4 ms·

I used to get severe migraines from flickering lights and most computer screens starting on September 5th or 6th 2011. I was born with optic nerve hypoplasia (a

I used to get severe migraines from flickering lights and most computer screens starting on September 5th or 6th 2011. I was born with optic nerve hypoplasia (and nystagmus in my right eye) but don't recall EVER having any problem prior to this. For years I went through the roundabout of doctors offering treatments that didn't really help (Botox) or give unhelpful advice ("just avoid triggers"). It wasn't a problem before this, dammit. I eventually dropped out of school, stopped using computers for days at a time and spent over 95% of my time for over 5 years sleeping being very depressed and suicidal. It got to the point where my eyesight was degenerative and my doctor suggested I try topiramate (risk of optic nerve damage and my eyesight was already bad and getting worse by the day). I tried valproic acid and it made my vision blurry for a week, but I recovered upon stopping the drug. In early 2017 I got a medical cannabis prescription from a doctor who acknowledged that other treatments didn't work for me and it made an immediate difference. I don't really get migraines anymore and I'm a much happier person in general whose started going to university and I've made some hilarious stoner friends as a result, so that's funny too. What's odd is my eyesight has improved to the point where I don't need as strong as a glasses prescription. The glasses I got last December are now too strong for me so I am happy about that. I'm still not 100% yet, but even a year and a half in I'm still "recovering" from everyday migraines for over half a decade. I'm blessed to live in Canada and not a place where medical cannabis is illegal. Even in legal US states (Washington, Colorado, et al) there is still the hypocrisy of the federal government acknowledging that cannabis has medical benefits, while still causing vexing legal problems for users. Be well everyone. Feel free to ask any questions.

eganist 8y ago
> What's odd is my eyesight has improved to the point where I don't need as strong as a glasses prescription. This comment's tone, the commenter's new-ness, and extraneous details unrelated to the original thread like this anecdote above all reek of a lead generation effort for an existing business. We're all generally pro- on this, so this comment just comes off a bit shilly for me :/
- facetube 8y ago
  I don't think it's the right drug, but I think there's merit to that drug target. I was prescribed a very expensive synthetic CB1 agonist for migraine nausea (nabilone) by my primary care MD, and the effect was instantaneous and miraculous. Killed the nausea outright, took a solid 80% off of the pain (it was doing the morphine-type "I can feel it but it doesn't hurt" thing), and there was no euphoria/high or noticeable drug craving or reinforcement that I could detect. The bad news: it's $50 per milligram (almost $1500 for 10 days worth), Schedule 2 (the same schedule as fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine), and technically approved by the FDA only for nausea caused by chemotherapy. The first FDA approval date for the drug was 1985. I'd previously tried so many prescribed anti-migraine drugs I couldn't even list them all here in the time I have. The side effects were as debilitating as the migraines themselves in some cases. Some were just wildly inappropriate (e.g. a resident wanted to write opiates). Anyway, I fought with an insurance company for seven days on a $20k/year policy and they still wouldn't cover it. Given the experience of trying to do this the right way, I'm utterly unsurprised that people in intense pain end up trying to DIY it.
  - EvangelicalPig 8y ago
    > Given the experience of trying to do this the right way, I'm utterly unsurprised that people in intense pain end up trying to DIY it. I live in Canada, and have a doctor I report to. That being said I'm not surprised either. Do you live in a "legal" state?
    - facetube 8y ago
      I do. That actually seemed to add a great deal of absurdity to the situation. Doc was basically like "if it works use it, I have absolutely no problem; this would be one of the dumbest, ineffective, and most expensive way possible to do drugs recreationally". The side-effect profile seemed a whole lot better than anything I'd tried, and it seemed far far easier to concentrate while it was doing its thing. It's also legal to travel with, and absolutely nobody seemed to know what it was by name. But the funniest part was that the pharmacists seemed to be aware that the DEA scheduling was BS – I got carded for the bottle of wine I bought on the way out for a dinner, but not for the <ominous voice> DEA Schedule II controlled substance.

eganist 8y ago

> What's odd is my eyesight has improved to the point where I don't need as strong as a glasses prescription. This comment's tone, the commenter's new-ness, and extraneous details unrelated to the original thread like this anecdote above all reek of a lead generation effort for an existing business. We're all generally pro- on this, so this comment just comes off a bit shilly for me :/

facetube 8y ago
I don't think it's the right drug, but I think there's merit to that drug target. I was prescribed a very expensive synthetic CB1 agonist for migraine nausea (nabilone) by my primary care MD, and the effect was instantaneous and miraculous. Killed the nausea outright, took a solid 80% off of the pain (it was doing the morphine-type "I can feel it but it doesn't hurt" thing), and there was no euphoria/high or noticeable drug craving or reinforcement that I could detect. The bad news: it's $50 per milligram (almost $1500 for 10 days worth), Schedule 2 (the same schedule as fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine), and technically approved by the FDA only for nausea caused by chemotherapy. The first FDA approval date for the drug was 1985. I'd previously tried so many prescribed anti-migraine drugs I couldn't even list them all here in the time I have. The side effects were as debilitating as the migraines themselves in some cases. Some were just wildly inappropriate (e.g. a resident wanted to write opiates). Anyway, I fought with an insurance company for seven days on a $20k/year policy and they still wouldn't cover it. Given the experience of trying to do this the right way, I'm utterly unsurprised that people in intense pain end up trying to DIY it.
- EvangelicalPig 8y ago
  > Given the experience of trying to do this the right way, I'm utterly unsurprised that people in intense pain end up trying to DIY it. I live in Canada, and have a doctor I report to. That being said I'm not surprised either. Do you live in a "legal" state?
  - facetube 8y ago
    I do. That actually seemed to add a great deal of absurdity to the situation. Doc was basically like "if it works use it, I have absolutely no problem; this would be one of the dumbest, ineffective, and most expensive way possible to do drugs recreationally". The side-effect profile seemed a whole lot better than anything I'd tried, and it seemed far far easier to concentrate while it was doing its thing. It's also legal to travel with, and absolutely nobody seemed to know what it was by name. But the funniest part was that the pharmacists seemed to be aware that the DEA scheduling was BS – I got carded for the bottle of wine I bought on the way out for a dinner, but not for the <ominous voice> DEA Schedule II controlled substance.