Glenn came to my office wrapped in a blanket straight from the hospital. His stomach was bleeding and he was lying in the hallway writhing in pain. Glenn was a retired teacher in his mid sixties. For forty years, seven nights a week, he had three to four cocktails to dampen his raging anxiety and to attempt to get some sleep. But forty years of alcohol had ravaged his stomach as well as his marriage. Desperate, he was in a place he never imagined he would be: a medical marijuana doctor’s office. Now, Glenn’s only hesitation was that he did not want to get high. When Glenn came to the office for his medical card renewal, his first words were “Remember me? (How could I forget. He came to my office in a blanket writhing in pain on the hallway floor) I was the guy who didn’t want to get high. Well I don’t mind it at all: The grass is greener, the sky is bluer and my wife looks better.” Both his stomach and his marriage are on the mend.
Gabby was in her mid fifties. She had suffered from seizures ever since a major stroke four years ago. Lately the seizures were increasing in frequency and severity and she was scared. Medications were added and dosages increased. She became more groggy from the medications and she saw her quality of life eroding. She had seen the tv shows about children with uncontrolled seizures despite multiple medications and how they miraculously responded to marijuana. She soon found herself in a place she never imagined she would be: a medical marijuan doctor’s office. Gabby started a whole flower marijuana tincture. Eight months later I saw Gabby at a local cannabis cup festival. With tears in her eyes she reported that since starting cannabis eight months ago she was seizure free. Now, four years later she has had not one seizure and has greatly reduced her pharmacologic seizure medications.
Alfonso is a farmer. He is in his mid forties and has six children. The youngest is a six year old son. Alfonso noticed a slight tremor about five years ago. The tremor slowly increased over those years. The tremor caused increasing anxiety and the anxiety greatly interfered with his sleep. He slept only two to three hours a night. The lack of sleep made everything worse including his tremor. His tremor has gotten to the point that he now struggled to get the toothpaste on his toothbrush and to tie his shoes. He no longer wanted to go with his family to a restaurant because he could barely get the food on his utensils and then the fork or spoon couldn’t find its way to his mouth. Alfonso tried to compensate for his increasing inability to do most anything by getting to work extra early and staying extra late. He came home exhausted and irritable and his relationship with his wife and son suffered. He had made multiple trips to the neurologist but nothing helped. Then Alfonso started doing something he never imagined. He started using a marijuana whole flower tincture. He noticed immediate improvement in his tremor and his anxiety receded. He now sleeps seven hours a night. Over the ensuing weeks his tremors became barely noticeable. Joy has returned to Alfonso and his wife and six children.
David G. Balter MD
Medical Marijuana Doctor
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