California Pain Mgt/ Cannabis Question-Moving Help!

[Tudo]

I suffer from severe chronic degenerative disc disease and my pain levels over the past 4 years which I have suffered pain from the minute I wake up to the minute I fall asleet has ranged from 5-8. 24 x 7 . I'll be 60 years old in a couple years and it looks like I have this pain for life. In Fla, the options are surgery and opioids. Surgeons said surgery not good option. Life of opioids. 60 miligram oxycodone a day+ the laxatives to go with it. Introduced cannabis and now take 1-1.12 10mg percocets/day. Huge difference.
What I'd like to do is say Fuck you Fla, sell the home and move the biz to California. My Wife and I have saved quite a bit and financially while it would be a little stretch, we could do it and not feel too stressed. The biggest concern is finding a mainstream doc in socal/riverside/temecula area. I found a chelation doc ( for my heart. I had a failed open heart surgery in 2005 ) in Corona and they will act as primary care physicians. Will my Doc in Fla send them a list of my meds and treatment plan? Will they follow it? I was thinking of making an appointment with them when we come out to look at real estate in february. How truthful should I be? I will still need about 45 10mg percocets per month. Heck I used to get 150 per month! Thanks to cannabis along with excercise etc I'm at 1-1.12 per day now. Will a primary care doc in Ca write that prescription or send me to pain management?
In Fla, pain mgt tests for urine and if found "dirty" with thc will bounce the sick patient out on the streets most of the time without even a weaning off.
I don't know if I'll ever be pain free or pain free enough to not have to take some kind of opioid pain pill but there is no question that without the cannabis I would absolutely 100% be taking more of the percocets and destroy my insides.
I don't even know yet how to "transfer" to california if we decide to go that way and I believe we are going to do this and soon. Do I tell a new Cal primary care doc the truth about what's working for me ? Do I play the game and find ways to clear the urine before pain mgt. Is it possible to clean it enough so that heavy cannabis use can be neutralized?
Nobody should have to worry about being able to take care of themselves. This has been an on going nightmare for me as well as for my loved ones who love me and support me. In your opinion, if you were in a state like Fla where an oz of pot is a felony and you don't have the connections you had when you were younger but you had easy access to the regular meds would you stay or would you head west and hope to find a pain management place or doctor that will help? Or move and play the game with the mainstream doc?
I don't know about any other chronic pain patients but never in my life did I think that finding medicine would be an issue but then I never imagined a life of round the clock pain either. I sure as hell didn't ask for this, did anyone?
In any event, any observations about how it is in Ca in this realm and what your experiences have been if you have them would be greatly appreciated.Thank you and
Peace

 

[Tudo]

P.S. We don't yet know how the southern california weather will affect my disc pain. It's DRY in socal and WET here in Fla. We want to go in arguably the coldest month, february for our initial search. If anyone has an idea of what we have to look forward to in terms of how the weather might effect the disease, please add what you know. Thank you

 

[rives]

Tudo, I have somewhat similar problems. I have a total of 7 herniated discs, 4 cervical and 3 lumbar. My neck is inoperable and causes cervicogenic headaches, and I also have had numerous shoulder/arm surgeries, degenerative arthritis, etc. I take (3) 30 mg Avinza caps daily (time-release morphine). The DEA has pushed most practices with chronic pain patients into drug testing to help insure that the prescribed drugs aren't being "re-directed". Before my first drug test, I questioned my doc about mmj and was told that as long as I had a valid recommendation in place, it would not be a problem to have mj in my system - supposedly the DEA concern is to avoid sourcing the demon weed on the "street".

 

[Tudo]

Rives are you in california?

See here in fla I was booted from pain management after several years because my urine came up with thc. No weaning off, no warnings and in fact the MD was so unprofessional, well, I have nothing nice to say so I'll stop right there.

My primary care Doc came to my aid and writes me the prescriptions. So the new question is if we move to Ca do I lie and not mention pain management at all? Go thru the silly MRI's and then a surgeon and then pain management or do we search in earnest for a primary care doc out there who will treat me like a patient like the one here does and is that still possible to find in Ca and it appears if you are in Ca that it's possible.

We shouldn't have to go thru this but I guess that's the way it is. Sounds like you have a real doctor ( like the one I have here ) who cares about you. They seem to be few and far between.

 

[rives]

Yes, I am in California. I think that the med states are substantially different than what you have experienced with Florida. My doctor implemented one of those silly "pain management contracts" after several years with him (again, at the insistence of the DEA) which stated that I would be dropped out of the program if I tested positive for mj metabolites. This was the source of my concern, but he specifically said that once I had the recommendation, I was legal in the eyes of the law. It also works the other way - I use my recently filled scripts as part of the documentation when I renew my rec.

 

[Tudo]

Wow, just that first sentence of yours is so hope-filled. THANK YOU. I really needed that. Again I have a primary care doc who also does my intravenous edta chelation therapy which I've done over 100 times now and it's saved my life. She's gone to bat for me when the evil pain mgt doc gave me the boot . But docs like that are really rare here in Fla.

I did a search and found over 50 chelation docs within a 60 mile radius of los angeles. Surely one of them has to be like my doc here?

What you are telling me is it's possible. That what I need to do is when we come to Cal next month to make a couple doc appointments, be straight with them and tell them what I'm looking for in a doctor and ask them if they'll help me. You reckon that's a good approach?

 

[Tudo]

Mind if I ask if you're in south or north Ca? We're looking south where it's still COLD in comparison to where we're coming from. Brrr.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Tudo, there are pain management docs out here in California who will refuse to prescribe if you test + for cannabis, so it's important to have the discussion first. As rives can tell you, there are also pain management docs who will prescribe if you're a MMG patient.

My former primary care doctor, a DO, came out firmly against my cannabis use and preferred that I use pharmaceuticals and surgery. From what I'm told he's a bit of an anomaly, but now we're covered by Kaiser and, while they don't usually bat an eyelash, I'm fortunate in that I don't have to take opiates unless I'm having a very bad day and those have become fewer again.

Depending on the area you're moving to, consider acupuncture. I know what studies say, but I also know what *I* experienced after chiropractic and a series of drugs and then a stint in pain management (which basically took my life away, the drugs they gave me made me THAT SICK), after which I demanded an alternative treatment that wasn't going to have side effects. Acupuncture instead of surgery and nerve blocks, got me back to 80% of normal (for me, I've got issues from my horse showing days, lots of calcification and crap in the spine along with the herniated discs). You've got to find a *good* practitioner, but once you do I swear that person is GOLD. I live in an area with a dearth of pretty much everything except hayseeds and shit-kickers, whack-os and old people.

 

[Tudo]

Unfortunately I've done the accupuncture and got zero from it. Did it in several different countries too (In Asia as well as the US), but no positive results.

I just had my first private yoga instruction this afternoon. Very interesting and I think I'll get some benefit from it.

I got great benefit from an online book that you can download and save to the computer and/or print. I hope I'm allowed to do this but it's rebuildyourback.com . The author is not in the medical profession. Contained in the book is rebuildyourback, rebuildyourneck, and natural pain mgt. I made a small donation and saved and printed all 3. I showed them to my physical therapist and she circled all the excercises she thought would benefit me. So it's hard to differentiate which did more for me, the excercise or the cannabis. I think the excercises did more from a physiological standpoint and the cannabis of course helps redirect the minds focus away from the pain a bit.

The goal is to get to a point like you, taking that crap when needed and not every day. I'm still dreaming about that.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

P.S. We don't yet know how the southern california weather will affect my disc pain. It's DRY in socal and WET here in Fla. We want to go in arguably the coldest month, february for our initial search. If anyone has an idea of what we have to look forward to in terms of how the weather might effect the disease, please add what you know. Thank you

Can't help you with the california stuff... moved from there to escape insane prices and taxes, socialists, ignorant cannabis patients and a few other things. lol

I can help you with the weather-change-pain though. I'm extremely sensitive to stuff like that and it used to make the birth defect in my neck and the car injury in my back flare up... big time. Lots of weather systems meant lots of pain....

I quit eating all processed foods about a year ago now and have been eating only foods that are listed as neutral or beneficial for my blood type for almost 10 years.

Since I quit the processed food.... I haven't had ANY issues with weather change related pain. AT ALL! Completely gone.

Stay Safe!

 

[Iffy]

Sounds like we're all in the same boat Tudo!
I have DDD in my spine in 3 places including my neck (the worst when it kicks off - causing massive migraines, similar I suppose to Rives). Here in Uk I was offered 'fusion' surgery with a 40/60 chance of improvement. My Doc would only prescribe me Phentanyl patches which made me like a zombie. I managed to kick them & only use co-codamol & Brufen now but the pain is just a grind. Just awful sometimes and no chance whatsoever of any MJ on script. We just have to grow our own & take our chances!!
I wish you every success in your move & especially in finding a real, caring, professional doctor to support you & your needs. The move will be stressful but it will end, you will get through it & look back thinking: We should have done it sooner!!
Take care & regards.

 

[rives]

Tudo, I am in NorCal and believe it or not, we do get a bunch of snow in parts of California. I was going to suggest yoga, and then saw that you had your first private lesson. It makes a huge difference for me - it literally makes life worth living. If the style that you found doesn't do it for you, keep looking. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of different yoga styles.

If you haven't tried topical oils made with cannabis, I would put that on top of the Tudo list! If I had known about it prior to getting dependent on opiates, there is a good chance that I could have avoided the opiates altogether. Magic stuff.

 

[rives]

Double post.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Tudo, I am in NorCal and believe it or not, we do get a bunch of snow in parts of California. I was going to suggest yoga, and then saw that you had your first private lesson. It makes a huge difference for me - it literally makes life worth living. If the style that you found doesn't do it for you, keep looking. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of different yoga styles.

If you haven't tried topical oils made with cannabis, I would put that on top of the Tudo list! If I had known about it prior to getting dependent on opiates, there is a good chance that I could have avoided the opiates altogether. Magic stuff.

This is definitely excellent advice!

The L.A. doctors had me on 12hr morphine pills with 2 and 4mg dilaudid to chew on for "breakthrough" pain. Three years later.... I have a half used bottle of aspirin that's been in my house for almost a year now.

Stay Safe!

 

[Tudo]

Tudo, I am in NorCal and believe it or not, we do get a bunch of snow in parts of California. I was going to suggest yoga, and then saw that you had your first private lesson. It makes a huge difference for me - it literally makes life worth living. If the style that you found doesn't do it for you, keep looking. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of different yoga styles.

If you haven't tried topical oils made with cannabis, I would put that on top of the Tudo list! If I had known about it prior to getting dependent on opiates, there is a good chance that I could have avoided the opiates altogether. Magic stuff.

I'm sore after my first Yoga! But I'm going to pursue it, I felt a tiny bit of release during the breathing.

Which topical oils do you recommend? Someone is shipping me "bhang bars"? If this can help me avoid just a little bit of the oxy I will be very grateful.

 

[Tudo]

If y'all don't mind me saying so and I realize it may be a little premature to say this but I'm going to say it anyway.

I have been searching and searching and searching for a forum where adults communicate about the medicinal properties of cannabis. This nightmare of chronic pain which never goes away has been with me now for 3 1/2 years. Thank G-D for cannabis. Here where they would fk up a wet dream if they even had such a dream, we chronic pain patients might as well be in china.

My biggest fear was moving to california to legally access the medicine but NOT being able to find a doc to write me scripts for my regula pain meds. I'm not afraid of the taxes and believe me coming from a zero tax state to a high tax state is a consideration. However it's much more important to not run the risk of getting locked up for trying to take care of myself. You people on the west coast should be applauded, standing ovation type for the chutzpah you've shown and continue to show and this Libertarian from Fla feels very much AT HOME even though I've only been there for conventions. I cannot wait to get sexually abused by the tsa when we get over to Ft Myers airport.

Thank you all for what you've created out there . Feels like home to me. My Wife who does not use anything is 110% behind the move.

5 weeks they uncover the last of my dental implants and in 7 weeks we'll be visiting Riverside, Temecula areas looking at houses.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Then I must reiterate to be certain about where you end up moving to. I'll give the example of Mark Twain Hospital in Calaveras County, which has excellent cannabis cultivation laws as a county, but the hospital's treatment and stance towards MMJ patients is brutal. Yet, my county just north of Calaveras? Not so 420-friendly, but the hospital, Sutter Amador, is AWESOME. One of my husband's coworkers recently lost her father to pancreatic cancer. During one of his last visits to the hospital for complications one of the nurses offered him MMJ to help boost the effect of the opiates. Being an elderly man who fully believed the propaganda he naturally declined the offer, but to me the act of the offer was incredibly significant.

Tudo, I am in NorCal and believe it or not, we do get a bunch of snow in parts of California. I was going to suggest yoga, and then saw that you had your first private lesson. It makes a huge difference for me - it literally makes life worth living. If the style that you found doesn't do it for you, keep looking. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of different yoga styles.

If you haven't tried topical oils made with cannabis, I would put that on top of the Tudo list! If I had known about it prior to getting dependent on opiates, there is a good chance that I could have avoided the opiates altogether. Magic stuff.

One of the paramedics who tended me in the ambulance gave me some information about some yoga instructors he likes. I still haven't gotten off my butt to do it. Guess I'd better get off mah butt!

Tudo, I forgot to mention that in SoCal your biggest weather concern will come during the months of June through July or August, and it's known as the June Gloom. Marine layer settles over pretty much the entire LA basin, sometimes starting as early as May, always through June and into July, though. If the moisture gets into your bones, then this is a consideration and the desert areas may be preferable to you for that reason.

Where I am, where rives is, we have four seasons and weather, and certainly snow and rain and the past week, week and a half it's been COLD. My fingers stop working below 42*F.

 

[Tudo]

The weather is a big question mark. All these years and since the degenerative disc thing started a few years ago I've either lived in Southeast Fla ( Ft Lauderdale-Boca Raton ), to Vietnam, then SE Thailand, then Southwest Fla. ALL are humid places.

We've noticed 20 points difference between temecula, riverside, and ft myers fl with ft myers being very humid by comparison on weather.com. So you've uncovered another concern and that is how will the disc pain react to dry weather? Heat and humidity is a way of life where I come from.

Hang Ten Kimosabe

See that? I'm already trying to tawk like I'm in California. haha

 

[rives]

I make topical oils out of the leaves from the plant and a coconut oil base. I've used olive oil and a couple of others, but find that coconut oil soaks in the fastest and it seems to have many healing and anti-bacterial qualities of it's own. Check out projectcbd.org for more information on cbd's and their potential.

If you like heat and humidity, you might want to try a couple of Bikram yoga classes. It isn't really my favorite, but it is very effective for a lot of people and I have seen some absolutely incredible success stories come out of it for people with chronic pain.

 

[SeaMaiden]

My mother, going on 74yo this February, swears by hot yoga. She uses it to reduce her blood pressure.

Tudo, you're probably going to be a candidate for the deserts, though I would consider twice the high desert because it can get fucking COLD there. It's always incredibly dry, my hair simultaneously sticks to my head and flies away. In fact, I'm surprised the deserts don't use static electricity for power.\

You're going to need some coaching on the lingo.