by icanrantallday
Can medical marijuana be used to relieve the symptoms of Tourette Syndrome?
We don't know the scientific answer to that question because it is illegal in most places to study the effects of medical marijuana.
Before I talk about how medical marijuana has affected me, let me share a little background about my experiences with Tourette Syndrome...
Growing Up With Tourette Syndeome
When I was younger, I had a case of motor tics in my neck and jaw (tensing muscles) and I also would often feel shake my head back and forth, which caused a lot of discomfort and headaches.
Other tics included blinking and crossing my eyes, making a weird bird sounds with my throat (kind of pushing my tongue upwards to push the air out into a "whistle noise") and eye crossing with my eyes lids closed. These tics would each happen very frequently.
I didn't realize that anything was wrong with me when I was young. Then around age 6 or 7, my mother started getting really worried about my tics. She began to reward me with a quarter for every minute I could sit still.
This strategy did not work at all for me.
I tried to control most of my tics and it was hard. As I went through middle school, the tics that stuck with me were mainly the head shaking, neck muscle tensing, and eye crossing. I also gained a new one which was tensing up my jaw.
How Cannabis Relieved My Tics
It was around the end of 8th grade when my best friend introduced me to cannabis for the first time. I began to smoke a joint about once a week, and apparently that was enough to reduce my tics by a substantial amount.
At this time, I had no idea it might be the cannabis helping me control the tics. I thought I was either finally growing out of them, or I had built up enough self-discipline to stop.
As I went through high school, I started to smoke more often. By the end of senior year I was smoking a bowl or two every few days. I cannot recall having tics during this time.
After getting accepted into college, I started smoking more frequently. During my first year I smoked almost every day. By my second year of college I was smoking cannabis multiple times a day.
I didn't notice a single motor tic during these two years while I used cannabis frequently. I was able to maintain a 3.5 GPA with three majors. (2 science, 1 classical studies) and get accepted to a study abroad program. Life was getting better every day.
Then I Lost Access To Cannabis And The Tics Came Back
Now I'm studying overseas and have no access to cannabis.
After 14 days abroad, I noticed my first tic since the beginning of college.
I thought to myself, "that was weird" and shrugged it off. The next day, I had a few more tics re-appearing (neck and jaw tensing).
As more days passed, the tics started to increase in frequency and in strength.
After being without access to cannabis for a month, it's now becoming a serious problem for me.
I've noticed the head shaking and eye crossing tics slowly coming back after years of absence. It's been ruining my concentration and I sometimes question my sanity. Now I find myself re-reading every word or sentence multiple times. It takes so much mental effort to stop tensing my muscles that it's difficult to focus on even simple tasks.
My neck and shoulders feel so tense that I went in for a massage the other day, which only alleviated the pain for a few hours before the tics started taking over again.
I've been trying to use daily meditation to relieve the constant pain and tension, but I've seen no real signs of improvement yet.
The tics are now coming every few seconds. It's difficult to write this. I have no idea how to deal with this.
I just know that I cannot stand these tics anymore.
~~~~~~
Read original post by icanrantallday
We don't know the scientific answer to that question because it is illegal in most places to study the effects of medical marijuana.
Before I talk about how medical marijuana has affected me, let me share a little background about my experiences with Tourette Syndrome...
Growing Up With Tourette Syndeome
When I was younger, I had a case of motor tics in my neck and jaw (tensing muscles) and I also would often feel shake my head back and forth, which caused a lot of discomfort and headaches.
Other tics included blinking and crossing my eyes, making a weird bird sounds with my throat (kind of pushing my tongue upwards to push the air out into a "whistle noise") and eye crossing with my eyes lids closed. These tics would each happen very frequently.
I didn't realize that anything was wrong with me when I was young. Then around age 6 or 7, my mother started getting really worried about my tics. She began to reward me with a quarter for every minute I could sit still.
This strategy did not work at all for me.
I tried to control most of my tics and it was hard. As I went through middle school, the tics that stuck with me were mainly the head shaking, neck muscle tensing, and eye crossing. I also gained a new one which was tensing up my jaw.
How Cannabis Relieved My Tics
It was around the end of 8th grade when my best friend introduced me to cannabis for the first time. I began to smoke a joint about once a week, and apparently that was enough to reduce my tics by a substantial amount.
At this time, I had no idea it might be the cannabis helping me control the tics. I thought I was either finally growing out of them, or I had built up enough self-discipline to stop.
As I went through high school, I started to smoke more often. By the end of senior year I was smoking a bowl or two every few days. I cannot recall having tics during this time.
After getting accepted into college, I started smoking more frequently. During my first year I smoked almost every day. By my second year of college I was smoking cannabis multiple times a day.
I didn't notice a single motor tic during these two years while I used cannabis frequently. I was able to maintain a 3.5 GPA with three majors. (2 science, 1 classical studies) and get accepted to a study abroad program. Life was getting better every day.
Then I Lost Access To Cannabis And The Tics Came Back
Now I'm studying overseas and have no access to cannabis.
After 14 days abroad, I noticed my first tic since the beginning of college.
I thought to myself, "that was weird" and shrugged it off. The next day, I had a few more tics re-appearing (neck and jaw tensing).
As more days passed, the tics started to increase in frequency and in strength.
After being without access to cannabis for a month, it's now becoming a serious problem for me.
I've noticed the head shaking and eye crossing tics slowly coming back after years of absence. It's been ruining my concentration and I sometimes question my sanity. Now I find myself re-reading every word or sentence multiple times. It takes so much mental effort to stop tensing my muscles that it's difficult to focus on even simple tasks.
My neck and shoulders feel so tense that I went in for a massage the other day, which only alleviated the pain for a few hours before the tics started taking over again.
I've been trying to use daily meditation to relieve the constant pain and tension, but I've seen no real signs of improvement yet.
The tics are now coming every few seconds. It's difficult to write this. I have no idea how to deal with this.
I just know that I cannot stand these tics anymore.
~~~~~~
Read original post by icanrantallday
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