a serious question that may sound stupid

[Deborah614]

I have a friend with MS who has managed her pain, appetite and sleep with marijuana butter she cooks up herself. We live in Indiana and can't get a prescription for legal medical marijuana. She's used her butter for as long as 20yrs and her doctors have never mentioned finding it in her blood screens. I am starting 4-6 months of chemo in a couple weeks and she recommends I use her butter, but I'm afraid my insurance company will drop me if illegal marijuana is detected in a blood draw and put in a report. My friend insists they can't test for anything except what's necessary for the chemo. Will I be risking my policy by putting the butter on my morning English muffin? I've tried to google for an answer, but too many weirdo opinions.
Thanks for any thoughts or knowledge,
Deb.

[ktwmn]

No, the oncologist doesn't order THC detection along with cbc, liver function tests, or CEA draws. Now if you work for the military or a fascist who orders random peeing in a cup, that's a different story....

[Nik Colon]

Idk, my FIL is a long time mj user and is honest with docs and has since been denied other meds because of it. It is going to be legal soon here in MN for medicinal use but as of now he has been denied other meds because of it. I don't know if or how the legal testing goes, but I would suggest not disclosing it for now. Idk if that will make a difference or not tho.

[exaussie]

No worries my son used Marijuana the whole time in treatment. Believe me insurance doesn't want to order more tests cause it costs them!

[GrouseMan]

It is risky - but a specific test would have to be performed to find it and that test likely is not routinely run unless ordered or you are suspected of using it. Indiana is a very conservative state so I don't know what that likely hood of them randomly screening citizens for "drug abuse". It is up to you if you are willing to take the risk or not. Doesn't sound like you are, so I wouldn't. Its as simple as that. There really isn't any need for you to take her butter in my opinion. You haven't started your chemo yet and the drugs they typically give to manage nausea usually do a pretty good job, unless you end up like many here that may have had to go beyond the first or second line therapy and need something to take the edge off the cumulative side effects. My wife has been on chemo continuously since August 2013. It has for the most part been pretty easy for her. She goes in get her infusion, gets her pump and drives to work. Next day it's again of to work, the third day - off to the chemo center for her disconnect, then off to work. By Thursday she starts to wind down, and the fatigue hits her. She looses some appetite, but not much. She is just a little pickier about what she will eat for a couple of days. The discomfort from the HFS has been fleeting for her and while on the pump her fingers might start to tingle, then after a few days its gone. Some treatments are worse than others in that regard, but for the most part pretty good for her. Its become a rather boring routine once every three weeks now. If you look in my signature you will see she is stage IVb, it doesn't usually get too much worse than that as a starting diagnosis. She is on Chemo for as long as it will control her cancer.

Everyone is different in how these drugs affect them. Some worse than others. But its manageable. We don't know what stage you are or what treatment you are going to have. Usually its FOLFOX and sometimes (as in my wifes case) they will add Avastin. This is a cocktail of three drugs Oxaliplatin (oxi), Leucovorin, and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) The Oxaliplatin is the nasty one. It causes some might interesting side effects. First Bite Pain, sensitivity to cold, tingling fingers. And along with the 5-FU is usually responsible for the nausea. You may not be able to get through all the courses of treatment with 100% of the oxi, as it may drop your blood counts too low, and you may have to delay a treatment or reduce the amount. This is not unusual.

The Oxaliplatin is always given as an infusion. 5-FU and Lecovorin as well. But sometimes they will substitute Xeloda for 5-FU, its what is called a Prodrug and may be taken orally, and in the liver its converted ti 5-FU. Some like this rater than having the pump for 48 hours, as its more convenient for some. My wife isn't good about taking pills on a schedule, as she is a busy engineer. Travels from construction site to construction site. For her the pump is easy and she more or less ignores it and goes about her business. As a former research chemist that did anti-cancer research - I like the pump better as it maintains a good constant blood level during that 48 hour period. You have to take the pills for a longer period of time, and depending on your diet the blood levels may vary a great deal from one day to the next. Also I understand that Xeloda for some folks leads to more HFS (Hand & Foot Syndrome), a painful condition of the hands and feet, making it hard to hold things and to walk.

So - right now - I would wait and see what you may be in for rather than panic or stress over medical marijuana. In all honesty - the pharma industry spent many hundreds of millions of dollars looking for a use for the compounds in marijuana, and didn't find anything all that better than drugs already available to treat nausea and pain.

Good Luck with your decision.

GrouseMan

[sadysue]

It is definitely detectable up to 30 days after using but unless a specific test is ordered, it would not be detected in the tests your onc will be ordering. It's nobody's business but your own if you want to try it. I used it for pain management and nausea (not every day) and it definitely did help me. Good luck!

[chrissyrice]

I love butter on my toast!

[DBF]

It's a good question. When I filled out my medication list at my cancer center, I listed marijuana as one of my medications and "half a brownie" as the dose. Then later, I had a situation where my medical records were requested and I realized that was listed on there.

As for blood tests, I agree that insurance companies don't do more than they need to. I really don't think you have to worry, and if it's helping you, that's great. I'd butter up the toast if I were you.

[elise]

I use it daily and it never came up in any test. And I do find it helps a lot. I was also worried about insurance finding out but decided the risk was worth taking. Personally I'm all about baking with it Chocolate and vanilla really offset the taste!

Elise

[Deborah614]

Thank you for responses to my question. I've spent hours reading this forum since my diagnosis and I felt certain I'd get sound info here.
I've lost nearly 30 lbs since first round of chemo & radiation & surgery. I didn't have that weight to spare, which is the main reason I've considered my friends offer for her homemade butter. I see the oncologist tomorrow about adjuvant chemo. Hoping that goes better for me than the rest of the treatments have. Yikes.
Blessings,
Deb.