“The diagnosis fell twenty years ago. I was 44 years old and already, signs of the disease for several years: unexpected falls, pain that I attributed to sciatica. Like any good doctor who neglects his own health, I treated it with corticosteroids. Until the day when, faced with the evidence, I consulted a neurologist friend at the hospital of La Pitié-Salpêtrière, in Paris. a lumbar puncture later, I officially had multiple sclerosis.
It has, inevitably, changed my life. Not right away, but little by little because this disease causes you to lose mobility. At the beginning, we stagger but we lean against the walls, we restore the balance. The day comes when we resolve to buy a cane, then a wheelchair, to continue going out, not to remain cloistered at home. I’m not the type to cry over my fate: life goes on. But she continues to sit rather than stand. I go out, I go to the theater, to the restaurant. The difference is that I can no longer catch a train on the fly, decide in the morning for the afternoon to go to Marseille. I have to anticipate everything: will the station platform be equipped with a ramp? The theater hall with disabled access?
My MS causes great spasticity
I am one of the few thousand patients who present with significant spasticity (mild contractures of the lower limbs) that do not respond to baclofen and that medical cannabis can relieve. Sativex, a drug containing two cannabinoids, obtained its marketing authorization in January 2014 but it is still not marketed in France. More recently, last December, a expert committee set up by the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) judged ” relevant to authorize the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes in certain indications “. A tremendous step forward! It was becoming urgent to get out of this aberrant logic. For years, I have been traveling regularly to Switzerland to get some, I am outlawing myself to buy this drug, which is however authorized in almost all of Europe..
This is because the CEPS (Economic Committee for Health Products) and the laboratory which has the license were unable to reach an agreement on its marketing price.
An ubiquitous situation
I have participated in many debates on the subject, engaged in the French League against multiple sclerosis, and I still do not understand where the sticking point is. What is certain is that this grotesque situation has lasted long enough. I am lucky to have a medical contact in Switzerland who prescribed me Sativex and thus allows me to get it. I feel “privileged” to be able to benefit from this drug.
Some people with multiple sclerosis like me smoke regularly. But that already presupposes knowing how to smoke! Which was not my case. When I tried it was a failure. My son said to me: “It’s normal, you crapotes!” “. And then I had never rolled a single joint in my life … Then, I tried the “space cake” version, a cake prepared by a cook, according to the precise instructions of an acquaintance of mine. An excellent brownie, by the way! Today I am unbeatable on the subject.
We do not control the dosage of THC
On the internet, you can find everything about Marrakech butter and the best recipes for herbal teas, decoctions and other preparations. The problem is that we do not control the dosage of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), one of the two molecules present in cannabis, responsible for its euphoric effects. The first three evenings, it didn’t do anything to me. I swallowed it at home, always in the presence of a loved one. And the fourth evening, surprise, I took off! I don’t know if I came across a lump of the cake, but I understood what “high” meant … I think it was on that day that I made up my mind to go get Sativex at abroad. If all the protocols for delivering the plant as a medicine are successful, as we hope, it will greatly simplify matters. Cannabis will finally be available in several forms (capsules? Herbal teas?) And sold in pharmacies. Therefore, patients will no longer need to cross the border to relieve their pain.
Read also
- The French, still fans of cannabis
- Medicinal cannabis authorized in the UK
