It will be true that Marijuana which is purchased on the street is not safe for medicinal use. It is grown with insecticides, and fungicides.Psychoactive Herbs

At one point my seizures became so uncontrolled that my MD's had told me that there was nothing that he could be done to help me. No medication, surgery, diet, nothing. We had tried investigational drugs and an investigational device. "I can not promise you that I can keep you live from one day to the next.",  I had been told. My doctor had asked me if I really should be seeing him anymore - he can't do anything else. I know that he had tried. Several times I had died, 3 cardiac arrests, a coma, and 1000's of status epilepticus. I decided, I will try marijuana for a while because in about 2 month a new AED would be available. I took marijuana as an emergency drug - like ativan because ativan had stopped working. Marijuana worked instantly. It worked perfectly. It stopped all of my seizures. It did not make me groggy or feel 'out of it' the way that ativan had always done. I did not feel doped up. My head was bell clear, my memory was back, and I was not depressed. I was not sore, nor did I have a headache or dizziness, nor was I disoriented. I did NOT feel high. It was as if I never had epilepsy and had never taken an AED.

When I tried using it on a daily basis, like you would an AED, my seizures became worse. The THC in marijuana triggers seizures. I had been taking it PRN.

That was a problem. When I had taken the first time, as an emergency drug, I did not get high. If you take it chronically, the THC level in your blood increases so that then you will feel euphoric. Once I began feeling a high, I wanted to take it - for the high. This caused more seizures, which, I had thought would mean I should take more marijuana to treat more seizures, which only caused more seizures....

The anticonvulsant metabolite in marijuana is CBD. Some CBD, THC, and other metabolites are in marijuana smoke. So too is insecticide. Smoke is junk, and the incomplete combustion causes CO and ammonia - both toxic.

When you buy marijuana from the street, you don't know what you are getting. You never know what ratio of what metabolites are in one gram to the next, and since you have to clean the weed of seeds and stems, you do not know the mix of flowers and leaves.

You could lower the risk of burning it by heating it in a device known as a vaporizer. You get the same results but without the smoke.

This still leaves the problem of dose and self medication because of the THC. Most marijuana plants today have been modified to increase the level of THC, and plants have been feminized, no male plant (the THC is mostly in the female flower). People have increased the THC to 24 percent.  Strains of marijuana do exist with low THC and high CBD, but I know of no strain of marijuana that has no THC.  The more epilepsy therapeutic strains of marijuana can be available in states where marijuana is legal as a drug, but would be unavailable anywhere else.

Prescribing marijuana for a specific condition could be a legal problem for an MD, because someone could sue a doctor for experimenting on them.

Some people who want to use medical marijuana want to use it to legally get high. Some people who want to use medical marijuana want it as a medicine but do NOT want to live stoned. I had spoken to many people who want it as a medicine, but without the high. One lady that I spoke to who has M.S., had said that she has 3 small children to raise. She is a mom. She wants to be a mom. She has M.S., and wants a medication that works. There are  a lot of people who like that lady, and like myself, do NOT want to be stoned. Even if smoking too much would not trigger seizures in me, I still do not want to become high. I have lesser quality of life because my reality is messed up by seizures and their related epilepsy misery. I want to be normal / healthy. Being wasted or stoned is not normal mental health. Even if you are not stoned out of your mind, your sense are screwed up, you are clumsy, feel and behave goofy. Your memory is affected. You have tunnel memory. You can concentrate very well at one thing, are poor at everything else. Since being stoned is an abnormal psychiatric behavior, the drug causes psychosis. I do not want a drug messing up my quality of life, any more than I want epilepsy messing up the quality of my life.

I would like a no THC plant. Perhaps that may be possible. All marijuana is Hemp. But not all hemp is marijuana. Hemp also grows as a plant for its fibers - used to make rope, cloth, paper, and other products, the seed is used as a food in certain bird food mixes, and the seed is also used as food for people (the hull is removed). Oil is also pressed out of the seed. (Once I was in a health food store. They had "Hemp Milk", which is a 'health food drink' made with hemp. It is white liquid made with hemp protein meal, vanilla, and honey. It tasted awful, like toasted sunflower seeds).

I wonder if anyone has tried to use the (Non THC bearing) Hemp as a medicinal plant the same way that marijuana is used? Smoked, heated, or perhaps eaten.

 I would like to ask anyone who is now using marijuana as a medicine, if  you do get high, and perhaps enjoy the high, would you use it if it did not make you high?

* Some people smoke it as a medicine smoke it because they can not afford medicine. It can be a folk medicine.

Also, to anyone wanting cheap 'weed'. I used to live in IOWA. I was in the middle of farm country. Hemp used be grown in IA during WWII for hemp rope and for making sail cloth for the NAVY. A lot of hemp still grows as weeds in ditches, 'ditch weed'. People smoke a lot of marijuana in IA Some people use it as a medicine* and a lot of people use it because it makes you feel high. 10 percent of the people - including adults - smoke marijuana. If you do not draw attention to yourself, and if you are using it medically, the police leave you alone. There is a very high rate of Methamphetamine, and Oxycontin drug abuse out there. There are a LOT of meth labs. Police have to take care of meth and Oxycontin - which is near impossible because the people who sell it don't want any 'problems'. They do not have time to arrest someone smoking marijuana for a medical problem.  Don't sell it, or use it around/with children, and don't commit any other crime.

This ditch-weed grows all over the place. People who live there and use marijuana know better than to bother with it. Sometimes someone will find a lot of plants and collect shopping bags full of it.  Dogs pee on it. And the police will arrest someone walking around with 10 pounds of it. Sometimes dealers will collect ditch weed and put chemicals on it that will make you feel high, including artificial THC. People have made artificial THC, sold under various names, such as K2, or Spice. These chemicals will make people high, like marijunana, but are more powerful. They are not safe. People end up in Emergency Rooms with serious conditions, including hallucinating for several days. Governments have made these drugs illegal. When you buy marijuana on the street you don't know what additive are on the plants. Some people put poisons on the plant. Real (pure) marijuana is safe.  Adulterated plants are know by many names, such as skunk.

If I ever needed to use it again (I had stopped a long time ago), I would use it only if were a life-death decision. Today I have a newer drug which keeps me out of the ER, and is pretty good as an AED.

I do not believe that threre is any gate way drug. The decision to put a substance in your own body is the door that you had opened. You are the 'gate'.

I want a _healthy_  life as it is.

I would like to see marijuana legal, controlled, pure, and under the care of an MD. It does work for a lot of people. It needs to taken under caution because it can not be for everyone, and it should not be used by pregnant women or if they are breast feeding. Drug companies want to sell marijuana, because there is a LOT of money in it. They are working on laws and extracts and every legal manor to get this drugs on the market in the USA. Some day, they will succeed. I hope that it is regulated so that the drug will be pure, and the metabolites consistent.  

Because of the illegal aspects of using marijuana I feel unable to recommend it to anyone. However, my son has epilepsy (uncontrolled) and has simply refused to stop using it. I must say that generally speaking it does seem to keep him chilled out and calm which is probably helpful in preventing seizures.  My main concern though is the current trend here in the UK for the nasty nasty stuff that is called "SKUNK". I really believe that this type of marijuana is potentially very very dangerous indeed. It is known and proven to have a detrimental effect on many users and can cause dreadful mood changes, depressions, anxieties, paranoia and aggression, to name just some of the "mind altering" effects this strong stuff can have. It's NOT WORTH THE RISK. If you insist on using maryjane ...keep to the milder type of weed...IF YOU ARE ABLE TO TELL EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE BUYING.!!!!!  Be very careful....love from Susie H

My cousin has lung cancer that has metastasised to other places, including her brain. She had a brain tumour removed last week and is now taking Dilantin. Before the op she was taking a drop of hemp oil a day to deal with the cancer.
here is the question:
CAN SHE TAKE HEMP OIL AT THE SAME TIME AS SHE IS ON DILANTIN?
thanks...

ive been smoking at night before bed for years, ive always had trouble falling asleep so i cant blame it on the epilepsy meds...i can say however i feel more than ever that i have to watch my sleep levels. i didnt start having seizures until i was around 20, im 35...i may have had some teeensy episodes that went unoticed earlier. anywhoo, i was on dilatin for 8yrs and then it stopped wrkng(not that it was ever perfect), started lamactil...that didnt go so great, then we added topamax, pretty good combo, not perfect but best so far...lotta pills. had to switch to generics because of price(btw, did you know how much you can save going to costco? you dont have to be a member. at h.e.b. & walgreens, cvs, those pills cost between $460-$580 @ costco $38, $56). one time they switched the manufatcr w/out telling me and i freaked out, it was like i was going insane!!!! awful!!!!! i called them the crazy pills, now they are super careful and sweet... anyway, my real question was, the other night i went to bed w/out smoking and i had a small siezure just in my legs in the early hours of the morning. i would never have known, except of course the soreness...now those of you that have been expiramenting, or have tried and then quit, do you think this could be like a weird epileptic withdrawl symptom? if so can i stop it? i have a kid and i dont want her to know about this, i always planned on finding an alternative by the time she was old enough to reach my hiding spot and i only do it now aftr shes asleep...i dont want to teach her its ok to break the law, kids dont get the difference. hell most adults dont!!!

1. I have never ever had a fit when I smoked natural weed or realhash in the past and I usedto smoke it like it was fags and i believe it could help with some people's epilepsy's, (HOWEVER) it could also do the complete opposite with some people too and I know someone else who told me he tried a puff once and had a bad fit so he didn't ever touch it again although he drinks quite alot!! So all I can say is each to their own risks!!! I take tegretol 200ml twice a day which isn't much compared to some peoples doses, but I won't lie when i did smoke i only really needed to take half my pills daily or none(but this certainly isn't a reason for you to do that)= im just telling you my experience with Ganja and epilepsy!!!! Don't let weed take over your life anyway!!!!!!!! Smokings bad for ya as it is!!!!!    

okay, anyone with epilepsy and smokes pot is freakin ignorant. i have been there and done that.

is decreases your medication, and makes it stop working... and you will have a seizure! i have partial complex seizures, and smoked pot and had no effects for a while i was only having the seizures when i was sober, then i started smokin like every day and was loosing COMPLETE control of my mind, body, and everything.

i talked to my doctor about it OPENLY, and there are studies about it... ANYONE who tells you differently is stupid...

if you think a regular seizure is scary... i dont suggest smoking pot if you have epilepsy... it is probably the most stupid decision you could make with a health condition like that!

Hello cjad234 and all your replyers.  I have a Ph D in chemistry and I know that the solution of the epilepsy problem can be solved but not only with traditional AEDs which will turn you down to a zombie. Can´t understand why all AEDs made today only have one goal: To stop nerve signals to spread. The Nobel Price taker Arvid Carlsson told me that dopamine and the D2 receptor is the missing key. Thousends of epileptics cannot be helped by traditional AEDs. The problem is that many AEDs increase the blocking neurotransmitter GABA and the result is that the dopamine level will be to low and the result is memory loss sleepiness and no fighting spirit. And in such a condition new seizures can easily occure. Marijuana increases the dopamine level (as well as serotonin level).

That´s why marijuana sometimes can be a good ad-on preparate. Many people have been helped by marijuana, not because it is an AED, but it keeps the dopamine at a higher level. You can feel it because it helps you to focus on different tasks.

I have intractable epilepsy. All different AEDs were tested but without any luck. But when everything seemed hopeless my doctor tryed to add a small amount of amphetamine with phenobarbital and dilantin. Suddenly I was totally free from seizures and could live a normal life. This happened 45 years ago and I am still taking this mixture. So of course I am very curious about how it works and even more surpriced why the effects of marijuana has been totally neglected. But it is probably because the abuse risk.

The effect of grapefruit is pure biochemistry. I think you know that phenobarbital is an enzym inducer. That means that your liver produces more enzymes called CYP450. Enzymes in this group are responsible for the increased turn-over of many medicines and vitamin D. Lack of vitamin D leads to osteoporosis.

Grapefruit contains many substances which block these enzymes. The result is that the concentration of any of your AEDs may increase. The concentration of vitamin D increases. If you take phenobarbital the concentration will increase. This mechanism will make it possible to take a reduced dose and still obtain the same effect as a full dose would give. But I would advise everybody who make this experiment with grapefruit juice to test the concentration of the AEDs in the blood. We are slightly different and the result must be checked.

Regards to you all

Bo Wikner 

okay im going to start off saying i was Prescribed by a doctor trileptal along with many many pills a prescription pill that treats depression and SEIZURES and it caused me to have way worse side effects PLEASE READ ON.... no way medicine is way worse than marijuana I smoked marijuana when I was younger because I was depressed and bored because I wasnt in gymnastics and acrobatics anymore which was my dream I was a #1 gold medalist in acrobatics tumbling ect. since I was 2yrs till I was 10 and when i was around that age I smoked it to calm down because without being in acro i had way too much energy and emotional problems on my mind as when I was in acro it kept me extremely busy and focused but it was causing my grades to drop because i didnt want to do anything but compete and join Cirque Du Soleil when a coach from cirque named Nicoli begged me to join since i was one of the best and got 1st at nationals and accepted to belgium for junior world in 1997 at age 9 MY DREAM GOAL STILL TO THIS DAY is to join CIRQUE! so my mom and grandma thought I should focus on my education more and take time off but it just made things worse for me in school as far as paying attention goes i tried smoking marijuana and it helped alot for me to relax with mood swings and puperty when I was 13-14 I got back into Acro and competed in two groups a trio and a mixed pair I mean I was so good I competed with Shanae booth and Arthur Davis who are now in cirque and have been on americas got talent and performed a trick "I" Came up with but anyways I Got an Invite to an Audition in cirque and For Celine Dione's Production DRAGONE just like a Cirque show and i was still smoking marijuana to over come anorexia and bulimia but I ended up Tearing a Ligament in my knee and having re-constructive surgeries (I was put on vicodin morphine and other pain killers after surgery and they sucked they made me nauseas and edgy I went through withdrawals compared to heroin.... so I smoked Marijuana to ease pain nausea and marijuana had no come down withdrawal effect it made me happy and almost forget how upset I was about breaking my knee and actually allowed me to eat) then after surgery I joined my local gym began coaching and training again then ended up tearing my ligament again and used as little pain killers as possible and stuck to marijuana as my source of pain relief. I went to a phsyciatrist after the surgery because I was so depressed and upset with life that I could never compete or do the things I was able to do before and the dr's diagnosed me with post traumatic stress disorder from injuring my knees and loosing my dream career and diagnosed with anxiety and bipolar and manic depression and anorexia so they put me on all these pills like Trileptal Risperdol Paxil Zoloft Valium Xanax Abilify Geodon Wellbutrin Buspirone Clonidin Prozac Seroquel and many other pills I cant even remember but They all gave me long term problems that are permanent Tardive Diskenisia is a disorder that causes uncontrollable muscle movements Im very fidgety when I dont have anything to do with my hands I have a Social phobia its hard to be around a crowd I've never met and when I have a panic attack My muscles Shake and sway to relax and at night before I sleep my legs shake whithout me realizing and I quit smoking marijuana when I was put on pills I hated it I was a zombie lathargic high manic moodswings that got worse with every different pill so finally on April 20th 2005 or 2006 (420) i told my grandma I was going to stop taking pills for the day before and the day of and I Was going to see how much better it made me feel after being on pills for over 2yrs .... It made me feel better than I ever felt in those 2yrs My depression was completley It Treats my Anxiety if i get too overwhelmed and stressed out I'll Smoke Some Medical Marijuana And Relax I get real bad stomach pains in the morning and marijuana is the only thing that helps I get severe Manic Anxeity to the point where I Blank out and dont know whats going on and someone around me will have to sit me down and help me calm down to be able to smoke and as soon as I smoke the Relief is instant Nothing else has that all natural INSTANT Cure for all the problems a Vaporizer is the best way I Have My Medical Marijuana Precription and OCBC that allows me to legally have marijuana and grow My Little cousin has epilepsy and is now at the age of 15 and if trying to get marijuana prescibed to her she was also on many pills that caused her not top be able to play the guitar anymore and now she had a sugery that involves putting a difibulator in her throat and now she has trouble singer i think well she goes to a SCHOOL OF ROCK and now she is considering smoking or ingesting so i highly encourage you to find out if Marijuana Works for you.... Medical marijuana is definitly not for everyone and certain dosages and certain potencies are not for everyone If you dont need marijuana they please do not Try it But if you have taken prescription pills or are required to please consider Medical Marijuana Or Kava which is a methysticum plant that its roots of the plant have kavalactones and rhizomes that fall off the root of the plant and does the same thing anti depressants by sending seratonin and dophamine through nuerotransmitters though the blood to the brain seratonin and dophamine along with gamma are natural chemicals your body produces to make you happy and relaxed but when the body lacks seratonin it get depressed and out of wack well kava is an all natural plant that has no sideffects no withdrawals and you can buy it at the health food store and some grocery stores its called KAVA the Drops are called PHARMAKAVA and the tea is by Yogi brand kava tea natural stress reducer and pain and muscle relaxant its way better than any valium I've had Please consider an all Natural way instead of Prescription pills Its just a way for the government and fda to make money Our bodies were not intended to ingest man made chemicals or man made food for that matter food is extremely bad and can actually cause cancer i dont have enough money to eat organically and all natural but if i did i would because did you know even drinking cows milk can cause cancer anything processed enhances the chance of getting cancer our bodies are ran off of a PH balance and nuetral level of a consant 7 or a little above 7 can help fight against dideases they actually have this machine that cures alot of diseases by sending out light frequencies and it is known to help reduce tumours, cancer, parvo in dogs, herpes, insomnia anxiety depression and many other stuff even accupunctures helps with releasing toxins out of the body and if you do body cleanses such as colon cleanses and candida cleanses will help i drink all sorts of herbal teas such as calendula which is a natural anti biotic and helps with ulcers along with chamomile and i drink kava for stress and catnip tea for stress catnip is supposed to have to same qualities as weed just not as potent or effective but they give catnip to babies to help and prevent cauliciness or a fussing baby so if your not ready for marijuana or if marijuana is too strong then try kava and cat nip i promis just drinking tea will help Medical marijuana has saved my life in many ways along woth kava and other natural herbs like catnip skull cap fever few st johns wort and many other hers out there valerian root sage even i could go on for hours and dont mind if anyone has any questions i just know that it saved my life and gave me better morals in my lifestyle of living so thank you very mnuch if you took the time to listen and read my long sloppy mix match writting soory i ramble alot and while writting this to you I smoked my medicine and it helped me concentrate to write this.

I have 49 years old I had more than 30 years of epilepsy and many many seizures. I was rising in a religious family and start taking drug for epilepsy at 13. Marijuana was devil in my family.I manage to try one time marijuana when I was in high school and I sleep great! But I felt very guilty because of religious matter and I start my alcoholic career more seizures more pills more alcohol.In my point of experience alcohol it is the worst.I finally start smoking marijuana 2 years a go because of my chronic pain and my uncontrolled alcoholism I almost die several times several seizure increasing the prescription pills for epilepsy..I'm just going to tell you MARIJUANA IS TH E BEST MEDICINE IN THE WORLD FOR EPILEPSY.Note: if you used IT, USE IT only for balance you body brain and everything... be careful don't over used it.I quit drinking and if I ever drink again my body fell really bad why should I keep punishing my self when I can live balance with out seizures.Marijuana makes you thirsty and eat well and water doesn't go with alcohol plus when your intoxicated it with alcohol you eat less an soon die for sure, if that's what you want will be a pain in the ass....   slow and painfull. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A SEIZURE AGAIN smoke only just enough marijuana is so beautiful to live balance and with no fear of a seizure.SLEEPING PILLS HELPS TOOFeel free is you want an advice just of what my experience can tell