Cannabis Oil: A Shepparton resident has come back to life with CBD. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite
There are two realities for chronic pain sufferers: endless pain without care or dependence on opioid painkillers. But a Shepparton resident has found relief in medicinal cannabis oil.
Anne Smith was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called psoriatic arthritis about 10 years ago. It is a chronic disease that inflames the skin and joints of the whole body.
It is a condition that causes paralyzing agony; but he never got used to the pain, because it was sporadic, fluctuating like time.
Mrs. Smith uses cannabis oil to deal with the pain, but because of the stigma surrounding cannabis she did not want her real name to be published in this story.
“I was in my 30s and I couldn’t even walk around a mall because I was in a lot of pain,” he said.
“So I went to my doctor and basically I said, ‘I don’t live, I just exist, I need something for the pain.’
The only answer was opioids, and it started with Endone (oxycodone).
“I wasn’t happy about that, but Panadol and Nurofen just don’t touch the pain,” he said.
But he was still in pain, even with opioids.
“And I was still having what they call‘ bursting pain, ’and I was starting to see more symptoms,” Ms. Smith said.
“I was out of myself.”
In an effort to control the pain, Ms. Smith started with patches of morphine. But the higher dose of opioids brought with it the terrifying prospect of addiction.
“I was petrified of depending on this drug. It’s a big deal. I was petrified of becoming an addict,” she said.
Mrs. Smith was also ill with opioid side effects. She walked through life in a narcotic mist: silly, lethargic, and still in pain.
He wanted to give up opioids.
“If I’m 30 and I already have morphine, what will I be like when I’m 50?” he said of his situation at the time.
“I couldn’t go on (opioids). It would have killed me.”
The answer to his suffering was cannabidiol, known as CBD, a compound found in the cannabis plant, which is used medicinally to relieve pain and reduce seizures.
Ms. Smith had been researching CBD as an alternative medicine to reduce her opioid dependence and to deal with her chronic pain. But she was worried about the stigma that might follow.
“People don’t look twice at someone in Endone. They’re like, ‘Oh, well, that person is in pain; Endone would make me fall asleep!’ she said.
“I was pretty tall the whole time I was in (Endone), and everyone thought I was fine.
“But since people were taking CBD oil all of a sudden, you know, he’s a bad person. There’s judgment there.”
CA Clinics Medical Director Sara Kourkgy still sees this stigma in the medical field and across society toward the therapeutic use of CBD, created by decades of criminalization and control of marijuana use.
“A huge hurdle, why people might think (CBD) is a narcotic, is simply because of the lack of education that is really available there,” he said.
“Even when I talk to my friends and family, you know, they tell me, ‘Oh, Sara’s just a drug dealer.’
But the benefits and effectiveness of CBD were based on its own merits, Ms Kourkgy said, and now there were health services that provided medicinal cannabis therapies for chronic pain.
For starters, CBD doesn’t make you drown; you can even drive there legally, according to Mrs Kourkgy.
“From the surface of the study, the results speak for themselves … even just from a painful perspective of how people’s lives have changed,” he says.
Ms. Smith has seen spectacular results from her CBD treatment. Outbreaks of psoriatic arthritis are less common and much less severe.
“I’m completely out of all opioid-based drugs. I’m not taking (oxycodone), I’m not taking morphine anymore, I stopped this in a week of CBD oil,” he said.
“I lowered my antidepressants. I took 200 mg of my antidepressants. Now I’ve dropped to 15 mg. I was taking medication for anxiety, now I’m out. And that’s all of the CBD oil. I’ve also lost 25 pounds. .
“CBD has brought me back to life. Take two drops of CBD oil three times a day. That’s it.”
CBD: Could cannabis oil be the answer to the opioid epidemic? Photo by Rodney Braithwaite
Not everyone will have the same spectacular results as Ms. Smith, but chronic illnesses that can be effectively treated with CBD include cancer (pain management), mental health disorders, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, endometriosis and arthritis.
And the use of CBD in the treatment of chronic diseases has the added benefit of reducing opioid dependence.
“I’m a pharmacist by profession, and the amount of opioids I used to dispense is pretty amazing,” Ms. Kourkgy said.
Medically, CBD was not designed to eliminate all other drug treatments, it was designed to be used in conjunction with other drugs, Ms. Kourkgy said.
“Let’s say you had a patient who was taking very intense opioids; CBD’s goal is to reduce the amount of opioids a patient takes, because it will help relieve pain and help relieve many of the symptoms for which a patient is using an opioid. “
Aside from reducing the side effects of opioid use, CBD can significantly reduce the risk of opioid addiction. An added benefit is that CBD does not create habits.
“There are no problems with abuse and addiction, unlike opioids,” Ms Kourkgy said.
Many people do not even have the option of taking opioid-based pain medications because they are prescribed incompatible medications, such as blood pressure medications.
“This is where CBD can play a role not only in reducing, say, pain, but even in the potential elimination of some of these heavy drugs … which can cause serious side effects in the long one, “Ms Kourkgy said.
“If we reduce a little bit of that by adding something that is natural and alternative as adjunctive therapy, I mean, happy days for both the patient and the doctor.”
Non-criminal clinic: Chronic pain sufferers could reduce opioid use with CBD. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite
Accessibility and affordability
There are still many barriers for chronic pain sufferers to access CBD, especially bureaucratic and economic ones.
Because CBD is still “unapproved” in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Products, there is a lot of bureaucracy.
An SAS-B form must be completed, justifying whether a person is eligible for CBD treatment; and the entire clinical and treatment history of the patient must be assessed, which involves collaboration with different specialists.
“It’s not just like stoners calling a number and getting this CBD prescription,” says CBD user Anne Smith.
“It took a week to gather all the paperwork and fill out all these forms. And basically, they want to know everything about you, pretty much what size underwear you’re wearing.
“It’s not easy; someone who is addicted to drugs will go around the corner and buy drugs from a trafficker. “
It can take up to a month before a patient can pick up their prescription, according to CA Clinics medical director Sara Kourkgy.
And since it’s not approved in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, it’s definitely not on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, which means it’s an expensive treatment.
“I have friends who have chronic pain ailments and just can’t afford $ 250 every three months, they just can’t afford it, especially if you have an illness where you can’t work,” Ms. Kourkgy said.
