O/T It's easier for me to get Heroin than Medical Cannabis

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Yes, I agree. I didn't make it clear in my OP but I'd bite your hand off right now for that injection. I've been referred and will sign the million page exempt-from-liability form quite happily as it's been the worst it's ever been recently. It's off-label though (corticosteroid epidural).

I will get around to replying to all the other very kind and generous suggestions by everyone and I'm pretty much pursuing all avenues as the totally conventional route isn't working for me and there are other risks too. I'm really looking for greater quality-of-life, as much for my long-suffering wife as for me. I've had some great options today and that helps enormously.

Are there any support groups or info lines for chronic pain sufferers ?

I am not suggesting you phone them up and ask for some quality blow but it might be an avenue ?

[NYCBlue]

On Monday I went to the Chronic Pain Clinic, suffering from a really bad spell of chronic spinal pain (a few weeks now) only to be told that there's no more to be done other than a very risky spinal injection. The MS Team offer nothing else other than the obscene amounts of prescription drugs (class C) I'm already on. I want to be taking Medical Cannabis (Sativex) and it's still unavailable to me in Wales.

The consultants make you feel guilty for being dependent on the very drugs they prescribe. I'm sick of it.

I'll now be buying it from Scotland but I have to go through private scripts which I'm lucky I can afford.

If I wanted to take Heroin, I could go and buy some within 10 minutes of where I live. Of course I'm not going to but I've really reached the point where I'm so fed up with the gatekeepers who don't have to live with a condition which, if this carries on, will permanently confine me to a wheelchair.

I don't feel sorry for myself. I'm in pain. I'm still managing to keep going but f*ck me it's hard work. I don't want sympathy or tea and biscuits. I want to be able to choose my own treatments and not be constantly thwarted by health professionals.

On top of all this, CCFC have sent my Christmas jumper to my old address. Seriously. Could it get much worse?

I guess this qualifies as a rant.

Have you tried taking cannabis edibles or THC pills? Because if smoking weed feels unpleasant and makes you trip balls (as it does me) I don't think "medical cannabis" as long as it contains THC, will serve you any better.

[rob276]

Have you tried taking cannabis edibles or THC pills? Because if smoking weed feels unpleasant and makes you trip balls (as it does me) I don't think "medical cannabis" as long as it contains THC, will serve you any better.

Medical cannabis is a bit different here its pretty much this only and almost impossible to get a prescription https://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-m...nnabis/sativex and certainly not the ability to buy "normal" weed

Not that CN wants normal and think your other suggestion's may be an idea for him.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Did you know that the word 'Heroin' was fabricated by the German phramaceutical in order to use it as a trade mark?
It fell into disuse when the company ceased to produce it and the term became generic.
Jus' sayin'.......

[NYCBlue]

Medical cannabis is a bit different here its pretty much this only and almost impossible to get a prescription https://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-m...nnabis/sativex and certainly not the ability to buy "normal" weed

Not that CN wants normal and think your other suggestion's may be an idea for him.

I'm actually suggesting he avoids THC altogether. Are there no legal weed products there? Here you can buy it legally in all shapes and forms. People have suggested I take a 1/4 of a gummie, but I don't think they get how nuts it makes me. I've smoked weed twice in the last 25 years. And both times were definitely NOT good. I had a girlfriend who took at THC pill and ended up in the hospital.

[rob276]

I'm actually suggesting he avoids THC altogether. Are there no legal weed products there? Here you can buy it legally in all shapes and forms. People have suggested I take a 1/4 of a gummie, but I don't think they get how nuts it makes me. I've smoked weed twice in the last 25 years. And both times were definitely NOT good. I had a girlfriend who took at THC pill and ended up in the hospital.

Sorry misinterpreted you, there are some very limited CBD options but guessing CN has tried those already

[Captain_Sensible]

Would be interested in what people's experiences are with the CBD gummies. They have been recommended to me by friends for sleep problems but I find the choice a bit overwhelming. Noticed that they are mainstream now however, even being available in Boots.

[Citizen's Nephew]

Are there any support groups or info lines for chronic pain sufferers ?

I am not suggesting you phone them up and ask for some quality blow but it might be an avenue ?

There's a site called Shift MS which is really good and consists of real-world MSers not consultants which means the support and suggestions are realistic when it comes to MS and people who live with people with MS. Mrs C uses it more than I do. I was able to access and try Low Dose Naltrexone last year via that site.

[blue matt]

Would be interested in what people's experiences are with the CBD gummies. They have been recommended to me by friends for sleep problems but I find the choice a bit overwhelming. Noticed that they are mainstream now however, even being available in Boots.

melatonin gummies are popular in the US for sleep issues, Walmart / Target sell them of the shelf

[Citizen's Nephew]

I'm actually suggesting he avoids THC altogether. Are there no legal weed products there? Here you can buy it legally in all shapes and forms. People have suggested I take a 1/4 of a gummie, but I don't think they get how nuts it makes me. I've smoked weed twice in the last 25 years. And both times were definitely NOT good. I had a girlfriend who took at THC pill and ended up in the hospital.

Yes, this was the route we've been exploring i.e.avoiding any THC high whatsoever because of added complications with brain damage not just nerve damage. Mrs C did all the leg work (no pun intended) in Amsterdam earlier this year where there are many different options. Things were manageable then but spinal nerve damage is worse now and has flared up. It's Secondary Progressive MS so there are no treatments available at all.

Interestingly though, in Amsterdam, they have trip sitters who are medically trained to monitor and sit with you (obviously!) so that's an option and then there's been a lot of work with psilocybin and MS too.

I'm in a Catch 22. No treatment available, but actively discouraged by consultants from 'officially' exploring alternatives. I usually ask them what they would do if they were told this and they can never answer.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

If you can get some nice resin and crumble it up in a yoghurt you should be able to reduce the pain and sleep better too

I don't know if you could do the same for weed but an ex girlfriend of mine couldn't smoke so on a Saturday evening she would crumble some cannabis into a ski strawberry fruit pot , go and lie on the sofa and I wouldn't hear a peep out of her all night .

Which whatever way you look at it is a result .

[Citizen's Nephew]

Medical cannabis is a bit different here its pretty much this only and almost impossible to get a prescription https://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-m...nnabis/sativex and certainly not the ability to buy "normal" weed

Not that CN wants normal and think your other suggestion's may be an idea for him.

Yeah, the Sativex route is for spasticity and muscle spasms which can be crippling when they kick off. However, there are lots of pitfalls to getting it because of the licensing wording. I think I'm going to need to explore every avenue and take baby steps but I'm no longer prepared to listen to mainstream medicine and need to explore more progressive avenues otherwise quality of life will be too sh*t. The UK is very conservative regarding MS and neurological diseases.

[Tuerto]

If you can get some nice resin and crumble it up in a yoghurt you should be able to reduce the pain and sleep better too

I don't know if you could do the same for weed but an ex girlfriend of mine couldn't smoke so on a Saturday evening she would crumble some cannabis into a ski strawberry fruit pot , go and lie on the sofa and I wouldn't hear a peep out of her all night .

Which whatever way you look at it is a result .

Squidgy Black. Shut it sludge, it's not 1992.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Squidgy Black. Shut it sludge, it's not 1992.

Sticky

Anything but soap

[Citizen's Nephew]

Did you know that the word 'Heroin' was fabricated by the German phramaceutical in order to use it as a trade mark?
It fell into disuse when the company ceased to produce it and the term became generic.
Jus' sayin'.......

This always reminds me of the film The Commitments banner "Heroine Kills!"

[NYCBlue]

Would be interested in what people's experiences are with the CBD gummies. They have been recommended to me by friends for sleep problems but I find the choice a bit overwhelming. Noticed that they are mainstream now however, even being available in Boots.

I couldn't even tell if they did anything.

[CopenhagenBlue]

One option is to use a dry herb vaporiser (some will take oils as well). With these you don’t need tobacco, so no smoking issues or nicotine addition. If you have bought strong street weed then just reduce the amount you load into it the vap, a little bit of trial and error until you get the right dose.

I have used one for years and I am still using the original one I bought. They are also very discrete giving off very limited odour, due to the weed not burning. I have regularly stood outside theatre and music venues during the interval without anyone noticing I was vaping weed.

They are easy to use, just load weed into the heating cell or on the more expensive ones (German engineering) you load the weed into a metal capsule which is inserted in to the vap.

You can spend between £50 - £300 on a decent one. Some examples below:

Stork and Bickel (high end German products),
https://www.storz-bickel.com/en/

A selection on Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=dry+vap...s_ts-doa-p_1_7

For those who can't or don't want to smoke, then dry vapes are amazing. I started getting nauseous from joints a few years ago so bought a cheapish vape to test, and it was a great investment. Turns out it was the tobacco and not the weed making me feel weird. They are so easy and convenient to use, and only emit a mild, pleasant smell as opposed to smoke.

I tried CBD oils too for my arthritis in my ankle, and they helped me sleep really well if nothing else. They are expensive though, so a vape with weed is what I use now. There's shops here that sell weed with only CBD if that's what people are after. One of my mates buys that. Personally I like to get a little bit baked on a quiet Friday staying in. High grade skunk is a thing of the past for me now though!

[EastbourneBlue]

Yes and the weed these days can be very powerful . I knocked it on the head as I was like a cabbage after a few joints .

Amitriptyline ? Pregabalin ?

When you are having a bad spell .....as now .....can you get away with occasional use of oromorph or tramadol ?

That’s the trouble with cannabis these days, way too strong. Going to fry everyone’s brain.

Was much better when it was weaker years ago

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

That’s the trouble with cannabis these days, way too strong. Going to fry everyone’s brain.

Was much better when it was weaker years ago

Definitely

They say youngsters smoking skunk at 15 or 16 these days are a high risk of developing serious mental illness like psychotic depression or paranoia or the various forms of schizophrenia

I came back from college in 1990 and my mates girlfriend was a psychiatric nurse and said they dealt with a lot of people who had bad psychological reactions to cannabis , even then

A girl at our student halls of residence was a big smoker but gave it up after she developed panic attacks and anxiety serious enough to be admitted to hospital

I used to love having a smoke on a Friday night but it's certainly not harmless . Less harmful than alcohol for sure but not harmless

[Citizen's Nephew]

Thanks again guys for all your suggestions and responses. They're all really appreciated and have given me options and a lift as my spirits were down. I do love the way this board can help people and even though we get a bit feisty at times, we're able to look out for one another. That's community in my book and why this board is so important to me and I'm sure many others.