Maxim's Diary: A new chapter

Except, I do all of these things with an evil sidekick: chronic nerve pain. 

After years of searching for an answer to manage the pain caused by my brachial plexus injury - I’m hoping I may have found one, and I’m keeping this diary to document my new journey with medical cannabis. 

So, for this first entry, I thought I’d give you a bit of background on me, my discovery of medical cannabis, and why I decided to sign up for a consultation with Releaf.

Background: Brachial plexus injury

Three years ago I was in a terrible accident, and I woke up unable to move my arm.

It resulted in an injury called Brachial plexus palsy and the nerve in my neck, the brachial plexus, had been severely damaged.

The doctor explained to me that both the radial and ulnar nerve had been affected, and they were unsure of a recovery time. I ended up being paralysed for six months.

Through the immense support of my family and friends, I made a slow but miraculous recovery. I surprised not only myself, but the doctors too, who couldn’t believe how well my arm had recovered.

This didn't come without a cost.

For a nerve to repair, it sends out waves of pain, often with a sharp, shocking sensation. So although it is a reminder of how lucky I am, it is tough to live with every day.

My medication journey

The pain was crippling for the first six months, and I’d be crying on the floor because of its intensity. 

At the beginning, I was given opioids to help cope with the pain, and then I continued on gabapentin and then later on pregabalin. After two years, it was officially categorised as chronic pain.

Throughout this time, I’d tried a number of different medicines, but I hadn't found ‘the one’ as such. 

When I was on gabapentin, I was taking only half of the prescribed dose, and as soon as I relayed that information to the doctor they said let's continue to take that dosage down - but that was where I was comfortable. 

When they said they wanted to reduce the dosage, I was really, freaking, scared. 

Without that daily sustained dose, I knew I’d be in constant pain. Every morning when I wake up the effects of gabapentin, or pregabalin (which I’m on now), have worn off, and so I wake up in pain - and I knew it would be worse with a lower dose.

Seeking a second opinion

At the time, my doctor said they would like to reduce it because I was still young, and they said I couldn’t be using gabapentin for too long. But, I really just couldn’t be in that much pain.

With the help of my family, I managed to get a second opinion and booked a private consultation with a Pain Management Consultant at Nuffield Health (huge thank you to my mum for paying for all this, as it wasn’t cheap!).

The specialist said gabapentin is pretty harmless, it's been going for 25 plus years, and we often see people stay on it for their lifetime. He said it treats conditions like mine well and the side effects are pretty minimal. 

But, there was a study that I was reading about blindness in the older age - and that was a little scary. He tried to assure me that was not the case, but I still asked him about the other treatments available.  

This was when medical cannabis entered the conversation. 

He said, “I can't prescribe it to you, and I can't recommend it to you - but what I can tell you from my experience is that other people in your shoes with similar conditions have found it extremely helpful to reduce and manage their pain.”

I took this as an indirect recommendation, and took it upon myself to do some more research.

I was told about it, and I read up on it, and much like conventional medications - I’ve now tried a few different ways to manage pain with cannabis, albeit illicitly.

Self-medicating with cannabis

First, I tried to use the cannabis oil pens available online, but soon discovered they weren’t designed for me and my needs. These pens are designed for the illicit market, to be as strong as possible in THC, and they don’t contain much CBD to balance it out, so I wasn’t able to get the blend of medicinal compounds I needed. 

For a while I did try taking one puff of that followed by a puff of a CBD pen I bought to try to balance it myself, but that didn’t really work either. When I moved away from home, I felt like I had a bit more freedom to explore because I had my own space. 

I managed to source a much better quality of cannabis, and the person who’d sell it to me would tell me what strain it was and what sort of strength it was - but realistically, I didn’t know if that was accurate information or not. 

I smoked cannabis for a while because it was another avenue to explore, and I’ve found it can work really really well, especially during a flare up - but, I don’t enjoy smoking, and I do struggle with dosing.

I also don’t really want to smell like cannabis because it's still quite frowned upon in modern society, and I don’t want to smoke in public either; so I tried another route - making cannabis butter. 

Again, my pain did improve - but there were practical issues to this too. Much like smoking, I found dosing difficult, and edibles can take up to two hours to take effect, which when you’re in a lot of pain feels like a really long time.

It’d also be inconvenient, and quite frankly very weird, to carry butter around with you everywhere you went, it’d melt or leave a greasy stain - so it’s not exactly a mobile method for pain management! 

But, despite what method - so long as I got the right blend of compounds, the shaking would completely calm down, and it really helped with the pain. I’ve still got desensitised skin, but after taking cannabis the shooting pains are gone, and my arm feels relaxed as opposed to incredibly tensed like usual. 

Finding out about Releaf 

During this time, I told my own doctor I was self-medicating with cannabis, and she said there are hundreds of other people that come in and say the same thing. 

We talked about legality, and how the NHS rarely prescribe cannabis medicines, and because I wasn’t in so much pain that it's immobilising me, or making me bed bound, it wouldn’t really be an option through the NHS. 

But then, later through word of mouth, I heard about Releaf. 

I didn’t even know there were legal, private medical cannabis clinics or dispensaries in the UK - but once I knew this, it felt like I’d struck gold. 

The issue I’d been facing so far was I had no guidance, and no one to answer the questions I had about clinical, medicinal applications of cannabis - especially for nerve pains like brachial plexus injuries.

But being able to access this knowledge, and legitimate, safe and effective medical grade cannabis, all above board and legally, I knew would be life-changing. 

From what I’ve found out so far, Releaf provide their patients with a welcome kit that has a vaporiser and a pretty bulletproof guide to dose correctly, which immediately resolves one of the issues I’ve been having when self-medicating.

Their doctors are also specialists, and knowledgeable about the medicines they’re prescribing, they can tell you what compounds in that particular strain of medical cannabis are likely to work best for you, or advise you on dosing concentrations or routines. 

Having this knowledge, and a person who is held responsible for its safety, is a very different environment than going to see a shady guy in the park to pick up some weed. It’s properly regulated and responsibly monitored, and that’s what I need.

Starting a new chapter with medical cannabis

I think with Releaf I’ll be able to integrate medical cannabis into my day-to-day life effectively. Cannabis has helped me with pain management before, but this time I know it will be dosed correctly, and responsibly, so I’ll still have my fun outgoing personality, and I won't be dopey or a bit too stoned. 

So, I’ve signed up for a Releaf account.

It was pretty effortless really, and I filled out the health questionnaire Releaf sent over in less than 20 minutes. I’ve booked in for my initial consultation with Dr Alex Van Heerden, who specialises in prescribing for acute and chronic conditions, and I’m really looking forward to it. 

I’ve made a list of other questions to ask my consultant, but I truly believe that with the right advice and knowledge I can find the perfect dose and concentration of cannabis for my condition, where I can still be as sharp as I normally am and still function despite the pain. 

That’s all from me for now, but keep your fingers crossed!

I’ll check back in after I’ve had my first ever medical cannabis consultation.

See you soon!

Maxim.