Relief: Why is it so hard to obtain?
I have officially been on the trial drug (pretty sure about the elagolix but still unsure about the add-back therapy) for two weeks now. I do feel better than I did last week, so maybe there's a chance the add-back therapy is real and not a placebo. Fingers crossed. Some of the fatigue has eased, though I still have more than usual, and I am not in as much pain as last week. So, basically, I'm almost back to my "normal." But since there's not much more to report on the trial front this week, I want to talk about medical marijuana and why Alabama continues to hold out on legalizing it. Now, before you bombard me with your "gateway drug" and "drugs are bad" comments, just please hear me out. Because I can promise you my current method of pain management is scary at best.
As I said before—in my first post, I think—I have been living with endometriosis for over my half my life now. I cannot remember what life was like before I lived every day in some degree of pain, just basically spending most of my time pushing through and making sure that you don't know I feel bad. Most days I do a pretty good job. But there are still days when I just can't push through—days when I spend the day curled in the fetal position on the bathroom floor because I'm vomiting so much I'm afraid to be too far from the toilet, days when I cancel plans with my friends and family because it hurts to move, days when I'm taking eight ibuprofen tablets at one time multiple times per day and chasing them with wine—sometimes shots of whiskey or rum—because I'm not sure the pain is bad enough yet to break out the Oxycontin I've been saving from my last surgery. There are too many of those days, and it is exhausting waking up in the morning wondering if today is going to be one of those days, even more so when it is the pain that wakes me up. I need relief, and I have done extensive research on medical marijuana and different forms of cannabis. Why? Not because I'm sitting around, dying to get high, as it seems most of our AL representatives think. The common mentality in the articles I've read is pretty much summed up in this quote, "...from what I can understand from other states, that has been abused and expanded. They're calling it medical and they're just smoking it for the heck of it" (http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2017/04/medical_marijuana_in_alabama_n.html), but here's my issue: where are your facts to support this hearsay? And what about the people it does help? Are we not worth your time or consideration? Let me break it down for you: Any system that is put in place to help people is going to be abused because people can be terrible, but that doesn't mean that everyone who uses a system is abusing it. The welfare system, which many people genuinely need and depend on, is abused every day but getting rid if it is not the answer, and the fact that some people abuse it doesn't mean that everyone who depends on it is misusing it. Doctors prescribe prescription pain pills to patients every single day knowing full well the potential for addiction and abuse, but some people genuinely need those prescriptions, at least for a period of time, while many others are doctor shopping and abusing the system. So, instead of doing any research or talking to people who could genuinely benefit from medical marijuana, AL representatives just assume it's bad. It's not an issue they are considering or even thinking about considering.
If you know me even a little bit, you already know I think I live in one of the most backward, closed-minded, intolerant states in the country. If you don't know me, well, that's what I think. I mean, we live in a state where people almost elected—wait, not just elected, re-elected—a known racist, bigot, and sexual abuser because he is "pro-life." And in my assessment of Moore, I'm referring to years of allegations and accusations and general stories of terribleness, not just the most recent ones that came up with the last election—I realized Roy Moore was a terrible person when I turned 18 and started researching candidates so I could make an educated vote for the candidate who most closely reflected what was important to me. That's how I vote. Not by party. Not by one issue. Both of which are actually very common for my fellow AL voters (https://www.npr.org/2017/12/08/569138955/abortion-could-be-deal-breaker-in-alabama-senate-race-for-many-torn-gop-voters), which leads us to the current backwardness I referred to earlier. I vote based on which candidate most closely reflects what is important to me. Unfortunately, most of our AL representatives are a lot like Moore. So, anyway, back to the point. Because most of our representatives have this mentality and assume that people are seeking to legalize medical marijuana because they want to abuse the system and get high, it will probably never be legalized in AL. SPOILER ALERT: People are already getting high for fun in AL. Don't think so? Ask any high schooler. Legalizing medical marijuana is not going to cause an increase in that. In fact, people who are already obtaining marijuana through back channels will probably continue to do it that way because it's easier than having to go to a doctor and get a prescription and go to a dispensary and be part of a medical marijuana registry. I'm not speaking out of my ass here, either. I work for a company that specializes in controlled substance prescription databases. We are focused on helping state governments implement programs and solutions to reduce the opioid epidemic. We provide tools for physicians to help identify possible addiction so they can modify their treatment and connect patients who are addicted with the resources that are available for help. And guess what? Many of the states we work with have legalized medical marijuana. Some of them have even legalized recreational marijuana. There are ways to keep it under control. The resources are out there. You just have to look for them. I will volunteer to teach these AL representatives how to use Google and how to find reliable resources! I will do that. Because they need to know.
Because, here's the thing, I'm not looking to just sit around and smoke and get high. Most of us who are living in chronic pain or with other chronic diseases are not. In fact, smoking is not even what I'm talking about here, because I don't think I could smoke if I wanted to. Once, during an incredibly stressful period of my life, I thought smoking a cigarette might help me calm me down, but I couldn't even inhale that properly. There are so many other options available that don't necessarily get you high; they just give relief—there are edibles, vapes, suppositories, oils (and, yes, I am aware of Leni's law—actually hasn't made it any easier for people like me to acquire the oil), and several others. Over 170 million women worldwide have endometriosis. I know I'm not the only one in Alabama. Don't we deserve some relief?
And if you want to do more reading, check these out:
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/alabama_senate_moves_lenis_law.html
http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2017/04/medical_marijuana_in_alabama_n.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2972363/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49634737_Chronic_pelvic_pain_and_endometriosis_Translational_evidence_of_the_relationship_and_implications
As I said before—in my first post, I think—I have been living with endometriosis for over my half my life now. I cannot remember what life was like before I lived every day in some degree of pain, just basically spending most of my time pushing through and making sure that you don't know I feel bad. Most days I do a pretty good job. But there are still days when I just can't push through—days when I spend the day curled in the fetal position on the bathroom floor because I'm vomiting so much I'm afraid to be too far from the toilet, days when I cancel plans with my friends and family because it hurts to move, days when I'm taking eight ibuprofen tablets at one time multiple times per day and chasing them with wine—sometimes shots of whiskey or rum—because I'm not sure the pain is bad enough yet to break out the Oxycontin I've been saving from my last surgery. There are too many of those days, and it is exhausting waking up in the morning wondering if today is going to be one of those days, even more so when it is the pain that wakes me up. I need relief, and I have done extensive research on medical marijuana and different forms of cannabis. Why? Not because I'm sitting around, dying to get high, as it seems most of our AL representatives think. The common mentality in the articles I've read is pretty much summed up in this quote, "...from what I can understand from other states, that has been abused and expanded. They're calling it medical and they're just smoking it for the heck of it" (http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2017/04/medical_marijuana_in_alabama_n.html), but here's my issue: where are your facts to support this hearsay? And what about the people it does help? Are we not worth your time or consideration? Let me break it down for you: Any system that is put in place to help people is going to be abused because people can be terrible, but that doesn't mean that everyone who uses a system is abusing it. The welfare system, which many people genuinely need and depend on, is abused every day but getting rid if it is not the answer, and the fact that some people abuse it doesn't mean that everyone who depends on it is misusing it. Doctors prescribe prescription pain pills to patients every single day knowing full well the potential for addiction and abuse, but some people genuinely need those prescriptions, at least for a period of time, while many others are doctor shopping and abusing the system. So, instead of doing any research or talking to people who could genuinely benefit from medical marijuana, AL representatives just assume it's bad. It's not an issue they are considering or even thinking about considering.
If you know me even a little bit, you already know I think I live in one of the most backward, closed-minded, intolerant states in the country. If you don't know me, well, that's what I think. I mean, we live in a state where people almost elected—wait, not just elected, re-elected—a known racist, bigot, and sexual abuser because he is "pro-life." And in my assessment of Moore, I'm referring to years of allegations and accusations and general stories of terribleness, not just the most recent ones that came up with the last election—I realized Roy Moore was a terrible person when I turned 18 and started researching candidates so I could make an educated vote for the candidate who most closely reflected what was important to me. That's how I vote. Not by party. Not by one issue. Both of which are actually very common for my fellow AL voters (https://www.npr.org/2017/12/08/569138955/abortion-could-be-deal-breaker-in-alabama-senate-race-for-many-torn-gop-voters), which leads us to the current backwardness I referred to earlier. I vote based on which candidate most closely reflects what is important to me. Unfortunately, most of our AL representatives are a lot like Moore. So, anyway, back to the point. Because most of our representatives have this mentality and assume that people are seeking to legalize medical marijuana because they want to abuse the system and get high, it will probably never be legalized in AL. SPOILER ALERT: People are already getting high for fun in AL. Don't think so? Ask any high schooler. Legalizing medical marijuana is not going to cause an increase in that. In fact, people who are already obtaining marijuana through back channels will probably continue to do it that way because it's easier than having to go to a doctor and get a prescription and go to a dispensary and be part of a medical marijuana registry. I'm not speaking out of my ass here, either. I work for a company that specializes in controlled substance prescription databases. We are focused on helping state governments implement programs and solutions to reduce the opioid epidemic. We provide tools for physicians to help identify possible addiction so they can modify their treatment and connect patients who are addicted with the resources that are available for help. And guess what? Many of the states we work with have legalized medical marijuana. Some of them have even legalized recreational marijuana. There are ways to keep it under control. The resources are out there. You just have to look for them. I will volunteer to teach these AL representatives how to use Google and how to find reliable resources! I will do that. Because they need to know.
Because, here's the thing, I'm not looking to just sit around and smoke and get high. Most of us who are living in chronic pain or with other chronic diseases are not. In fact, smoking is not even what I'm talking about here, because I don't think I could smoke if I wanted to. Once, during an incredibly stressful period of my life, I thought smoking a cigarette might help me calm me down, but I couldn't even inhale that properly. There are so many other options available that don't necessarily get you high; they just give relief—there are edibles, vapes, suppositories, oils (and, yes, I am aware of Leni's law—actually hasn't made it any easier for people like me to acquire the oil), and several others. Over 170 million women worldwide have endometriosis. I know I'm not the only one in Alabama. Don't we deserve some relief?
And if you want to do more reading, check these out:
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/alabama_senate_moves_lenis_law.html
http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2017/04/medical_marijuana_in_alabama_n.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2972363/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49634737_Chronic_pelvic_pain_and_endometriosis_Translational_evidence_of_the_relationship_and_implications
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