Medical Marijuana? Central Core Disease Update

I posted not too long ago about my husband's central core disease and the difficulty we were having within our marriage regarding his treatment and medication. Everything has gotten a bit better during the last few weeks, in part because I've been able to get our attention better focused on our 6 month old daughter who likely has CCD as well.

My husband had a doctor's appointment last week and his doctor increased his Tramadol (Ultram) and Vicodin. He is now taking 6 Tramadol (50mg) per day and 3 Vicodin (10mg). She wasn't comfortable raising the Vicodin anymore at this time. She had doubled the strength in October, so I can understand this decision. I hope that this might curb my husband's need to make frequent trips to his mom's house, but in all honesty, he was already taking more than 3 per day before the dose was changed.

Anyhow, my husband is very eager to get a medical marijuana card. It is legal in our state. His mom has a card for the same disease. He sees the same doctor as his mom and obtaining the card should not be a problem.

I have real reservations about the card, and I'm hoping that I can get some additional perspective here. Let me just state my perspective... I am very much in support of medical marijuana, but do have concerns as this relates to our family. Many individuals are pro-choice, who wouldn't consider abortion for themselves. I guess I'm in that category here. I am a cancer survivor who understands first-hand the use of medical marijuana in that application. Although I did not partake, I was one of the few in my "chemo group" who wasn't using. If I had needed it badly, I probably would have. In that instance, the use is shorter term.

The Pros:

* I've wanted my husband to find more effective treatment, he is convinced this is it.

* It could allow my husband to be home with us more, i.e. not out getting pills.

* I want my husband to feel well.

* I want him to enjoy being a dad.

The Cons:

* Family history of addiction. Parents are users. Both siblings are serious addicts.

* Previous concerns regarding his use of Vicodin.

* Everyone in his family smokes. He smoked with his parents as a teenager. I believe that he would still enjoy smoking recreationally, and really gave it up to date me (he would give you other reasons). I definitely do not smoke.

* Daughter is likely affected. Is this the best treatment? Is it the treatment I would want for her? Obviously not as a child, but do we want her to believe that this is THE way to feel good? That was the message my husband got from his mom throughout life.

* State law does not require employers to accommodate with medical marijuana patients - meaning, if my husband fails a drug test, he will be fired. He works as a carpenter, and random drug tests are administered monthly.

* I don't want to be married to a stoner. While the medical use is legal in our state, someone who is impaired, is still impaired. Legal or not, I want our kids to have a dad who isn't high.

* As with the Vicodin, my husband says this will make him happy. When he starts taking about meds making him happier, I start to worry.

I'm eager to hear the perspective of others here. I really want what is best for our family.

In my opinion the medical marijuana is a much healthier , safer options than him being on Tramadol and Vicodin as far as addiction is concerned. The rest of it I can't offer much advice or support on because I don't know what i'd do if I was in your shoes.

 

I fully support people's right to use marijuana to manage their pain, but there is reality...and this is reality:

State law does not require employers to accommodate with medical marijuana patients - meaning, if my husband fails a drug test, he will be fired. He works as a carpenter, and random drug tests are administered monthly.

What would will the plan be to deal with this? It sounds like if he starts using marijuana to manage his pain, he will lose his job within a month or two. Then what?

 

I fully support people's right to use marijuana to manage their pain, but there is reality...and this is reality:

What would will the plan be to deal with this? It sounds like if he starts using marijuana to manage his pain, he will lose his job within a month or two. Then what?

 

This boils down to one of the key problems we've had with handling his disease. I seek information, he prefers to run from it. I got this information from our state website. He says, "it's not that way." Of course, the state does not REQUIRE employers to accommodate, which I suppose means some might. But in carpentry, it's doubtful. He'd rather just take his chances. I tried to explain that the chances aren't his, they are our families. Right now, we are at an impasse on this issue. The way his has chosen to cope or not to cope, with this disease, has already burdened our family, particularly in the last few months. While I want him to have some effective treatment, I feel this puts our family in jeopardy.

Sami_Sue, you make a lot of unfounded generalizations here. You have no idea whether your husband's company would fire him for use of medical marijuana. You're just assuming they would. I don't see at all why it would be difficult for him to go to his boss and ask.

Also, you're convinced he's going to get addicted. Uh, can you say Tramadol? Vicodin? Those addictions are way more acute.

If I had a kid, I would be so much more likely to teach them that a natural alternative to highly-addictive pain meds is a positive.

If he's truly in pain, you need to seriously consider that marijuana might be the best way of managing it.

ETA- and you say you understand the implications first hand... then you go on to say you don't partake. Huh?

Sami_Sue, you make a lot of unfounded generalizations here. You have no idea whether your husband's company would fire him for use of medical marijuana. You're just assuming they would. I don't see at all why it would be difficult for him to go to his boss and ask.

 

Also, you're convinced he's going to get addicted. Uh, can you say Tramadol? Vicodin? Those addictions are way more acute.

 

If I had a kid, I would be so much more likely to teach them that a natural alternative to highly-addictive pain meds is a positive.

 

If he's truly in pain, you need to seriously consider that marijuana might be the best way of managing it.

 

ETA- and you say you understand the implications first hand... then you go on to say you don't partake. Huh?

I am not assuming he would be fired, but because he is offered no protection under the law, and works in a potentially dangerous industry, I find it doubtful that he would be accommodated. I worked in human resources for most of my career. Worker's compensation insurance will not cover those who fail drug tests. That is not an assumption, but a fact. If he worked in an office environment, where the risk of injury were significantly lower, his chances of finding an empathetic boss would be much greater. There are safety concerns when you operate equipment.

Also, he absolutely does not want to communicate openly with his employer. They aren't aware of his disease in the first place.

He will not be trading marijuana for the other medications. He plans to continue with those as well. I'm not convinced he will become an addict. I think he already has a tendency to misuse meds.

Again with the children, he plans to continue the other meds. Pot is still pot. It is just something we need to consider. We need to have a plan for how to explain the medicinal purpose versus recreational use, etc. Although our children are young now, they won't be forever. It's more something we need to consider than an outright deal breaker. My husband being high around the children, is a greater concern.

I didn't partake because, at the time, medical marijuana was not legal in our state. I could manage the chemo side effects without it, so I chose to do so. Not everyone gets the same relief from the meds.

It sounds like you've already made up your mind...

Why bother asking for advice?

there is marijuana butter...you can use it to make cookies....

It sounds like you've already made up your mind...

 

Why bother asking for advice?

I wouldn't say I've already made up my mind. I am trying to figure out what is right for our whole family and help my husband. I have some concerns, for sure - I was hoping someone might have something to offer in terms of those concerns. Has anyone used legal medical marijuana before? Handled it with children? Employers? I definitely lean toward one side on the issue, I admitted that straight away. I am really looking for some solid guidance.

My husband and I seldom drink, and don't use drugs. We have clear goals of how we want to raise our children. Even if the employer situation could be dealt with, I don't know how I would want to handle this with the kids. Any ideas there?

My son's ex-girlfriend has a legal marijuana card. She claims that she smokes to help with her headaches which are few and far in between. Truth be told, she is a pot head clear and simple. She smokes all day, everyday.

I don't believe for a second that it isn't addicting.

If your husband is subject to randoms, then I really wouldn't take the marijuana route. The way the economy is right now, I wouldn't risk losing a job.

 

My husband and I seldom drink, and don't use drugs. We have clear goals of how we want to raise our children. Even if the employer situation could be dealt with, I don't know how I would want to handle this with the kids. Any ideas there?

My aunt used medicinal marijuana when she was going through chemo for breast cancer. At the time, my cousins were pre-teens. Basically they sat down as a family and talked about it- told the kids that although some people in the government thought it was wrong, and there was a law against it, a lot of doctors thought it was the best way to manage her pain and nausea and to make sure she had an appetite, so she didn't lose too much weight, etc.

They stressed that with a lot of drugs, there are people using them for valid medical reasons, and there are people using them just to get high. The kids, from what my aunt has said, were very laid back, it was no big deal to them.

My aunt discontinued her use once she was done with chemo.

I have to say, though, that there are a LOT of red flags in your situation, though. The fact that your husband won't discuss the impact this may have on his job. The fact that his family has a history of addiction. The fact that he talks about how "happy" vicodin & marijuana will make him.

I think I would also be worried if I were you. I would not even begin to be OK with this if I were you, until I could sit down w/ my husband and have a reasonable talk about the impact on work, family, etc. Him being "yay, pot!" wold not be enough for me.

Hey there, it's been a few years since this thread started, but I wondered how this is all going. I have CCD and I've never heard of medical marijuana as a treatment for it. It seems like something else is going on for this family because CCD does not cause pain that requires medication to my knowledge. The only pain I experience is like the pain you get when you push your strength to a limit, but I get it from doing something like going up 3 stairs when I'm out of practice. That is what a mild case is like. CCD causes muscle weakness that can sometimes be severe enough to make breathing difficult, especially for infants, and possibly make a person wheel-chair bound. It can also be associated with other problems like scoliosis. If he has that it might be a different matter. It's very weird to me that a doctor would prescribe pain medications for a "mild" case of CCD.

That said, I was wondering if there was anyone else out there on enotalone who have this disease. It is embarrassing more than anything because I appear normal most of the time and then inadvertently reveal that I can't pick myself up off the floor without struggling or run at all. It's also frustrating because I literally cannot carry a bag of groceries up a stair without pulling myself by the railing, and similar daily tasks are dreadful and slow. People get confused and stare, even after I tell them it's a disease. When I was a kid I was teased for being unable to run in gym class and ridiculed by the teacher because she believed I wasn't trying. I am afraid that if I have children, they'll have a severe condition like breathing difficulty instead of being lucky like I was. I'm also afraid that I wouldn't be able to physically handle a child. It'd be nice to hear how other people deal with this because it's weird to both feel like it isn't anything terrible but at the same time I have so much anxiety around it that very few people understand.

Hate it when people say marijuana is addictive.

Their is no way your parents were serious addicts to it.

Marijuana is NOT addictive.

It can be mentally addictive, so it depends on the person. But marijuana is not chemically addictive. If you have any self control you most likely won't get mentally addicted.

I wouldn't say I've already made up my mind. I am trying to figure out what is right for our whole family and help my husband. I have some concerns, for sure - I was hoping someone might have something to offer in terms of those concerns. Has anyone used legal medical marijuana before? Handled it with children? Employers? I definitely lean toward one side on the issue, I admitted that straight away. I am really looking for some solid guidance.

 

My husband and I seldom drink, and don't use drugs. We have clear goals of how we want to raise our children. Even if the employer situation could be dealt with, I don't know how I would want to handle this with the kids. Any ideas there?

Sami Sue, have you researched CBD oil? It is cannabis related, but has no hallucinogen in it and does not show up in your blood stream - It doesn't have to be smoked and it won't show up in a drug test of any kind - It is also legal in all 50 states and can be taken orally - It destroys seizures in epileptic children and is 100% safe - Check it out - I'm sure it will help and it can't hurt!