Ryan Begin is not your average guy suffering from mild headaches or some barely felt back pain. First and foremost, he is a sergeant. And second of all, he barely escaped loosing half of his arm to an IED in Iraq. Naturally, he was immediately transported back to the U.S. because he was in need of reconstructive surgery. Now, when you’re missing a limb and you just came back from the war; that kind of thing usually doesn’t go away without any consequences. That’s why the surgery was accompanied with severe pain. At first, it was just the physical pain that was the problem. However, later on, his aggressive outbursts were becoming very hard to manage. After the surgery, he was prescribed with list of drugs that would put an average grandmother to shame, and his treatment could begin.
Painkillers & PTSD
We’re obviously not writing about Ryan’s case because he had a breakthrough with painkillers but we do believe it’s important to emphasize how the entire medical profession seems to be completely lost when dealing with PTSD. Most physicians just prescribe patients with a bunch of painkillers and send them on their way. The problem with painkillers, aside from the fact that sometimes they don’t work at all, is the side effects. We heard numerous testimonials where people compared taking painkillers as a road to hell. And when you hear what Ryan has to say about it, you tend to agree. He said the painkillers literally crushed his soul.
Side Effects
The social side effects of prescription drugs are so severe that you either actually decide to alienate yourself from society altogether or you decide to commit suicide. And that’s exactly what Ryan tried to do. It seemed that the drugs only worsened his PTSD symptoms. The entire thing culminated in 2009, when he crashed his truck being drunk and high out of his mind on painkillers. In addition, he attacked the responding police officer. That didn’t go down well and he was sentenced to 43 days in jail. Upon his release, Ryan decided to seek some help and attended group therapy. He was also an eligible candidate for medical marijuana, considering the physical pain he was experiencing on a daily basis.
Marijuana Under Control
Soon after he started smoking marijuana, Begin was somewhat reborn. For one thing, he didn’t need to use the painkillers for his arm anymore; the weed seemed to do the trick. And his aggressive outbursts didn’t completely go away but became more manageable instead. It wasn’t a miracle recovery, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s not enough to just get a bag of weed and think all of your problems will go away. It takes effort, therapy, sports, confidence and weed to overcome your obstacles so bear that in mind if you’re thinking about qualifying for medical marijuana.
