Insurance will not provide pain pills so would like to at least try it and see if helps or not.
Also wondering about on line resources
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Rumigirl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15091
posted
Your insurance won't cover pain med??!! What the heck? I don't see how that is legal. Many of them are generics anyway by now, so fairly cheap.
Posts: 3792 | From around | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
I caught bits and pieces of the show. Wish I was able to watch the whole thing.
What struck me was how emphatic that young guy in the audience who was against the use of medical marijuana was waving his folder of papers at Montel like a lunatic. And that robot brunette lady on the panel emotionlessly citing FDA stuff.
And the patient who had seizures that were controlled by medical marijuana and how she was able to once again take care of her children because she no longer has seizures. And the doc who has treated so many patients with medical marijuana.
I think Oz did a fairly decent job in recapping the issues at the end of the show.
I wonder sometimes if the powers-that-be think people with health problems are a bunch of idiots in need of excessive control by "experts" who know little to nothing of the issues at hand.
We are adults. We have the right to discuss protocols with our physicians. And we have the right to decide the course of treatment that is best for us.
No one advocates taking medical marijuana or pain meds unless there's a good reason. But it sure as heck is not up to the government to decide what those reasons are.
-------------------- You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
---Eleanor Roosevelt Posts: 748 | From somewhere | Registered: May 2010
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From my perspective (here in CA), "medical" marijuana use is rampant and not very well-regulated.
I am all for legalizing marijuana, but I'd rather we just decriminalize it across the board. In my senior year of high school lots of kids I knew had club cards. It's as easy as calling one of the numerous doctors listed in the back of the local newspapers, ponying up $75 bucks, and saying you have trouble sleeping. One of my friends told the doctor about his leg pain and the doctor replied that he "should go with insomnia instead".
If you are ill and marijuana helps control your symptoms, by all means use it. I would be careful though, especially with smoking it, as I know Burrascano says absolutely no smoking. I've tried ingesting it, but it just got me stoned and did nothing to alleviate my symptoms.
If your state doesn't have medical MJ or if you don't want to shell out money for it, many insurance plans and HMOs have Marinol, which is pharmaceutal-grade THC.
Posts: 340 | From san francisco, ca | Registered: Nov 2010
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posted
I don't live in a MM state but I have used it to help with the burning neuropathy I used to have. Nothing worked as well. Also helps me sleep.
Problem is, it makes you crave sugar...
Posts: 699 | From confusion | Registered: Jan 2011
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
had no idea you needed to purchase a permit...and the cost of it...that stoppped me in my tracks.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Cheaper than cigarettes actually. Not that I smoke cigarettes. Who knows what's in those...
Posts: 699 | From confusion | Registered: Jan 2011
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quote:Originally posted by 5vforest: From my perspective (here in CA), "medical" marijuana use is rampant and not very well-regulated.
- That's really bad too. They discussed that. Montel wants them to make it legal for doctors to prescribe but it should only be for specific medical conditions in his opinion. He wants it tightly controlled. Made sense to me.
They also pointed out that because of the bad economy, this decriminalization idea was making progress .. because the state can tax the heck out of it and use it to bail themselves out of tough times.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Don't assume the cost is prohibitive. Every state may be different. I don't even think I paid for my permit. I'm not positive though because my husband took care of it for me. And you don't have to smoke, there are tinctures, lozenges, etc. It didn't help me but I thought it was worth a try for the level of pain I was in. Much safer than a lot of the meds we take.
Posts: 707 | From Colorado | Registered: Jul 2010
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
MM is slated to be passed in CT on Oct 1st. It is nothing that ever crossed my radar screen, not a big issue for me, not against it though. But suddenly it's at the forefront because I am supposed to be on Tygacil but can't handle the severe nausea and vomiting so I haven't been taking it.
Several people have suggested Marinol or marijuana. I'm scared of both. I've been told by some people Marinol made them feel very paranoid and "trippy" and out of it. Then I thought it might be safer to just take one puff of marijuana, which seemed like it might be a smaller amount in your body and more controlled than a pill.
Most people have told me one puff alone will stop nausea dead in it's tracks like nothing else and won't make you high, just a little sleepy. I'm still scared to try it. Would love to hear anyone's experiences. I desperately need to get back on the Tygacil and get it started....but the inability to tolerate it is preventing me from doing so.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Not sure about other areas of the country but here in CA MM is legal. While I don't know much about it, can share what my brotherinlaw learned. He lives in a more rural area where docs are not pain med friendly. Brotherinlaw has substantial pain issues and has had several surgeries plus lyme disease.
Doctors in CA have to be DEA registered/authorized to prescribed MM. Several docs have learned it can be a lucrative specialized practice where they charge $300 for the RX. The one written for him was for 2 yrs. He finally found an obscure doctor in his own community whose regular general care appts are $65, and he just wrote the RX at the appt.
The point is always ask around and explore options no matter what you believe the general process in your state may be. There can be vast differences among doctors.
What my b-i-l learned is using a comb of pain meds and MM helped some with pain but it took some time to sort out what worked for him. Since MM is not a doseage level thing,it is self determined. In the beginning he felt over drugged with it, not realizing how much to use. He is not a smoker and hates that part. Tried tinctures and baking etc, and got vast variances based on amts and types used.
What he learned over time was in the beginning, plan on a trial period to determine how your body reacts to what amts/types. Use only at night or when you plan to be home.
Over time, he has finally got it sorted out how to balance it and anticipate what levels will just knock the pain down to manageable level where he can function and have some quality of life.
I tried it and while it did help pain, it made me feel uncomfortably strange in nonfunctional way. I am not a smoker and hated that part. Can't believe that would be good for anyone with air hunger issues.
I know now from b-i-l that it is a finding your own balance issue but I hated so much the feeling I have been reluctant to try it again.
For those who are reluctant like me about it, maybe try starting with a tincture. B-i-l makes his own now, videos on you tube. He learned if baking with it, first mix it in the butter for equitable distribution throughout batter mix or risk getting power chunk pieces, lol.
He grows his own now but prior to starting his own private harvest I think he found online sources (for those who don't have MM dispensaries near you). Not sure how reliable online is as I don't think he ever actually ordered through them.
The MM dispensaries in SF bay area vary region to region. For example he went to one in SF bay area, HarborSide, which he felt was more like "a head shop". He said there was long lines of young guys which made him doubt they were pain patients. The long line wait time was horrible for him. His back hurt so bad afterwards he could hardly make the 3 hr drive home. He noticed the place did not even have handicap access so that will tell you something.
However, an MM dispensary in another part of the state he said was completely different. Said that one was very nice place and felt like a pain clinic operation and structured to provide services to those disabled.
But, the better one was much further drive for him, so he learned from you tube how grow his own on his back deck. Says it is not that hard to do. Learned through local law enforcement that to make it legal (CA), copy and laminate (optional) your RX & tie it to the base of the plant or pot <excuse the pun>. Laminating makes it weather proof.
Posts: 495 | From SF Bay area, CA | Registered: Dec 2007
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METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
It's hit and miss for people with Lyme disease. For some it really makes their cognitive issues profoundly worse, while others who are unable to eat much, it can make a huge difference.
It's definitely useful. I find it doesn't help me sleep well. It interrupts it sort of like Melatonin does. I feel fatigued when I wake up -- well extremely more so than without using it.
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
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