Maxim's Diary: Integrating medical cannabis into my lifestyle

My daily routine

Prescribed cannabis oil

The medical cannabis oil I’ve been prescribed has managed to fit in seamlessly with my regular bedtime routine. I wash my face, brush my teeth, drop the oil under my tongue, and then get in bed - and the change that it’s made is really quite significant. 

I am still taking my regular pregabalin, but I know I’m not as reliant on it any more, which is great. 

There will be the odd occasion, if I’ve had a late night down at the pub maybe and had a few drinks and I don’t take it before bed. But on occasions like this, I also tend to forget to take my NHS prescribed medications too, and then I won’t sleep well, and I wake up in so much pain. 

When I do take my medications as and when I should, I can tell that the medical cannabis has made quite a substantial difference in my everyday life and to my pain management, and that in turn, has had a domino effect and improved my mood. Especially in the mornings!

Prescribed cannabis flower

I use the OMURA vaporiser to administer medical cannabis, usually in the evening, and I’m pretty comfortable going out and about with it now. 

If I need extra pain relief, I prefer to vape my medical cannabis because I don’t experience the same bad side effects I do when I take an extra pregabalin. 

I still take my pregabalin as prescribed, but if I take an extra one because the pain’s flared up it gives me a sort of mental fog, which isn’t pleasant. So I’ve found a way that works effectively for me, and now I’ll use medical cannabis for rapid relief.

I feel like I’ve got my dosages and timings all right, but being able to carry the OMURA device around with me everywhere is great, it’s just in my rucksack, and it kind of acts as a safety net for me if I need it.

Driving

Because I’ve got my dosages right, I’m also not worried when I have to wake up in the morning and drive to work because I take the oil before bed, and I don’t vape medical cannabis flower in the morning. 

Just like a lot of other medications, on the packaging it says do not drive if you feel drowsy or encounter side effects, and of course I wouldn’t. I know if I was stopped by the police and tested, of course there will be cannabis in my system, but, that’s okay because I have a prescription for it, and I’m not driving impaired. 

However, when I was self-medicating, I didn’t know what I was getting every time, or how strong it was, or how long it would take to filter out my system, or stop me being impaired. If I’d have been stopped when I was self-medicating, I had no way to prove it was in my system because I was using it for a medicinal reason. But now I don’t worry about that. 

My medical cannabis card is in my wallet, and it’s not something I even really think about any more, because I’m not in pain, I’m in a better mood, and I’m not impaired. 

And that’s a really big thing for me. When I first started my medical cannabis journey, how this may impact my driving was one of my biggest concerns - because if I can’t drive, or lose my driving licence - I’ll lose my job. So it's a big sigh of relief. 

Everyday life

For me, it is all still very new, but realistically, medical cannabis has managed to fit into my everyday life pretty smoothly, and because of how sleek the OMURA device is, it looks socially acceptable when I’m out in public. 

Of course, there may be people who think differently, or may be uneducated about medical cannabis, but I’m not concerned. 

I’m not sneaking off to smoke cannabis - I’m administering my prescribed medication in a way that is safe, and legal. I can just walk down the street, pull the device out of my bag and quickly take my medicine if that’s what I need to do. And it's nice, not feeling like I have to hide. 

For example, the other week I was at the beach. I’d left my bag in the car because it had my work laptop in it, but my shoulder started to really play up. So, I simply walked to the car, got my device, turned it on, and vaped a flower stick. By the time I’d got back, I wasn’t in pain anymore, and that’s such a game changer. 

I find it really weird how the word ‘medical’ can make such a difference. I was obviously using cannabis before to self-medicate, but as soon as you get that doctor's verification and go the legal route, it almost removes all the stigma right there on the spot.

Work life

Four weeks ago, I also started a new job, which of course is normally always quite nerve wracking. But, I’m not concerned about how me being a medical cannabis patient might affect the working environment. 

I work in a corporate environment, and occasionally I may be drug tested, but I’m not concerned because I’m doing everything above board. Sometimes I also have to go to London for work, and at the train station there is often a large police presence, and sniffer dogs, but again I’m not concerned, because I’ve got my medical cannabis card. 

Usually, I don't use my medical cannabis at work or during work hours. I have ADHD, and I like to use it almost as a superpower, I like being high energy - especially at work. I wouldn’t say that medical cannabis slows me down per se, but it does change my pattern of thinking to be more linear, or one-track. 

Because of how fast-paced my job is, I use my ADHD to my advantage and, instead of doing one thing at a time, I like to juggle things and do multiple things all at once. Of course, sometimes that can be exhausting, so having the option, or the opportunity, to think in a more linear fashion is nice. 

Side effects

I’d say the only side effect I’ve really experienced is the way that it changes my thinking pattern to be more linear. But it is a medicine, of course it will have side effects. For some, I guess that wouldn’t be a side effect - it’d be what they’re trying to achieve, but for me, I’m taking it to manage my pain. 

I think my best advice is to integrate medical cannabis into your lifestyle, be aware of the changes, and see what works best for you. Maybe if I had a different kind of job I’d feel differently, but because it's my natural way of thinking, and I work in such a high energy sales environment that I love, I see it as a privilege and I use ADHD as my superpower. 

If I think back to a year ago, if I encountered the same pain as I do now, I’d take pharmaceutical medicines. But, that medication has a lot of chemicals in it, and it can have some pretty nasty side effects that ultimately aren’t good for my health. The difference is absolutely unbelievable. 

Honestly, I haven’t really had the ability to mitigate pain management effectively over the last two or three years, and now, I feel lost for words. Medical cannabis really has made a significant change.

As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing my story with you.

I’ll be back to check in at a later date,

All the best, 

Maxim.