Trouble Sleeping

[somerandomcat]

I called the Michigan Medical Marijuana Certification Center and talked to someone about being able to get a card for having trouble falling asleep and all he said was that I would need proof of three doctor visits for the issue sometime in the last 3 years.

 

I saw my doctor for it last week and received a few prescription pills for nights I can't fall asleep, herbal meds to take nightly, and a packet teaching me about sleeping disorders. I am scheduled to see him again in about a month for a follow up.

 

Once I get three visits established, I should be able to take this and get my card?

[bobandtorey]

I called the Michigan Medical Marijuana Certification Center and talked to someone about being able to get a card for having trouble falling asleep and all he said was that I would need proof of three doctor visits for the issue sometime in the last 3 years.

 

I saw my doctor for it last week and received a few prescription pills for nights I can't fall asleep, herbal meds to take nightly, and a packet teaching me about sleeping disorders. I am scheduled to see him again in about a month for a follow up.

 

Once I get three visits established, I should be able to take this and get my card?

 

thats good news and welcome here you do not need a card to help here

[Guest Medicinal Patient]

I called the Michigan Medical Marijuana Certification Center and talked to someone about being able to get a card for having trouble falling asleep and all he said was that I would need proof of three doctor visits for the issue sometime in the last 3 years.

 

I saw my doctor for it last week and received a few prescription pills for nights I can't fall asleep, herbal meds to take nightly, and a packet teaching me about sleeping disorders. I am scheduled to see him again in about a month for a follow up.

 

Once I get three visits established, I should be able to take this and get my card?

 

Welcome. I don't see sleep on the list of qualifying conditions, but nausea is. Tell your dr at your next visit the meds give you nausea. I would try and submit your records to the mmmcc as soon as you get the 2nd visit in an see if the mj dr will approve you for an appointment. The mj drs usually require 2-3 chart notes. Good Luck

 

From the home page patient tab:

 

***

The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act defines a "qualifying patient" as: a person who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition.

 

Specific Medical Conditions listed in Statute:

“Debilitating medical conditions" [section 3 (a) (1)] means any of the following conditions and/or their treatments:

 

* Cancer

* Glaucoma

* Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus

* Acquired immune deficiency syndrome

* Hepatitis C

* Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease)

* Crohn's disease

* Agitation of Alzheimer's disease

* Nail patella

 

 

General diseases, medical conditions, and treatment not listed but authorized in Statute:

A patient can also qualify under the statute [section 3 (a) (2)] if he/she experiences any chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition, or it's treatment, which produces one or more of the following symptoms or side effects:

 

* cachexia or wasting syndrone;

* severe and chronic pain;

* nausea;

* seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy;

* severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis

 

Departmental Authority to expand conditions covered:

New conditions can be specified in the future. Rule 333.131 requires the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) to have a procedure for accepting petitions from the public to include additional medical conditions and treatments. The procedure must include public notice of hearings on each petition, opportunities for public input, and a reasonable timeline (180 days) for approval or denial.

 

Affirmative Defense Conditions Covered

A person "may assert the medical purpose for using marihuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marihuana, and this defense shall be presumed valid" if a physician has stated that the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of marihuana to treat or alleviate the patient's serious or debilitating medical condition or its symptoms. This statement must be:

 

* in his professional opinion

* having completed a full assessment of the patient's medical history and current medical condition

* in the course of a bona fide physician-patient relationship

* the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the medical use of marihuana to treat or alleviate the patient's the condition or symptoms

 

The Act does not specify that the statement be in writing, but common sense dictates that a written statement provides the best possible protection.

 

This standard is different than the one for obtaining the written certification for the registry ID card – any “serious medical condition” qualifies, as opposed to only those which are "chronic" or "debilitating," and it does not require any specific symptoms. The affirmative defense applies to both patients and caregivers who engage in

 

* acquisition

* possession

* cultivation

* manufacture

* use (patient only)

* delivery

* transfer

* transportation

 

of marihuana or paraphernalia which is used medically as described above. The amount of marihuana must be no more than is "reasonably necessary" to ensure the "uninterrupted availability" of medicine to the patient.

 

Summary

 

You do not need to have one of the Specific Medical Conditions listed in Statute to be considered a qualified medical marijuana patient. The Statute also protects patients who use marihuana to treat the symptoms of any chronic or debilitating medical condition, or to alleviate symptoms or side effects caused by any therapy or other treatment option prescribed by your primary physician for that condition. For example, if you suffer from depression and your physician prescribes a medication to treat the depression, and that medication causes muscle aches and spasms, or it makes you nauseated, then you would qualify as a patient with a listed condition (muscle spasms, nausea), to choose medical marijuana as a treatment option. To find out if your condition applies, contact the THCF Clinic.

 

It's the opinion of some legal scholars that the Affirmative Defense provides greater patient protection than the Act itself. Contact QualifyingPatient.com for legal interpretations.

[somerandomcat]

Been a while since I posted here, I hope someone can give me some further clarification on this issue. I will have my third doctor visit in about two months. So far I have established that I have a sleeping disorder and the doctor has prescribed me enough Ambien to take about 3 a week for nights I just cannot fall asleep. From my understanding, my sleeping disorder alone will not get me a Medical Card, but I can get a card from the nausea the Ambien causes.

 

My question is: Should I mention to my family doctor that the Ambien makes me loose my appetite and gives me an upset stomach and makes it harder to hold down food the day after taking it, or should I just get my prescription for more Ambien and then bring the nausea up when I go to get my card?

[Medology]

Been a while since I posted here, I hope someone can give me some further clarification on this issue. I will have my third doctor visit in about two months. So far I have established that I have a sleeping disorder and the doctor has prescribed me enough Ambien to take about 3 a week for nights I just cannot fall asleep. From my understanding, my sleeping disorder alone will not get me a Medical Card, but I can get a card from the nausea the Ambien causes.

 

My question is: Should I mention to my family doctor that the Ambien makes me loose my appetite and gives me an upset stomach and makes it harder to hold down food the day after taking it, or should I just get my prescription for more Ambien and then bring the nausea up when I go to get my card?

 

 

To share my issue and not to coach you, but my situation is somewhat similar.

 

I have clinical insomnia and have had it documented for roughly 8 years. This is just my belief; the insomnia lack of sleep (average 2.5-3.5 hours nightly), the stress it induces, taking ambien (Zolpidem Tartrate) in bed and waking up 3 hours later in another room fully dressed with cell phone in hand and the anxiety that it all brings has developed into horrible migraine headaches. Primary Insomnia.

 

My dr thinks I have Co-morbid insomnia which is opposite of my thoughts. Co-morbid insomnia is insomnia due to other medical or situational reasons such as arthritis, cancer, heart and lung diseases, pain, anxiety and depression, or a substance you may be using such as alcohol, caffeine or tobacco.

 

Either way, I have chronic insomnia since it's nightly, every night for the past 8 years at least.

 

My migraines are also documented by my dr. for over 6 years. There are nights that I go to bed with Aura effects, taking imitrex oral or nasal, and I wake up not long after dozing off in a full vomit panic for the bathroom. Head throbbing so bad that the cold tile floor actually looks inviting.

 

So what came first, the migraines or the insomnia? I truly don't recall but I think they are tied together. I've done sleep studies etc and they cannot explain it. No sleep apnea, no restless leg syndrome, just no sleep!

 

I explained to my dr that it seems to me to be a cycle. I get 2 - 3 hours of sleep a night for a week, then aura effects, then a vomitous migraine, then I can sleep for 4 - 7 hours for roughly 2 nights which honestly is like a wet dream for me. Her suggestion? More trial drugs. First it was xanax to help me sleep. Hated it, I wasn't depressed....yet. It left me seriously groggy alllll the time, but still no solid sleep. Then it was Amitriptyline, ok, now I am depressed but this drug not only made me massively groggy every morning, it also made me extremely depressed and yes, suicidal. Instantly quit taking it. Her last suggestion in which I out rightly said no to was Bystolic. I don't know what it is exactly, but I know its main side effect is ED. I'm divorced, not dead. So that's when I searched out alternative meds. My neighbor is a dr, and he suggested MM.

 

I want to point out that the xanax was to help me sleep. The Amitriptyline and the Bystolic were to be taken nightly and were to help decrease the severity and frequent migraines as well as help me sleep.

 

Here's what I've found with MM.

 

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for an hour or more. I get up, 3 hits, 20 minutes later I'm relaxed.... night night. I even dream again!!! I can't remember the last time I had a dream on any of the meds my dr had me on before. Seriously! I still don't sleep more than 4 hours even with MM, but the sleep is quality and I'm not laying there for hours tossing and turning before I get up irritated and shaky.

 

The incoming migraine alert of aura effects. For those that don't have them, it's like when you were a kid and you squeezed your eyes shut really hard, then opened them. Those squiggly lines you see.... I see those for 20 minutes to upwards of a day before a migraine beats my arse into the ground. As soon as I start getting those, some MM slowly takes them away and disarms the migraine. Don't get me wrong, MM does not, or has not so far eliminated my migraines when I have them. But if I use MM during a migraine or once it's began, it normally knocks it down to a bad headache and at that point I can take some Excedrin Migraine without the fear of throwing it back up. Finally sweet relief!! Another point to make here, brownies, cookies, anything edible is absolutely impossible DURING a migraine. Smoke or vapors is THE only way I can take meds during one. Prior to and during aura effects I can eat but it's touch and go even then.

 

I won't take ambien ever again. Waking up in a different room than when you layed down is unnerving. Waking up clothed, a couple hours later and texting people is just insane... but true.

[tooldini]

I got approved at that clinic for chronic headaches due to my asthma meds. I you have a history or a couple times to the dr. for headaches they can approve you. I really wanted the card for my asthma but MI. doesn't qualify for that. I do get very very bad headaches so I am hoping everything will be much better once my card arrives and I get some meds. So maybe you can go the headache route. My sleeplessness is due to asthma meds also so 5-6 hours is a lot of sleep for me after rolling for hours I know how you feel man it sucks. so hope you can get it worked out.

[Medology]

I hope my sharing of my very real situation wasn't misunderstood as coaching on how to get what you want. Hence my opening statement of me not coaching, just sharing my similar situation.

 

I agree with you that honesty is the best policy. Three visits just to get your foot in the mm door is wrong. I have 8+ years of documented suffering and finally feel closer to a way to cope with it.

 

I apologize if my post seemed to be "say this to get that", it absolutely was not my intent.

[Medology]

AKenewell,

 

thanks very much for that. I appreciate the clarification. Have a great day!

[somerandomcat]

I never read where you stated that the medicine given to you by your DR. caused you nausea, until it was suggested as a qualifying condition, where insomnia is not, and that you tell your Dr. you have that. You also ask if you should complain of nausea now or just get your 3 visits in, then bring it up? Do you really have nausea, or would you just be saying that to try to get qualified? HONESTY is always' the BEST way to go!!

 

 

If anyone want's to flame me for this feel free, but I find it appalling to see suggestions being made on hey say this, it will work, it's a qualifying condition. I mean seriously, you either really have one or you don't!!

 

EDIT...And any good DR. will see through that!!!

 

The Ambien does cause nausea, but without taking the Ambien 1-3 times a week my sleeping schedule gets out of wack and I have trouble sleeping all week instead of just 1-3 nights a week. The day after taking Ambien I wake up with an upset stomach and no urge to eat and little ability to eat much food for the majority of the day. I find on weeks when I take 1-3 Ambien, my appetite is out of wack and I think I am loosing energy from the lack of food. I work two jobs and eating the right amount of food is important. I know from past experiences that marijuana helps both my appetite AND my sleeping issues as a lot of my sleeping problems are due to high stress at work which is a night shift. Unfortunately since I cannot get MM for just my sleeping disorder I am stuck with taking Ambien, but if I could get my card for the nausea Ambien causes, then all of my problems would be solved.

 

Edit: Also, with MM I wouldn't need to take Ambien so often, just on severe nights, which would be a blessing as I keep hearing horror stories about people waking up dressed (like mentioned above).

Edit #2: I have had a sleeping disorder ever since I was little, but never went to the doctor about the issue because I don't like doctor offices (they make me nervous) and I don't like pills that are in the long run bad for me and I also only recently obtained insurance to help with all the costs of seeing a doctor.

[somerandomcat]

Does anyone have any more feedback on this? Going to bring up the nausea the Ambien causes at my next doctor visit.