When you see Jan today, it's hard to believe that he played football in the highest Swiss junior league until he was 14 and trained four to five times a week. That he passed, dribbled, tackled as much as he could. This phase of his life seems like a lifetime ago.
2015 - Jan is in the middle of puberty - the harbingers of his later diagnosed Parkinson's disease come forward. Jan is constantly tired and listless, he is plagued by pain and the first problems with concentration and memory lapses appear. The character changes that Jan goes through are also bad: he no longer feels anything, neither joy nor sadness. He seems cold and dull to his friends - many break off contact. Studies show that Jan's body is not producing enough dopamine, an important neurotransmitter. From then on he takes medication that supplies his body with dopamine and “restores” his original character.
Finally the diagnosis
At this time the young man was repeatedly tormented by severe pain. “Sometimes I couldn’t even tie my own shoes, let alone walk for long. For me, sport meant everything. When I was 16, I started smoking cannabis for my pain. And even though it wasn't medical cannabis, it helped me for about 20 minutes at a time. When the pain increased again, I rolled the next joint," he says. During an examination at Zurich University Hospital, a spinal cord puncture was finally carried out on Jan - far too late in his opinion. The then 18-year-old finally received the diagnosis of Parkinson's. And with her prescribed the Parkinson's drug Madopar. “At the beginning I only took half a tablet at a time and was immediately able to walk upright again.”
The medication marked a turning point in Jan's life. His life energy and his ability to concentrate return. Jan completes several trial apprenticeships and finally begins an apprenticeship as a chef in a retirement center with a restaurant. He enjoys the varied teaching, gets good grades and is valued by the staff. "It was a good time. “The work was fun, I was able to move out of home and start a shared apartment,” he reflects.
Disaster before the end of the apprenticeship
Unfortunately, the effectiveness of his medication decreases over time and the symptoms of his disease increase. He is often plagued by pain attacks and twitches during working hours. His poor physical condition leads to poorer academic performance. A few months before the final apprenticeship exam, Jan and his training company pulled the ripcord. “It just didn’t work anymore – I had to stop my apprenticeship shortly before the exams. Even the five-minute commute by bike exhausted me. It was no longer possible to hold on to entire shifts.” Unfortunately, the IV refuses to allow Jan to complete his apprenticeship in another company. The reason: His illness had already progressed too much.
Jan's carefree years
What does a young man do when he can't and isn't allowed to work from one day to the next? He enjoys life. “I often just leave the house with my cell phone, the charging cable and my medication. In addition to my Parkinson's medication, I was also prescribed the sedatives Temesta and later Xanax. This meant that I could move again without pain and that – thanks to the opiates and cannabis – I was able to approach people more openly. Jan is successful with women and often sleeps out with old and new friends. Looking back, he describes this phase of his life as the “best time”. Only there is one problem.
The medication trap
Jan's body gets used to the constant medication and demands ever higher doses. «After three years, around 2020, I realized that I was addicted to medication. As soon as I only had five tablets left in the glass, I panicked and had to compulsively get new medication. Looking back, he is not proud of the fact that he had prescriptions written by several doctors and that he occasionally “made a scene in the pharmacy.” Jan knows that he was responsible for his situation at the time. But he criticizes the fact that there are no control mechanisms to prevent people like him from becoming addicted to medication. That doctors and pharmacy staff do not question consumption more specifically. And he admits: “I have become bold. I often lied and bought two or three doses of Xanax at a time from the pharmacy to satisfy my addiction.
Over time, he changes as a result of taking medication: old friends and his family do not recognize him and sometimes turn away. “I didn’t care about anything, Xanax made my life easy. I didn't think about the consequences." Even when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, he didn't visit himself in the hospital. “I just didn’t have the courage,” he says sadly. He realizes that things can't go on like this, but doesn't have the energy to change his situation.
The total crash
After three years, Jan is so dependent on painkillers and anesthetics that he even has to “take more” several times at night. As the addiction progresses, Jan develops an anxiety disorder and only leaves the house to get new medication. In the spring of 2020, Jan is a physical and mental wreck: he is constantly plagued by diarrhea, he trembles, sweats and is plagued by fears. When he doesn't know what to do anymore, he calls the psychiatric emergency room himself. “I told them to pick me up,” he says. There he undergoes “hard” drug withdrawal. “They wanted to prescribe me another sedative, but I resisted it. That wouldn't have changed my situation. I went through hell for around twelve days. I had diarrhea and vomited and lost around ten kilograms. But I persevered." Talk and movement therapy accompany Jan throughout his inpatient stay. After seven weeks, he left the clinic earlier than expected – at his own risk.
Medical cannabis as a support
To this day, Jan has never taken opiates again. “Just thinking about it makes my palms sweaty,” he says with a shudder. Instead, he has been relying on medical cannabis for a long time - and since 2023 with a prescription from his family doctor. Its effect not only reduces the pain of his Parkinson's disease, it also stabilizes Jan's mental state. “I feel clearer thanks to cannabis and my mood is much more balanced overall,” he says. He smokes three different strains of cannabis. An activating one in the morning, a calming one in the evening and a balancing one.
Since his withdrawal, Jan has become more concerned with himself again. He goes to acupuncture - when he can afford it - and does sports again. He also pays attention to his diet and how his body feels. Jan is feeling better physically again, although he can feel his illness progressing. Cannabis helps him endure the pain - but it can't take it away completely. As a result, his social contacts have also decreased. «None of the people from my wild years are with me anymore. But I have a few good friends and family that I can rely on. And who knows, maybe that's part of growing up and making life a little more boring?" he says, taking a drag from his joint and smiling relaxed.
