Crohn’s sufferer seeks cannabis breakthrough
Cannabis has given Canterbury Crohn’s sufferer Mark Crotty relief after he suffered through almost three years of ‘‘constant, stabbing, radiating’’ pain.
Now he is fighting for access to medically prescribed cannabis. If approved, he believes this would make him the first Crohn’s patient in New Zealand to get access to the medication.
The 26-year-old Ashburton man was diagnosed with the incurrable inflammatory bowel disease in 2015. Five weeks ago he called it quits on almost all of his prescription medication and started selfmedicating with cannabis daily.
During some of the most severe bouts of the disease he took up to 40 tablets a day including: three types of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-depressants, anti-nausea and anti-inflammatory medication.
But he got little relief and still suffered from intense abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue, weight loss and diarrhoea.
Crotty believes ‘‘you shouldn’t have to be on your death bed to get access’’ and is backing the introduction of prescribed cannabis products. So far he has the necessary letter from his doctor supporting his application to the Ministry of Health but he is waiting on the crucial backing from a specialist. He is hoping to get the go-ahead by the end of the year.
Before his diagnosis he and wife Jess Crotty lived a ‘‘very comfortable’’ lifestyle.
But all that rapidly changed. Within months the previously 80-kilogram man weighed a ‘‘frightening’’ 62kg.
His ‘‘crippling nausea’’ meant he vomited at least once a day. ‘‘At times I had to go to hospital because I couldn’t stop vomiting.’’
When he wasn’t being sick, he made constant trips to the toilet.
Despite his severe physical symptoms the toughest aspect is his mental health. ‘‘Crohn’s is lonely’’ and depression has crept in. ‘‘The hardest part for me is watching Jess suffer. I feel like a piece of s... because I can’t provide for her.’’
The disease is debilitating both physically and mentally, Jess says.
‘‘I can honestly say we are at the end of our tether. We have tried it the clinical way for over two years, and I have to say, he has gotten worse, not better,’’ she says.
Coming off most of his medication last month was ‘‘horrible’’. Crotty had cold sweats, uncontrollable shaking, headaches, nausea and nightmares for several days.
Now using cannabis, he ‘‘feels amazing’’ comparatively. He has not vomited once and he has also put on about 4kg – both huge achievements.
‘‘To some degree cannabis probably saved my life, I was getting into a very dark place.
‘‘I’m enjoying food again. I’ve probably had one too many chocolate biscuits.’’
He smokes about 2 grams of cannabis a day, not enough to get him high he says, just enough to eradicate the pain and give him an appetite.
At this point he’ll smoke it regardless, but he’d prefer to do it legally and safely.
The problem is the supply and quality of the drug is not consistent, Jess says.
‘‘We can run into trouble when we run out ... When Mark had no cannabis for three days, the symptoms got so severe he ended up in hospital.’’
Mark has spoken with about 30 other people in New Zealand with Crohn’s, all of whom are using cannabis to some degree.
‘‘The people who want to do this are already doing it. Making medically prescribed cannabis available would only make it safer,’’ he says.
‘‘Cannabis doesn’t fix everything, but it should be a tool in the tool box if it improves a person’s quality of life.’’