I'm a 23-year-old male currently employed as an accounting assistant. This fall I began work on my Master's Degree.

I am inflicted with Gout, a hereditary form of arthritis, which I have had for 6 years. When an attack arises the pain is in the main joint of my left foot and on the side of my big toe. When these attacks happen it is virtually impossible for me to walk.

I take Vicodin for the pain. I'm also given steroid shots for the pain in the doctor's office. In addition, I take Allopurinol, this helps my body to get rid of the uric acid build up which leads to the pain of Gout. The reason that I have uric acid build up is because my kidneys do not function properly and rid my body of the uric acid.

The main side effects of Vicodin and Allopurinol are drowsiness, which are very bad if you are a full time college student and also employed. But, I have to have some kind of pain medicine to be able to walk, I have learned that marijuana helps a great deal with the pain, and I have found that I am able to walk and also function much better on marijuana than Vicodin. Allopurinol takes a terrible toll on my stomach. I would say 73% of the time I puke the medication up. I tried using marijuana in combination with the Allopurinol and I've found that this has helped drop the number of times that I throw the medication up. Now, I puke it up around 18% of the time, which is a big deal to me.

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