamon, something strong.
Krissie:
Like an overpowering…
Tim Pickett:
Something that’ll basically overpowered the skunk and dirt.
Krissie:
Interesting. I’m going to try that next time. Because it usually just tastes like dirt and bad sunflower seeds, because the sunflower lecithin is not good tasting either.
Tim Pickett:
Sunflower oil is strong tasting.
Krissie:
Yeah. You do a half a teaspoon and it takes over, man. It’s crazy.
Tim Pickett:
So what about the strains are different? Can you tell, “I have this oil that I like to use for this type of day, and this type of pain.” And you can tell a big difference between your oils?
Krissie:
Yes. I mean, I have fallen off the wagon with the testing of the oils, but when I was really testing everyone I could get my hands on, I found that typically I don’t handle sativas very well. But if I make a sativa into an oil, it’s a perfect daytime edible for me, because it doesn’t make me as anxious as smoking it would. But it gives me the clarity and energy to continue doing things. And then, if I just want to, I don’t know, relax. I like indica because it’s just nice.
Tim Pickett:
She uses this face, relax. Like, “I don’t know what that really mean. I’ve heard that’s a thing.”
Chris Holifield:
Some of us, it taught to know that it’s okay to just lay back and relax.
Krissie:
Because usually at night we “relax”, but I’m still working. I’m always on the computer working. And so when I’m in my relaxed working mode, I like to… Fatso was a good one. I made oil with Fatso, and that was really good.
Tim Pickett:
There are some people out there who are going to listen to this are like, “Oh, my God! That’s blasphemy. You’ve changed Fatso into something that [inaudible 00:43:22].”
Krissie:
Hey, come at me, bro. I’ll fight for it. I am very weirdly medicinally obsessed with it.
Tim Pickett:
That’s a cool… There was some great ideas that happened with the Fatso oil, I bet.
Krissie:
Yeah, probably. Can’t remember now, but I’m sure they were great. I’ve been killing it in the brain department lately, except for talking.
Chris Holifield:
Your creative brain definitely comes out a lot more when you consume…
Krissie:
It helps more than any of the ADHD medications I’ve ever been on either. It helps with my anxiety more than all of those drugs. It helps with my ADHD, PTSD, my pain. It really helps in a better way than all of them.
Chris Holifield:
If cannabis was 100% legal and we were able to grow our own, I mean, would it be safe to say that you would probably be able to get off any psych medication, any sort of your medication, right?
Krissie:
I think so.
Chris Holifield:
Would you say it’s just because of the cost, because of all of that, that makes it hard to consume the amount you need?
Krissie:
Yeah. Well, and I have thought about this, because I don’t know. And, Tim, maybe you would know more about this. I don’t know how THC affects people who have lower serotonin production. So I have very low serotonin production and so I take serotonin whatever. And I don’t know if I weaned off those. If I replaced it with cannabis. I mean, I would have to stay very consistent. I could not forget.
Tim Pickett:
That’s a different pathway. So THC usually works in the dopamine pathway, which is more of a reward pathway. And serotonin is that depression pathway, so it’s a little different. So it’s hard to know different… People would be affected differently because sometimes I would say maybe the serotonin is affected. You just don’t feel good in general. And you can fix that by increasing the serotonin. But if you could use something else, then you wouldn’t need an increased in serotonin. So I’m not saying that it’s impossible.
Krissie:
That’s cool.
Tim Pickett:
So I’m just saying they work in different pathways. So it maybe less likely-
Krissie:
It’s like using weed to get off alcohol, using dopamine to get off serotonin.
Tim Pickett:
… yes. So quite a one for one trade-off.
Krissie:
I’m oversimplifying it.
Tim Pickett:
Well kind of, but really not. All you want to do is feel better. All you want to do is do more that you want to do. So whatever you’ve got to take or supplement with to make that happen is what you should do. And I’m going to qualify that by… Because of course you don’t want to go snort coke if that’s what the path is.
Krissie:
That makes me feel great. What are you talking about?
Chris Holifield:
I got some medicinal coke in here.
Tim Pickett:
But what I’m saying is, the most natural way you can do that is with the least amount of outside inputs. Does that make sense?
Krissie:
Yes, where you’re just deciding for yourself.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah. You’re deciding for yourself and you’re using the products that you feel are the best for you, and you’re just moving forward. You’re moving forward to feel better. Right now you don’t have access to exactly that in a totally natural way. So the choices are some pharmaceuticals and some natural stuff. Maybe down the road, 10 years, we find out more and you can move to all natural stuff.
Krissie:
Which would be so killer.
Tim Pickett:
Which is cool that you’re doing the journaling and the trial and error, but giving yourself permission.
Krissie:
Not consistently.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah. You’re doing it way more consistent than most. And giving yourself permission to do it is most of the battle. We talk all the time and this guilt, and shame, and this idea that it’s… I mean, still we talk about the kitchen smells like weed. Hopefully one day that’s okay.
Chris Holifield:
Well, and I think as people like Krissie come on board and get introduced to cannabis, and they bring on these new mentalities of, “Wait, why do this even have a bad stigma?”
Krissie:
We’re just so ignorant. We don’t know better.
Chris Holifield:
It’s not that you’re ignorant. It’s just that you realize that it’s just a plan. It’s just…
Tim Pickett:
This is just how the smells. I bring in lavender and my house is going to smell like lavender.
Krissie:
You just don’t want to like fumigate your house with cannabis. It’s not going to smell great.
Chris Holifield:
What is your favorite strain? Do you have a favorite strain right now?
Krissie:
This is very tough. I love Jack Herer in an oil. I did love Madmax too. Oh, my gosh! Madmax was really great. I put that in an oil, and it’s been a while. Fatso is one that I really loved. And then the last one I had was Jack Herer too. So those are the three that really stood out to me. And I know they’re different. Madmax, I think is a hybrid. It might be more a sativa. And then Jack Herer is a sativa. But if I smoke it as well as take the pills, I get a little bit too anxious feeling. So when I take sativa oil, I’ll try Indica vape too. Is that weird? To balance out, not to get too jittery, I guess. Because I can get really anxious really easy.
Chris Holifield:
Talk about the capsules. You put them in capsules. We didn’t talk about she puts them in capsules too?
Tim Pickett:
No, you’ve just mentioned that you’ve got capsules. Are there big capsules, little?
Krissie:
No, they were just regular capsules. Just a regular little veggie capsule.
Chris Holifield:
Gelatin, veggie. You get them on Amazon or something.
Krissie:
And I made MCT oil the same as I always do. And then I just got a little set up, and I filled capsules and then I did the math to figure out exactly how much each capsule was. And it came to around 10 to 15 milligrams of capsule, I believe. And so then I could calculate, “I’m going to take this many capsules and see how I feel for the next four hours.” And then I’ll try it again at noon and see. And I usually can tell when it wears off, I don’t realize it’s happening, but I get really cranky and tired. And then also I’m like-
Chris Holifield:
I bet, Krissie, you need more capsules.
Krissie:
… I know.
Tim Pickett:
[crosstalk 00:49:30]. It’s capsule time.
Krissie:
It’s such a smooth decline though. When you come off, let’s say, Adderall, because I take Adderall for my ADHD, much harder crash. And with cannabis it’s like, you ease down into it. Yeah. Everything hurts and you’re a little more grumpy, but it’s not all of a sudden and that’s actually really nice. I don’t think people talk about that part of enough.
Tim Pickett:
So you have a time of day where you’re done taking cannabis?
Krissie:
I don’t know.
Tim Pickett:
Because you know, “If I take this at eight o’clock at night, then I’m going to be up.”
Krissie:
Yeah.
Chris Holifield:
That’s true. I’ve never really thought that.
Krissie:
It’s tough because I wasn’t sleeping a lot. I was working. And so I was very motivated night and I would take it all the time. So now I’m trying to figure out, because now I’m getting a little bit more sleep at night over the last week. I’m like, “Okay, let’s balance this.” And so now I’m still trying to figure out when a good time is. I don’t know. Because if I want to go to bed, I just work until I’m tired. So I do not pay enough attention to time. It’s really bad.
Chris Holifield:
This is what it’s like to be married to Krissie.
Tim Pickett:
And you’re working at home so it’s endless-
Chris Holifield:
When does it end?
Krissie:
I know. It’s a nightmare.
Tim Pickett:
… endless availability.
Krissie:
Chris is so patient.
Tim Pickett:
Your employers love you.
Krissie:
I hope so.
Tim Pickett:
They’re like, “Don’t worry. She’s always working.”
Krissie:
I’ve always called myself an on-call designer. So there you have it.
Chris Holifield:
What would you tell somebody? This is a question I like to ask people that come through your Krissie, is people that are listening. Because I know there’s a lot of people listening that are thinking about starting cannabis. They’re thinking about, should I get my card? Should I start doing this? What would you tell somebody who maybe was like you a year and a half ago, where you were nervous, where you were… Go back further, whatever it was. What would you tell somebody who’s thinking about, they’re apprehensive, they don’t know where to start, but they’re nervous?
Krissie:
Personally, if you’re someone like me who you really do… I can only really see it as medicine. I don’t really think I’ve gotten high, high. I’ve never really gone that far with it. [crosstalk 00:51:34]. Because I don’t think my brain likes that. Maybe I have once or twice. But if someone wants to think about it more medicinally the way I do, I would say go get 2.5 milligrams… They probably don’t make that. Five milligrams [crosstalk 00:51:47].
Tim Pickett:
They do. They make that spray.
Krissie:
Or the spray. Yeah, get a really-
Tim Pickett:
On a tincture, you can dial it down to 2.5 milligrams.
Krissie:
… and do a one-to-one CBD, or a one to two. So it’s one THC to CBD. Try a low THC slowly, and just see how you feel every couple of hours. And you have to pay attention to when it helps you feel good and then when you start to go back down, so you can assess how much you might need at what time. That sounds like a lot of work, but it’s actually fun.
Tim Pickett:
If you can give yourself permission, or somebody gives you permission to experiment with it in that way and you don’t feel guilty, then I feel like that’s the-
Krissie:
It’s huge.
Tim Pickett:
… then you can do the work to figure it out. But it’s got to be okay. You’ve got to be able to take it, and not think bad about yourself. Not just about the THC. Not worry about how it is perceived to you to be using this thing.
Krissie:
Yes. You got to realize it’s going to be okays, “This is why I’m a patient. And if someone has a problem, come talk to me.” But you do. It’s hard to give yourself that permission, especially in a society or an area that we live in that has a little bit more strong of an opinion against it. Now, I would say start small. Because if I took 2.5 milligrams when I first started, that would…
Chris Holifield:
That would have knocked you out.
Krissie:
That would have knocked me out. I would have gone nuts. That was way too much. And so I really worked up super slow. And now it’s like 30 is nothing… Or it’s not nothing, but it’s the perfect dose I need to feel very stable and calm.
Tim Pickett:
And I’d qualify that to people out there who are thinking, well, 30 milligrams… You’ve increased your tolerance, you’re using too much. You should have stayed at 10 milligrams.
Krissie:
And I worry about that.
Tim Pickett:
That’s not true. It’s just not true. People sometimes need to build up the tolerance so they can take more. So there is some research that would show your therapeutic dose is not dependent on how high you get in the beginning. You’re working up to where you’re feeling better. And sometimes you got to build up tolerance so that you can take 20 milligrams, because that might be the sweet spot. And that takes some time. I mean, I talk to patients all the time who are taking literally one drop of tincture to start with, and then they’re taking two drops, and then they’re taking three drops, and they’re working up to where they can tolerate it. And it’s starting to get them the relief they want, but it’s not [crosstalk 00:54:29].
Krissie:
Maybe a tincture is a good way to go. Gummies are yummy.
Tim Pickett:
Gummies.
Krissie:
Tagline [inaudible 00:54:36].
Chris Holifield:
I’ve heard edibles you can become quite tolerant of them very quickly.
Tim Pickett:
Yeah, they convert over in the liver, and they become almost stronger in some people.
Chris Holifield:
Yeah.
Krissie:
See, and that is a huge thing though, that I worry about. I think a lot of people like me might worry about… I’m like, “Holy crap! My tolerance has gone up so much. Is it going to keep doing this? Is it like a hockey stick?”
Chris Holifield:
See, I don’t think it’s that high. Like what? Because you can take 30 milligrams now and it doesn’t-
Krissie:
It’s high for me.
Tim Pickett:
I feel like at some point-
Krissie:
It affects me differently than it used to, or at least I deal with it better.
Tim Pickett:
…I don’t know. We could come up with ways to define tolerance, but I think your tolerance is too high if you can’t afford it.
Krissie:
Definitely.
Tim Pickett:
If you can’t take a break once in awhile. I think it’s important for people to be able to take a little bit of a break.
Chris Holifield:
I think that’s just more of a psychological thing. Like, “Man, I got to take a break.”
Tim Pickett:
“I got to take a couple of days.”
Chris Holifield:
You know what I mean? You’re like, “It’s so good though,” and you hit your lips.
Krissie:
It is sometimes really nice, even just as a reminder, like this is how I feel normal. Take two or three days and be like, “Wow, this is why [crosstalk 00:55:43].”
Tim Pickett:
This is why I need cannabis. You do not feel good.
Krissie:
Yeah. It helps reaffirm that you’re doing the right thing for yourself.
Tim Pickett:
Sure. And then you’re spending less money and maybe you can refresh. Maybe we need to build in refresh camps, a couple of days where you can do some things, you can do some self-exploration, find out how off you are by not having cannabis.
Chris Holifield:
Like a detox center or something [crosstalk 00:56:07].
Krissie:
But you’re in the middle of the woods. So when you’re screaming, no one can hear you.
Tim Pickett:
But then you can reward yourself by using half as much on day three and having just as good of effect.
Krissie:
That’s actually a really great idea, especially for people who really need more guidance to learn how to take breaks. Like, “Here’s a retreat, learn how to take a break and go back… Work your way back up.”
Tim Pickett:
Work your way back up.
Krissie:
I like that.
Tim Pickett:
I like the the idea of growing your own, being able to grow a few different strains, try them out in your kitchen, especially.
Krissie:
That is the thing. Every time I make stuff, I’m like, “Chris, I cannot wait until I can grow this. I just want to grow it.”
Chris Holifield:
Well, I think you would know more food if you could.
Krissie:
Totally. I would eat it.
Chris Holifield:
Making some spaghetti, or Making some bread, whatever.
Tim Pickett:
Sure. Because the plant would grow pound or two pounds or five pounds. Some of the plants just make a ton and so much more affordable.
Krissie:
[crosstalk 00:57:01] So much more. I’m super into the… I’m super fascinated by the effects of raw cannabis and the health benefits of it. I would just love to be able to test it in my own kitchen someday.
Tim Pickett:
I mean, I think it’ll happen.
Krissie:
I think so too. I’m just saying I can’t wait until, because it will happen. It just might take a minute.
Chris Holifield:
I’m glad we finally were able to record with you. Finally able to get you on the podcast and-
Krissie:
Thanks for letting me come on.
Tim Pickett:
So am I. This has been really fun.
Krissie:
Really. And this was more like just hanging out.
Chris Holifield:
… hopefully we’ve enlightened some listeners, open some eyes with the possibilities of edibles and tinctures.
Krissie:
Yeah, man. And I don’t know anything, but hit me up if maybe I said something that you have a question about. I don’t know.
Chris Holifield:
Let’s send people to your Instagram. I know a lot of our listeners are on Instagram. Lady Salt Lake is your Instagram, right?
Krissie:
Yeah, @LadySaltLake.
Tim Pickett:
Lady Salt?
Krissie:
That’s a cocky name. No, it was cute. I’m like, it’s cute.
Tim Pickett:
I like it.
Krissie:
Thanks. But obviously a disclaimer, not an expert. Call Tim. Tim’s an expert. I’m really obsessed with research and science, and it’s just a nerdy outlet. So I love to find answers. If you have a question, I would love to find the answer, if I have time.
Tim Pickett:
I think that it’s a community. None of us are really experts. We’re all really learning together.
Chris Holifield:
We’re all learning. Yeah.
Krissie:
I like that.
Tim Pickett:
I can shed some insight on certain things, and you can help people with the cooking.
Krissie:
Sounds good.
Chris Holifield:
Any final words you want to leave with the listeners, Krissie? Anything you want to ask? Final things you want to ask her, Tim?
Tim Pickett:
Thanks for coming on.
Krissie:
Hey, thanks for letting me come on. I feel like I’m one of the cool kids now.
Chris Holifield:
And you can listen to Krissie on our other podcast, I AmSalt Lake. She co-hosts that with me on there. So go listen.
Krissie:
If you can’t get enough of my ramblings here.
Chris Holifield:
And then Lady Salt Lake is your Instagram, Facebook, you can connect with you at krissie@iamsaltlake.com.
Krissie:
Yeah, krissie@iamsaltlake, K-R-I-S-S-I-E. Find Chris, and then you’ll find me. We’re always together.
Chris Holifield:
Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast in whatever podcast app you listen to podcasts, and leave us a review. We’d love to hear that. We’re here every week. We’ve got a brand new episode every Friday, 4:20 AM. It comes to your podcast app. So make sure you subscribe.
Krissie:
I love that you do that, by way. That’s still my favorite.
Chris Holifield:
If you want to come on the podcast, please reach out to Tim or myself. Let us know what you got going on. Let us know what you would like to come on and talk to. If there’s a subject that you’re like, “Hey, I’d love to bring this out and let people know about this,” let us know. Because I’m sure we’re pretty open. Anything you want to add real quick?
Tim Pickett:
Stay safe out there.
