Wellness Journal | Cannabis Oil Concentrate Short Study Day 2

Continued from Wellness Journal: Day 1 of Cannabis Oil

I took the first dose last night and feel fine. I felt it almost immediately. My spouse says that's not possible, but it's how I felt. Within an hour I was pretty woozy. This morning I woke to less pain and my hand and wrist look somewhat normal!!!

10:40 AM 

Pain level: 6 out of 10.

Time for my next dose at 11am, then again at 4pm and 10pm.

Didn't take a dose at 11 AM so it took some more at 1 PM. I'm kind of getting used to the taste.

1pm Cannabis Oil Dose

8/24/14 Notes: 
I was so super doped up the rest of the day that I didn't do much! I was woozy and tired. I kept falling asleep whenever I sat still for just a moment. It was kind of surreal how much it made me tired. I was still feeling pain, but nothing like before.

The dreams were impressive. I've never had such lucid dreams before. I also remember waking up in a panic, like a panic attack, thinking that something was wrong. Realizing nothing was wrong, I drifted back into sleep. Sleep was really difficult the first night mostly because my sleeping was so lucid. I knew what was going on around me and during my dreams. It was very odd and I had a difficult time adjusting to the feeling.

DISCLAIMER: These journals are intended for informational purposes only.

Help with the cramping and the tremors but doesn't get rid of them.

Going to get a scale today and some gelatin capsules. 

Research | What is Parkinson's Disease?

I have many questions...

1. Early signs of Parkinson disease included smaller handwriting, a soft voice, reduced facial expression, slowness of movement, tremor, and changes in walking (shuffling) and posture (stooping). Not all Parkinson's patients have all of these symptoms. To be diagnosed with Parkinson disease, a person needs to exhibit at least two of the four "cardinal" symptoms, which are tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movement), rigidity, and postural instability. In order to be diagnosed you must have bradykinesia.

• Tremor: shaking of a hand, arm, foot, leg, chin or lips. In Parkinson disease this happens while the limb is at rest, but sometimes happens also with movement.
• Bradykinesia: Unusually slow movement of the limbs or entire body.
• Rigidity: Stiffness of the muscles in the hand, arm, foot, leg or the trunk and neck. People may experience righty as muslce tightness, but they may also experience it as painful, cramp like sensation in the muscles or as muscle spasms. Sometimes an achy, died feeling may be the only indication of rigidity, and often, in the earliest stages, rigidity may be misdiagnosed as having a pinched nerve in their neck or lower back. 
• Postural Instability: Wobbly or unbalanced standing or walking. *People living with Parkinson disease sometimes fall as a result of orthostatic hypotension (also called postural hypotension). This medical term means that on arising, a person's blood pressure drops precipitously. Parkinson disease affects the autonomic nervous system, which is the party of the nervous system hat controls functions of our body that are not under voluntary control, such as stomach and intestinal motility, beating of the heart and production of sweat and saliva. The autonomic nervous system is also in charge of making sure our blood pressure remains stable when we stand up from a reclining or sitting position.

This list of four symptoms does not by any means describe the whole spectrum of motor symptoms of Parkinson disease. Many patients may have other motor symptoms not explained by these such as dystonia or dyskinesia, which are erratic, involuntary movements of the arm, leg, trunk or face muscles. 

patient note: I do notice that I have slower movement in my left hand and when pinching my fingers together the movement becomes slower over time. I also believe I have rigidity.

2. What is Parkinson's? Parkinson's is a neurodegnerative disorder that causes the dopamine producing neurons of the substantial nigra to die prematurely and the result is loss of smooth, full-range motion.

3. Patient Note: Am I going to have dementia? I'm suffering from memory loss and trouble continuing my thought process... which is the cognitive function called executive function of the brain that includes the ability to make decisions, solve problems and multitask. A big part of the executive function is working more and loses the ability to maintain important information in the brain while engaged in complex tasks.

For example, a healthy person is usually able to cook and read a recipe at the same time. While reading the next step in a complex recipe, the cook can remember to stir the vegetables that are gently sautéing in the pan. However, a person with Parkinson disease may have trouble juggling two tasks because of lapse in working memory.

Research | Self Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease

I remember as a Bipolar patient that I was never supposed to question my doctors. Society thinks that doctors know everything simply because they attend college for eight years. Most people think that doctors have their patient's best interests at heart and some do, but most are more concerned with the bottom dollar than the patient.

My diagnosis has evolved over the years. It's not an easy thing to be a bipolar patient and even harder to be a misdiagnosed one. The drugs that they put you on dope you up more than illegal drugs and they pollute your liver, kidneys and brain like any other. I will go so far as to venture to say that antispychotics, antidepressants, and benzos are the kind of drugs that make you crazier than you were to begin with.

But, I digress. I want to share with you my most recent findings that suggest that what I'm suffering from was caused by a combination of GMOs and pharmaceuticals. Western medicine has given me the diagnosis of Tardive Dyskinesia, but I'm discovering that Parkinson's Disease is my true diagnosis. I'm self diagnosing myself. I'm aware that many people will think I'm crazy (what's new?!), but I say that I'm crazy like a fox. I'm not being a complacent patient anymore. I'm doing the research, standing up for what I believe in and I'm sticking to it!

Over the last six months my disease has progressed tremendously. I've gone from merely having cramping and pain (rigidity) in my left hand and arm to cramping and pain in the left shoulder and neck to cramping and pain in my right hand, arm, neck and shoulder. Since October I've developed severe dizziness from standing up (I've learned to stand up slowly, but it doesn't matter) that makes me feel faint and I've fallen a few times. Since January I've noticed a steady decline in my thought process and I find myself unable to finish my thoughts that are voiced aloud in conversation.

After researching pharmaceutical options (only two drugs for Parkinson's and one is an antipsychotic. We all know how I feel about those!) I have concluded that cannabis oil is essential for the future of my health.

Here are my educated reasons for my self diagnosis of Parkinson's:

1. I was born in Minot, North Dakota in 1974. In 1970, rapeseed began to be mass-produced in that region. Interestingly enough thereare more North Dakotans that have Parkinson's than any other place in theUnited States. The common herbicide used during that time was 2, 4-D. For those not in the know, 2, 4-D was an ingredient in Agent Orange that was used in the Vietnam war. The high prevalence of the herbicide led the Center for Food Safety's report detailing how the herbicide is the reason for the greater numbers of Parkinson's in the area. Pesticides and GMOs are a leading cause of Parkinson's. I read an article that suggests that the herbicide was over everything in the Red River Basin area and babies crawling on the ground were highly susceptible to poisoning from it.

2. At every appointment my neurologist, which specializes in Parkinson’s, has questioned why my illness is progressing when typical Tardive Dyskinesia patients don’t usually progress. In fact, they are usually all better within a couple of years after taking antipsychotics. I’ve been off antipsychotics since 2011. I’ve done some research that suggests that the antipsychotics just kicked in my Parkinson’s earlier than usual.

3. My body presents the following arguments: I have a tremor, rigidity and cramping throughout my body, andorthostatic hypotension which leads to postural instability (my blood pressure gets low and I faint or fall) with dyskinesia movements (looks like my left arm is dancing, uncontrollable), and I'm beginning to experience cognitive dysfunction (I can’t finish my thoughts that are said aloud in conversation). I have three out of the four defining characteristics that are necessary to diagnose Parkinson's.

4. Unfortunately, western medicine dictates that Bradykinesia, the last characteristic, must be present to diagnose Parkinson's. Many patients who are eventually diagnosed with Parkinson's suffer from all of the symptoms for years, maybe decades  before they actually get to the slow and jerky movements. Most Parkinson's patients are diagnosed at the median age of 67.

After researching pharmaceutical options (only two drugs for Parkinson's and one is an antipsychotic. We all know how I feel about those!) I have concluded that cannabis oil is essential for the future of my health. I'm taking steps to attain the substance legally since it is not legal in the state that I live in.

I have to move to Colorado and I'm partially unhappy about my decision. I have children here and it will tear me apart to leave them, but it is my only viable hope to living a pain free life.

I have an appointment scheduled in a couple of weeks to see my specialist, Dr. Varga, but I'm unsure if she can do anything to help me. She is one of the best neurologists in Austin. She's good at being a western medical doctor, but I'm not sure if she's up to date on cannabis research and that's the kind of neurologist I need.

I may not have a medical diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease, but I know what's going on with my body. I scorn all western medicine anyway. It doesn't matter what they say. It only matters if the cannabis oil works for my symptoms and it does and that's A-FUCKING-OKAY for me!