Alternatives for pain management

I'm SO glad for you and the fact that you are able to "work thru the pain"!!! Unfortunately, my hobbies, including gardening, my 30 + house plants, chores like sweeping,mopping, that side to side motion, bending, stooping, lifting any size bag of trash, even picking up something causes my pain. Which feels like a concrete block sewn in to the middle of my back. But enough whining!!! I'm thrilled for you and that you have someone close who understands!!! Cudos for you. Your words, you, set an example that it can be done!! Thank you..for welcome g me into your group. I realizeI am not alone.

@gailb sounds lovely Im not sure where that is but Im going to look it up enjoy your new home its always exciting to move in and plan a garden. In Pa the gardenia was a bush not a tree like there are here , so many diff. trees here and flowers then back east. Its amazing what God has painted everywhere the desert is so different also. I do miss the beautiful birds your right the pigeons,crows, hawks not like the beautiful colored birds I have been use to all mylife although on the roof one day I saw a golden eagle it was beautiful it was so close I could see the veins in the feathers. enjoy your new home Linda

@tennessegirl Hi Im from Pa. lived there all my life till I lost my husband ,son out here so wanted to be near his family. So diff. out here the trees ,flowers birds not like back east but up on the roof of my sr. apt building I did something I never saw back east and it was a golden eagle beautiful. Im use to SOCAL now after 7 yrs. This is a good group glad to have you

I lost my husband too 3 years ago. Still feels like yesterday.

@sandytoes You bet I enjoy songbirds and all other birds!!! Sorry about your hummer feeder. I have had the same one for 10+ years and paid $5 for it. I so enjoy the early morning predawn listening to the birds wake up-The Robins are the neighborhood wake-caller's. I don't have much cover for birds, but still have a large variety of woodpeckers and song birds as well as a pair of Red Shoulder Hawks. Yes, an avid birder just no longer traveling to do so. Right now the House Wrens have young. How a bird so small as the Wren can have such a big voice still amazes me. The Cornell University site is my favorite. Good way to learn the calls/songs of birds.

Gail, thank you so much for posting this information. I've already been in touch with the first two. Wish me luck?

We are moving to a new home. My husband's health is declining. We are moving to a Christian Retirement Community where we will be able to stay the rest of our lives. Will have an independent Cottage Apartment as long as we are able to stay in it, then they have assisted living, then mental health, and nursing care. All sorts of things to do including dining, exercise, swimming, gardening, hiking, crafts and sweet peace. I'm 86 and ready to totally relax. Think it's about time. God is good to us and has always been my answer. 🙂

Liz. My hope in times of trouble...I am 76 and not quite ready for Independent living in community. I also don't think I can afford

@tennessegirl I can relate to your pain and it IS NOT WHINING and you forgot vacuuming. I am sometimes not to smart and work to the point I can't get thru the pain and literally sit on my hands and knees in the dirt wondering "How am I going to get up?" and if no one is around I just sit there until I can push myself up but no one is there I don't have to admit how foolish I was. My family (son and daughter in-law) can get so overprotective otherwise.
And you are right it can be done, not pain free by any stretch but pain bearable. Do I sometimes pay a high price for the things I push myself to do? YES but to keep a small part of my old self and what I enjoyed it is worth every tear. and as I said you are right it can be done because you are doing it also every day showing your strength just because you got thru it and will get thru it again tomorrow.

Sorry I tend to ramble

All my prayers and hopes will be with you every day

Allison.

The article below is copied from the NORML newsletter. I thought it might be helpful for some members. Gail, Volunteer Mentor

Patients Replace Opioids With Cannabis
Thursday, 07 June 2018

Chronic Pain Patients Replace Opioids With Cannabis
Cleveland, OH: More than two-thirds of chronic pain patients registered to legally access medical cannabis products substitute marijuana for prescription opioids, according to data published in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

Investigators from the United States and Canada assessed the use of medical cannabis and prescription drugs in a cohort of over 2,000 Canadian patients licensed to access marijuana products. Among those patients with a primary diagnosis of chronic pain, 73 percent reported substituting cannabis in place of opioids. Among those patients diagnosed specifically with headache/migraine, cannabis was frequently reported as a substitute for other medications - including opiates (43 percent), anti-depressants (39 percent), NSAIDS (21 percent), triptans (8 percent), and anti-convulsants (8 percent).

"Most patients in the pain groups reported replacing prescription medications with medicinal cannabis, the most common of which were opiates/opioids across all patient groups," authors concluded. "This is notable given the well-described 'opioid-sparing effect' of cannabinoids and growing abundance of literature suggesting that cannabis may help in weaning from these medications and perhaps providing a means of combating the opioid epidemic."

For more information, contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Patterns of medicinal cannabis use, strain analysis, and substitution effect among patients with migraine, headache, arthritis, and chronic pain in a medicinal cannabis cohort," appears in The Journal of Headache and Pain. NORML's fact-sheet highlighting the relevant, peer-reviewed research specific to the relationship between cannabis and opioids is available online.