Patient:
Lydia Heather Blumberg
Age:
33
Condition/Illness:
Fibromyalgia, anxiety, depression, migraine headaches, gout, severe chronic back/neck pain.
Home:
San Francisco
Using medical cannabis since:
2000
WHY DID YOU START USING MEDICAL MARIJUANA?
I originally started using medical marijuana for migraine headaches, but I found that it was also useful for my fibromyalgia pain. Then I was involved in a car accident, which left me with severe chronic back and neck pain. During that time, I was laid off from my job and lost my medical insurance. At that point, it was easier and cheaper to acquire medical marijuana than pharmaceutical medications.
DID YOU TRY OTHER METHODS OR TREATMENTS BEFORE MARIJUANA?
The doctor had prescribed Cafergot for my migraines, which not only did not help at all, but also caused severe side effects that I could not tolerate, such as increasing my anxiety (which was already pretty bad), and causing a painful pins-and-needles sensation in my hands and arms. I spent my severance check on a few months’ worth of treatment from a chiropractor, which did help somewhat. I have tried numerous medications: nerve pain blockers like Neurontin, muscle relaxers such as Baclofen, sedative painkillers like Darvocet and Vicodin. For the most part, the side effects from these medications are not worth the benefits for me. Neurontin makes me fat and too zoned-out to work for a living. Baclofen makes me dehydrated, which exacerbates my gout . . . then I can’t walk. Opiate painkillers are addictive and give me stomach problems. The side effects of marijuana are mostly good, so why would I want to use any of that other stuff?
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE OR PROBLEM FACING MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS IN CALIFORNIA?
Right now, MMJ patients have no protection against being fired—just for being a MMJ patient. Even if you are an exemplary employee—and you never medicate before work or at work—your company can fire you. That’s messed up. I’m glad I work for an employer who would not discriminate against me based on my status as a MMJ patient.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO FOLKS WHO ARE SKEPTICAL ABOUT MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE?
Do some Internet research about the benefits of MMJ, or check out an ASA meeting. [You’ll] find a room full of normal people who just want safe access to their medicine. (Jasen T. Davis)
Our “Profiles in Courage” features are intended to highlight the problems—and solutions—that medical marijuana patients face every day.
