{"id":1184,"date":"2012-05-06T19:10:11","date_gmt":"2012-05-06T19:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/?p=15264"},"modified":"2012-05-06T19:10:11","modified_gmt":"2012-05-06T19:10:11","slug":"a-patients-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/a-patients-story\/","title":{"rendered":"A Patient\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/a-patients-story\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"540\" height=\"600\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Georges-Gilles-de-la-Tourette.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Georges Gilles de la Tourette\" title=\"Georges Gilles de la Tourette\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-15268\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/a-patients-story\/attachment\/georges-gilles-de-la-tourette\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-15268\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Georges-Gilles-de-la-Tourette-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Despite the advances of modern medicine, there are many afflictions that doctors still have trouble treating.\u00a0 Most troubles have uncertain treatments and even fewer have cures.\u00a0 Some of the more complex diseases involve the use of pharmaceuticals that have side effects which can be as devastating as the disease they treat.\u00a0 And for some people, proven medications don&#8217;t seem to work at all.\u00a0 Although many people tout marijuana as a &#8220;cure-all,&#8221; it just isn&#8217;t true.\u00a0 It can however offer great relief to patients whose experience with modern medicine and disease is less than helpful.\u00a0 Most states don&#8217;t offer medical marijuana programs. And in the sixteen states where it is legal, there are shortcomings in some legislation which serve to make obtaining quality medication difficult on a regular basis. Because marijuana is still a schedule 1 drug, domestic research into it is woefully inadequate.\u00a0 Without large-scale studies, results are often suspect and the majority of news about its helpful uses are relegated to personal stories from patients.\u00a0 These anecdotes rarely have any scientific backing, but their publicity can help to sway public support, or even launch new <a title=\"Study of Tourette's\" href=\"http:\/\/rxmarijuana.com\/ajp_tourettes.htm\" target=\"_blank\">studies<\/a> into treatment and relief for people who need it.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Tourette's Syndrome\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tourette_syndrome\" target=\"_blank\">Tourette&#8217;s Syndrome<\/a> is an affliction that many people suffer from.\u00a0 Despite the common idea that it makes people spew obscenities uncontrollably (<a title=\"Coprolalia\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Coprolalia\" target=\"_blank\">coprolalia<\/a>), those with Tourette&#8217;s suffer from a spectrum of disorders including muscular <a title=\"Tic wiki\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tic\" target=\"_blank\">tics<\/a>, vocalizations (usually not swearing) and other behaviors.\u00a0 Some co-occurring disorders include ADHD and OCD.\u00a0 Some tics are chronic, and others transient.\u00a0 It is shown that environmental factors and stressors lead to upswings in tic occurrence, and that relaxation techniques can help reduce overall severity at a given time. There is no one treatment for Tourette&#8217;s, as the symptoms are often varied and the patients often react differently to the many medications recommended for particular behaviors.\u00a0 However, some patients claim that medical marijuana is very helpful for them.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Edward Schafer and Tourette's Syndrome\" href=\"http:\/\/rxmarijuana.com\/Schafer.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Edward Schafer<\/a> is one patient who chooses to use cannabis instead of prescribed pharmaceuticals. His first symptoms manifested at age eight and progressed as he did through school.\u00a0 It was very difficult for him in school because of his involuntary noises (grunting) and behaviors.\u00a0 He was constantly moving, tapping and shuffling around in class.\u00a0 The symptoms got worse, to the point where he was self-injuring because of chin jerking and head slamming.\u00a0 Over the years his doctors had given him numerous drugs. Some helped, others did not, and the few that did help often lost potency or had awful side effects.\u00a0 Throughout his life he had tried <a title=\"antipsychotic medication\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Antipsychotic\" target=\"_blank\">antipsychotics<\/a>, such as <a title=\"Clonidine\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000623\/\" target=\"_blank\">clonidine<\/a> (which required steady dose increases), <a title=\"Pimozide\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000864\/\" target=\"_blank\">pimozide<\/a> (Orap), and others <a title=\"tranxene\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000559\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tranxene<\/a> (clorazepate), and <a title=\"Haldol (haloperidol)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000604\/\" target=\"_blank\">Haldol<\/a> (haloperidol) to augment the clonidine.\u00a0 All of these drugs come with side effects, from drowsiness to trouble forming memories, weight gain, and the increased chances of heart disease and death.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, as a young teenager, Edward was exposed to marijuana.\u00a0 Initially, he only used it to get high and party.\u00a0 He noticed how it mellowed it him out, and he was actually happy for a few hours at a time.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t until he was sixteen that he noticed that it temporarily ceased his tics, both physical and verbal.\u00a0 At first his parents were against marijuana (his father violently so), but as they witnessed his transformation into a calm and and functional young man they realized that the plant was indeed helpful.\u00a0 Since that time Edward has medicated solely with marijuana. He was able to focus better in school and brought his grades up.\u00a0 But it hasn&#8217;t been all easy street for him.\u00a0 He lives in a state without compassionate use laws and has several run-ins with the law.\u00a0 Because of these citations and troubles, Edward was kicked out of school two weeks before graduation. He has since gotten his diploma, but has great difficulty finding employment because he is unable to pass drug tests.\u00a0 He still lives with his father, and uses marijuana, but on their limited incomes he cannot always afford to medicate as much as he needs.\u00a0 All of this conspires to keep him on the fringe of society.\u00a0 He doesn&#8217;t go into public much and prefers the solitude of the country and camping.<\/p>\n<p>Edward is just one of many people who are helped by the cannabis plant, but can&#8217;t benefit to fullest because of America&#8217;s outdated laws.\u00a0 His story highlights where we must force changes in society.\u00a0 Laws should be repealed or amended and studies undertaken, not for the profit of Big Pharma, but to the profit of society.\u00a0 People who are forced into asocial lifestyles by treatable disorders deserve the opportunity and the right to help themselves.\u00a0 At Marijuana.net we know there are many people who share Edward&#8217;s frustrations and have their <a title=\"Other stories\" href=\"http:\/\/consults.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/03\/31\/a-new-use-for-medical-marijuana\/\" target=\"_blank\">own<\/a> stories.\u00a0 We hope that as they step forward and share with us, that society at large will take a step back from their myopic views and share in a wider vision where anyone has the chance to get treatment and join in the wider world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"540\" height=\"600\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Georges-Gilles-de-la-Tourette.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Georges Gilles de la Tourette\" title=\"Georges Gilles de la Tourette\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-15268\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/a-patients-story\/attachment\/georges-gilles-de-la-tourette\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-15268\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Georges-Gilles-de-la-Tourette-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Despite the advances of modern medicine, there are many afflictions that doctors still have trouble treating.\u00a0 Most troubles have uncertain treatments and even fewer have cures.\u00a0 Some of the more complex diseases involve the use of pharmaceuticals that have side effects which can be as devastating as the disease they treat.\u00a0 And for some people, proven medications don&#8217;t seem to work at all.\u00a0 Although many people tout marijuana as a &#8220;cure-all,&#8221; it just isn&#8217;t true.\u00a0 It can however offer great relief to patients whose experience with modern medicine and disease is less than helpful.\u00a0 Most states don&#8217;t offer medical marijuana programs. And in the sixteen states where it is legal, there are shortcomings in some legislation which serve to make obtaining quality medication difficult on a regular basis. Because marijuana is still a schedule 1 drug, domestic research into it is woefully inadequate.\u00a0 Without large-scale studies, results are often suspect and the majority of news about its helpful uses are relegated to personal stories from patients.\u00a0 These anecdotes rarely have any scientific backing, but their publicity can help to sway public support, or even launch new <a title=\"Study of Tourette's\" href=\"http:\/\/rxmarijuana.com\/ajp_tourettes.htm\" target=\"_blank\">studies<\/a> into treatment and relief for people who need it.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Tourette's Syndrome\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tourette_syndrome\" target=\"_blank\">Tourette&#8217;s Syndrome<\/a> is an affliction that many people suffer from.\u00a0 Despite the common idea that it makes people spew obscenities uncontrollably (<a title=\"Coprolalia\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Coprolalia\" target=\"_blank\">coprolalia<\/a>), those with Tourette&#8217;s suffer from a spectrum of disorders including muscular <a title=\"Tic wiki\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tic\" target=\"_blank\">tics<\/a>, vocalizations (usually not swearing) and other behaviors.\u00a0 Some co-occurring disorders include ADHD and OCD.\u00a0 Some tics are chronic, and others transient.\u00a0 It is shown that environmental factors and stressors lead to upswings in tic occurrence, and that relaxation techniques can help reduce overall severity at a given time. There is no one treatment for Tourette&#8217;s, as the symptoms are often varied and the patients often react differently to the many medications recommended for particular behaviors.\u00a0 However, some patients claim that medical marijuana is very helpful for them.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Edward Schafer and Tourette's Syndrome\" href=\"http:\/\/rxmarijuana.com\/Schafer.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Edward Schafer<\/a> is one patient who chooses to use cannabis instead of prescribed pharmaceuticals. His first symptoms manifested at age eight and progressed as he did through school.\u00a0 It was very difficult for him in school because of his involuntary noises (grunting) and behaviors.\u00a0 He was constantly moving, tapping and shuffling around in class.\u00a0 The symptoms got worse, to the point where he was self-injuring because of chin jerking and head slamming.\u00a0 Over the years his doctors had given him numerous drugs. Some helped, others did not, and the few that did help often lost potency or had awful side effects.\u00a0 Throughout his life he had tried <a title=\"antipsychotic medication\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Antipsychotic\" target=\"_blank\">antipsychotics<\/a>, such as <a title=\"Clonidine\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000623\/\" target=\"_blank\">clonidine<\/a> (which required steady dose increases), <a title=\"Pimozide\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000864\/\" target=\"_blank\">pimozide<\/a> (Orap), and others <a title=\"tranxene\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000559\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tranxene<\/a> (clorazepate), and <a title=\"Haldol (haloperidol)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmedhealth\/PMH0000604\/\" target=\"_blank\">Haldol<\/a> (haloperidol) to augment the clonidine.\u00a0 All of these drugs come with side effects, from drowsiness to trouble forming memories, weight gain, and the increased chances of heart disease and death.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, as a young teenager, Edward was exposed to marijuana.\u00a0 Initially, he only used it to get high and party.\u00a0 He noticed how it mellowed it him out, and he was actually happy for a few hours at a time.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t until he was sixteen that he noticed that it temporarily ceased his tics, both physical and verbal.\u00a0 At first his parents were against marijuana (his father violently so), but as they witnessed his transformation into a calm and and functional young man they realized that the plant was indeed helpful.\u00a0 Since that time Edward has medicated solely with marijuana. He was able to focus better in school and brought his grades up.\u00a0 But it hasn&#8217;t been all easy street for him.\u00a0 He lives in a state without compassionate use laws and has several run-ins with the law.\u00a0 Because of these citations and troubles, Edward was kicked out of school two weeks before graduation. He has since gotten his diploma, but has great difficulty finding employment because he is unable to pass drug tests.\u00a0 He still lives with his father, and uses marijuana, but on their limited incomes he cannot always afford to medicate as much as he needs.\u00a0 All of this conspires to keep him on the fringe of society.\u00a0 He doesn&#8217;t go into public much and prefers the solitude of the country and camping.<\/p>\n<p>Edward is just one of many people who are helped by the cannabis plant, but can&#8217;t benefit to fullest because of America&#8217;s outdated laws.\u00a0 His story highlights where we must force changes in society.\u00a0 Laws should be repealed or amended and studies undertaken, not for the profit of Big Pharma, but to the profit of society.\u00a0 People who are forced into asocial lifestyles by treatable disorders deserve the opportunity and the right to help themselves.\u00a0 At Marijuana.net we know there are many people who share Edward&#8217;s frustrations and have their <a title=\"Other stories\" href=\"http:\/\/consults.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/03\/31\/a-new-use-for-medical-marijuana\/\" target=\"_blank\">own<\/a> stories.\u00a0 We hope that as they step forward and share with us, that society at large will take a step back from their myopic views and share in a wider vision where anyone has the chance to get treatment and join in the wider world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1077,1162,52,1163,1164,1165,1166,1167,56,9,51,1168,1169,1170,1,3,1171,1172,1173],"tags":[3647,3732,2632,3733,3734,3735,3736,3737,2636,2631,3738,3739,3740,3741,3742,3743],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}