15 replies to this topic

[my-sister]

Can anyone tell me about medical marajuana as a pain management option? Have you tried it, is it legal in your state, does it help with nerve pain, were there any side affects?

I was interested in asking my sister's dr. about this option for my sister, however, I found out it is illegal in my state and there is legislation in (my state) senate now regarding legalizing the use of medical marajuana to treat pain, ms, cancer....

I'm wondering what kinds of experiences anyone could share with me, to help me determine how much I would like to pursue this as an option for my sister.

I would think that the use would present far less risks to other systems of the body, mostly digestive (other pain meds present constipation and urinary and/or kidney complications, irregular heartbeat and whatever else that I don't know about). Medical marajuana seems more natural and from what I can surmise, just makes more sense as a treatment option.

Thanks for any input.

[AussieBrad]

I tried smoking a bit of pot..I found it helped but i dont like the idea of being stoned all the time.so i guess you have to look at the pro's and con's..

[Speed]

It is the only thing that keeps my spasms from hurting. It normally relaxes my muscles enough so that I wont have spasms. It also relieves some of the acheing feeling I get where my spine is fused together.
No, its not legal in my state, but sometimes you hsve to commit crimes to feel better.

[nomis]

This was recently discussed on THIS THREAD.

[my-sister]

Thank you! I was searching the subject on this site, but nothing came up. Since my post, I've found out about a drug called marinol. It's a synthetic cannibis, which i'm very disappointed about. I was looking for a natural herb, in which, cannibis is, however, because it's considered illegal they have developed a synthetic version. from what i am learning, the synthetic pill form is more potent than, say, smoking a joint. I guess, it just tells me that if we pursue it for my sister, we would want to try the lowest dose possible, since we only want to relieve the nerve pain, not go lights out!

She's on gabepentin now, but when trying to increase the dose, constipation became a serious issue. the other options like lyrica, or amitriptiline have a long list of scary side effects as well.

i will try to search some threads regarding those two meds and pain management, but if anyone knows of any discussions on this site and would like to point the way, i would appreciate it

Thanks again for the replies.

[Gunnslinger8]

Yeah all pain meds that I'm aware of gives you constipation, especially narcotic pain meds. I found when I smoked long ago (I quit because it oddly started making my pain worse, and I also get drug screens from my Dr) that it was a sure fire cure for intense muscle spasms, but I'm on a pain med now that works great for spasms.

If you decide to go the marijuana route, start off with just a couple puffs, if a beginner smokes too much at first it can be a bad experience, incoherent and some have like a bad trip.

I'm not advocating the use of illegal drugs, but I do not want to see anyone suffer from unbearable pain when there are options besides addictive pain meds.

Hope that helped a little.

[my-sister]

the dr. put the script in for marinol, faster than we could research lyrica and ambitriptiline. so, my sister has tried it. (no need for illegal use ~ it's a medically approved pill). thing is, the pill is not actually the natural plant ~ it's a "synthetic marajuana" whatever that means. supposedly, synthetic or man-made is "legal" and the natural plant form that comes from mother earth is "illegal". rather frightening to take an engineered version of a natural plant.

the dr. prescribed a very low dose, as much as twice a day, however my sister has only taken one tablet a day and only when the pain is outrageous.

it is working for the pain.

there has been 2 occasions of cotton mouth

1 occasion of feeling stoned

so, i don't know whether to pass on the good news or the bad news. it's been (just ok). not a supreme success, but not a failure either.

we are a little worried about the potential addictiveness (?) research is questionable. and the potential for some neuro-receptors in the brain to be blocked after an extended use.

i want to ask another dr. about the research regarding the blocked receptors, so that i can understand it better.

bottom line, marinol does calm the nerve pain and makes it bearable.

thanks again for the various replies

just thought i'd pass along our experience thus far.

[wheeliebear75]

I had tried the Marinol at one point...I personally didn't find much effects from taking it.

If it's "working for her" than AWESOME!

I use the ACTUAL plant, but I live in CA where with Dr.'s recommend it IS "legal"....well at least with local & state agencies....feds don't care about state laws.

[megatrig]

It certainly relaxes spasm and pain for me. Finding the right balance is interrsting! Try it and see how if affects her.

[lavenderthistle]

Look on line for info about medical marijuana dispensaries and local laws. I was strongly considering it when my nerve pain reached unholy proportions. From the website I found out that;

The card makes it legal in my state only, still a federal crime
The police can still demand to search your home or you
You must loudly declare that you oppose this search in case it goes to court so you have witnesses that you refused
Your doctor can drop you if you use an outside doctor to secure a card
Your surgeon can drop you


I decided it wasn't legally worth it for me. But having used it as a younger person for pain relief after a nasty knee injury...I ADORE it for pain relief

If your doctor will prescribe it for you, then by all means go for it. I love it, it works like a charm.

[AlaskaOne]

I tried eating a cookie w/ marajuana in it for neuropathy because I didn't want to have to keep upping my neurontin dosage as my tolerance for it increased, but I had a bad time w/ it. Perhaps it reacted w/ the neurontin (I take 300 ml a day) or perhaps it is because I have not used it in over thirty years but I know I will never try it again.

[my-sister]

Well, I'm sorry to report that we have found marinol to be ineffective in pain management for my sister. It worked for 2(ish) weeks. But she has already built up an immunity to 1 pill a day. So there doesn't seem to be a point in boosting it up to 2 pills a day... It would just wear off too soon.

We are glad that we gave it a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Lyrica sounds so scary with all of the warnings about decreased immune system. I guess we may not have any other options. My sister has tried to increase her gabepentin, but always gets sick with constipation and doesn't get any relief from the pain, sometimes getting more pain from the constipation!

Not sure what she will try next.

But feel happy for all of those who have found pain relief in the use of marinol.

[wheeliebear75]

If the marinol pills didn't work it's possible that the ACTUAL PLANT on the other hand WILL HELP. The REAL PLANT is made of a compound of several chanibinoids which although the draw back is that no 2 plants will be 100% the same, the benefit of that is that it's not AS LIKELY that she'll build up a tolarance to it so quickly. And with marijuana there is NO SUCH THING as "O.D.ing" on it because it is one of the few chemicals that does NOT effect anyone's breathing or any other vital functions that would cause death or injury (aside from being "high" & doing something like driving when one should NOT be behind the wheel of a car etc.). OTHER meds. such as the pain pills CAN & HAVE caused people to stop breathing & other pills can damage organs such as the stomach, liver & kidneys.

So: aside from the legal/illegal issue & the $ it costs I don't really see a whole lot of draw-backs at THIS point for HER. If nothing else is working why not give it a shot?

 my-sister, on 31 January 2012 - 12:28 AM, said:

Well, I'm sorry to report that we have found marinol to be ineffective in pain management for my sister. It worked for 2(ish) weeks. But she has already built up an immunity to 1 pill a day. So there doesn't seem to be a point in boosting it up to 2 pills a day... It would just wear off too soon.

We are glad that we gave it a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Lyrica sounds so scary with all of the warnings about decreased immune system. I guess we may not have any other options. My sister has tried to increase her gabepentin, but always gets sick with constipation and doesn't get any relief from the pain, sometimes getting more pain from the constipation!

Not sure what she will try next.

But feel happy for all of those who have found pain relief in the use of marinol.

[my-sister]

i hear ya, wheeliebear. i believe the natural plant has very good properties for helping with pain management. however, we don't want to get anything like that, that doesn't come from a pharmacy. i guess what i've learned is that the success that i have read about here on this site regarding the use of marajuana for pain/spasms is mostly due to the natural plant (california residents) and marinol is just a crappy substitute. i can't believe that regulatory agencies don't KNOW that already. it seems kinda crazy to make a natural product illegal (like you said, it can't kill anything but your judgement). we are now trying lyrica and it's been a week. so far so good. having a good transition from neurontin i hope this is the the ticket! i'm so glad that my sister has some relief from the nerve pain. God help her liver and any other organ or system that might be impacted by this med. cross fingers, roll dice.

[lavenderthistle]

Milk thistle is supposed to help liver health. If you're really worried talk to the doctor, they can probably reassure you or test her liver function once in a while, and also feel for enlargement regularly.

[Rabih]

i smoke a joint or 2 at night,it helps for a couple of hours,it makes the tolerable,it doesnt take it away.and i smoke hash not pot cause its easier to get here.but im in pain from the moment i open my eyes in the morning till i smoke at night