My Medicine

My Medical History – Pharmaceuticals

---

The reason I looked into getting an EXEMPTION from Section 56 of “The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act” or what is now called a License in “the Medical Marijuana Access Division” (the MMAD) under a branch of Health Canada in the Canadian Government called “the Medical Marihuana Access Regulations” (MMAR) started like this…

In 1995 I started getting a sporadic stabbing pain in my left face. This was controlled for a period of time with pharmaceutical medication. First I tried a short course of Solumedrol intravenously that relieved the pain. I continued with Prednisone for about ten days. October 1995 my pain was episodic and was kept under control with Tylenol # 3’s on an as needed basis. Next came a regular dose of Tegretol. This was increased in February ’96 to 200 mg three times a day. Pain returned and 25 mg Dantrium was added, increasing to four times a day. This was probably due more to leg spasms. In March ’96 Tegretol was increased by 200 mg because I was describing pain 8-9 out of a scale to 10.

April ’96 I was started on another well known epileptic medication called Dilantin, increasing this while decreasing Tegretol. June ’96 I was on 100 mg four times a day with relief for a few weeks. July ’96 pain came back full force and Dilantin was increased to 500 mg/day. There was still trouble with breakthrough pain. Late October ’96 pain increased, therefore I was told to increase my Dilantin 50 mg more and added Demerol 50 mg every four hours as needed or prn as per my Doctors.

November ’94-’95 I tried MARIJUANA with out Medical knowledge, many times knowing it was the best thing I could find for my pain and other ailments. In ’95-’96 my Doctor’s (Pain specialists whom I was being sent to regularly) began over seeing my usage for the first time as medicine and I was pain free for almost 24 hours after ONE cigarette.

This I have continued for almost two decades and I now smoke on average 30, one and a half to two gram cannabis cigarettes every day and nite, vaporize my cannabis, drink it in tea and eat as many cannabis cookies and edibles that I can in a twenty four hour period – night AND day – with relief most days for 15 minutes to an hour after 1/2 a cigarette and everything else. Depending on the strain, I can have a lot or a little relief as so few strains give me any break from the excruciating pain I experience around the clock. My pain has increased dramatically over the last ten years and so has my cannabis usage. This is where I first started noticing the expense as my widowed mother and life partner Gary Lynch were paying for it…

I also noticed my pills were becoming less and less. I was not taking 32 pills a day and up to two thousand milligrams of morphine daily for relief anymore. I found I was getting relief from all of my symptoms from MS with copious amounts of cannabis and all kinds of natural substances, I no longer required all of those pharmaceuticals! After over twenty years of following this regime life was becoming more bearable – AND I was experiencing fantastic quality of it – by using mainly high quality fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants AND cannabis the last twenty years. I am blessed that physically I walk with a cane for balance, and only use my wheelchair for long distances or big city blocks while I am out in the Public eye fighting the horrendous global problem we call “the War on Drugs “.

December ’96 I tried Stadol Nasal Spray with some relief but this made me very groggy and extremely nauseous. Percocet helps a little. Tried CESAMET (synthetic cannabis capsule) with NO relief. I was at the highest level of this medication that the “Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties” or the blue CPS book on your Doctor’s desk here in Canada, would allow. Maximum daily dose is 6 mg – I was well on my way past that, first being prescribed 9 mg a day to start …

February ’97 I saw a Neurosurgeon who told me that Radio Frequency Procedure was an option. We both decided I was TOO YOUNG to lose the feeling in my face and that there may be no other way to solve my problem. I told him about my experimentation with cannabis for relief and he was completely supportive.    They know I AM NOT a drug addict; I am an intelligent woman who has made a choice.

I chose cannabis …

June ’97 I saw a pain specialist who performed a Stellate Ganglion Block using 10 cc. of Marcaine-1/4 %. He did another Sphenopalatine Block two days later which gave me relief for a few hours. June ’97 I had an Infra Orbital Nerve Block which gave me 21 hours of relief. The Doctor stuck a needle the size of my whole head in the left side of my face and searched everywhere to relieve the pain! I P_ROMISE you – I will NEVER do THAT again – very uncomfortable…

August ’97 I was taking an average of 10 – 50 mg Demerol tablets per day. I was then switched to the Duragesic Patch – 25 mcg. This made me very nauseous so Stemetil an anti-emetic to stop me from throwing it all up again and again was added. This helped a lot, but I felt VERY spacey. My dose was increased to 50 mcg after some weeks, then increased to 75 mcg where, because of drowsiness and EXCESSIVE weight loss, this was discontinued.

I lost 11 pounds in one week because I hadn’t really realized that smoking cannabis would be so BENEFICIAL reducing nausea and would actually stop me from throwing up the pain medication and everything that I was smoking for PAIN RELIEF and that it was NOT the other medications…???

Thank God I found that out because my quality of life was being seriously interrupted…

By September ’97 I was down to 100 mg Dilantin twice a day plus all my other medications. September ’97 I started 15 mg MS Contin (morphine sulphate) three times a day. I used Statex Nasal Spray 5 mg for breakthrough pain. This dose was gradually increased to 175 mg three times a day without much help.

In April ’98 I tried Acupuncture with some relief the first time but none after the second treatment . The pain seemed to get more intense…July ’98 my Neurologist started me on Neurontin 300 mg tid. I was soon after switched to Oxycontin (commonly known as Hillbilly Heroin) in November ’98. This made me excessively drowsy and the dose was decreased, then discontinued in May ’99. I was started on Lamictal 25 mg instead.

In September ’98 I saw another Chronic Pain Specialist/Anesthetist who started me on Sufenta Drops 50 mcg/ml 0.05-0.2 ml s.l. with pain onset. This was brought up to 0.3 ml with Morphine breakthrough 15-30 mg as needed. November ’98 I was started on Oxycontin 40 mg twice a day, the dose being increased to 600 mg twice a day by April ’99 my pain was so horrific.

In April ’99 Oxycontin was discontinued and I was started on Hydromorph Contin, 90 mg twice a day, with Hydromorph Contin 6 mg for titration. I was last on 6 – 30 mg capsules twice a day for relief with 6 mg tablets as needed or prn, 5-6 per dose.

Final count I was still going up…

Now here I am today, down quite a bit from all of the pharmaceutical pills (minus the copious amounts of morphine I continue to take daily AND have been taking for YEARS), all I believe, because of substituting with medical cannabis!

Today I continue every day and nite to fight this violent pain I experience in my face and head and to give me and others like me, SOME quality of life. I also am able to find relief by vaporizing and smoking cannabis around the clock, eating it in cookies and drinking it in tea all day every day.

Now, my next Mission is to find someone or something to help us AFFORD and PAY for our cannabis MEDICATION…

First step, call in any Organization/Church/Business that MAY help. No real luck. Some real “ROBIN HOODS” out there, but sadly, none for me…

Next step: Try to get a “Deal” from the people I was buying it from the street… Good luck there. What exactly is a DEAL??

Sadly enough, we still couldn’t afford to continue to purchase cannabis from the street at the amount I required. I have tried for a number of years to grow my own medicine but am having a hard time consistently finding a strain STRONG enough to help me AND alleviate ALL of my health problems.

Next plan of attack: Approach my Local Member of Parliament and ask them what to do. Sure enough my lucky day had arrived. After explaining my situation I began asking these people where I could turn. That again was October 1999.

Within a week they had mailed me out an “INTERIM GUIDANCE DOCUMENT” to take to my Doctors to fill out. I also had some writing to do I was told. First letter I wrote was to the Honorable Alan Rock (Canada’s Health Minister at the time) with a request from me to be involved in the NEXT IMMEDIATE STUDY involving Chronic Pain and Marijuana or Multiple Sclerosis and Marijuana. Alan Rock had just released a plan to initiate trial studies involving Medicinal uses of Marijuana in 1999. I explained I NEEDED some help covering the COST of my MEDICATION -PLEASE !! My mother then wrote to Alan Rock pleading for some of the burden to be taken off of us and to somehow have the exorbitant cost of my Marijuana covered. At that time we were spending on average, $1200. 00 /mo. for me to be PAIN FREE.  HOW FAIR WAS THIS !??!  I am not only on FULL Disability but I DIDN’T ASK for this to be the ONLY medication that actually WORKED for me…  As you can see I have tried these and many, many more treatments before turning to cannabis only to realize that this is actually the ONLY MEDICATION that gives me relief and doesn’t have the awful side effects that I was encountering daily…

Once my mother, Joyce Myrden, myself and my Doctors wrote letters to the Honorable Alan Rock (then Health Minister in Canada). The ball started rolling. Within five (5) months I received a response from the Office of the Minister of Health stating that there were “NO planned TRIALS involving MS and MARIJUANA”.

That turned out okay in the end, because my Doctors reminded me that I couldn’t go in a trial anyway because I “relied too heavily” on the Marijuana for relief for my pain. Darn right I do! And NO, I am not ADDICTED….

From what I can find on medicinal cannabis, the chance of someone becoming “addicted” to cannabis is almost impossible. If that person is using it for MEDICINAL PURPOSES, there usually will be very few residual affects. I know with me, I get a little fuzzy for about ten minutes, then I feel like any NORMAL person does within minutes. I am also pain free in 10 minutes when I smoke – VERY IMPORTANT for someone like me whose pain increases so quickly. If I don’t catch it, I am in more EXCRUCIATING pain in minutes !! That is why pills never would work – they took too long to get where they were SUPPOSE to be…

As of March 21, 2000, I am one of now I hear, more than 20,000 people in Canada, so far, to be given an EXEMPTION from Section 56 of The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, now known as a “License for medical marijuana under the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations” (MMAR) in the Medical Marijuana Access Division (MMAD) at Health Canada.  Wadda mouthful!

All I know is I was one of the first twenty…

My purpose now is to find a SAFE, CLEAN, AFFORDABLE YEAR-ROUND SUPPLY of this medication for not only myself, but for ALL of the other people in Canada who would OBVIOUSLY benefit.

Also, much love and thanx to the all of the incredible people from all across this beautiful Country for all of the FREE MEDICAL CANNABIS over the last number of years that has been (and is still being) sent to me for relief from this violent pain I live with daily and HUGE LOVE to the many other wonderfully compassionate people from all over the World who have been so generous and helpful too….

I am just sorry that with consuming some of the BEST medical cannabis in the WORLD, I still have to get it from the street here in my Country! I WISH I knew WHY??

AND – I COMPLETELY blame our former Conservative Government and STEPHEN HARPER!

Our hope would be ultimately that respective Countries who have people who have applied for this cannabis Exemption or License as well, be looked at in a different light, be given the respect they deserve and be offered a SAFE, CLEAN and AFFORDABLE SUPPLY by THEIR GOVERNMENT.

Liberal Prime Minister Justine Trudeau, currently under his watch, has this issue to contend with in 2018.

Full legalization of cannabis arrived in Canada on October 17th, 2018.

Stay tuned for more.

I’ll keep you posted on any new developments…If you see a relevant article – Please send it along – We want this site to CONTINUE to be INTERACTIVE!

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart….

Love and a HUGE Squish,

Alison
xx