Is a failed medication attempt and 2 years of therapy enough for a medical cannabis prescription without a formal diagnosis?
Posted by Swimming-Lie5369@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 40 comments
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Rough-Sprinkles2343@reddit
What do you mean “get C-PTSD” diagnosed. How do you know you deffo have it? You don’t you’re not a doctor. You may not have it.
As for MC, you just need 2 failed treatment but I’m pretty sure you need a diagnosed medical condition
Opposite_Radio9388@reddit
A lot of people with diagnosable mental illnesses know they have them. It's not like physical illnesses where physical tests or scans are needed; CPTSD, like other mental illnesses, are diagnosed through patient-reporter symptoms. We know the symptoms we have and can look up the diagnosis guides that clinicians use.
Rough-Sprinkles2343@reddit
A lot of people think they’re bipolar but actually they just have a personality disorder.
If any person from the street can diagnose themself then why do we need psychiatrists?
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
You generally go to a psychiatrist when you think something is wrong with you. They then help you confirm what is wrong.
And generally if youre going to a psychiatrist for help you have a pretty good understanding of your symptoms...
Rough-Sprinkles2343@reddit
They don’t help you confirm. They listen and then they decide if your symptoms fit the diagnosis.
Psychiatry is not patient led, it’s shared led. You think a patient is going to dictate to a psychiatrist what’s best for them. Especially if they’re psychotic?If that’s the case, what is the point of psychiatry?
You can’t compare a broken arm to a psychiatric condition. A 5 year old can tell if something is broken, they can’t distinguish between various mental health conditions stated in the DSM-V nor can the average Redditor.
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
You don't know the research and work I've done over the last decade to come to this conclusion. You don't know me, or my story. I asked a question about accessing care. I'm glad that dismissing my lived experience and understanding of myself is making you feel better somehow.
Rough-Sprinkles2343@reddit
Blah blah blah. You’re still wrong.
I don’t need to know your story to know what I said was right. You don’t GET a diagnosis. And MC will probably make your suspected PTSD worse. There’s no evidence MC works for mental health
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
As I said to multiple other people
I want MC so I can choose to smoke something that's very low in THC and is very high in CBD.
If I buy it from my street guy it's 20+% THC and makes me so stoned and lazy and tired and I don't like that.
I swapped to buying CBD online with <0.2% THC, but I'm worried about the regulations and the fact it's marketed as tea.
It's the CBD that helps my PTSD, not the THC. THC is just an annoying byproduct that hinders me.
If you don't get a diagnosis, how are people diagnosed then lmao? In order to have something given to you, you need to get it, right?
I genuinely don't understand what you're getting from this, from telling me the sexual abuse I experienced from the ages of 5-12 haven't left me with trauma that I've spent the last few years working through...?
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
Because I've been living with myself for 29 years?
GetCapeFly@reddit
Does your therapist know you’ve been smoking cannabis? In order to effectively reprocess traumatic memories, you need to do the emotional processing and have intact memory integration in the here and now - cannabis usually impairs this.
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
Yes she does. Funnily enough I don't lie to my therapist.
GetCapeFly@reddit
You’d be surprised how many people do.
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
For £55 an hour that sounds like a ridiculous waste of money 😂
Low-Captain1721@reddit
In general you would need to convince a specialist Dr that you have a diagnosed condition and have tried other therapies without success (either because lack of effectives or intolerable side effects).
There's no hard & fast rules however you are likely going to fall flat on both of the above.
If I was a specialist prescribing Dr I would also be concerned that prescribing cannabis may even perpetuate your condition (the one you haven't been diagnosed with).
Drug users do often cite perceived traumas as their reason for abusing drugs however it's not a Drs job to facilitate this..
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
Private companies prescribe for PTSD
Low-Captain1721@reddit
You're missing the point - you just think you've got PTSD, a Dr may not agree & feed your habit 😃👍
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
As I said to the deleted comments:
"Part of why I want a medical diagnosis is so I'm not turning to the street stuff that's stupidly high in THC anymore. I'm tired of not feeling anything from being high all the time and CBD helps me in day to day without impairing me."
I'm trying to lessen the habit and do harm reduction. But continue being judgemental. I'm just glad you've never been through childhood sexual assault and have to live with the aftermath :)
Low-Captain1721@reddit
A lot of drug abusers want the clean stuff.
I could draw you up a long list on my perceived childhood traumas, many people could. However that doesn't mean it amounts to a medical diagnosis.
I'm just telling how a Dr would see it, I can't help it if you don't like that.
Have a good evening. 😃
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
"the clean stuff"
Yeah, CBD doesn't get you high, you muppet. That's why I want it. To NOT be on psychoactive drugs.
Low-Captain1721@reddit
Medical cannabis contains THC (Muppet 😂).
I will let you argue with yourself.
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
Street weed is around 20+% there's no control
With medical cannabis I can speak to a provider and choose something very low in THC and high in CBD that doesn't come from a dodgy website that markets itself as tea.
As I've said to others. If you bothered to read.
Low-Captain1721@reddit
Probably yes tbh 😂😃
I'm just playing the devil's advocate, if you've got money to throw around a lot of private healthcare providers will diagnose you with more or less any psychological or psychiatric conditions (especially ADHD or PTSD) and the you can request medical cannabis to supplement your habit. 👍
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
I don't want to be on benefits thanks.
You really can't just admit you were wrong. "Devils advocate" my ass.
Low-Captain1721@reddit
Didn't know I was wrong but anyway I'm off to bed. 😃🥱
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
Your assumptions were that I wanted clean stuff high in THC to drug seek.
That's the opposite of what I want.
= You're wrong
But you can't argue with ignorance.
Night.
Low-Captain1721@reddit
Medical cannabis contains THC.. This is why it has to be carefully prescribed to those who need it to treat a medical condition...
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
And I'd have more control over having something that is very very low in THC and high in CBD.
Instead of the street shit which is high in THC and low in CBD.
As I said before. But you're obviously just choosing to be ignorant.
I thought you were going to bed. Or is my company too delightful for you?
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
"i've recently stopped smoking street "green stuff" and moved to buying CBD online because I'm sick an tired of feeling stoned out of my mind all the time and CBD seems to help as well, without the psychoactive effects."
If you actually read my post instead of jumping straight to your high horse, you'd understand that.
Competitive-Peace-54@reddit
You would need to be prescribed by a specialist doctor. Which would mean you would need to be under a specialist doctor who has the ability to prescribe it. It’s likely to satisfy the criteria for medical cannabis you would have to have satisfied the specialist that there is no other suitable alternative
Right now from your post it seems you might have tried one antidepressant and you’re seeing a counsellor which is helping you to some degree. By your own admission you’re not formally diagnosed with C-PTSD so it’s likely you would need to jump though a lot more hoops before you would get to a person willing to prescribe medical canabis.
Privately you might find an organisation who would do it but hers the thing a lot of private clinics won’t prescribe for mental illness because many people with mental illnesses misses drugs and it would need to be prescribed on the basis that the long term use would not make the mental illness worse
It sounds like you’re very early in the treatment for your illness and you would have to be seen/undergo a much higher level of input before being considered
Lottiepop420@reddit
The major ones I've heard of all treat mental illnesses?
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
Alternaleaf said I'm eligible due to my attempts at treatment, but they didn't say anything about formal diagnosis hence my question. I'm planning on sticking with my psychologist. She's the only one over the last decade that I actually want to go back to and have been able to stick with. I ain't giving that up!
Lottiepop420@reddit
They will want to see your medical records. You have to have something eligible for prescription and have tried two forms of treatment for it. Insomnia is eligible. Therapy and melatonin are two types of treatment. If you tell your doctor you can't sleep, they write it on your record.
I am assuming the above would be fine, I have ADHD diagnosed for years and had tried 3 medications and therapy so it was a 5 min chat and medical records confirmed.
Low-Suit-3125@reddit
I am sorry that happened to you. A big part of healing from trauma is grieving what happened to you. To grieve you need to be able to feel. Self medicating distances you from your painful feelings and pushes them away. Are you away from the people that harmed you in the past?
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
Part of why I want a medical diagnosis is so I'm not turning to the street stuff that's stupidly high in THC anymore. I'm tired of not feeling anything, but CBD helps me in day to day without impairing me.
I've spent a decade processing and healing from what happened and my psychologist is very happy with how far I've come, and so am I.
Low-Suit-3125@reddit
Are you planning to reduce your THC intake to eventually stop altogether? How does the THC help you feel day to day? You say you're tired of not feeling anything so I wonder if you have a lot of other stressors going on in your life that are making you dissociate. People need to be in a safe environment to come out of dissociation and begin feeling
Swimming-Lie5369@reddit (OP)
I stopped THC and replaced it with CBD a couple of weeks ago because I was tired of not feeling anything because I was smoking street weed really high in THC.
I'm looking for a legal way to buy high CBD low THC weed that is regulated and not from random online sites that promote it as "tea".
Low-Suit-3125@reddit
Ok I get what you're saying. And was you smoking to numb your feelings intentionally or was that just a side effect? And if you wasn't smoking to numb your feelings, what were the other reasons for smoking it that helped you in day to day life?
thetechguyv@reddit
It is incredibly easy to get a prescription, you're overthinking it for no reason. Just book an appointment.
HoraceDerwent@reddit
The antidepressant and therapy each count as one "traditional" method of health care, so you will be eligible.
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