Does medical marijuana work for chronic pain?

Posted by mmoss @mmoss, Mar 27, 2021

Does Medical marijuana work for chronic pain. Looking for alternatives to Vicodin.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Chronic Pain Support Group.

@jenatsky

Hi Jenatsky,

No I haven't, and didn't know what it was until I looked it up. I'm certainly not interested in that, and have never had an opioid in my life!

That said, thank you for the information.

REPLY

Hi moss,

Medical marijuana appears to work for many who have chronic pain, I am one of them. It takes a lot of working with counselors at a dispensary, and a lot of trial and error to find what would work for you. Always work with them and start low and slow- and keeping a journal helps! I'm not sure where you live? If there are dispensaries you may wish to speak to your doctor and see if he or she believes this would be available option for you.

REPLY
@frobvt

Hi moss,

Medical marijuana appears to work for many who have chronic pain, I am one of them. It takes a lot of working with counselors at a dispensary, and a lot of trial and error to find what would work for you. Always work with them and start low and slow- and keeping a journal helps! I'm not sure where you live? If there are dispensaries you may wish to speak to your doctor and see if he or she believes this would be available option for you.

Jump to this post

That's great advice for trusting the knowledge at the dispensaries. I was quite blown away at the knowledge some of these people have at the dispensaries in this town. If I had to guess, there are over two dozen shops in a town of 40,000 people here. Knowing the difference for sativa and indica is helpful too. Sometimes you can get lucky and find an up to date website to see what's in stock, and by Googling the strains to find out what effects you'd like. I use Leafly quite frequently and rarely buy more than a gram at a time so I can test things out. You may also grind the flower and mix strains to give a hybrid effect (aka weed salad). The hybrid effect essentially is countering other strains' side effects to a more desirable profile.

For a power punch I like mixing Chemo, Ken's OG Kush, and Superglue. Couch locked and every fiber in your body goes fully relaxed allowing me to get motivated and exercise with the release of substance P without the fear of pain.

REPLY

Their levels of expertise amaze me at times. I'm told that in my state and at this particular dispensary, the average age of a customer seeking relief is between the ages of 42 and people in their '80s! Whenever I've called the dispensary for info, they say that that's what they're there for. I too use the Leafly app, it is a treasure trove of info. Also, every doctor I have knows that I use medical marijuana, and they all approve of it. Would you believe that in high school I never liked marijuana? I medicate, don't recreate. People do need to realize the differences between Indica and Sativa. I prefer Indicas and like hybrids that start off with Sativa and finish with Indica. My favorite strain to go to for pain is Sour Kush. I also use CBD Blue Dream with a 2:1 ratio, great for daytime pain relief. Customizing or blending of herb is great! With underlying asthma, I don't smoke, I vape, only pure distillate, (organically grown in my state with no pesticides), and usually don't more than once or twice a day. I find that I need a little bit of THC on a daily basis with CBD and then finish with CBN gel pen at night in order to get the best pain relief, and sleep well. I believe this combination would be called the Entourage effect? I'm with you on the pain. Pain is so devastating it wreaks havoc on one's life! My regimen just gets me enough relief to soothe me so I can have as normal a life as possible.

REPLY
@frobvt

Hi Jenatsky,

No I haven't, and didn't know what it was until I looked it up. I'm certainly not interested in that, and have never had an opioid in my life!

That said, thank you for the information.

Jump to this post

As Frobvt points out it takes a lot of trial an error. I was able to stop needing oxycodon by using a higher CBD to THC ratio combo and that took me a year. But I’ve go a severely screwed up back due to 1988 L4-S1 fusion, osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, PN of bilateral legs and feet. My stuff is now chronic and using buprenorphine helped me to also stop needing morphine for pain too. My back is too screwed up to try and live the remainder of my life in pain. It a personal choice and finding a right combination of what works is important. Hope you find yours. BTW I no longer get buzzed using cannabis. It’s just another tool in my pain management chest of options.

REPLY

I am a difficult pain patient to treat. I am allergic to opioids, Ketamine and Naltrexone makes my brain and neck pain hurt more. I’m grateful I have Med Cannabis as a help but I would never smoke anything.
I wish you healing!

REPLY
@irr4et

I am a difficult pain patient to treat. I am allergic to opioids, Ketamine and Naltrexone makes my brain and neck pain hurt more. I’m grateful I have Med Cannabis as a help but I would never smoke anything.
I wish you healing!

Jump to this post

Just started Buprenorphine. My pain is drastically reduced below 2/10 and sometimes zero. Used to sit at 5-7/10. The real test will be storms and temperature fluctuations that change rapidly.

REPLY
@jenatsky

As Frobvt points out it takes a lot of trial an error. I was able to stop needing oxycodon by using a higher CBD to THC ratio combo and that took me a year. But I’ve go a severely screwed up back due to 1988 L4-S1 fusion, osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, PN of bilateral legs and feet. My stuff is now chronic and using buprenorphine helped me to also stop needing morphine for pain too. My back is too screwed up to try and live the remainder of my life in pain. It a personal choice and finding a right combination of what works is important. Hope you find yours. BTW I no longer get buzzed using cannabis. It’s just another tool in my pain management chest of options.

Jump to this post

Out of curiosity how long have you been taking Buprenorphine? Interesting about the CBD ratio. I eventually want to quit smoking, vaping, and edibles and shift to CBD, just not sure and can always come back if pain increases.

Working out and trying to get a routine. Just ordered a bar and those elastic resistance bands. Sounds like Buprenorphine is a great thing. I noticed one 2mg dose lasts 10 not 12 hours. Trials currently. Any input or experience is appreciated. Thank you.

REPLY
@chuck406

Out of curiosity how long have you been taking Buprenorphine? Interesting about the CBD ratio. I eventually want to quit smoking, vaping, and edibles and shift to CBD, just not sure and can always come back if pain increases.

Working out and trying to get a routine. Just ordered a bar and those elastic resistance bands. Sounds like Buprenorphine is a great thing. I noticed one 2mg dose lasts 10 not 12 hours. Trials currently. Any input or experience is appreciated. Thank you.

Jump to this post

It works differently on different brain receptors than other narcotics as it is an agonists and attaches to MU brain receptors. One patch lasts 7 days and only certain docs can prescribe it. I had to increase my initial dose to 20mcg from 15mcg but been on same dose x3 years. I tried high dose THC but didn’t help. I still use THC with CBD as the entourage effect works better than CBD alone. I use tinctures mostly and micro dose throughout my day and no more oxycodone

REPLY
@jenatsky

It works differently on different brain receptors than other narcotics as it is an agonists and attaches to MU brain receptors. One patch lasts 7 days and only certain docs can prescribe it. I had to increase my initial dose to 20mcg from 15mcg but been on same dose x3 years. I tried high dose THC but didn’t help. I still use THC with CBD as the entourage effect works better than CBD alone. I use tinctures mostly and micro dose throughout my day and no more oxycodone

Jump to this post

Had to do quite a bit of reading to understand the entourage effect. Basically speaking, the ratio of THC and CBD among other compounds creates a therapeutic response.

When you are talking about agonist and mu receptors I am a bit confused, but will do more reading on it.

I saw you use tinctures mainly. What dose is normal for you versus micro-dose? Do you get into CBN? My doctor supports marijuana for ways of alternative pain relief too. Curious with your regiment for possible trials on my end. Thank you.

Last night I used mixed flower Jokerz and Breath Taker. Then laid a 6 second vape of Groove Solventless Rosin Oil Blueberry Muffin vape at 83.40% THC. I slept almost 10 hours.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.