"I have been taking Klonopin for the PTSD, insomnia and anxiety which has been working very well for the last 20 years at .5mg at night. For pain I have been taking vicoden am up to taking three 7.5 vicoprofin and a 10 mg vicoden these are spread over an entire 24 hrs as my neck back and hips hurt so bad I cant stay asleep because of pain. I used to smoke pot which is legal in oregon and when I did I was taking on average 3 5mg vicoin a day and sometimes less. But since I moved the clinic I go to has a no pot policy… So they upped my pain meds..My regular Dr. left and now the new one is saying I basically don’t need my clonopin which saved my life as I got to the point my panic and aniexty stopped me from living life at all. She is also threatening to take my pain meds away. I am livid honestly without them I couldn’t walk 5 miles a day and do the simple things that consist of living. Can I stop the pain meds and smoke pot without the withdrawl I read about stopping the vicoden? help
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I’m terribly sorry for your current situation. Using med cann to help pt’s wean off opiates &/or benzodiazepines has been done by myself and the other HelloMD MD’s. Usually a slow, gradual course is done. For example, if you are using opiates on schedule tid/ thrice daily, then try exchanging one of the doses with only-cannabis products (with opiates on hand for "breakthrough" pain just in case). Once you find the proper mg cannabis dosage, one can slowly move towards "cannabis only" days for analgesia &/or for anxiety/ PTSD mgmt, thereby freeing you from the potential psych dependency/ abuse risk seen with both opiates and benzodiazepines when both of these classes of meds are used day-in/ day-out. To increase the likelihood of success, it is also imperative that you are performing CBT talk therapy or something related, mindfulness/ meditation work daily, daily mild exercise, and also PT for a truly holistic multi-modal treatment program for your anxiety/ PTSD/cervicalgia/ lumbago. Good Luck!
drpark
