Todd Vogt's Story of Competitive Rowing and Finding CBD
My story begins in the fall of 1992, when I joined the rowing team as a freshman at the University of Buffalo, in Buffalo, NY. I immediately fell in love with the sport, particularly the physical and mental challenge, and being on the water. As a rower, I loved the training, the team atmosphere, and identity it provided me. I rowed all throughout college and continued to row competitively for several years after college. Recently I’ve been rowing Masters level, meaning as an adult with a job and other responsibilities.
Things changed in the fall of 2017. I was doing my normal training and getting ready for a big race, the Head of the Charles, which takes place at the end of October in Boston, MA. Something seemed different this fall. My rowing technique, which I spent years working on, felt wrong. I also felt unusually tired and weak. I shrugged it off and thought I was just getting old or needed to change my training. Unfortunately, the feeling of fatigue didn’t improve and actually got worse. Then in the spring of 2018 I developed a tremor in my left hand and foot, and my left arm would longer swing when I walked. After seeing several doctors and several diagnostic tests, I was diagnosed with Early-Onset Parkinson’s Disease. This was just before my 44th birthday. I didn’t know how to take that diagnosis at first. One of the first things I thought was my days as a competitive rower were over. After several months of dwelling on things, I returned to rowing, albeit, slower and more awkwardly than I’d like. During the spring of 2019, I reached out to USRowing, the governing body of rowing, inquiring about being designated as an adaptive or Paralympic rower, thinking it would allow me to compete in local races. I ended up getting invited to the Paralympic training camp in Boston in early June and eventually ended up in two-person boat that raced at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria finishing in 6th place.
My main symptoms are a significant tremor in my left hand and left foot, my left arm doesn’t swing while I walk, I have trouble sleeping, and I have anxiety that I never had prior to the onset of the Parkinson’s. To treat the disease, I do a variety of things including taking traditional pharmaceutical drugs, using a hyperbaric chamber, taking a variety of supplements, as well as other treatments.
Cannabis is one thing that has been particularly helpful in treating my symptoms. After using cannabis, my tremors and anxiety decrease, and I sleep great. I should note, these statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of cannabis or cannabis products has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here is not meant as a substitute for or alternative to information from healthcare practitioners. Please consult your healthcare professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product. This is all to say that I’m simply sharing my own experience here.
I tried a variety of cannabis cultivars to see which ones helped the most and found that cultivars with a higher amount of CBD and a small amount of THC provided the most relief for my symptoms. During my search of different CBD-rich varieties I discovered East Fork’s cultivars and loved them. I’ve tried nearly all their strains with some of my favorites being Pear Blossom, Pennywise, and Pineapple Jager.
Currently, I’m training full-time with the goal to qualify for the Paralympics this summer in Tokyo. I’m currently training approximately 20 hours a week between rowing, weight training, cycling, and yoga. As an athlete I’m subject to random drug testing by the US anti-doping agency (USADA). Cannabis is a considered a banned substance during competition. This means that during the 24-hour period of a race I cannot have any THC in my system. This prevents me using high THC content cannabis for several weeks prior to a competition. Luckily, I can still use the great East Fork strains that have almost no THC, like Sour Pineapple, Llama Kush, and ‘78 Llamas (one of my favorites!). Likewise, I’ll use the East Fork CBD Drops if I want to avoid any THC. The East Fork products significantly help with my Parkinson’s symptoms and allow me to compete at the elite level. East Fork Cultivars started with creating medicinal cannabis to treat their brother and it’s nice to work with a company that specializes in creating cannabis designed to help people live better lives.
