Medical marijuana has offered invaluable relief to patients across the country, and there are many different conditions that legally qualify for medical marijuana in West Virginia.
While having legal access to medical marijuana is the first step towards getting relief with cannabis, it is only the start of the journey, and many patients wonder, “after I get my medical marijuana card, what’s next?”.
For most WV medical cannabis patients, this will be shopping at a West Virginia dispensary for the first time and trying out new products. For patients that are looking for relief from specific conditions, this can be one of the more daunting bumps in the road along the medical marijuana ride.
Having a treatment plan can make a big difference in how patients use their medicine effectively, and in this article we’ll cover exactly what a treatment plan is, what it might look like, and how to make a cannabis treatment plan for yourself!
What is a Medical Marijuana Treatment Plan?
Medical Marijuana Programs Offer Legal Access—The Rest is Up to You
One of the best things about medical marijuana programs is that patients typically have a lot of freedom in how they use their medicine, how much medicine they use, and when they can use that medicine.
However, it’s also one of the biggest obstacles with medical marijuana programs, because there usually aren’t many easily accessible cannabis treatment plans that could help guide you through what the best medication regimen might look like.
This gets further complicated because medical marijuana programs really only allow access to cannabis, they don’t usually offer individualized treatment plans that lay out any kind of a routine for patients to follow, other than general advice.
A Medical Marijuana Treatment Plan is Highly Individualized
You can imagine the problem with trying to provide a generalized medication regimen with cannabis because there are just too many variables in conditions, symptoms, tolerances, and biology altogether.
This is partly why having less regulation or demands from medical marijuana programs can be a good thing, because while one treatment plan may work exceptionally well for one patient, it could be an absolute failure for another.
Creating a treatment plan requires time, knowledge, goal setting, and consistency, but it doesn’t have to be a complicated or difficult process, in fact it’s actually quite easy.
How to Create a Treatment Plan with Medical Marijuana
Creating a Treatment Plan Means Knowing Your Symptoms!
The first, and probably easiest part to creating a treatment plan with cannabis is to know your symptoms. Categorizing your symptoms, rather than your condition, can help lean you into the more specific cannabis products that will likely work best for those symptoms.
While your condition will obviously drive the largest part in which cannabis products to use, your symptoms will help you pick less general and more specific medical marijuana products to help with your treatment.
For example, if you experience a lot of chronic pain in your limbs, muscles, or joints, you might look for more indica dominant products, as they usually offer the best relief for physical effects.
If you’re struggling with localized inflammation like arthritis, you might look for products that work topically that can best address that type of pain.
Each cannabis product and strain will have their own benefits, and you can find out a lot about which strains work best with your symptoms by talking to your budtender when you’re shopping at the dispensary.
Setting Goals with Medical Marijuana
After you’ve identified what symptoms you want to treat with cannabis and have a better sense of the types of medical marijuana products that are available for your symptoms, you’ll want to set some goals with cannabis.
Although cannabis can provide amazing relief to many different symptoms and conditions, it certainly isn’t a cure-all plant, and it has its limitations.
You want to be clear with yourself about how cannabis has helped other people with the same or similar conditions and symptoms, and you’ll want to be extra clear about what cannabis can’t do for you.
That means setting goals for how effective you believe cannabis will be in treating your symptoms and benchmarking them along the way to measure the type of relief that you are getting.
Medical Marijuana Can Help a Lot of Symptoms, But Not Every Symptom
Cannabis as a medicine offers innumerable benefits for an extraordinary number of conditions, but it can’t cure everything.
While cannabis may turn out to provide extraordinary relief and benefits for many cancer patients, and possibly even help with treating some cancers all on its own, there isn’t any concrete evidence that cannabis can cure any or all cancers.
On the other hand, cannabis is known to have a lot of benefits, such as powerful anti-inflammatory effects, positive effects on muscle movement, reduced stress for PTSD patients, reductions of seizures in epilepsy patients, and many more.
Cannabis is also known to help with sleeping disorders, mood regulation, blood pressure, glaucoma, and many different symptoms and conditions, so while it may not be the cure-all wonder-drug, it has the capability to provide a wide range of symptom relief.
What a Treatment Plan for Medical Marijuana Should Look Like
Symptoms, Goals, & Timing
If you have a solid grasp on what symptoms you want cannabis to help with and a firm understanding of the relief cannabis may provide with those symptoms, you can start dialing in the timing with cannabis.
Timing in a cannabis treatment plant will involve your dosage size, frequency, and duration, and this is where treatment plans get extra individualized.
Because everyone’s biology is unique, many people will react differently to different types of cannabis products. Some people may find that very low doses are potent for long periods of time, while others may not experience any effects at all.
Other patients may find only certain products work particularly well, or that some products seem to be significantly less effective.
There’s a lot of experimentation in this part of figuring out a comprehensive medical marijuana treatment plan, and you may have to spend some time figuring out exactly what works best for you.
Put it in Writing! – A Medical Marijuana Treatment Plan That’s Right for You
If you’ve got your symptoms, expectations, dosages, and frequency down, all that’s left is to keep steady, and keep tracking.
A comprehensive treatment plan should give a patient trackable information about how cannabis is working for their symptoms and condition, and allow patients to be able to identify improvements along the way.
Naturally, the only way you’ll be able to be aware of this information is if you track it in a medicine journal. Keeping a cannabis journal is one of the most important factors in having a medical marijuana treatment plan because it lets you track exactly what’s working, and what’s not.
Using medical marijuana is less of a straightforward process, and more of a flexible opportunity. Having legal access to medical marijuana is the first step, and from there, it’s all about finding the most effective medicine that makes sense for you.
And, when you register for a medical marijuana certification with us, you’ll have unlimited follow-up appointments for as long as your certification is valid with us!
Get Your Medical Marijuana Certification in West Virginia
Medical marijuana can offer incredible relief to patients with many different symptoms and conditions. West Virginia approves 14 qualifying conditions for a medical marijuana certification, and you can get yours today!
Plus, with unlimited follow-up appointments, you’ll have full access to consultations for as long as your medical marijuana certification is valid with us!
Take the steps to schedule your WV medical marijuana evaluation appointment online today and get access to legal marijuana products available at dispensaries!
Being a West Virginia medical marijuana patient allows you the freedom to take your medication the right way for you. We’re dedicated to helping patients every step of the way! Feel free to give us a call at 877-303-8424 and we can answer your questions about getting a medical marijuana card in West Virginia.
Doctors Who Care.
Relief You Can Trust.
West Virginia Marijuana Card’s mission is to help everyone achieve
wellness safely and conveniently through increased access to medical marijuana.
Our focus on education, inclusion, and acceptance will reduce the stigma for
our patients by providing equal access to timely information and compassionate care.
If you have any questions, call us at 877-303-8424, or simply book a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting relief you can trust today!
Check out West Virginia Marijuana Card’s Blog to keep up to date on the latest medical marijuana news, tips, and information and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to join the medical marijuana conversation in West Virginia.
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