Written by As the pandemic made many stay indoors, hidden from friends and family, the nation’s drug overdose epidemic became worse. Laura Dean of Seattle reached out to ask how she could get away from Vicoden that was prescribed to help her reduce OxyContin intake. She had read articles and posts on social media about my own journey and so desperately wants freedom herself. After an injury to her ankle, she went to a surgeon that put her on the strongest most controversial pain medications we all know about – and throughout her care and recovery from a needed procedure, this drug continued to be prescribed. Only after the patient asked the doctor did she move down to the less addictive Hydrocodone with the brand name Vicoden.
“I knew I would need pain relief for a moderate period of time, so the way I took the pills was with caution and care for my body because I don’t want to be an addict. But I need help because these replacement pills are just as bad, The back of my mind keeps telling me that I should have that Oxy again, so this whole thing isn’t working to use a less strong drug. I seem more addicted now than I was before.” Laura shared with me how it was her choice to change over to Vicoden after the surgery as her injury is not one that heals quickly – they needed to put a steel rod in her foot so it was much more than a broken ankle.
The first thing done for her as part of her consultation was the assessment of her past medical conditions other than this injury, it’s important to know this information as well as what pharmaceuticals drugs are being used. “I’m on a blood thinner from a minor stroke I had 3 years ago” she shared with me – and this makes a big difference in what type of protocol will be used as some cannabinoids, particularly CBD, have issues when used in high doses with blood thinners that are detrimental to a patients health. It’s imperative that Cannabis or Hemp extract patients that have unanswered questions about Drug interactions reach out to health professionals like a Pharmacist for answers – for the most part, doctors are still learning and will almost always say “don’t use it”.
Cannabinoid Replacement Therapy is the answer:
After reviewing with Laura her; medical history, current pharmaceuticals, past responses she had to other pharma, her current cannabis or extract usage and what type, her past experiences with cannabinoids, her exercise ritual, and dietary habits – I was then able to gain a better picture of what’s known as Endocannabinoid Tone. This is the level of endocannabinoid activity and how it’s affecting the individual to give you a brief idea of the meaning. Laura had a very poor tone in that she had used mostly THC in the past, had used very few other cannabinoids, had illnesses that caused issues with many of her bodily systems, and had a very meager exercise routine coupled with a diet that could use fewer sugars and more whole foods. The Endocannabinoid system needs a balance between it and the other operating systems in our body in order to gain and maintain homeostasis – it just doesn’t happen (gaining that homeostasis) like an internet meme says when someone takes a few drops of that companies oil.
We then planned for success:
By addressing all of Laura’s past and present history it was easy to see that she did not have an addiction that was based on traumatic events – studies show that over 75% of people who are addicted have some type of history of abuse, PTSD, or other issues that have caused them to lean on the pills more than one normally would for pain. Sadly many of us now know that the makers of OxyContin actually wanted this. But, those brothers Sackler and big pharma opioids didn’t catch a victim in Laura, they found their match. She wanted success, she wanted out, and she came asking for a way to follow my own opioid exit strategy.
No Two Addictions are alike:
Laura explained that she had stopped and started the OxyContin several times, “I’m at war with myself over these damn pills,” she told me. She wanted to quit, so the first thought was to try an NA meeting – that didn’t work as her addiction was her own, and sharing it made her feel awkward. Often, when people ask for advice on quitting a substance of use/abuse, they’ll want to follow what the adviser did as their protocol. But, when it comes to addiction and recovery, it’s much like other health conditions – people may have the same diagnosis. Still, we’re all individuals, and these labels will never address our uniqueness. The biggest downfall of western medicine has been the treatment of humans like cattle – we all get the same brand, ear tag, and more when in fact, we need individualistic treatment.
Her Protocol Included "Dose Response" Changes:
“Mike, I’m having really shaky days and getting too dizzy with some of the oils I use” was a message I woke up to recently from Laura as she was going through her withdrawal. Under her own plan she created, the Vicoden has been flushed down her commode and she’s knee-deep into a new protocol she’s started. It was a choice given with advice in how to find and utilize cannabinoid medicine, a changed diet with a few new supplements, and an exercise routine that included walking around the house until she started sweating – easy stuff in the grand scheme of things in comparison to a deadly opioid addiction. This choice was a simple one – pick the exit and clearance of these drugs no longer wanted in your system or slowly wean away from them.
As a non-physician consultant I do not make medical choices for patients, it’s up to them, I’m only here to provide some knowledge and help. Laws do not allow a healer to practice medicine – but thankfully the ECS hasn’t been taught in medical schools so laws have a strange loophole in them. Patient like Laura have no place to turn when their doctor suggest a change in their pharmaceuticals and they are not aware of how to use cannabinoids to exit that situation.
For Laura, she found answers in Hemp exracts paired with THC products in very unique ways and is thriving now. But it has taken adjustments ongoing based on her response to doses – she tracks them in a log so the next time she needs a consultation it’s quick and easy. She is the CEO to a large corporation so we are not going to disclose her last name – instead she wanted to share how she was able to quit the Vicoden after putting down the hardcore OxyContin.
“I quit those pills that made me mentally sick so much faster because of Cannabis, and I did it after I was given an increased dose of Opioids because of all the pain I’m always in. I’m finding out now the drugs they gave me only caused my pain to get worse after such a brief period of using them. I was fooled by them. As a professional I felt irresponsible going to work and managing people in the moods I was in that had very little to do with pain, I didn’t realize it had to do with an addiction I did not want. Opioids, to me, are drugs that should be used in hospitals or replaced with something else. I never thought Cannabis would work this way for me, I figured I needed something stronger.”
Laura’s testimony shows us that it’s not just random pain patients getting caught up in this, and it’s not people who had no life at all and want drugs. Millions of productive lives like Laura’s have been disrupted or destroyed by addictions that can be overcome with Cannabinoids, natural food, and exercise.
And as many know, current statistics show us 100,000 plus per year perishing to overdoses in the US alone. Even today, with all of the known facts about how the Opioid crisis was created vs. started, some doctors will prescribe the same drugs for an extended period. It’s up to us patients to know when we need to stop, just like it’s up to us to figure out our cannabis protocols.
“I just watched a documentary about the federal government’s nearly 2-decade fight to stop the OxyContin from continuing to be prescribed. It doesn’t surprise me it was a war between the US Attorneys and other entities with the FDA standing in their way. I could have died using this, and even after everything that’s gone on, no doctor would admit that when I’d ask. Just use it safely, they all told me, but this drug isn’t safe.” Laura spoke to me this morning about her awakening, “I’m thankful to be alive, but I know this withdrawal isn’t over, I’m thankful for how I feel inside today because I know my life is going to be beautiful when this is over. I hope cannabis prohibition ends because this plant doesn’t belong on schedule one, but those pills might.”
-Mike Robinson, Recovery Warrior and Cannabis Patient. Founder Global Cannabinoid Research Center
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