When she walked away, I was so impressed and thought to myself….”this woman has her stuff together”. And indeed, she does. As she sat and calmly told me about the stress, trauma and pain that she had suffered, I was amazed that she had the where-with-all to make a plan and execute it.
Working at a very responsible position, interacting with the “C” suite at a big company she found herself unable to ask for help when she felt anxious and overwhelmed. She suffered pain from fibromyalgia and migraines. The pain was chronic, constant and intolerable. Her symptoms were variant and many, and she had trouble with several mental health issues.
With nowhere to turn, she used alcohol to medicate her symptoms which as suspected did not work. At some point during this time she was able to change jobs and work as a freelance employee and that improved the situation a good deal. But the pain and problems remained and she decided to try medical cannabis. She had never abused opioids and for that she was grateful but the roller coaster of anti-depressants not working was terrible. Once she applied and received her card she came to the dispensary. We had a long talk and she was pointed toward the products that were most likely to help her. Just like everyone she had to do a fair amount of experimentation in order to land on just the right combination of products. But she is there and is living a life without alcohol, antidepressants and the other “traditional” medications that she was on. This is a great success story, she feels she does a better job with her family and her work.
Medical cannabis does not work for every single patient that comes in, but it does work for the vast majority. I have seen people who have not slept well in years secondary to a traumatic event, come back in with tears in their eyes because they actually slept all night, no traumatic nightmares! I have patients that have horrible gastrointestinal diseases…that actually have an appetite are able to eat and get some nutrition. I have patients who have lost a few pounds because they can finally move easier without pain and have been more active. We have a number of folks who have reduced their opioid intake by 50% and a few that have discontinued altogether. When I have patients come in feeling like a new people or themselves again, it really does my heart good. To quote one of our Patient Care Representatives….”that is why we do what we do”.
