Junkie girl or grumpy girl...not sure which is worse.

traci43 said:

MJ in pills

A while back one of the threads talked about MJ in pill form.  I think if I get to the point of needing it that's the way I'd do it.  Might help you to determine how many are effective.  Take one wait an hour, take another, wait an hour, etc.  I'd find it hard to stop eating the brownie!

but I think the pill form isn't truly marijuana...it's just one of the substances in the plant that has been singled out and made into a pill.

One interesting thing I learned when I went to the medical dispensary is that there are numerous strains of mj, each with a different % of these various compounds.  They gave me a chart listing about 30 different strains, and each one had a different effect on the body depending on its make-up.  So they would recommend a strain based on whether you were treating pain, nausea, or what have you.

Anyway, I think the pill doesn't really work in the same way, but if medical mj is not yet legal where you live, then it might be an ok substitute.

It's def a problem that you are only supposed to eat a small piece of the brownie, not the whole thing.

I mean, really, who does that??

esk2poo said:

AA,
i havhe been an addict

AA,

i havhe been an addict basically my whole life. Had my first back surgery when I was 13 and had docs give them out like candy. About 5 years ago, I was going through 120 10 mgs. in about 4 days. Ended up in rehab where it is harder to get off Percocet than heroinThyey gave name saboxone to get off of it. Step down process but it sounds like you are doing the same. Nasty stuff.  Was actually clean for 3 years then cancer. I have my wife control all my pills when prescribed because if 2 is good than 6 is Gooder.

i actually have a lot of issues with neuropathy and the 5 herniated discs I currently have so the fentanyl patches work great for me.

good luck,

Allen

The sad reality is that these drugs are very useful and there are times when we really need to take them, but the side effect of addiction is a hard one.  I've read that some people have actually had to go to the hospital and be put into a near-coma for several days/weeks to get through the worst of an opiate addiction.  That's serious stuff.

But at the same time, as one doctor told me, these meds were designed with cancer patients in mind, and I think it's important for people in our situation to take them when we need them.  Pain makes it a lot harder to fight the cancer, both physically and mentally.

And btw, neuropathy SUCKS.  I am sorry you have to deal with that particular side effect.  Glad to hear the patches make a difference!

lilacbrroller said:

posting weird crap..

I had a former coworker who died in 2011 of MCRC, and when I tried to write to her (email) I got the weirdest answers.  Really trippy. Figured she was zoned out on chemo or something -I didn't take it personally, although we weren't very close so I just backed off.

Well, after she died, I bumped into one of her good friends who gave me the scoop, an explanation for the kooky emails - she was high as a kite! When the chemo didn't work, she opted to spend the last months of her life on medical marijuana, most likely to ease the pain.  That explains a lot!

So I saw your admission and it reminded me of her situation.  

 Karin

 

her confusion may have been partly related to that too.  In the last couple of months before my sister died, she made very little sense, due to a combination of a sh**-ton of pain killers and the effect of the cancer on her body.  In my experience, weed may make you a little silly, or deeply philosophical, or develop a "love the world" approach even if you were the worst curmedgeon ever...but you usually don't get completely confused.  Things do get awfully funny, though, I will say that. 

janderson1964 said:

That's tough Anna. Pain

That's tough Anna. Pain killers are another common problem/side effect of cancer treatment. I found my self addicted to percocet on a couple of occasions and had to quit cold turkey.

I know that I can't do it cold turkey.  There's just no way.  I'm a big baby.

My step-mom, though...man.  She was taking percocet for a back injury for several months and when things weren't hurting anymore, she just up and quit.  I don't think she'd ever heard of the concept of withdrawal, as she had never taken pain meds before.  She said "oh, I felt pretty bad for a few days, and the I was fine".  Made me feel like a serious wuss (she's 77).

tanstaafl said:

joint resolutions

We've had joint, muscle and/or bone problems that surprisingly were most improved by vitamin D3.  Me? 5000+ iu. Her?  somewhere over 10,000 iu (she's been doing daily 25,000-40,000 iu for 32+ months, at first 11 - 17,000 iu after the CRC diagnosis; doctors approved her up to 50,000 iu with calcium control/monitoring, and anti-osteoporosis amounts of human K2, MK4).  Excess calcium is the toxic concern with high dose vitamin D3.     

My knee would hurt so bad I could cry. It was stiff as a board, and take me a minute to clamber into an SUV.  I have little idea how many thousands she spent on massage, rolfing, chiro. 

We've both used the joint formula, 1500 mg glucosamine, 1200 chondroitin, 1500-4000 mg MSM with important improvements, she still does it in her cancer supplements. I've used it at loading doses of 9000 mg glucosamine, 7200mg chondroitin, 8-12 grams MSM for several weeks, with overnight improvement.  The limits of MSM appear to be much higher.  Vitamin C hydroxylates the glucosamine, to produce rubbery collagenous materials that both lubricate and hold the bones toagther. We both have taken vit C in large-ish amounts, like 5-16 grams per day for several years. 

Some people have taken niacinamide 6+ times a day to improve arthritis pain. We may take high potency B complex 2-3 times. (not the common versions when on chemo because of the unnatural B9 version, folic acid, instead of natural type folates)

Before we learned to get more than the homeopathic RDA amounts (200 iu until recently, ffttttt to the morons at the Inst of Medicine), I took fish oil, primose oil (with 9% GLA), flax seed oil to get the last 50% range of motion, after the glucosamine-chondroitin-MSM formula stalled at 50%, in a bad knee, injured 40+ yrs ago. After a while I could use 1/2 doses of everything.  

After taking more vitamin D, I seldom need the joint formula, just a fish oil cap and some C. She doesn't have bone and joint pains any more, without actual injury.

 

I do take 5000 iu of Vit D, but haven't tried adding in the stuff that is specifically supposed to work on joint pain.  Need to do so, as I'm assuming that once I get off these pain meds, I'm still going to have the original pain for which I took them in the first place.