Migraine Experiment Update

I called a doctor I was referred to for a medical permit for marijuana, and at first, even the financial manager agreed he wrote such prescriptions. Then it got weird. I called back and I was told he didn't do this and never did. Then HE got on the phone and told me he didn't. I know for a fact he has, and I told him his financial manager said so too. I asked him what was wrong and he was so nervous, telling me it was too much hassle and the feds would prosecute doctors who did that.

Before I went to Wenatchee last, I was on Day 2 or 3 of the migraine cycle and had a bit of a headache. I took 2 light inhales from a pipe but I don't think I took enough. It helped the migraine immediately, but then on the next day, by afternoon it was bad a little. I can tell it works though because...

It's much, much, lighter. It was on the regular left side of my head on the day of the hearing, but the thing is, I was AT the hearing and able to present myself. Once in Wenatchee, I managed it through OTC and caffeine. I almost opened up a Migranol, but because it was so much lighter than usual, and at the end of the cycle, decided against it. By the next day it was gone.

I think I could have gotten rid of it with a little more inhales than I took on the first day. I didn't have marijuana with me in Wenatchee because I've never carried it on my person. I've never been "in possession", just took a little from someone else's pipe. I've never bought it and don't want to until I get a permit. If I'd been able to, I would have tried maybe 2 inhales after the hearing, to see if it aborted the rest of the migraine.

There is a very dramatic difference though, in the lessening of severity. I mean, this really has promise.

On one hand I want to try Marinol, because Marinol is an extract and you don't have to inhale it, and I found out, smoking marijuana isn't better than smoking nicotine. There are still carcinogens. However, smoking it is the best and fastest form of delivery to date. And it does work faster than other things I've tried. I've also done some research on Marinol and it sounds like it's not quite as effective.

Because my migraines are SO severe, and I'm just so relieved to find a way to keep them at bay for once in my life, I would almost be afraid to try Marinol instead, if marijuana smoked works as well as it does. Once you find something that works to prevent suffering, you really don't feel like screwing around a good thing and risking going back to the old severity. If I would only have to smoke a little bit to completely get rid of them, like, a few times a month, I think the benefits outweigh the risks.

I'm still looking for a permit. I will be due for my next migraine period in a week or so and I'll report what happens. I think if I still had a little migraine this last time, I need to take a little more before that period to see if I can keep it from coming on at all. Last time, I had 5 inhales and then still had light migraine, so maybe I need 2 different days for prevention? If it builds up in the system, maybe I need to build up a little more? I don't know.

In the states that allow for medical permits, one of the conditions that is listed as treatable by marijuana is epilepsy or seizures, and glaucoma, which is INTERESTING, because anti-seizure meds are used for migraine prevention (like Topamax) and the eye thing is interesting to me because I always get a piercing, stabbing, feeling behind my left eye. That has nothing to do with glaucoma, but...well, anyway. I've tried Topamax, and that stuff is brain DEADENING. The marijuana is much, much, gentler on my total system. And I don't get nausea really bad with migraine, but it would probably help others who do get the nausea.

I would like to try a better way of delivery of marijuana besides smoking. I heard there are experiments about vapors or something, but if there is something that will deliver but filter out the carcinogens and still work fast, it would be good.

I am going on my THIRD month of not having to go to ER for migraine, because I finally found a migraine preventative!

What this means to me is absolute joy and freedom. Freedom from pain would mean I can go wherever I want, and not have to know there is an ER nearby. I wouldn't have to worry about whether I'm insured or not (immediately). It means I don't have to worry about missing a court hearnig because some lawyer scheduled it for the day they know I'll get a migraine and I didn't catch on. It means I don't have to "sleep it off" and that I can maintain my daily activities. It means I went running this month, on the same day I am usually in bed with a migraine. It means I'm not a slave to a medication I cannot afford which doesn't prevent them from occuring. It means no one can accuse me of being drug-seeking if I've found an effective treatment for my very real and very painful medical disability. It means I won't HAVE a disability! Someone could say yeah, she's using marijuana so she IS drug-seeking, but if it's documented how little I take, and my visits to ER become a thing of the past, it proves my case.

I would like to say, "I used to have migraines all the time" and not "I get at least 2 migraines every month".

It means I don't have to find jobs that accomodate for my migraines, and that when I go back to college to finish my degree, I don't have to worry about missing a test or not getting homework done because of pain. It means I don't have to tell my son "Mama's a little bit sick right now, I have a headache" and not be able to play on my hands and knees. It means we don't have to take a nap together with me popping a Percocet and hoping I'll feel better by the time he wakes up. It means migraines would no longer be an Achilles heel used against me.

Migraines stopped me in my tracks. If marijuana stops migraines in their tracks, THANK GOD for marijuana!!! :) Yes, that is a smiley face.