Moved to Veteran Help

Since i started with medical pot i stopped taking 3 diff pills, all benzos. Now i am working on getting off EFexer next. Have heard some pretty bad stories about coming off this.
MFT in oromocto really makes a difference in vets lives.
A big BZ to Fabian and his staff

I understood that VAC did not approve Medical Marijuana?
Question for other people on approval.
Are there many people that are approved - first time or appeal?

Just tossing this out there! I'm not trying to instigate a debate on the pro's and con's of medical marihuana, as I see it as a personal choice. I think it is suffice to say that Health Canada recognizes marihuana as a source of relief from many different ailment's, and it is for that reason that I applied for a prescription.

The process was really quite simple, however it involves an "out of pocket" expense, that varies, depending on what the doctor is charging. I chose to use https://medicalmarijuanaservices.ca/contact-medical-marijuana-services/ and their fee for processing an application is $310.00 + GST/HST. I contacted them and they emailed me a package that included all the necessary instruction's. The process also involves an interview via "Skype" with the "in-house" doctor. He will discuss your medical condition/disorder and determine what your daily dosage should be. I believe that the maximum he/she can prescribe in accordance with Health Canada rules is 5 g/day. Your package also instructs that you provide the name of the "licensed Provider" you intend to use. If your prescription is approved, you will receive notification from your Licensed Provider that you are now a client and you can begin "shopping". I should point out that my prescription is related to my "pensionable condition" so I ensured that the Licensed Provider I chose had "Direct Billing" with Veterans Affairs. My provider sent me a "consent form" to fill out and approximately 30 day's later I received a letter from VAC with their customary opening line, "We are pleased to inform you that you have been approved...yada yada.

A prescription is only good for 12 month's and must be renewed, however the cost to renew is considerably lower once you are in the system( approx $50.00) Veterans affairs requires that you renew your "requirement for billing assistance" if and when you renew your prescription.

I hope this helps some of you.

TripleT

Hum.... but can you carry it to Belize?

Legalise grass! It is way past due.

I take narcotic pain killers when certain symptoms of my PTSD come into play, or when wounds and injuries flair up and the pain is almost unbearable. The narcotics I did become addicted to but got off them. Still though for the really bad days I have to take them, averaging a dozen doses a month. I would rather smoke pot, as it is NONaddictive, works very fast and very well, and does not destroy other internal organs like my liver.

The only reason I have not taken the medicinal pot is because I cross the border to my cabin in the east Texas woods every year (living in the woods is my biggest therapy). Just found out this year though that the US Border Protection Agency will allow Cdn vets with the legal federal prescription to cross the border.

I am now looking to find out all the paperwork needed to get VAC to pay for the pot, where do I legally get it from, yada, yada. Really looking forward to it, and keeping those damaging pharmaceutical narcotics out of my body.

Pinger,
The other attendees at the Pain Clinic are very familiar with the phrase "breakthrough pain" and they are all civilians. The main doctor has a separate practice and specializes in pain treatment he and the other counsellors use the phrase regularly.

I go to a monthly Pain Group and they have lots to share on medications and doctors. It opened my eyes to the civilian side of compensation.

Here are two links to peruse:
Canadian Pain Coalition (canadianpaincoalition.ca)
Pain BC (painbc.ca) they have great webinars.

Moved to Veteran Help

I highly recommend EVERYONE who submits a claim or who goes to appeal boards reads the tables for guidance. (This was recommended by my Advocate prior to one of my appeals.)

This helps to clarify what you want to say about your condition into VA speak. Kind-a like writing a PER - there are key phrases and words that let you know where you stand without knowing the score.

I found that reading the tables gave gave me better understanding of the rules VA uses.
For example: I knew that my meds kept pain at 3-4/10 which I could manage with but a storm, stress, overwork, too much exercise and I could go to an uncontrolled 8 or nine very fast.
After reading the table I knew how to phrase these episodes of uncontrollable, intolerable, please kill me now pain. i.e. "Breakthrough pain"
If I hadn't read the table I would've missed that "phrase" which is the fine line between a "4" and a "9" and probably would not have received the rating I did.