Epilepsy and marijuana- my experiment
I have had seizures since I was eleven, and recently I was told by a family member (who neglected to ever mention this before) that I had seizures in infancy- though that may not be related. Regardless, I have temporal lobe epilepsy and I have lived with it my entire life. In that time, I have had many doctors of varying opinions about how to treat my very active epilepsy. There have been times when I have had multiple seizures in a single day. My seizures are a regular occurring thing in my life. Some people only experience a seizure every few years- not me. I have them on average of three times a week, usually when I am waking up. I have been put on every kind of medication the doctors can dispense. At best, a few of the medications have lessened the frequency of the seizures, but nothing has eliminated them, or even given me a level of balance I thought was worth the side effects the meds cause, which are substantial. There are a bunch of other little add on problems (not so little, really) that come along with my particular brand of spazzing- such as insomnia- which sometimes reaches critical levels, like being awake four days at a time... which of course causes more seizures. I find that with me, the medications tend to worsen these issues. Not to mention the meds make me a basketcase, or a zombie. Usually a zombie. There is also depression to deal with. The side effect of being spazzy all the time is (for me) depression. Being a zombie makes that worse. Oh, and the damage the seizures do to my body. I have broken my arm once, fractured ribs, pulled muscles, smacked my head on things, gotten concussions and then the general pain and stiffness of having a body that is regularly tossed around and banged up. I often wake up so sore that it hurts to walk.
So... in September, I decided to go off my prescribed medications and try smoking pot. Nothing else worked, so this seemed a valid thing to do in my opinion. I should also point out that I do not take any recreational drugs- never have. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't like the idea of being 'high.' I am not doing this for kicks. So, with that out of the way, I got some weed- lovingly supplied by an awesome friend- and I decided to find out if smoking some regular herb would help my situation.
NOTE: I did NOT do this under the supervision of a doctor.
I keep a calendar that documents my seizures- I have kept it for three years, almost religiously. I used this to track changes in frequency and intensity.
The months of January, February & March I was regularly taking my medication "cocktail" that the doctors prescribed me. During those three months, I had a documented 34 seizures, from which I was hospitalized twice. I sustained a concussion from one and a hairline fracture on my left arm. I spent those three months (very average months) deeply depressed and in a deep amount of physical and emotional pain.
The months of October, November & December, now using marijuana about three days a week (NOT every day), I have had... (drum roll...) TWO seizures. TWO. I had an aura a few other times (an aura is the funky feeling that happens BEFORE a seizure) but smoked some pot and IT WENT AWAY!
For the last three months, I have no new bruises on my body. You know it's a big change when you are undressing to make love to your husband and he says with a look of wonderment,
"Sweetheart, you don't have any bruises now!"
I sleep better. Not great, because my brain still never really shuts up (which is a good thing), but I get a lot more sleep than I used to, and I have certainly not had any four day awake episodes. The depression has lifted a lot, and the ease of not being afraid of my own body has made it much easier to do simple things I could not do before- cook more often, finish projects, work out, go hiking, biking, have sex without worrying I might spaz in the middle of it...
I eat better- because I spend more time cooking and less time crying in pain. And since the pot gives me munchies, I actually eat instead of going all day without eating and then feeling starved and exhausted.
I can enjoy things like going to concerts and shows- not as much as I would like, because flashing lights and loud music are essentially a bad idea for me, but before the pot it was OUT OF THE QUESTION ENTIRELY. I used to have seizures from watching movies in the cinema. Now I go all the time.
The cost- I won't tell you what my monthly supply of weed costs but it is exactly 2% of my total medication cost on the "usual" drugs. I now spend some of the money I used to spend on the "usual" drugs on things like having a life.
I get out more, I have better relationships with my family and friends- simply because I am no longer miserable. I have a better sex life, better goals and projects, many exciting things to do.
SIDE EFFECTS I HAVE EXPERIENCED USING CLONAZAPAM, DEPAKOTE & PHENOBARBITOL:
nausea
vomiting
exhaustion
drowsiness
depression
suicidal thoughts (when I changed meds or stopped taking them)
general befuddlement
inability to do pretty much anything useful
complete absence of any sex drive
PERMANENT DAMAGE TO MY LIVER
SIDE EFFECTS I HAVE EXPERIENCED USING MARIJUANA:
-mild to medium level 'high' (which for me means lessened motor development skills and
my mind taking everything to more levels than when not high)
-a lot of giggling and finding everything funny
-The Flaming Lips now sound even more awesome on my ipod
Now my rhetorical question is... why is it not legal?
The next time you vote, please think of people like me and make it legal.
So... in September, I decided to go off my prescribed medications and try smoking pot. Nothing else worked, so this seemed a valid thing to do in my opinion. I should also point out that I do not take any recreational drugs- never have. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't like the idea of being 'high.' I am not doing this for kicks. So, with that out of the way, I got some weed- lovingly supplied by an awesome friend- and I decided to find out if smoking some regular herb would help my situation.
NOTE: I did NOT do this under the supervision of a doctor.
I keep a calendar that documents my seizures- I have kept it for three years, almost religiously. I used this to track changes in frequency and intensity.
The months of January, February & March I was regularly taking my medication "cocktail" that the doctors prescribed me. During those three months, I had a documented 34 seizures, from which I was hospitalized twice. I sustained a concussion from one and a hairline fracture on my left arm. I spent those three months (very average months) deeply depressed and in a deep amount of physical and emotional pain.
The months of October, November & December, now using marijuana about three days a week (NOT every day), I have had... (drum roll...) TWO seizures. TWO. I had an aura a few other times (an aura is the funky feeling that happens BEFORE a seizure) but smoked some pot and IT WENT AWAY!
For the last three months, I have no new bruises on my body. You know it's a big change when you are undressing to make love to your husband and he says with a look of wonderment,
"Sweetheart, you don't have any bruises now!"
I sleep better. Not great, because my brain still never really shuts up (which is a good thing), but I get a lot more sleep than I used to, and I have certainly not had any four day awake episodes. The depression has lifted a lot, and the ease of not being afraid of my own body has made it much easier to do simple things I could not do before- cook more often, finish projects, work out, go hiking, biking, have sex without worrying I might spaz in the middle of it...
I eat better- because I spend more time cooking and less time crying in pain. And since the pot gives me munchies, I actually eat instead of going all day without eating and then feeling starved and exhausted.
I can enjoy things like going to concerts and shows- not as much as I would like, because flashing lights and loud music are essentially a bad idea for me, but before the pot it was OUT OF THE QUESTION ENTIRELY. I used to have seizures from watching movies in the cinema. Now I go all the time.
The cost- I won't tell you what my monthly supply of weed costs but it is exactly 2% of my total medication cost on the "usual" drugs. I now spend some of the money I used to spend on the "usual" drugs on things like having a life.
I get out more, I have better relationships with my family and friends- simply because I am no longer miserable. I have a better sex life, better goals and projects, many exciting things to do.
SIDE EFFECTS I HAVE EXPERIENCED USING CLONAZAPAM, DEPAKOTE & PHENOBARBITOL:
nausea
vomiting
exhaustion
drowsiness
depression
suicidal thoughts (when I changed meds or stopped taking them)
general befuddlement
inability to do pretty much anything useful
complete absence of any sex drive
PERMANENT DAMAGE TO MY LIVER
SIDE EFFECTS I HAVE EXPERIENCED USING MARIJUANA:
-mild to medium level 'high' (which for me means lessened motor development skills and
my mind taking everything to more levels than when not high)
-a lot of giggling and finding everything funny
-The Flaming Lips now sound even more awesome on my ipod
Now my rhetorical question is... why is it not legal?
The next time you vote, please think of people like me and make it legal.