Natalie enjoys taking care of others. About her husband, her dogs, or about the track workers when she was still working as a health expert at the SBB.
But the 55-year-old is worried about her own health: her back hurts, her joints are stiff, her hearing loss is constantly increasing and Natalie is repeatedly surprised by symptoms of paralysis in her legs. The list of symptoms goes on. So much so that it costs her her job.
What is the reason for Natalie's suffering? The medical clarifications drag on and mutate into a ten-year odyssey through doctor's offices, operating rooms, MRI tubes and special departments. Every corner of her body is examined. First the diagnosis is made of fibromyalgia, then endometriosis. And finally, in November 2021, she received what is probably the most accurate diagnosis: systemic lupus erythematosus.
This disease is like a walking ghost that causes damage throughout the body. Strictly speaking, the immune system attacks the body's own cells, triggering inflammatory reactions.
Versatile illness, several medications, one solution
As diverse as the autoimmune disease manifests itself in Natalie's body, the medications prescribed to her are just as numerous: Tramadol, Dafalgan, Novalgin, and so on. These dampen their pain, but also their perception and ability to react. Natalie feels like she's been wrapped in cotton wool. The drug cocktail causes her stomach ulcers. And the increasing dependence on these drugs is a concern. If she doesn't take the tramadol for a few days, she has withdrawal symptoms such as shaking hands.
In search of a better solution, Natalie experiments with different types of cannabis. She finds a dealer who sells her high-quality indica cannabis.
Natalie can still clearly remember her first experience with this exquisite plant: “I was sitting on the couch with my husband and watching a film when I realized, 'Nothing is hurting me!' The relief was so great that I burst into tears."
It depends on the dosage
Natalie feels best when she drinks a small cup of cannabis tea morning, noon and night. It feels like having a beer after work on an empty stomach.
It takes up to four hours for the effect to develop. “Suppositories would work faster,” says Natalie. But for that she would need a doctor's prescription. Their cannabis therapy solution isn't perfect, but it's good enough to live with the pain.
The Indica helps Natalie achieve appropriate relaxation, satisfaction and more mobility in her limbs. This allows her to stop taking all of her synthetic medications and get rid of her stomach ulcers. The passionate puzzle solver regains her wit and attention. “I finally had another chance with Trudy Müller-Bosshard’s puzzles!”
If you rely on the black market
Everything went well for Natalie for around three years. Until January 2021, her sophisticated therapy system suddenly came to a standstill. Due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, their supplier can no longer deliver the cannabis. Natalie has to resort to synthetic medication again. With that, the stiffness creeps back into her limbs and the constant dizziness creeps back into her head.
Because Natalie can't trust the stability of her legs without the cannabis, she walks with a walker today. This means that walking with your dogs is hardly possible anymore. She can no longer make it up the stairs to her husband's bedroom. So she sleeps on the couch in the living room. Overnight, Natalie tenses up so much because of the pain that she has to consciously relax every single part of her body in the morning in order to get up. The toes, the wrists, the hips...
Exposed to arbitrariness
Trying alternative cannabis from other suppliers would be too risky for Natalie. The hemp could be laced with unknown substances that your body cannot tolerate or even harm it.
Although Natalie asks her doctor to do so, she doesn't want to prescribe cannabis for her. Further tests are needed, not enough is known about the medicinal plant. So she has been delaying Natalie's chance of legal cannabis therapy for years.
“It drives me crazy that obstacles are deliberately being placed in my way to improvement.”
Finding another doctor is difficult because hardly anyone publicly admits to prescribing cannabis therapies. Natalie doesn't dare to ask the doctor's office directly. “I’m afraid that they’ll label me as a jerk and turn me away.”
Desperation is written on Natalie's gentle face. «I hope that the hurdles to effective cannabis therapy will finally be removed. Legal access to the right strain of hemp would change my life.”
