Pills versus MJ

Here is an email my brother just sent me:

" i was at a art gallery today with people and we walked up to a church made out of prescription pill bottles, it was large

so we are being told about this piece, and the guy says the artist has chrons disease and this is his bottles from years of suffering,

they noticed my face changed, so i tried to explain my sister has almost died from chrons and i walked away from everyone crying, i thought you should know this story,"

Here is the picture: 

I started taking meds since preteen years. These meds have cause comorbidities such as arthralgias, osteopenia and other tropic manifestations. I was taking over 30 pills a day, 8 hour intravenous infusions etc. Now that I have become an adult & have added my own meds to my regimen (MJ) enabling me to get off all of my prescription pills except Humira which I take one shot every other week. I would like to try and stop taking the shot but my fear of flare up is too frightening for me right now as I am in remission. Recently I had a surgery and the doctors prescribed Hydrocodone. I took some but the nausea and vomiting caused my inside to turn because of the unstoppable muscle contractions that accompanied the vomiting. I replaced my pain meds with MJ and not only do they decrease the pain but also the nausea so I can eat ;-) 

Unfortunately I live in Florida aka "fear" because MJ is not legal-therefore I cannot treat myself regularly and still have many issues because the inconsistencies of my routine due to the legalities and the process needed to obtain the meds. I am also trying to become a professional so it is frowned upon and you could loose EVERYTHING with a stupid urine test...until its legal...makes so much sense-so much that I never wanted to share this amazing story because my church of pill bottles has become a garden of health and wellness that could imprison me because of the politics. 

Why wouldn't everyone want to support the miracle drug when it is proven to help so many. Oh ya, a caregiver or child could steal the meds and not its regulated enough! Are you f$ck"ng kidding me! U people with those dumb excuses. Any Rx can be stolen and every Rx could use more regulation. That will never end. What will is the endless Rx cycle of prescription, to more prescription for the side affects of the first prescription! It ridiculous and I wanted to speak up because if I don't who will. I still get calls from the pill manufactures wanted to document all the new side effects I experience because any drug that has ever been approved has a stage of approval that never ends because no one knows everything about everything-it is called " practicing medicine,  not perfect medicine" and therefore ongoing studies are needed to see what the effects of all these pills are. If you do not have a chronic illness then you do not know the tortures of being a human guinea pig-you will never know. Just try to step outside the box a little bit. 

I am proud of myself for having the courage to speak up and type this blog. I am not currently medicating with MJ regularly because I could be kicked out of school, arrested or be looked down upon. Having a beautiful family and a son I care more about then my side effects from the Rx is why I am holding off until the hopeful legalization. I just wanted to share my experience so everyone can get together and vote to approval this medicine next time around :-) Please, put yourself in other people shoes-visit those who actually benefit from the natural medicine vs. those wasting away from side effect after side affect of the pill mills. IT IS NOT FAIR OUR LIVES ARE IN YOUR CONTROL BUT THEY ARE! HELP LEGALIZE MJ AND END THIS HORRIBLE PILL CYCLE! END IT! 

Symptom Free on Humira Once Again...

Hello All. I just wanted to report on my status after starting Humira 4 wks ago. I have been symptom free and started gaining back some very needed weight!!

Prior to the injections :
I was so bad I could not walk and had to use an electric cart and handicap sticker when going out and about! I had fire in my stomach and a constant torture of someone ringing out my intestines! That is what it felt like a long with embarrassing accidents and content bowel movements: none solid. I was throwing up every morning and I losses over 20lbs.

Weighing the pros and cons:
I had a lot of side effects from the Humira such a psoriasis, double vision, EXTREME photosensitivity: I could not open my eyes outside without sunglasses and I felt like a vampire burning in the daylight! Literally my skin would burn off like a hot iron touched me. I was being followed by Abbott lab. due to all these side effects and felt it was my duty for my family and I for me to try a holistic all natural method. I went gluten free even!! However 6 months off of Humira (as my doc told me) I was worse then I started and gladly gave my self the booster shots!

In life you have to weigh the pros and cons. I would rather have those side effects then the inability to play with my 6 year old son and enjoy life on a daily basis. Its about quality and not quantity to I had to stop worrying about the million side effects that come in the pamphlet with Humira and just be happy it works for me

Real Pictures of Humira PEN vs. SYringe

Getting back in humira!

Hello all! After trying to be all natural, unsuccessfully, I am going back on Humira. I got off 6mp oct 31 2012 and then weened myself of Humira starting may 2013. In November 2013 my flare up started and despite me wanting to be right and my doctors wrong, errrrrr! Their prediction was right.


Great News! Humira pre filled syringe is WAY better then the automatic pen! If you are having problems or anxiety pressing that button on the auto pen, you need to try the syringe! I just took my two shots (2nd step of booster series) and it was a pleasant experience! I will post pictures of the needle when it finishes uploading :-)

HBOT not for ME!!!!!!!!

HBOT was a traumatizing experience for me. I will never do it again unless I am in a hospital setting w/ an anti anxiety medication. I am a bit claustrophobic and this was 45 of pure torture. I also felt the location was shady so that did not help my confidence in the treatment. It was falsely represented! Also, here is the information for the place so you do not make the same mistake i did. This place is located in a trailer park it seems with a dumpster the size of the facility right next to it. I questioned the certification and they said it was a weeks training!!! WTF a weeks training controlling my life! I think not and never again!

http://hyperbariccentersofflorida.com

Also, being all natural and gluten free was working good but my body is showing signs of an upcoming flare up. I can tell my intestines are shutting down by my bowel movements and the severe pain in my stomach and back! Buuu whooo. I am not sure if I will have to take leave from school but I hope not. Thanks for listening.

HBOT Tomorrow!

I am really excited to start my hyperbaric oxygen treatments tomorrow. It has been a rocky journey to getting approved. A prerequisite to starting HBOT is having a chest X-ray. When I received my results of granules in my lungs I thought the worst: cancer. Of course the doctors never called me to help describe what is going on. The HBOT center has it's own doc's on the payroll and they looked at my X-rays and cat scan to tell me my lungs looked perfect.

I am hoping this is the case but because of all the unknown and the pulmonary specialist NOT getting back to my doctor I was taken off the Humira until further notice by my gastroenterologist. This was a scary relief for me because I hate taking the shot anyway especially with all the risks. However, I was told by my previous doc this was my last result and nothing else worked for me and if I ever got off I could become immune to it and not have the Humira work next time I use it if needed. It has been 6 weeks since my scheduled shot and I do feel symptoms coming back: diarrhea, close calls getting to the bathroom, bloating and stomach pain with bowel movement. This makes me believe I was only in remission due to the medicine.

However, I am what I eat and I never ate right. I am challenging myself and writing on the blog that I vow to eat healthy and just as if a nutritionist wrote me my own diet. I will not steer and I will treat my self to sweets once in a while so I don't go rebellious.

I will not be defined by my disease.

I had a really important decision to make a couple of years ago: to accept disability or to accept admission into Physical Therapy school to earn my DPT. I decided the later. I can always give in and accept my disability but I still have something in me and I did not want to give in. I wanted to challenge myself and so far so good. I have been successful for over 2 years and I hope to remain that way. The fear of flare up haunts me everyday and leaves me to wonder if I made the right decision. A woman that workED at the local public bakery by my house who was in the same situation gave me the advice to think of my son and get on disability in case I past away since we both shared many stories from our health past. Then and there I decided too accept my admission to school. I thought why sit around and wait for death. I am here now and I want to try and live every moment to the fullest. 

Saying that, last week I had another health scare. I had to have a chest X-ray for my new holistic treatment for crohns- hyperbaric oxygen treatment. There were granules in my lungs when i got the results and I thought- oh NO!!! Lung cancer or something horrible from the humira. Then I revisit my thoughts of why I am I even trying??? I toss with this back and forth but my dream is to help people one day and be a great therapist and teacher. I want to be one of the compassionate ones- the good health care provider people talk about. I want to spend time and get to know my patients. People laugh when I say this (not knowing anything about my past) because of losing out on money and having to keep up with turnover rates. Not me.  I have been at a low income status most of my life. I am used to budgeting and having enough NOT more . I can deal with that and get rich in my heart and soul. These feelings are what drive me to keep going. I wanted to write everything down because I have been told I may inspire others and if one person reads this and decides to go after their dream or try and get out of bed then I have succeeded. 

I will be starting hbot 8-18-13 and I will have a diary about it on my blog. I have seen really good research and have high hopes it may heal the Crohn's disease. Ttyl!