As I have written in the past, Kiddo has Tourette's Syndrome. The syndrome
part means it has multiple symptoms. Everybody who has TS has different
combinations of symptoms — different disorders. No two people are exactly
alike. That's why there's no TS medication on the market; treatment involves
addressing individual disorders.
I would say Kiddo's most noticeable disorder is her OCD. It's a "force
multiplier," in that it takes whatever intrusive thought or doubt or
negative feeling she has and it MAKES HER focus on it, creating anxiety
and making her feel worse, perhaps cyclically.
Kiddo also has a LOT of anxiety, which we recently learned is traceable to
a series of events that occurred while Kiddo was spending the summer with
the other half of her family.
For reasons I don't understand, and seemly coincident with the recent shift
from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time, Kiddo's anxiety has been through
the roof. It's affected her scholastic progress — to the point where I got
a call from the assitant principal of her school, threatening me with a visit
from the Truancy police. (In kiddo's defense, she's been emailing her assistant
the entire time — we have the receipts.)
Apart from her medicinal regimen, which I believe does a fairly good job
at keeping her "level" under normal circumstances, we have looked into the
benefits of cannabidol (more commonly known as "CBD", a naturally occurring
compound found in cannibis which has been shown to reduce signs of anxiety).
CBD is different from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound
in cannibis. CBD is commonly sold in oil form, which is administered by a
dropper, but may also be administered in other forms, such as inhallation
through an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS), also known as a vape.
Here's where my problem starts.
I'm scared to death of vapes because of the widely publicized
hospitalizations and even deaths of young people using "counterfeit"
vapes. In these events, Vitamin E acetate was present in the lungs of
these users; Vitamin E acetate is now known in interfere with normal
lung operation.
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Last night, Kiddo spent the night with a family friend who vapes.
I don't know the exact circumstances, but basically Kiddo radioed home
with news that she either tried or has an ENDS with a
CBD vape cartridge, and that it was AMAZING. Her demons, spawned by her
anxiety and stoked by her OCD, were absent: she had no hallucinations,
no intrusive thoughts, and no seizures. Basically, she had the best
night she's had in a long time — she's been scared to sleep in her room
for MONTHS.
We'd suggested CBD oil in the past, and we are aware that absorption
using a dropper takes time. (We even spoke to her psychologist about it,
but at the time CBD was so new — at least, in Texas — that the legality
of use had not been settled, and she was unable to weigh in.) Last night
Kiddo inhaled whatever this CBD product was through an ENDS, and she
claims her relief was nearly immediate.
Boy do I feel stuck. I watch her experience all of these awful things
and feel so helpless to do anything about them — I mean, we have her
in therapy, she's taking medications, and I can report observations and
ask that adjustments be made, but those are strategic things,
not tactical things, if you get my meaning.
Here, she seems to have a solution she can use prophylactically so
she can avoid all these awful effects. What parent could NOT be in favor
of something like that?
The sticky part for me is the potential for some sort of lung damage
later on... or maybe a sort of addiction? What if she later gets into
combination CBD+THC vapes, or uses one by accident? I have SO MANY
questions... let's perhaps color it a "healthy skepticism."
I'm conflicted. I could be from 65% to 80% happy, 10% to 25% "healthily
concerned," and around 10% worried.