I would like to try Sativex for muscle stiffness. My GP isn’t allowed to prescribe it. My neurologist at Walton isn’t allowed to prescribe it. I have said I would pay, but they say they still aren’t allowed to prescribe it! How have you mamaged to obtain it?
Hi, I got it privately from e-med, you need to register (£20 I think), send them a letter to confirm you have ms, then request Sativex, it costs £15 for the private prescription, then shop around because the price varies quite a bit, the cheapest I could find was Dicksons in Glasgow where it costs £412 , this is for 3 bottles which each contain 90 sprays. Dicksons will post it out to you. I find it takes the edge of my stiffess and if my legs feel tight it helps that, I know it is cannabis and they say they have taken out the bit that makes you high, I don’t care what they say, it makes me high, so I don’t take too much, just one or two sprays a day. Anyway, If you want any more info you can pm me if you want but think that is about it. Cheryl:)
My GP prescribes Sativex and has done since June 2010 when it was licensed for ms use. Before then she would write me out a private prescription which the local pharmacy would get. lt used to cost me about £220 - then it was 4phials - now it comes in 3phials - about 90 sprays in each. l have never found it to give me a ‘high’ as Cheryl has said - ‘Lucky Cheryl’ - l take about 4/5 sprays before going to bed to help with the pains in my legs. l do sometimes use it during the day to relax my muscles. l have tried the real thing - but l did not like the feeling of not being ‘in control’ in fact l found it quite frightening. Lots of ms’ers do use the natural stuff - and swear by it. Sativex is used now for cancer patients to keep control of pain - as it is so much safer to use then morphine - which is also addictive.
The ‘criteria’ for being prescribed Sativex is that you should have tried and failed with other muscle-relaxant meds that are in regular use such as Baclofen and Tizanidine. l expect you have read up on the info about Sativex - more and more countries are now prescribing its use. The MSRC site has usually the best info. There magazine Pathways is always very informative - if you don’t subscribe - then it is worth getting. l can’t understand why so many folk can not get their GP’s on the case. Mine was all for it. She said if she had ms she would certainly use it. And she promised me that she would get it for me as soon as it became licensed. Not many of the meds that pwms do take are for ms use but for other conditions such as epilepsy/bi-polar. At least Sativex is ‘herbal’. And the part that causes euphoria has been removed.
l am certainly not the only one using it - so lets hope others answer your question as well.
Hope l have been of some help to you.
Frances.
Lol Franes, that’s what everyone says when I say it makes me high but to be honest I wish it didnt cos it limits when I can take it, I couldn’t risk even one spray when I need to drive or go to work. Also my family are getting fed up with all the jokes I tell when I am high, lol. Cheryl:)
Where am l going wrong then Cheryl – l spray it under my tongue - ghastly taste isn’t it - Can you tell me if its alright to have a drink [water/tea] straight after - cos l am wondering if l am ‘washing’ it off. But, like you - l only take it in the evening before bed. Certainly not if l am driving. When l use to take Baclofen/Tizanidine the side effects were so bad that l would not be able to get into a car. All l wanted to do was flop on the sofa. l could not even hold a book to read.
As someone who would be legless if l drunk one glass of wine - l would have thought l would be effected by the cannibis spray.
Life’s not fair.
Frances.
Hi again Frances, I wasn’t good on baclofen either and if I took zanaflex I needed to have a sleep,it’s a shame actually cos zanaflex worked well, that is when I was awake, lol. Yes, I am also legless with one glass of wine. The sativex, good thinking Frances I never thought that you might wash it away by having a drink after it. I often have some water after taking it cos I think it sometimes catches in my throat and make me cough. It does taste yuck but I try not to swallow, I just spray and then try to let it be absorbed without swallowing. Wonder why it makes me high then. I am quite small, not tall and not fat so maybe that’s why, I aliso like a giggle and it just magnifies my giggles, lol. Cheryl:)