I Don't Have A Doctor- How To Move Forward?

[detroit_fan]

Hello, I found this site while trying to research how to obtain my medical marijuana card here in michigan and had a question.

 

I have not been to a doctor in several years, and even then it was a family clinic, meaning I saw a nurse practitioner not a doctor. I suffer from chronic knee and back pain and believe medical cannabis would help. I have never tried to receive treatment for these conditions because I wasn't willing to start taking addictive pain pills.

 

Now that medical cannabis is an option, how do I receive a recommendation without a doctor? Can I just schedule an appointment with 420medicard or do I need a recommendation first? Do I still need to get my medical records if there nothing in them about my conditions? If I must see another doctor before going to the cannabis clinic how can I be sure they will be willing to recommend it? I can't afford to go to a doctor and not have them recommend it and have to try again.

 

I am located downriver, so anywhere in the Ann Arbor or metro area is reasonable for me to go. Any advice would be great, I am really confused as to how to go forward.

 

Thanks for any help!

[Zombiefied]

I would find a MD or DO to go to for at least 3 visits for your knee and back. They might prescribe you muscle relaxers or pain pills, they may not. After you have 3 records of your pain, then send them to a Dr that is MM friendly. I recommend Dr. Bix http://doctorbix.com/ Him and his wife are 2 really compassionate people, they do require records of your condition. I think they will "pre-qualify" you and then set you up with a appt. I hope this helps. This is not the fastest way, but probably the safest way for you and the Dr.'s involved.

[detroit_fan]

I would find a MD or DO to go to for at least 3 visits for your knee and back. They might prescribe you muscle relaxers or pain pills, they may not. After you have 3 records of your pain, then send them to a Dr that is MM friendly. I recommend Dr. Bix http://doctorbix.com/ Him and his wife are 2 really compassionate people, they do require records of your condition. I think they will "pre-qualify" you and then set you up with a appt. I hope this helps. This is not the fastest way, but probably the safest way for you and the Dr.'s involved.

Thanks for the reply. So I definitely need 3 visits to a regular doctor? The thing is I don't want to take pain pills, I'm afraid of addiction and organ damage so what do I do if that's what they want to give me?

 

I guess this is what I'm confused about- Since I don't have a current doctor why can't I go to a medical cannabis friendly doctor who may be willing to recommend me based on that visit? Why do I have to go to another doctor 3 times that may not be open to recommending?

[urminutegot]

I went with no current records. Just a partial record from a doctors visit from a bike accident. Doc gave me a pain log and told me to come back 2 weeks later... all good.

[SLMG]

Being a physician myself I am not quite sure where this whole thing about 3 visits came from. Obviously the term chronic means different things to different people, and so probably they want to spread it out for at least 3 month in duration but that is silly.

 

In all honesty there are probably some medications that are tolerable and would be effective for your condition but if you are not wanting to try things such as steroid injections, mild narcotics, anti-inflammatories, etc first, then just spend the time and find a doc who will see you and write the recommendation. Just tell them pain medicine makes you sick to your stomach (nauseous), anti-inflammatories give you an upset stomach, and that you don't believe in nor want any injections. It should be your right and there should be no reason to visit someone 3 times first (which by the way is simply a way for the fix to cover their donkey if the medical board comes knocking)...

 

Just my opinion...thanks for listening!

[+420Atheist]

Some of the MMJ clinics that require 3 chart records will put you on a pain management plan that will require you to make two or three visits to them before they give the recommendation. Best bet is to call a couple near you and find who can help.

[thanks2]

Being a physician myself I am not quite sure where this whole thing about 3 visits came from. Obviously the term chronic means different things to different people, and so probably they want to spread it out for at least 3 month in duration but that is silly.

 

In all honesty there are probably some medications that are tolerable and would be effective for your condition but if you are not wanting to try things such as steroid injections, mild narcotics, anti-inflammatories, etc first, then just spend the time and find a doc who will see you and write the recommendation. Just tell them pain medicine makes you sick to your stomach (nauseous), anti-inflammatories give you an upset stomach, and that you don't believe in nor want any injections. It should be your right and there should be no reason to visit someone 3 times first (which by the way is simply a way for the fix to cover their donkey if the medical board comes knocking)...

 

Just my opinion...thanks for listening!

 

The 3 doctors visits is the standard of the THC-F clinic, which was first in Michigan. So people have just kind of ran with it. Not all clinics require 3 visits, not even the THC-F, but it has still kind of stuck and does seem to be the norm for some,maybe most, clinics.

[Guest Medicinal Patient]

Welcome aboard Detroit_Fan! If you have any insurance I would recommend getting an xray and/or some other testing to find the root of these pains. Any reason you were never curious enough to get these chronic pains checked out to see if the problems could be corrected? You should want to be proactive in your health care and not just settle on living with these pains permanently. I think if you can be seen at a regular walk in clinic and provide the doc with your history and medical concerns, and request the doc orders some testing and then do a walk in a few weeks later as a follow up to discuss treatment options, that should be more than sufficient enough to get your rec. Take those 2 visits of chart notes to the med mj dr and you should be golden. If you do visit a regular dr you can fax/email those med records to the med mj dr and they can pre approve you for an appointment, and if they are willing to see you after reviewing your records, I don't think you have to worry about a wasted trip. Each med mj Dr who writes these recs creates their own policies as to what they will accept as far as records. Even if you find a med mj dr who will see you with no records, imo your best bet would be to atleast get 1 reg dr visit in with documentation of your chief complaints before you go to the med mj dr. That would be to cover your and the med mj drs butt if god forbid she/he gets raided for questionable recommendations being given out. Good luck on your journey! See ya around.