Az,

Yes. Before the doc started pee tests, SWIM (Someone Who Isn't Me) got a hold of some via a family member. SWIM would take a tiny pipeful 3-4 times daily, did not get perceptably stoned, had great relief. 3 vicodin daily at most did well to ward off W/Ds. Prior pain meds were 5 Vicodin plus time release MS.

One would think that with script writing phobias, the docs would be happy to turn a blind eye, but ....

-Snake

I am not going to lie. I was an avid pot smoker in my younger years and did it to get "high'. Well I got married and had a daughter and had to grow up and be responsible. So I stopped. Well within 3 months I was in the worst pain in my life. I spent 10 years trying to find out what happened. Well I have Late stage Lymes.(did not catch it early) Well no one could figure out why all of the sudden did it come on/.
Well after thinking things thru I think the pot was supressing it. I apparently have had it all my life got it in eutero and I gave it to my daughter when I was pregnant too. Well after battling every diagnosis in the book we finally found it was Lymes.
So my husband and I were talking and he siad that he wondered if it would help with my pain. Alot of my pain is muscuskeletor which means muscles are very tight. So I found some old friends and recieved a little and it worked , it actually worked better than the medicine I was taking. There were two problems actually three. 1. it is illegal in my state 2. I am now a Christian and fear I would go to hell and 3. I do not want to put my daughter at risk thinking this is o.k.
I believe that the kind prescribed by doctors isn't as potent as what is on the street. That was another thing I was afraid of getting bad stuff. But if it were legal I would definately smoke it.!It can't do no more harm that these man made meds are doing to me that hardly even work. I never have mentioned it to my doctors for fear of not being treated and labeled a drug addict. Those days are long gone. I do however think they need to do more studies on it and pain management. I think they would be surprised.
Good luck I hope that you get relief somehow.

yes it does help
it is a muscle relaxing drug and works within 4 secs of taking the drug.
they use it for ms suffers.
it works better than painkillers.

It works, but as soon as it wears off then you feel the pain again.
Just like our pain pills. Very Interesting!
It is hard to get your Pain Management Doctor to write the script (I tried).

By definition, being a class 1, no physician may prescibe cannabis under federal law. In about 20% of the states it is legal under state law for some conditions with a physician's recommendation. It is not available in a pharmacy. Marinol is synthetic THC, available in a pharmacy but lacks certain beneficial cannabinoids which are available in the natural form.

With that said, federal law trumps state law, and users can be subject to federal prosecution. There is no affirmative defense of medical necessity in such prosecution, nor in most states.

Groups who may benefit from medical marijuana use have not formed a large enough (or politically lucritive enough) lobby to swing federal law in their favor. Perhaps patients will some day realise that they have nothing to lose by mass civil disobedience, but I'm pretty skeptical about that ever happening.

As far a going to hell over using it, I haven't seen anything in the scriptures to indicate that, and many denominations support the legalization for medical use, Methodists being one example.

-Snake

Hey thanks everyone for your replies and for offering information to me. I want pain relief without feeling stoned.

slrow, I am a Christian too and have prayed about this and I truly believe this is my answer. Man made the use of marijuana illegal, God made the plant obviously for medicinal use. If man made Ibuprofen illegal would that make it a sin also to use it for pain relief? I would explain to my 17 yr old daughter who knows I preach not breaking laws and being a good citizen why I use it(believe me she knows about my severe chronic pain) and if she ever found herself in my situation it is not wrong to use MJ for pain relief. That is what I now believe.

Sherry

Az, I have not found cannabis all that helpful for my pain. I have Chronic Intractable Migraine and Fibromyalgia.

However, I also get Urinary Tract Infections. When I was younger, the infections were SO severe, I would bleed and have to go to the hospital and the pain was unbearable. I know then, the cannabis would potentate the codeine I was given for the UTI and really help a lot.

I don't use it now, mainly because I don't have the time, and it doesn't help my pain.

IMO "against the law" is simply NOT a good reason NOT to do something if it helps.

I have a curiosity about one of the poster's responses. She says she "is a Christian and is afraid" she will go to "hell" if she were to use Cannabis. I have read the entire Bible and there is not a single word about Cannabis in the book. Neither the 10 Commandments nor the much more "inclusive" (and outdated) Leviticus and Deuteronomy have any prohibitions about marijuana (and the herb WAS used in Ancient Times as a medicine) so I wonder WHY you think something which is only illegal due to completely Modern Day, Far Right Wing Politics would be "a sin."

Did I miss something in the Good Book? Because as far as I know, the Herb was never mentioned. (Although it was believed to have been offered to Christ when he was on the Cross, in the Vinegar Soaked Sponge, as most who were tortured and crucified were offered cannabis in vinegar as a pain killer, and the reason He refused it was He knew He NEEDED to suffer, and did not want pain relief for HIMSELF. It was not meant as an indictment of the Herb by the ancient writers at all.)

My sister who is a CP sufferer as well takes morhpine and vicodin. She also smokes marijuana and she swears by it relieving her pain. Also helps with the quesy feeling she has from her morhpine. Her PM doc tested her for marijuana and said she doesn't feel comfortable prescribing both vic and morphine as long as shes smoking it. So she is tapering my sister off the vicodin only because of it. My sister agreed with this and said the marijuana helps her more then the vicodin does so she good with that decision.

kmiller, does your sister live in a state in which medicinal MJ is legal? My other concern was those random UA's my doc must order because of those 2 Percs a day I take. My friend asked, "will your doctor turn you into the law if the test is positive?". Then I began to wonder. I'm willing to face the consequences of having my med dosages lowered and in fact if it works I will lower them myself, I hate pharmaceuticals and the billions of side effects. Anyhow, thanks for your reply. : )

Az,

Your 17 year old does not need to know if you are discreet. There are recipes on the web for cookies, brownies,and the like. Eating hits harder and lasts longer.

There is a site "International Cannigraphic" that is a wealth of information, although of course the forums are naturally not 100% objective as far as prohibition goes, and there's some nonsensical stuff. The legal and medical resources are helpful.

Be safe and hugs--Snake

I live in California, so I am blessed with medical marijuana. And, since a Doctor prescribes it to me, then my pain doctor is ok with it. The thing with medical marijuana, is that you need the right kind. Just going and getting pot probably wont help you. There are 2 kinds of marijuana, SATIVA-which is good for depression and fatigue and other things. And, INDICA- which is what works best for pain and anxiety, and also helps me sleep. If you can get your hands on some pure Indica, which I suggest growing your self, than you will get good pain relief, and I have found that smoking it, is not as effective as eating it, however, eating it, will make you very high, and will last all day. Also, smoking INDICA, with my pain meds, makes the pain meds work much better. I suggest moving to California. Good Luck

lol, Well Mike until I can move to Cali, NM, CO, OR, WA, AK or Hawaii can you send me samples? (wink, wink) Interesting about the two types. I go for number 2, pain relief, relaxation and sleep wow what a concept. States all around Arizona have legalized MJ for medicinal purposes so what's the deal? I remember way back in the day and I mean over 20 years ago when I smoked weed that for me(I'm weird) it often made me anxious and paranoid, didn't like that at all so just quit. I just want this pain to go away! And I do not want to feel high, I hate that feeling! Thanks again to all of you.......

Sherry

It is legal in Arizona, might not be as easy to get as it is here in cali, but I am about 98% sure that you can get it in Arizona. If you can get your Dr. to prescribe it, sometimes you just have to see special Dr.'s that only prescribe marijuana. If you have any more questions about this let me know, I am a self proclaimed Medical Marijuana expert. lol
As for samples, if you come and visit Cali, I will help you out, its legal for patients to share.

I just googled it. I am 100% sure that you can get medical marijuana in Arizona.

Mike, I have googled it also. I try to thoroughly research anything that has my interest. 2 sites listed the 13 states it is legal in and AZ is not one of them. I asked my doc about it like 9 months ago and she told me the same. I'd like to read what you found on AZ and medicinal MJ. Thanks : )

Sherry