Medical Marijuana and Chronic Pain

Have you experienced pain relief from Medical Marijuana?  Are you curious about if MMJ may work for you?

Just as I was preparing to publish this on the subject of the benefits of MMJ in the treatment of Chronic Pain, my inbox brought me an interesting study performed by University of California San Francisco.

Titled: 'UCSF STUDY FINDS MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD HELP PATIENTS REDUCE PAIN WITH OPIATES', of course this immediately stopped me, and I am including sections of this study in an overview of the uses of MMJ and its place in conjunction with opiates as treatment of Chronic Pain.


Before addressing the study subject, I want to focus on the idea of using Medical Marijuana for the treatment of Chronic Pain.  Not acute pain (pain that comes on suddenly, violently, as in a migraine, or the pain of a broken bone, a burn, or other causes of sudden pain.) but daily pain. This use of MMJ in chronic pain is not new, and it is legal in selected other states across the country.  I live in California, I am a native, and in 1996, this great State passed Proposition 215. 

Proposition 215 (HS 11362.5) was passed in 1996 by a 56% majority of California voters in November 1996. That is more California votes than Presidents Clinton, Bush or most other elected official have received.
These allow the compassionate use of Marijuana when recommended by a licensed Medical Doctor, and the patient may purchase Medical Marijuana from Collectives that may legally sell MMJ to the patients.   


I have suffered with pain on a daily basis for the past 16 years.  Every single day.  Pain.  In various levels. All day long sometimes.  Experiencing pain in this manner has affected me greatly; at the level of understanding exactly what I will allow to happen in life, and what I will not stand for.  I refuse to stand silently off to the side, or lay in bed crying for myself because of my pain experience.  This has changed my thinking about many issues in life, from the sublime to the mundane. 


I have always been an independent thinker, with a Liberal mind and a Nurses heart.  I smoked marijuana in High School, I was a child of the 60's and 70's, and most of our teachers and professors were also enjoying marijuana, making it a bit hard to enforce any kind of anti-drug movement.  (That didnt start until Nancy's Regan's "Just Say No" campaign in the 1980's.)


If a person desires to lower their experience of their pain, I see absolutely nothing wrong with looking to Medical Marijuana for relief.  And not only does MMJ help the pain itself, MMJ can relieve the mental heaviness of bearing this weight all day.  This 'heaviness' can contribute to profound depression, which is fueled by the ongoing, daily pain battle.  


It's a scary place to be, that depression.  Alone, Clinical Depression is a Bear to bear.  Imagine dealing with pain every moment of life, knowing there is nothing more to be 'done' for it, and tell me that is anything but depressing.  Chronic Pain and Depression go hand in hand, and I personally know many pain patients that medicate either by themselves, or are on anti-depressants to treat the depression.  Or both.  


Not a drinker anymore (yes, me, the wine afficianado!) I can stand maybe a sip or two before I run for my diet coke.  Ergo, no drinking for self-medication for me.  I am taking prescribed medications for my severe Thoracic Spine pain, and the Severe Muscle Spasms that accompany the pain.  I am a compliant patient, I am given leeway by my pain doctor, who knows me very well, respects my knowledge as a nurse, and as a patient that attempts to push just a little harder in my physical abilities, so he knows I am a serious patient.  I am willing to do whatever it takes to feel better, stronger, and be in less pain.  I don't take the meds I am prescribed lightly.  I see them on the street for sale, and marvel at who could get a prescription of that medication and turn around and simply get rid of it.  What I marvel at is the fact they truly don't need the pain relief, yet they were able to obtain such a strong narcotic.  


I tend to get quite pissed off at the people that make it harder for us 'real' patients, to obtain the needed medications for our pain.  But guess what?  THAT will never stop, so the most a pain patient can do to help this situation is to be compliant with your treatment, and honest with your pain doctor.  If a pain patient finds they want to try MMJ for their chronic pain, this should be talked over with their pain doctor.   


The doctor that prescribes your pain meds may not be the same one that gives a recommendation for the use of MMJ; however, keep your Pain doctor informed of the use of MMJ.  You may notice you need less of your 'traditional' medications if you use MMJ!!  How great is that? Your pain doctor will want to know how MMJ affects your pain, spasms, and depression.  Also, your quality of sleep should be assessed at each appointment with your pain doctor.  MMJ has been found to be extremely helpful in the treatment of insomnia; another familiar problem in the lives of Chronic Pain patients.    


Whether to treat the actual pain of chronic pain, or to treat the depression, muscle spasms, and a myriad of other issues, MMJ has been shown to reduce both the pain--via the pain receptors, and the sadness and apathy that can strike a person with chronic pain.  


In my eyes, MMJ is a natural, God-given medication that is finally being recognized properly in the treatment of pain, by the Medical Community.  This is not about smokin a joint so you and your friends can laugh for 20 minutes straight.  (Nothing wrong with that.)  This is about trying to find anything that will lessen the pain.  Anything.  I mean we have tried Buckwheat pillows, peppermint rubs and wraps in seaweed and mud, taken plenty of pills, (totally man made) worn magnets, had Radio-frequency treatments to burn nerves, had hot stones  placed on our skin, been rubbed with honey and alcohol, and had our spines fine-tuned with drills and instruments that look like the same scary weapons in the horror flicks I love.  


Where does Medical Marijuana fall in this picture of attempts at pain relief?  


Continued next is a focus on the UCSF study of how MMJ affects those that take Opiates for Chronic Pain.  


You may be pleasantly surprised at the outcomes!!!               





Gentle Hugs....