Medical marijuana vape for pain relief from Peripheral Neuropathy?

Chris, can you share the ratio of tincture and topical you use. I guess the better question is whether you use CBD mixed in your topical and have you ever mixed tincture with the see cream.

Jump to this post

Where do you get it?
If you have found something that helps, just use it.
I doubt marijuana will dissipate in relief ability.
I have had neuropathy for 20 plus years, just gets worse and
worse.
Blessings to you for finding something that helps. There is
no fixing this so far.

Jump to this post

Hi Chris, and thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I'd like to respond to your comments/questions one at a time, so that I don't miss anything important.

CIDP - in asking/pushing one of my neurologists (I've seen 4 now) to PLEASE try and think of anything that might be causing my NP (because I've been told it's idiopathic), he suggested I take a blood test to check for markers for any banding that would show in my spinal fluid. When something showed up in the blood, I had the spinal test and there were 'multiple bands', so I then went to the Mayo Clinic to see if CIDP was a possibility. From the time I got those results to the time I went to the Jacksonville clinic, I signed up for this forum with the name "@possiblecidp". Since then, it was confirmed that regardless of the bands found, there's no way my NP could be considered CIDP... but I haven't figured out how to change that part of my profile (any ideas on how I can change that would be helpful).

Other medication - I take 2400 mg of Gabapentin a day, which eases the pain by a point or two. I'm told I can go up to 5,000 mg/day, but just as with cannabis, I don't want to go to the limit now, when I may need it even more as I get older.

1. That three night in a row thing only happened once, and it was after a two day break from it.

2. Yes, a single draw on a vape with a medical marijuana cartridge gives me 90 minutes of pure relief, with sleep always following it. The info on the box is: Cartridge-0.5g, Purple Punch Distillate, Indica, THC-77.18%, CBD-0.0%, Total Terpenes-5.74%. I have tried many different options, from flower to oils under the tongue to creams, including different cartridges for the vape, and this is the only thing that I have found to work.

3. I have asked both my doctor and two dispensaries, and while they all said that I shouldn't be shy about using what makes me feel best now, in whatever quantity worked best... that was from the point of view of someone who sells it, and not from someone who takes it. Hearing from someone with actual experience is important to me.

4. I have tried two other Sativa strains, and neither of them gave me any relief or the ability to sleep through the pain.

5. You mentioned a 2:1 CBD/THC oil. I only tried one oil, the info on the box is: Hybrid, Total THC: 300 mg, Total CBD: 300 mg, THC:109.4%, CBD: 110%. I'm guessing that means that it's 1:1, instead of 2:1. Do you think a 2:1 would allow for more pain control during the day? The reason I ask is that on a bad day (of which there seem to be more lately), I am just trying to hang on until it's 8 or 9 o'clock when I can take that one draw on the vape, and if an oil would help get me through those bad hours, it would be great.

6. One of my neurologists told me that certain anti-depressants have been known to help with NP pain, and so I've tried Duloxetine (as Cymbalta), Amitriptyline, and am now trying Wellbutrin - each for a minimum of a month, and there was no discernable pain relief while taking, and no increase in pain when I stopped. They DID have the effect of making me very emotional, especially as I watched the Hallmark Christmas in July movies.

I understand that neuropathy is progressive, as this started 6 years ago with just painless pins and needles, and has ramped up to the point where I can no longer work, walk for any appreciable distance, stand for more than 15 minutes, etc.

As I said, I am just concerned that the more I use the vape, the more I'll need as I get older and the pain grows worse... maybe until it no longer works, and I really need to know that this will be long term relief.

Yes! You were every helpful, and I'm so glad I finally found the right section of this Mayo Clinic forum. I look forward to hearing from other people with PN, as there's no one I personally know with this, and it is sometimes very hard to go through this without learning from others. My family is very supportive, but to discuss it with someone who knows what it's like will be very helpful indeed.

Thank you, Chris.

Steve

Jump to this post

Where do you get it?
If you have found something that helps, just use it.
I doubt marijuana will dissipate in relief ability.
I have had neuropathy for 20 plus years, just gets worse and
worse.
Blessings to you for finding something that helps. There is
no fixing this so far.

Jump to this post

Good morning @mcd123, how are you doing? It is nice to see you posting again. Let me see how I can help or even if I can help today. Perhaps I don't understand what you are asking. There is really no mixing of tincture and topical except that you might use both products at certain times during the day like morning and bedtime. But then, you also might use a calming tincture in the afternoon. The actual products are different. A topical is often called a "balm". That just means heavy cream or lotion that you rub on your hands or feet. So I may use a topical after my walk or exercises. Bedtime is mandatory for my hands because I am replacing some gabapentin. My two topicals are 3:1 CBD/THC for chronic pain and 1:3 CBD/THC for acute pain.

Tinctures are liquids in a dropper bottle that are placed in your mouth and held under your tongue for a minute or so to make sure the medical cannabis goes right to your brain. If you swallow it, it takes quite a while to get through your digestive system. They come in many different CBD/THC dosages. For example, I use a 2:1 CBD/THC tincture at bedtime. Then in the morning, I usually use a 1:1 CBD/THC tincture which I call my "get up and go...girl" dosage. The second measurement I use is how much I fill the dropper....1/3, 1/2, or by mg if the dropper has markings to measure it.

If might be helpful for you to take a look at the Papa and Barkley websites just because they explain the products and their purposes quite well. They have two sites...one is for CBD only which are legal everywhere. The other includes products with THC included in them.

And now for the mystery. What is "see cream"? I have never heard of that one.

May you have happiness and the causes of happiness.
Chris

Jump to this post

Where do I get cannabis? I live in Florida, where it’s legal for medical purposes. The process is to have a doctor give their approval, along with a “prescription” for what types of cannabis is allowed, then you apply to the state for a card. With that, you can go to any dispensary. It’s all medical grade, which I’m told is stronger and more consistent than anything you can buy on the street… it’s also not very expensive.

The 0.5 gram cartridge I bought for $22.50 has lasted me for 3 months so far, and it seems more than half full.

Having never tried it before, and never having smoked cigarettes, the single puff I take doesn’t physically hurt my lungs at all.

Long term effects? No idea.

But after 2 years of this pain in my feet at the end of the day, or during the day if I exert myself at all, it is indeed a blessing for me.

Thanks to all for their advice that if it works… let it keep working.

Jump to this post