My Epileptic husband needs help

[mooselips]

Good afternoon,
Not sure where to put this, but I am Gary's wife, and we need some help here.
Gary has been diagnosed with Epilepsy in 2007, after an accident while serving his country. It took 30 years, but enough scar tissue built up to cause Epilepsy.
Regardless of the cause, Gary takes Lamictal for his Grand Mal seizures, and now that Charlottes Web is legal in Florida, (where we moved from Ohio in August 2013) I was wondering if there are Drs. who can wean Gary from the Lamictal, and get him on the Charlottes Web.
Does it even work in adults?

I ask this after we have spent the a.m. in the E.R. again, after Gary has had repetitive vomiting, and such dizziness he can't stand up. In fact he has been sleeping since we arrived back home from the E.R. Where they gave him I.V. fluids, and an anti nausea drug.

Please help.
Lamictal causes signs of early dementia, and this is just so unfair for him to live his life this way.
I appreciate any help anyone can give us.
We live in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Thank you, Diane

Please feel free to move this thread to wherever it belongs....

 

[420 Motoco]

Re: My Epileptic husband needs help.

Hi mooselips,

Sorry for such a late response, I missed your post. Welcome to 420 Magazine.

Here is a quote from a Dr.

Tapering Lamictal
BY DOCTORDAN, ON JULY 15TH, 2007
Patricia writes in the following question:

I need advice on how to taper off of Lamictal. I am taking 100 mg a day. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Lamictal is an easy medication to get off of, as long as you don’t need it! Any time you stop a medication, you must consider the possibility that you really need it to feel as good as you do . . . even if you feel pretty lousy. It may be providing some measure of support that, once removed, will leave you feeling terrible. Deciding to stop a medicine is a decision that should be discussed with the prescribing physician. I also think it is a good idea to have a support person out in the real world that knows. That way, if your insight goes before your mood does, someone can kick your butt back into treatment. That person can be a parent, an adult child, a spouse, a close friend. It has to be someone you will listen to.

Since Lamictal is a medicine that is used for depression (most commonly for Bipolar Depression) you must consider the possiblility that you might get depressed. Non-phamacologic ways to avoid depression should be used to give you the best chance possible to stay reasonably happy. By exercising, eating right, getting enough sleep, working with a therapist, reading good books, and practicing your spirituality (whatever that is for you), you increase the chances of doing well off medicine.

So, you have talked to your doctor, you have talked to a friend, you are doing all the ‘right’ things . . . how do you get off Lamictal. I always like to go slow if I have the time. I will assume that you have been on the medicine for about a year and are doing well and have no specific side effects of concern. This is the best case scenerio, of course. I would decrease you dose by 25 mg every two weeks or so. That way you are off in about 6 weeks. If you need to get off quicker, you can speed it up. You can slow it down if you and your doctor want to play more conservative.

One final note, I’m sure you are aware of the risk of rash with Lamictal. This risk is NOT associated with a decrease in dose, it is only associated with an increase in dose. While you must go slow in the titration up, you do not have to on the way down. BUT, if you start having trouble, you cannot zzzzoooooommmm back to the high dose. You must resume the titration schedule and go back up slowly.

I wish you well!

–Dan Hartman, MD

Source: The Sidewalk Psychiatrist

I would like to point out while withdrawing off Lamictal will be much easier withdrawing using the concentrated oil (high CBD strain) if taken properly. I would also like to point out that 'Charlottes Web' is just a high CBD strain. Others like Harlequin, Cannatonic, AC/DC, Harle-Tsu will do the exact same thing as 'Charlottes Web' if they are more accessible.

These links can be very helpful as you locate your concentrated cannabis oil (high CBD strain): How To Make Concentrated Cannabis Oil

I'm thinking you might have to call on your 'friend' card (anyone you know that lives in a legal MMJ state).

The high concentrated CBD oil works very effective simply by reducing inflammation. Also great for pain which will help immensely on the withdrawals also. In fact, you want your high CBD strain about 1-1 ratio. 1 CBD to 1 THC ratio. The THC will help immensely with the withdrawals as well as it repairs glands, organs, damaged receptors etc.

Hope this helps. Any more questions please ask. I won't be on the forums the rest of the day, but, will be back in the a.m.

420 Motoco

 

[mooselips]

Re: My Epileptic husband needs help.

Hmm, cannot get the reply to thread to work, so I'll try this.
My husband takes Lamictal for Grand Mal seizures. He would have to be under a Drs. care to switch to the CBD strain...(which I know NOTHING about)
I do beleive we live in a legal to take Charlottes Web state, we live in Florida and from what I understand it was recently passed.
My problem is where to find a physician to help him wean off the Lamictal, and prescribe the CBD......

 

[Absolutes]

Re: My Epileptic husband needs help.

Hey there. Well, first I searched for a list of medical marijuana doctors. Hoping here in Florida maybe a list had already begun. But, the list titled "DFlorida medical marijuana doctors" only said "You don't have those laws yet" basically.


Then I found this
State officials prepping for Charlotte's Web rollout


A little ways down the page, unfortunately it says doctors will not be able to write perscriptions for cannabis oil until Jan 1st 2015.


Now, if you are okay with just regular cannabis extracts, I may be able to help you in that area. Cannabis extracts are my forte.. I'm in Florida as well.


It makes me sick to my stomach that I can't legally help. I wish you and your husband the best of luck. Hopefully at the beginning of this year, he will be able to get rhw medicine he needs!

 

[mooselips]

Re: My Epileptic husband needs help.

Thank you.
I'm guessing we will wait until the beginning of the year, then.
The precribed drug he is on, the Lamictal, makes him have symptoms of early dementia. It's a nightmare.
Cannot wait to get off this stuff!

 

[Absolutes]

Re: My Epileptic husband needs help.

That really does sound terrible. You should look into tapering off the medication, get information on how long it will take to get off it, and when it would be okay to start a new medication like cannabis oil. It may take a few months, and in that case you would be in luck with the new laws right around the corner.

The medication sounds terrible, and from all the documentaries and information I have seen and read about cannabis and seizures, I truly hope this will be the key to a happier and easier life.

Make sure you get out in November and vote!

Governor Rick Scott signed the Medicinal Marijuana amendment late Monday night. In November, there is to be another vote. We had nearly 1.6 million signatures on the petition, so hopefully the same type of participation happens then so we can get everyone the help they need.

 

[mooselips]

Re: My Epileptic husband needs help.

My husband and I signed the petitions! YaHoo, hurry up and get it done already! lol
I cannot taper my husband off the Lamictal until we have the cannabis oil prescribed, otherwise he'll just start having the seizures.
And by the way...once it's legal will the oil be covered by insurance, like blue cross blue shield?
How much does this stuff cost? And also it's hard to determine cost, if you have no idea of the dosage.
I will keep your emil addy tucked away in a safe place if I need to give you a call.

 

[Absolutes]

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to a lot of these questions. As far as insurance goes, that is totally up in the air. I will definitely look into other states and what the insurance policies on this are.

Yes that is a good point I didn't even think about that (good thing I'm not a doctor). I imagine the cannabis oil will not only help keep the seizures at bay, it will help with withdrawal symptoms as well.

As for price and dosage, I don't have much experience in dosing oral cannabis oils (I generally make dewaxed shatter, orally ingested oils I make at request.. but have only used once myself)

Pricing, from what I understand, is anywhere from $30-$80 a gram depending on quality of oil and strain. Please take most of what I am saying with a grain of salt, we haven't ever had this in Florida so I can only guess price based off of other states.

And good work on the petition! But that's only half the battle!
It makes me SICK, its like they are hiding the real details from us! Every time I see it on the news its a VERY brief little clip.

The petition was to get it on the ballot, now that it is on the ballot we will have another vote in November to sink these laws into place. If you have the time, you totally should vote! I'm trying to at least get the word out because a lot of people don't even know that its coming up. I'm so worried about that..

But anyways! I will look up information on these questions. Dosage and price specifically.

Will post back soon.

 

[mooselips]

yes, we are both registered to vote, and we will!