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Marijuana Good for Seizures
Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 2:20 pm | By: Dudemaster
During nearly a quarter of a century of military service, much of which I spent in either the desert or the jungle, I incurred a series of injuries that cause me to have seizures. To date, I have had 4 seizures and 1 grand mal. I separate the two, because if you are familiar with seizures, there is a difference. I’m fortunate that I’ve only had 1 grand mal, many of those who suffer from seizures only have grand mals. Those are the grand daddy of all seizures – and one usually doesn’t wake up from one of those for a very long time, assuming they survive.
I’m retired from military service, so I receive my care from a private physician (thanks to private health insurance) but the only drug they can dispense for my seizures is some form of opium. I would probably be OK with the some form of opium, but for me – it’s like drinking 12 ounces of whiskey and then trying to go to work. Could you imagine trying to work while drunk off your ass on 12 ounces of Cuban rum? To make matters worse, I live in Texas where if one utters the words, “Medical Marijuana” they might be arrested.
In Texas, it’s illegal to discuss Marijuana with your physician. Simply having a positive and honest conversation may cost him his license to practice medicine. He knows me, and he knows I use Cannabis to keep my seizures at bay, but he can’t discuss it with me. That first awkward conversation kind of went this,
Dr: If you won’t take hydrocodone then I don’t have anything else that won’t cause the same symptoms.
Me: I can’t work on hydrocodone, ergo, I won’t be able to make my house payment and take care of my children.
Dr: What do you want to do?
Me: I have been using Cannabis successfully for almost 1 year and I haven’t had a single seizure since I started.
Dr: Well, I am not allowed to respond. I would be more concerned about the consequences with getting caught. If you are concerned about providing for your family, then you should reconsider. If you are caught, then you won’t be able to make your house payment and take care of your children.
Me: With Hydrocodone, it’s a guarantee. Maybe – just maybe – I can continue to get away with this until it’s either legal, or I can afford to move to another state – or you find a cure for me.
Dr: I’m prohibited by law with discussing anything regarding Medical Marijuana with you. I would love to ask you a litany of questions including dosage, type of use, but understand, my hands are tied but I’m glad you found an herbal remedy to help control the seizures.
[Dudemaster, I'm hoping you can press your doctor as to what law he thinks he's breaking. The Conant v. Walters decision made it clear that government cannot intrude on a doctor's First Amendment right to discuss any form of medical care with his patient. Maybe he's got some clause in his contract with his clinic, hospital (he's not a VA doc, so the federal law doesn't apply), or malpractice insurance. --"R"R]
While surfing the web, I came across one of Dr. Phil Leveque’s posts (I love his posts) as he talks about the usefulness of Cannabis as it relates to Seizures. It simply confirms something I already knew, and many of you have learned, Marijuana can help control seizures.
Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com
(MOLALLA, Ore.) – I must thank the Oregonian, even with my left hand. Thy supply me with medical marijuana stories I could not dream up by myself.
On June 17th 2009 they published that now EMT’s could inject anti-seizure drugs, which are valium type drugs Lorazepam and Midazolam which given soon enough will stop the seizure and save the life, into seizure victims without permission from anybody.
Well, yes, this is a good idea because seizures can be lethal and otherwise very dangerous for the powerful thrashing of the patient and helpers and bystanders. We have 50,000 + cases per year.
The Oregonian has been continually insidiously skeptical about medical marijuana despite the fact that Oregon has the MOST successful program in the U.S. with about 22 thousand patients using it successfully for every kind of disease they can think of which obviously isn’t many. Their snide remarks about “JUST GETTING HIGH” no longer has any validity. Besides that 3000 doctors in Oregon are signing applications – marijuana works very well for seizures.
Their SEIZURE remarks require positive debate and correction. All of the standard drugs are brain depressants. In other words they make a patient slow where good brain function is necessary.
Marijuana was discovered to be effective against seizures more than one hundred years ago and it doesn’t make victims feel stupid as do most anti-seizure drugs. One of the most important features of marijuana is that if the victim inhales the VAPOR or smoke the good effects are within seconds. This is very important.
All epilepsy/seizure patients will know before they have a seizure. There is a medical poem which tells them. The poem goes like this:
* The aura ———- Flashes of light
* The cry ———- Involuntary call
* The fall ———- They fall down
* The fit ———- They struggle
* The tonus ———- Stiff arms and legs
* The clonus ———- Flapping of arms and legs
* The p**s ———- Urination
* The s**t ———- Defecation
If the patient is using or uses marijuana with the Aura, it is likely they will not have the rest of the seizure.
Skeptics, like the Oregonian, will ask what is the proof of this benefit?
In Oregon about 600 seizure patients are using medical marijuana successfully. They are even willing to pay the State of Oregon and the marijuana clinics about $300 per year for the PRIVELEGE of using a medication which really works.
