THE DANGERS OF "SPICE" & MY EXPERIENCE WITH KIDNEY FAILURE AND ITS RELATION TO SMOKING "SPICE"

Just to paint a picture for the readers I was a very regular user of the easy to find and mostly legal drug "SPICE" or also known as "HERBAL INCENSE". It also goes under a large variety of marketing names as "Popeye,Krucial xxx,Da Bomb" the list can go on for pages. As a regular smoker of the product I felt a sense of freedom from laws & policies outlawing use and possession of marijuana both by state and federal laws and by policies of the workplace.The convenience of taking a small trip to my local tobacco store and the feeling of security of not getting my hard earned money taken from me by some guy claiming to "be back in 30 minutes with some weed" was a double bonus, that is until January 09, 2012 .

Over Christmas break two members of my family came to stay with me, my wife and son for a couple of weeks. Both family members also smoked Spice so as usual we shared a bowl and sat down to a relaxing evening in front of the t.v. Unknowing to us that the events that would soon happen would change our lives forever.

After my Christmas guests and I had consumed our share of our favorite "incense" known as "Krucial xxx" , we were sitting down in the evening watching t.v. and suddenly my epilepsy was set off and my whole life had now become a blur. After four Grand Mal seizures that felt very different than what I am used to and after biting a large piece of my tongue off and refusing to go to the E.R. for 24 hours my wife called for help. After a seizure there is usually mild vomiting but this time there was 24 hours of it and the whole time I refused medical treatment until forced by her to go to the E.R. (Extreme vomiting,confusion,loss of memory and irritability are just four of many signs of that I was showing unknowing to my wife at the time.This behavior was a side effect of the acute kidney failure that had begun its destruction the night previous. ) I experienced vomiting every 5-10 minutes. My parents drove us to the hospital so she didn't have to care for me and drive at the same time.

After arriving to the hospital and out of luck was admitted to the E.R. with no wait and was assign to my favorite nurse , my aunt Heather. After a short wait my blood test came back the seriousness of the situation had stepped up a few notches. By this time the trauma received from my seizures,the toxins building in my kidneys and releasing into my blood stream had stopped me from remembering much of my 4 1/2 day stay in the hospital, 2 of which was spent in the ICU and the remainder in recovery. I spent the entire time having my Renal system (kidneys) flushed with Intravenous bags of potassium,magnesium,calcium infused water .I was told by the doctor if my wife didn't make me come in I would have died by morning and later was told that I had a 70% chance of dying and that I had six hour to show a positive change or I should contact my friends and family. Still later I received better news that I might be able to receive dialysis and possibly should ask family for a kidney.

My wife has been "anti-spice" the whole time I was a user and would frequently tell me that it was bad and it will have long term effects, thinking with a clouded mind I disagreed. As time went on the financial effects became more obvious to her as I went through $200 to $500 or more a month. As in many relationships this deficit caused a hard to ignore problem and like any other user of a chemically based drug I put up a fight in return.

I have been out of the hospital now for two weeks and can still feel effects of my stupid decisions, I am still waiting for more blood tests to come to determine what percentage my kidneys will return to.

ANY INPUT ON THIS OR RELATED MATTER WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO PUTTING A STOP TO THE SPICE INDUSTRY, GOOD LUCK TO ALL AFFECTED BY THE PRODUCT , AND THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES WHO WATCH IT HAPPEN.

Sincerely , Dave Nuttall

I have no personal experience with this product but do know people who do and it is always compared to meth and cocaine with a distinct "twist" on it's effects. Below are a few links that can educate and warn people of this chemicals availability and dangers. This product is found at any place that sells "spice" , this I can verify since I have seen it and been offered it by the clerks at the smoke shops .