Switch from opiate to MM for chronic pain

[ChrisLightoast]

Can i get some advice or opinion on making a switch? I suffer chronic pain from a car wreck; a mix of pain from spine and nerve pain, and peripheral nueropathy. I am sick and tired of taking opiate pain relievers and dealing with side effects. How many people have successfully switched to medical cannibis? I live in Florida, so switching or legally trying it will be a big deal. Starting with moving to a MM state. Im considering Arizona or Nevada. Ive actually got a million questions!

 

[Coraline]

I have been taking opiates for about 5-6 years. I have taken them daily for maybe 4 years? I started with a quarter or less of T3 to going to T4 4-5 times a day. Then I would switch to hydrocodone 3-4 times a day. I also took somas or Valium for 3 years.

I was also on morphine 30mg er and T4 2 a day and Valium 10mg 2 a day. I had a problem. My pain grew beyond my tolerance. I would go to the hospital and admitted for pain and dilaudid felt like nothing. That scared me. Bad.

Since October, I have been on a rough mission. I want to stop taking opiates. They are not helping.

Right now I take T4. I ran myself short. I have been taking 1 1/2 tabs a day a piece of Valium and smoking marijuana to compensate for everything.

I have been going this for 11 days. It helps so much. No abdominal pain to speak of. No nausea. Decreased pain. I don't feel sick. I feel good. I don't even want to take opiates. I do at this time because of my rapid heart beat. I quit cold turkey and had the worst WD I could think of. I felt with this for 2 weeks. I was hospitalized with RVB block my potassium was 2.7 when it should be 3.5-5. I was almost in ICU. My heart beat was 27-30 my blood pressure was 40/50. I was in the hospital for 5 days. I almost died. That's what they told me at discharge.

I am doing fine. I take my small amount of T4 and spread it out as far as I can and stay with the 1 1/2. When I can I will go down to 1 tab then to nothing is my goal.

With out the help of Mary I couldn't do this physically. It gives me great hope I can get off of the pharmaceuticals.

I have a host of pain problems. I'm tired of being tied to a pill. I'm tired of being in pain. Mary helps me in both cases. I know I am rambling a little but I'm in WD and I feel positive and happy. I see hope.

 

[Deleted member 290563]

I find that MJ makes my chronic back pain worse. I have a herniated disc that was repaired with surgery. It does help with the horrible depression that chronic pain brings...sometimes making smoking worth it if I have nothing to do, but if i have to work I make sure not to smoke because i'll be hurting really bad.

 

[Felonious Monk]

Cannabis can be very effective. My good friend has degenerative disc disease including multiple herniated discs with severe peripheral nerve pain---she got off opiates and benzos with cannabis and continues to refuse all pills from her doctors. She does still experience pain but it's manageable.

It's very individual though, don't expect the first thing you pick up to be a miracle. But most people do find benefit with cannabis.

 

[Transcendence]

When I was on opiates long term for surgery and other reasons they actually started making me feel more depressed after a while. I stopped use of opiates (except for kratom occasionally) so I am no longer dependent. After that I relied mostly on very high doses of Lyrica and valium for anxiety and eventually once I moved to AZ I started on MM mainly to deal with nausea more than pain. Let me know if you have any questions about MM in AZ. Anyway, remember the strain selection and genetics are so ridiculous now even compared to 3 years ago. There are so many different options for medicating...indica heavy strains would probably work better. There are strains and extracts that are mainly CBD and they do help with pain without getting you noticeably "high"

 

[DixiChik]

I completely empathize with your pain issues. I have horrific pain in my spine and pelvic/abdominal due to trauma and stage 4 disease. I've had multiple surgeries, which apparently have left adhesions choking my bowels and bladder.

Pain Management has offered me Fentanyl (yep, first day...it's that bad). I rejected it, and trialed MS Contin, Oxycodone, then 6 weeks of Fentanyl before weaning off all. In October 2015, I suffered a partial bowel obstruction and spent over a week in hospital. No one is willing to touch me for exploratory laparoscopy. Believe me, I've BEGGED specialists from Vanderbilt to UT to UMMC, and now St. Louis, where they specialize in endometriosis.

I am in horrid pain, contemplating heading for the EXIT. I've wondered about CBD oils, especially after watching programs about Crohns patients who "saved" their colon with CBD/THC. Those folks gave up everything back home to relocate to CO. I can't make that move. I can't live with this pain and constipation much longer.

FWIW...My GP since birth and my cancer surgeon for 15 years aged into retirement. Both of them have since died. No one is willing to grab the proverbial baton and continue this race for life with me.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

CBD is legal though in Europe and maybe even in the USA, it's not a psychotropic cannabinoid and can be found in hemp. Maybe try to find some CBD only sites?

As for opiate constipation, I understand, it can be really bad. A good diet, fibers especially help. MMJ is a Godsend, it can help on so many levels and opiates pale in comparison for certain ailments.

 

[thujone]

^ that's horrible, have you tried seeking out still-practicing doctors who knew your old docs? good docs tend to know other good docs so at least you might get a reliable word-of-mouth recommendation.

cannabis for chronic pain can be sort of hit n miss, it really depends on the traits of the strain and there is so much variety. like Felonious said it could be just enough to make the pain manageable not necessarily make it disappear altogether like with the stronger opiates

 

[DixiChik]

Thanks, Blues and Thujone. Sorry, Chris...Didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Diet doesn't affect my constipation issue, as fiber makes it worse. I had a surgical altering of stomach pouch in 1987, before being diagnosed with stage 4 endo in 1993. It's beyond complicated, though documented under DixiChik posts since I joined BL last year.

I have a splenic flexure on my left side (transverse into descending colon) much like a crimped garden hose. I take Linzess 290 since October, but still feel "near rupture" in my left colon.

Although both my GP and my Oncologist were highly respected, I'm viewed as "all that can be done HAS been done". Majority opinion of 8 or 9 specialists across 3 states in late 2013.

Yea, I'm not a student of chemistry, so I get totally confused about CBD/THC oils. I tried to smoke weed last Fall for the first time in my 54 years (yep). It just made me silly.

I could handle "manageable pain" if I could be mentally sharp and competent in my career.

Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. I've lost hope of finding help after 2+ decades of this.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

Try Rick Simpson Oil in Google, or just plain CBD (don't forget it's legal worldwide and not psychoactive, hence no mental slowdown). Don't forget other plants, wiki the plant encyclopaedia. Some plants are really helpful, moreso than pills sometimes.

Good luck DC, life can be a bitch but it's worth it.