legalized marijuana

[flo]

Diane, thank you for getting into this discussion.  You have given a view of the professional (semi anyhow) view on the subject.  I know so little about "street" drugs (sheltered life in a small town) and since there is so much discussion on the tv about trying to legalize it in Kansas, I was just curious since the subject was brought up during Lewis' illness.  I want to know if anyone had tried it for MEDICAL reasons, if it worked, and also peoples thinking about whether it should be legalized for MEDICAL purposes.  I can't help but think that the "side" effects from prolonged use would out-weigh the benefits.  Maybe I'm wrong and maybe I'm just being old fashioned.

[Wilma]

I can tell you that the side effects can sometimes negate the benefits.  I had my first shot for bursitis a couple of months ago or maybe longer.  I don't remember what the shot was, but I think it was one of those things that athletes use.  My shoulder stopped hurting but the following week I was not my sweet, soft spoken, easy to get along with self.  Now anybody that knows me knows that I am just a nice person that never says a harsh word to anybody.  But that following week I got bitchy, critical, hard to get along with and in a very foul mood.  I didn't even like myself.  It wore off.  I don't know if I want to go through that again to ease the pain in a joint.  I guess I could stay out of the joint, couldn't I, Diane?

[Diane Amberg]

 You were probably given a steroid, but sometimes old fashioned gold salts are given. Was the moon full?
  Seriously, if you really think the drug caused the mood swing, please tell your doctor. He (she?) may be able to explain it or give you something else. If you suddenly grow hair on your chest, it was too strong!

[Diane Amberg]

 Wilma, please note I didn't jump on that "joint" potential...I am trying to behave.
  More on the marijuana subject. The docs I knew that had been involved in clinical studies were very reluctant to talk about it because of the medical politics involved. The people I know who might have used it sure didn't talk about it. We had "made arrangements,'' shall we say, when my mother in law was very ill, but we had a good doctor who went right to morphine. My mom's doc was the same way. With no pain the appetite was better too.  Some docs really don't do good pain management for fear of creating an addict or reducing respiratory rates too low. It can be safely managed if they just would work at it a little.

[kdfrawg]

There has always been a lot of buzz about marijuana for MS patients, but I think it's probably just buzz. (No pun intended.) I don't know that any of the benefits outweigh the risks, with the possible exception of glaucoma (as Diane said) which seems to me to be a logical "Yes" until and unless they find a more conventional drug that does the same thing. For my own part, I have a hard enough time with side-effects from prescribed medications, and always have, that I never had any desire to try any of the recreational species.

That said, the simple difference between a street drug and a medicinal drug is the doctor's prescription and FDA approval. Neither of those things are a guarantee that 1) the drug is good for what ails you or 2) the drug is safe to take. I am of the opinion that we have become a drugged society, with way too may people taking way to many drugs, socially driven by the big pharmaceutical companies. Prescription drugs are abused with some regularity and societal mores have more to do with what drugs are acceptable than does the FDA. In point of fact, the details of how most of the more popular prescription drugs work are largely unknown.

Drugs are a crap-shoot. I take the bare minimum.

[Wilma]

Diane, are you approving my using a controlled substance to treat my arthritis pain?  My doctor gives me a new prescription any time I ask for it and says he has no worry about me becoming addicted.  It works for me better than any arthritis medication I have tried.  I believe that pain creates pain and trying to bear it causes more problems than it prevents.

[Diane Amberg]

 Of course I'm approving it. Your doctor knows you and if he doesn't think you have an addictive nature, then I don't either. Pain does release chemicals that aren't good for the body. Pain control is very important. When possible, fix the thing that is causing the pain. If that can't be done, then control the pain. There isn't a drug in the world that is really good for you, vitamins and minerals excepted for now.  If pain control can give person a more normal and satisfying life, then I'm all for it. Of course there are other things that sometimes help. Electrical stimulation, a nice warm bath and the forum may help too. Or I could hang a lead weight on your ear. That would distract you so much you wouldn't notice anything else...or how about a genuine Teresa massage?

[flo]

Lewis' oncologist was at KU Med Ctr. in KC - when he decided he wanted to come home and not long after than his surgeon started him on morphine shots. Our daughter, Kelly, the nurse, administered those.  Of Course it got to the point that the shots weren't doing their job, so last step is the hospital and constant drip, drug induced coma........

[Diane Amberg]

 And hopefully a dignified and peaceful end. I'm so sorry. No Hospice?

[kdfrawg]

The one sure thing that I have found will make a broken arm feel better is a broken leg.   

And I'm with Diane on pain control. Pain itself is almost certainly worse for you than the drugs they use to keep it down.