Our blog this week is a bit different, instead of sharing another patient success we wanted to share an all too common patient frustration.
Meet Sue, Sue is in her 60’s and has suffered with fibromyalgia for the last ten years. She reports her condition has not ever really improved with the medications she has been prescribed, only that she didn’t like the side effects of the anti-depressants and opiates. She said she would rather deal with the pain than the anxiety and drowsiness she felt were caused by the medications. The physicians didn’t have any more to give her so she turned to an online fibromyalgia support group. In this group, she learned about dietary changes that were helping others and she learned about medical cannabis. Living in a legal state she decided to get her card and give it a try.
On her first trip to the dispensary she purchased a vape pen, popular among the support group, and pre-rolls that the budtender said were a good deal. The budtender told her about the strain that was in the pre-roll and it sounded like a great fit for her pain.
Excited to give it a go she decided first to try the pre-roll. Not ever smoking anything in her life, she took one inhalation and was done after that. “The taste was awful” is what she reported to us. Next, she tried the vape pen, and unsure of how to use it, she took a long inhalation and held it in. A few seconds later she had a coughing fit so bad it made her vomit.
After spending $100 on her physician certification, her state fees, and what she felt like was a wasted $60 on her first trip to the dispensary she reluctantly decided to go back to see if she could find something else. She shared her financial concerns with the dispensary staff and wanting to help her get the most for her money, they recommended RSO. That evening she followed the directions on the label and two days later she was finally able to get out of bed. Not the effect she was looking for.
I think we can all agree that Sue did not have a good first experience with cannabis. Thankfully, she came to us and we were able to provide her with the individualized education she needed. She is now using an oil twice a day that helps with the pain and doesn’t cause any fatigue or drowsiness.
“Thank God I found you!” are words we frequently hear, but not frequently enough. Sue’s story is just one of many we’ve heard and we’re hoping with the education we provide for patients and dispensaries we can prevent patients from experiencing what Sue did.
To learn more about medical cannabis, please schedule a free 15-minute consultation here.