The main reason I was hesitant to begin medicating with marijuana 2 ½ years ago had to do with finances.  Times were tough.  At the time I could barely afford my doctor and prescription copays.  I knew I wanted to treat my conditions with marijuana medicated edibles, but was dismayed by how much dispensaries charged for them.  In the beginning the cost of my medical marijuana edibles did exceed what I had been paying for pharmaceutical medications.  However, after a few months my monthly medicinal expenditure became consistently lower than it had ever been since my chronic illnesses began.  There are three reasons as to why this happened.

The first is that marijuana replaced all of my prescription medication.  Medical marijuana serves as my anti-depressant, anxiety medication, sleeping pill, nausea medication, anti-inflammatory, migraine medication, it calms my nerve pain, and reduces my pain.  It does all of this without side-effects.  Not only did it replace all of the above mentioned pills, it reduced the amount I needed as well.  While treating my conditions pharmaceutically, I had to take pain pills day and night.  With medical marijuana, I medicated every evening, BUT not always during the day.  I only medicate during the day when I am going through a severe flare or when I am out of the house, pushing my body’s limits.  The only times I do not medicate when leaving the house are when I have to drive myself or am just running to the grocery store on one of my “good” days.   On an average day I am able to withstand my pain level without medicating until evening by doing two things.  The first is to medicate with the right dosage the night before.  It has been a process of trial and error, but totally worth it.  The second thing is most days I work with and around my limitations by not doing activities that severely increase my pain.

The second reason is that because I  no longer experience side effects, there hasn’t been a need to add more medications to my medicinal plan.  This includes the amount of over the counter medications that I was taking. In the past, the side effects I was experiencing were the cause for more pills.  No need for more medication has also reduced how often I go to the doctor.  Because my doctor has no reason to write prescriptions, I no longer have to see him monthly.  Another reason for not having to see my doctors as often is that I have also experienced improvements regarding some of my conditions. That is something that never happened to me while medicating pharmaceutically.

The final reason for the decrease in my monthly financial expense is I am cheap and always looking for ways to reduce cost.  The first thing I did was research nearby dispensaries on WeedMaps.  I looked to see who had my preferred products at the best price.  Then I sorted them by who offered the best sales or incentives.  But I didn’t stop there.  After crunching numbers, I discovered that I could save even more money by making my own edibles using medicated butters or cooking oils.  An example of my savings: If I were to purchase 1357mg of my favorite edible, it would cost $180! At best, with my favorite dispensaries specials and incentives it would cost $150! However, I can get the same amount of medication by purchasing a 6oz tub of medicated butter for $35 and bake my own edibles. By baking my own edibles, only buying a few premade products a month, and not having to see my doctor every 3-4 weeks for refills, the most I spend in a month is $100 for my medicinal needs. I hope to reduce this amount someday in the future by learning how to make my own medicated butter or oil, and maybe even learn to grow my own medication.

If I had known that medicating with marijuana would improve my daily life without costing an arm and a leg, I would have started doing so many years earlier.  Although to be honest, I would pay more if I had to, because the overall improvements that medical marijuana has made in my life are totally worth it.

Wishing you pain relief that doesn’t break your piggy bank,

The Disabled Diva

Tagged: abdominal adhesions, arthritis, butter baby, chronic illness, chronic pain, cost of medicating, degenerative disc disease, edibles, fibromyalgia, health, invisible disabilities, medical marijuana, medicated butter, medicinal marijuana, MMJ, MS, psoriatic arthritis, spoonie