Reefer Madness: Up with Hope, Up with Dope

               First of all, I am not condoning any illicit or illegal activity on this page.  I do not encourage you to break the law.  This is merely an anecdotal sharing of my past experiences.  That being said, let the blog post continue.  After my experience with Remicade several years ago, I was put back on a number of different pills, including Prednisone, Imuran, Pentasa, etc.  I was steadily losing weight and it seemed like my symptoms were getting worse by the day.  By this time I had a port-a-cath implanted in my chest and was receiving I.V. nutrition five nights a week.  Due to repeated blood infections, which I will discuss at a later date, my port had to be removed permanently.  This left me to rely on my own gut to give me the nourishment that I needed to survive.  The problem was that the inflammation was so bad that my body wasn't absorbing enough nutrients out of the little food that I was taking in, due to a severe lack of appetite.  At my lowest weight I rang in at a measly 84lbs, which is bad for anyone let alone someone 5'5".  It got so bad that I was afraid to go to sleep for fear that I would not wake up.  I was constantly on websites looking for alternative treatments, or at least something to get me through until something else could be found that would work.

                 In a forum for Crohn's sufferers I saw a post about using marijuana to stimulate your appetite.  I decided that this was an avenue I needed to try because nothing else was working and I was dying.  Well,  I had dabbled a bit with pot in my high school days, so I knew enough about it to know where to get it and what to do with it once I got it.  I started out only smoking it a few times a week.  While it stimulated my appetite, it wasn't doing anything of enough significance.  So, I upped it to everyday and then to a few times a day.  It worked wonders.  Not only was I able to eat on a regular basis, but it alleviated some of the pain that I was having.  I got my weight up to about 95lbs, which is no miracle, but it was enough to keep me going until other medications kicked in.

                 There are many funny aspects to this part of my journey with Crohn's disease: tales of munchies induced flavor combinations and buying a 20 sack with my disability money, but it was a very serious decision I made to use an illegal substance to keep myself alive.  And I truly believe that it did save my life.  I have no regrets.  We should not have to break the law to help ourselves.  Laws need to be changed and more research needs to be done.  Overall, what is needed for a person to be well should be available to them.  Smoke 'em if ya got 'em?  Smoke 'em if ya need 'em.