Big Pharma needs to watch out. More and more people are starting to realize that the side effects of the pills they are taking aren’t worth the ‘relief’ they get. And that that pharmaceutical ‘relief’ comes with a price and that price is often more pharmaceutical drugs.
In the U.S. there is an epidemic of narcotic abuse and overdoses account for approximately 44 deaths per day. Many of these people started with prescription pain killers (whether prescribed or not) and then turned to heroin as a cheaper alternative. Or because they could no longer obtain the prescription narcotics.
More and more people are turning to cannabis as an alternative. I can count myself as one of them. I am in chronic pain, yet very rarely use any form of prescription medication for it. I choose, instead, to micro-dose all day with cannabis or cannabis products for my pain. And why? Because of the side effects of the damn narcotics…..
“Sedation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, physical dependence, tolerance, and respiratory depression. Physical dependence and addiction are clinical concerns that may prevent proper prescribing and in turn inadequate pain management. Less common side effects may include delayed gastric emptying, hyperalgesia, immunologic and hormonal dysfunction, muscle rigidity, and myoclonus.”
And this is just one medicine. I am lucky in that I am on no prescription meds other than occasional pain meds and an over the counter Prilosec daily. But there are those on myriads of medications daily and I cannot imagine the side effects they go through; much less the long term effects that those drugs will have on their bodies and minds.
I’ve also had an awful experience trying to get off of prescribed medications. Besides having to kick pain meds multiple times after surgery; one medication I was prescribed and that springs readily to mind is Effexor. Effexor (Venlafaxine) is an antidepressant of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) class. This means it increases the concentrations of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine in the body and the brain. It is the sixth most prescribed anti-depressant. And while it’s most commonly prescribed for depression I received it for, of all things, hot flashes. I was on a relatively low dose; 75 mg. daily. After taking it for a little over a year, I decided I didn’t really want to take it any more. Thankfully, I had heard you needed to wean off of it. I was reduced to 35 mg. daily for a month, then took 35 mg. every other day for a couple weeks before I decided to say screw this and completely quit. Big mistake. I have to say that this was the worst thing I’ve ever had to kick. Not only was I physically ill, my emotional state was unstable for two weeks. I would find myself crying for no reason at all. At that low of a dosage….. I can’t imagine what people who are prescribed dosages that are higher go through. And God forbid they just stop taking it! One little pill.
When I re-upped my medical marijuana certification last time, I asked the doctor if he was beginning to see more acceptance among his peers of the medicinal benefits of cannabis. He looked over his glasses at me and said, ‘No. In fact I would recommend that you do not discuss this with your primary or, especially, your pain management doctors.” He alluded that my pain management doctor would probably cut off all prescriptions of any type of pain medication if he found out that I was a mmi patient. I was somewhat shocked at this. With all of the testimonials, research and even the American Cancer Society coming out with positive statements about the benefits of marijuana….. how could this be? Was it the old perception of it being a gateway drug? It seemed to me that many of the pills we are prescribed would fall into that category more easily.
Recently, a local Detroit, ex-television anchor with MS went public with her usage of medical cannabis and took on a leadership role in MILegalize in an effort to help legalize marijuana in Michigan. It was an eye opener when she lined up her med containers on the podium and stated that she had been able to stop taking them because of her cannabis usage and that cannabis relieved her MS symptoms. These were meds she had relied on that included Adderall, anti-nausea drugs, muscle relaxants and sleeping pills.
When I started this forum, one of the things that was important to me was to lend support and spread knowledge of how the green miracle that is cannabis can alleviate so many symptoms and can replace so many Pharma medications. We need to educate our doctors, but more importantly, we need to get the word out to people who have been prescribed all of these medicines that, imo, are at times poisoning us, causing addiction, and creating the need for additional medications to counter the side effects. We need to spread the word that there is a more natural alternative. And that alternative is cannabis.
In the U.S. there is an epidemic of narcotic abuse and overdoses account for approximately 44 deaths per day. Many of these people started with prescription pain killers (whether prescribed or not) and then turned to heroin as a cheaper alternative. Or because they could no longer obtain the prescription narcotics.
More and more people are turning to cannabis as an alternative. I can count myself as one of them. I am in chronic pain, yet very rarely use any form of prescription medication for it. I choose, instead, to micro-dose all day with cannabis or cannabis products for my pain. And why? Because of the side effects of the damn narcotics…..
“Sedation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, physical dependence, tolerance, and respiratory depression. Physical dependence and addiction are clinical concerns that may prevent proper prescribing and in turn inadequate pain management. Less common side effects may include delayed gastric emptying, hyperalgesia, immunologic and hormonal dysfunction, muscle rigidity, and myoclonus.”
And this is just one medicine. I am lucky in that I am on no prescription meds other than occasional pain meds and an over the counter Prilosec daily. But there are those on myriads of medications daily and I cannot imagine the side effects they go through; much less the long term effects that those drugs will have on their bodies and minds.
I’ve also had an awful experience trying to get off of prescribed medications. Besides having to kick pain meds multiple times after surgery; one medication I was prescribed and that springs readily to mind is Effexor. Effexor (Venlafaxine) is an antidepressant of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) class. This means it increases the concentrations of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine in the body and the brain. It is the sixth most prescribed anti-depressant. And while it’s most commonly prescribed for depression I received it for, of all things, hot flashes. I was on a relatively low dose; 75 mg. daily. After taking it for a little over a year, I decided I didn’t really want to take it any more. Thankfully, I had heard you needed to wean off of it. I was reduced to 35 mg. daily for a month, then took 35 mg. every other day for a couple weeks before I decided to say screw this and completely quit. Big mistake. I have to say that this was the worst thing I’ve ever had to kick. Not only was I physically ill, my emotional state was unstable for two weeks. I would find myself crying for no reason at all. At that low of a dosage….. I can’t imagine what people who are prescribed dosages that are higher go through. And God forbid they just stop taking it! One little pill.
When I re-upped my medical marijuana certification last time, I asked the doctor if he was beginning to see more acceptance among his peers of the medicinal benefits of cannabis. He looked over his glasses at me and said, ‘No. In fact I would recommend that you do not discuss this with your primary or, especially, your pain management doctors.” He alluded that my pain management doctor would probably cut off all prescriptions of any type of pain medication if he found out that I was a mmi patient. I was somewhat shocked at this. With all of the testimonials, research and even the American Cancer Society coming out with positive statements about the benefits of marijuana….. how could this be? Was it the old perception of it being a gateway drug? It seemed to me that many of the pills we are prescribed would fall into that category more easily.
Recently, a local Detroit, ex-television anchor with MS went public with her usage of medical cannabis and took on a leadership role in MILegalize in an effort to help legalize marijuana in Michigan. It was an eye opener when she lined up her med containers on the podium and stated that she had been able to stop taking them because of her cannabis usage and that cannabis relieved her MS symptoms. These were meds she had relied on that included Adderall, anti-nausea drugs, muscle relaxants and sleeping pills.
When I started this forum, one of the things that was important to me was to lend support and spread knowledge of how the green miracle that is cannabis can alleviate so many symptoms and can replace so many Pharma medications. We need to educate our doctors, but more importantly, we need to get the word out to people who have been prescribed all of these medicines that, imo, are at times poisoning us, causing addiction, and creating the need for additional medications to counter the side effects. We need to spread the word that there is a more natural alternative. And that alternative is cannabis.
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) regarding medical cannabis patients using less opioids, antidepressants, sleep medications and alcohol and thought it fit here nicely. According to a study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, "Upon using medical cannabis, patients in pain and those suffering from other medical conditions reduced their use of opioids, antidepressants, sleep medications, alcohol, and other dangerous substances."