Sativex for Benjamin

Benjamin was a happy healthy two year old boy until he started showing signs of seizure activity.

His muscles on the right side of his face started to droop and his right arm started to lose its

muscle control.

Many tests and surgeries in New Zealand and Germany were performed but nobody could control the seizures or tell us why this was happening.

Taking epilepsy medication has always been a fact of life for Benjamin. Medications have been altered and added over the years.

Although the medications have somewhat ‘controlled’ his seizures, his seizure activity remains high and we often find him in a state of ‘overdose’. These medications have significant side effects such as aggressive tendencies, irritability, drowsiness, muscle weakness, memory loss and depression, to name a few.

He continues to have several seizures a day and his muscles have weakened dramatically. He is now wheelchair bound and has slurred speech. He has been on life support twice in the last three years and this has increased the damage to his brain and seizure activity.

We believe Medical Cannabis could hold the answers to greatly reduce Benjamin’s Seizure activities and relax his muscles so that he is able to start physiotherapy to regain some muscle strength. We are optimistic that Sativex could provide some relief for Benjamin and have been approved for a trial of Sativex. IHC (the home which Benjamin resides in) has completed a protocol to safely administer this medication