DOSE:

repeated

smoked

Cannabis

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

150 lb

This is my story about how marijuana has saved my life the past year. I'm a 19 yr. old male, and besides what I'm about to explain, I am extremely healthy; both physically and mentally. One summer, while I was still 18 I began waking up nauseous and not hungry. I have always been known in my family to have the largest appetite out of ANYONE. And I have always had a very strong stomach and tolerance for alcohol.

At this point, I was smoking weed 3-4 times a week either with my friends, or to just get high at home for the hell of it. I didnt think much of it, but I wasnt abusing. I had been smoking like that for maybe a year by this time.

I went to a party one night and walked home extremely drunk. The next morning I woke up and puked in cycles every 20 minutes. This went on for 4 hours straight until my family left to do some errands. This is when I took out my pipe and took one hit. I was instantly removed from an extremely depressing realty, to a non-nausea, very hungry and happy reality. I proceeded to eat a ton of food and felt great the rest of the day.

Unfortunately for me the nausea persisted, and eventually manifested itself as nausea and vomiting from the instant I wake up, till around 11 AM. Then its nausea and non-appetite the rest of the day. I literally cannot eat a THING! I would waste away, and was. Thats when I started smoking daily, even in the mornings when I woke up. I smoked numerous times a day, EVERYDAY, usually before meals or when I felt nauseous in the morning. This regimen (albeit expensive), kept me alive and within a healthy weight range for 8 months straight.

Keep in mind, this entire time I was seeing doctors on campus at my university, and specialists off campus. The best they could do for me was give me: ondansetron ( a 5-HT3 antagonist, very powerful anti-nausea medication) and lorazepam (for my anxiety attacks, which seemed to be related).

These helped greatly with the nausea and anxiety, but my appetite was still non-existent, and without the marijuana-cure, I felt like I was trapped in a strange reality. An extremely depressing one. Because I was having an 'episode', I felt shitty, but couldnt vomit because of the drugs. Whereas the marijuana was an instant transport OUT of an episode.

An endoscopy returned nothing, hinting that my problem might be psychological. I scrounged the internet (keep in mind I'm heading for a neuroscience major so I know a lot about pharms and the brain). And found that I may have 'cyclical vomiting syndrome.'

I told every single doctor that even with the crappy meds they gave me, I still had to smoke weed. I asked two specialists about Marinol, prescription THC in a pill used for extreme nausea and as a very strong appetite-stimulant. There are almost NO pharms on the market that have a fast appetite effect, most take weeks to set in, and are minimal at helping. No doctor would prescribe me Marinol, because of the taboo associated with giving that chemical to a 19 year old. Screw that, I was suffering on a daily basis, and had do deal with a years worth of undergrad classes. What is worse, EVERY doctor told me straight up to 'keep smoking marijuana until we can figure more out.' If you can say that, cant you just prescribe it to me in a pill?

I'm finally on some better meds, but I still smoke occasionally for that 'real' appetite, that I hope one day will come back!

The endocannabinoid system is EXTREMELY important!

Exp Year: 2009	ExpID: 80427
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 19
Published: May 18, 2020	Views: 1,477
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Cannabis (1) : Medical Use (47), Not Applicable (38)