Need advice on Eligibility Form for Medicann

[Adi]

Hi All, I'm new to this compassionate forum, so my very best wishes to everyone. Have gone through the process of huge research and eventually realising that there appears to be no really really good MC company in the UK except possibly the Cardiff one and it's a bit too expensive for me. I was close to deciding Integro was maybe best to try, but have decided to start with Medicann, as I see some well seasoned MC users on this forum seem to be moving there and it appears not expensive.

I was completing Medicann online "Eligibility Form" and it asks the following question: "Have you ever been diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or have you been suicidal or self-harmed in the past 2 years? ".

I am worried about what happens if I answer "Yes". Essentially I have contemplated suicide because I have a horrible 23 year illness which causes a whole plethora of terrible body effects from pain to spasms to chronic fatigue and various other symptoms. I have not tried to commit suicide and I have not been right on the edge of trying suicide, but I have shared with my GP about these feelings as connected with not wanting to go on indefinitely living in my condition, so I suspect there's probably a note on my NHS account saying "thoughts about suicide" or something similar. I really feel that thoughts about suicide and suicidal are not exactly the same, suicidal seeming to denote that someone is right on the edge of trying. The issue is of course that the question "have you ever been suicidal" seems somewhat general. A lot of people with painful and restrictive illness can have feelings that they might want to end the body's life - I don't know if that actually means they have been suicidal. Naturally I am worried especially as the question has been bundled in with "schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder" which are of course diagnosis that tend to shut the door on MC. If I answered "yes" but had the chance to have an online appointment, I'm sure it would all be fine, but my fear is that if I answer "yes" then the system will automatically decline me without any human interaction. In cases like this I would naturally phone the company and explain the dilemma, but Medicann UK do not seem big on easy accessibility to customer service.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge or advice they feel regarding this situation?

Many thanks

 

[GrownHealth]

Welcome to the community @Adi and its good to see you trying to access MC to help relieve your symptoms .

In the same situation I would answer no from what you have wrote here but I would elaborate when they get in touch to clarify as you have mentioned it to the doctors and hopefully this is successful but I fear done the other way round it could get the blanket response but I do feel you would be right to answer no with their wording .

 

[Lank72]

Welcome to the community @Adi and its good to see you trying to access MC to help relieve your symptoms .

In the same situation I would answer no from what you have wrote here but I would elaborate when they get in touch to clarify as you have mentioned it to the doctors and hopefully this is successful but I fear done the other way round it could get the blanket response but I do feel you would be right to answer no with their wording .

What he said, especially if they have bundled things up together - I think you should feel comfortable in saying 'no' to the question on the form, and then talking to it as makes sense based on your situation during any review

Hope it goes ok

 

[JR52]

Welcome mate

 

[cornucopia]

Hello & welcome, I think you are right about there not being a perfect uk clinic, they all seem to have some positives and negatives.

 

[Adi]

Hi, thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings which I certainly agree with. In the end I found an email address on their ScriptAssist Patient page and felt to forward them the same query and concerns. Received a pleasant reply within less than 24 hrs, which was as follows:

Thank you for your honest and thoughtful message. We completely understand your concerns and appreciate you sharing your experience so openly.
To clarify, the question on the eligibility form is there because certain mental health conditions and recent high-risk suicidal behaviours can impact whether a doctor is able to safely prescribe medical cannabis. However, the form is not designed to automatically exclude patients without context. If you answer “yes” to this question, your case will still be reviewed by a clinician, and you would have the opportunity to discuss your circumstances directly during a consultation.

It is important to be honest on the form, as your medical history helps the doctor make the safest and most appropriate decision for your care. From what you’ve described, it sounds like your experiences are related to your long-term illness and quality of life, which is something a doctor can take into account and discuss further with you.

If you would like to proceed, you can complete the form as accurately as possible, and then our team will ensure it is passed to a clinician for review rather than being automatically declined.

I hope this reassures you, and please know that our aim is always to support patients in a safe, understanding, and professional way.

So I'll report back on how everything unfolds and if I end up with Medicann, how the quality of service is. Really looking forward to the ability to choose the right medicinal strains, though I feel a wincing and sighing inside when I consider about the stupid quite frankly unnecessary irradiation. I've lived 5 years in Canada and 2 in Holland and 2 in Thailand whilst it was fully legal there, so have been happily able to utilise all the top strains of superb grow quality in these places and I've never seen irradiated bud except by photo. I'm strangely nervous about receiving irradiated bud, just because it feels like I won't be ever 100% happy with it...sort of feeling like hey, here's the wonderful medicine but forget how nature intended, we'll just arrogantly stamp our authority on it and blast away some of the great symphony of divine molecular resonance. Thankyou Nanny State

 

[JDVaper]

And so the journey begins.... Lol

Very best of luck on your MC journey @Adi

 

[utopiate]

The practitioner will assess this with you. They will ask you questions around whether you have any clearly defined plans on things like method, timing etc. Plenty of people have suicidal ideation without ever developing the intent or plans to do so. Based on your answers in the form they will assign an appropriately qualified prescriber who can perform this kind of assessment. In this case it would be a mental health practitioner.
I would also recommend CCCardiff as they specialise in this area. However, I do appreciate the costs involved as its this that prevents me from applying there. Other clinics are well versed in dealing with patients with MH issues, it's par for the course and especially with chronic physical illness. The threshold for prescribing is not as high as you might think, however, severe and enduring mental illness such as schizophrenia can be a barrier. Hope this is helpful.