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Cannibus for pain
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/images/blacktab.gif This is an article about marijuana for neuropathic pain. If you try it, please don't post about it here except in the most general terms. The DEA has computer programs that monitor the web for key words. It would pain me greatly to know that one of us finds something that reduces or eliminates their pain, shares that experience, and is thus busted and put into a cage with criminals for years. The only consolation then would be that there is plenty of pot in prison. At least that's the rumors.;) ================================================== ======= http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/imag...rfriendly2.jpg .http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/images/blacktab.gif http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/images/blanktab.gif Foot Pain Associated With HIV Reduced By Smoked Cannabis In Placebo Trial 15 Feb 2007 In a randomized placebo-controlled trial, patients smoking cannabis experienced a 34 percent reduction in intense foot pain associated with HIV - twice the rate experienced by patients who smoked placebo. "This placebo-controlled clinical trial showed that people with HIV who smoked cannabis had substantially greater pain reduction than those who did not smoke the cannabis," said study lead author Donald I. Abrams, MD, UCSF professor of clinical medicine. "These results provide evidence that there is a measurable medical benefit to smoking cannabis for these patients." The study, published in the journal "Neurology," looked at 50 HIV patients with HIV-associated sensory neuropathy, a painful and often debilitating condition that is the most common peripheral nerve disorder that occurs as a complication of HIV infection. Occurring usually in the feet and characterized at times by tingling, numbness, the sensation of pins and needles, burning, and sharp intense pain, severe peripheral neuropathy can make walking or standing difficult. Patients participating in the study were randomized into two equal groups - one assigned to smoke cannabis and the other assigned to smoke identical placebo cigarettes with the cannabinoids extracted. The patients smoked the study cigarettes three times a day for five days under supervision as inpatients in the General Clinical Research Center at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center. "Even though antiretroviral treatments have reduced the prevalence and severity of many HIV-related neurological complications, neuropathy continues to affect up to one of every three patients," said co-author Cheryl A. Jay, MD, UCSF professor of clinical neurology. "There are no FDA-approved treatments for HIV-related neuropathy. This study suggests new avenues to manage neuropathic pain in this setting." The study also incorporated a pain model developed at UCSF that provided a standardized reference point. This model allowed researchers to compare relief of chronic HIV-associated neuropathic pain simultaneously with patient response to pain and skin sensitivity induced by heating and capsaicin application. "The beauty of this study is the use of the pain model as a neutral and physiological anchor for pain measurement. Patients' eyes were averted during the measurements and were uninfluenced by expectations. Smoked cannabis was shown to work on the pain system by shrinking the area of painfully sensitive skin created by the model. The response was comparable to strong pain relievers we have studied, such as morphine," said co-author Karin L. Petersen, MD, UCSF assistant adjunct professor of neurology. This study is the first to be completed of several clinical trials of medicinal cannabis being conducted under the auspices of the University of California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. "It has been many years since clinical trials with cannabis have been conducted in the United States," said Igor Grant, MD, professor of psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and director of the CMCR. "As a result there has been insufficient light shed on the possible therapeutic value of cannabis. The results of this first study indicate that cannabis may indeed be useful in the amelioration of a very distressing, disabling, and difficult to treat complication of HIV. We look forward to the results of several additional CMCR studies nearing completion to continue clarifying cannabis' possible role as a therapeutic agent." ### Co-authors include Starley B. Shade, MPH; Hector Vizoso, RN; and Mary Ellen Kelly, MPH, from the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, and Michael C. Rowbotham, MD; Haatem Reda, BA; and Scott Press, BS, from the UCSF Pain Clinical Research Center. The General Clinical Research Center at SFGH is funded by NIH. The UCSF Positive Health Program is a program of the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF. UCSF ARI coordinates all of the HIV/AIDS research, treatment, and prevention activities at UCSF. Combining the best basic science, bench-to-bedside research, behavioral studies, direct care services, and policy development, the ARI at UCSF is one of the premier HIV/AIDS medical, education, and research institutions in the world. UCSF is a leading university that advances health worldwide by conducting advanced biomedical research, educating graduate students in the life sciences and health professions, and providing complex patient care. Contact: Jeff Sheehy University of California - San Francisco Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medi...p?newsid=62917 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/images/blanktab.gif Save time! Get the latest medical news headlines for your specialist area, in a weekly newsletter e-mail. See http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsletters.php for details. |
David:
Don't know if you are aware, but over 20 years ago, medical marijuana was ALLOWED. There was a special on tv some time ago where a man was standing in Washington DC (with the capitol in the background) and he was holding up a bag of joints. He explained that he had a condition years ago and that he was in some kind of program that permitted him to use marijuana!!! He held up the bag for the camera to see and said something like "See, I smoke this and they can't do a darn thing about it" But since they cancelled the bill (or whatever it's called when they stop allowing stuff like this to be used), you people out there who have pain and chronic conditions, well, you can't use this stuff. He continued "BUT EVERY MONTH I GET THIS IN THE MAIL". So there are indeed a few people (who from many years ago) are still getting the stuff but others, because it has now been deemed a criminal offense, can't get it. This is the most outrageous decision I have ever heard. I mean, we are talking about adults here, not kids trying to get high. I've heard Montel Williams say he smokes week because of his MS. I mean, who the hell can blame anybody, especially if they have neuropathy, for wanting some relief. I remember an old episode of Chicago Hope (with Mark Harmon) and there was this woman in bed in the end stages of cancer, and she asked the doctor to get her some marijuana and everybody was saying "oh, we can't do that it's against the law". It seemed that no pain meds were working for her. I'll never forget the scene where (I believe it was Mark Harmon), who walks in and there she was smoking a bong, and she was inhaling it and she was smiling. He never told on her. Someday, someone in congress will get some kind of chronic pain condition and then a lightbulb will go off in his head and then when he is approached by a lobbyist who says "Please pass this medical marijuana bill"?? do you really think this guy will have to think twice bout it??? HAH!!!! Melody |
I agree Melody. Someday, our drug laws and the many thousands of otherwise honest and law abiding people in prison because of them will be looked upon like we look at the Salem witch hunts.
I'm not saying that all drugs should be legalized. Even marijuana can be addictive, and of course nobody should drive while under the influence. But, pot isn't nearly as addictive as cigarettes or alcohol, and poses much less of a threat to public health and safety. People become violent under alcohol, but mellow and calm under cannibus. Because of its low threat to health and proven medicinal uses, cannibus should probably be legalized and treated similar to alcohol. I should add that there was a lady from Chicago with amylodosis who was active in the old BrainTalk forum. Pot that her son got for her was the only thing she found that moderated her pain without knocking her out, including opiates. P.S. People in this supposedly free country should have the right to make their own decisions in these matters. |
I agree. completely.
I mean, just take a person like my friend with Stage 3 lung cancer who is going through chemo. She's always sick, nauseas and besides all of that she has anorexia. She wouldn't take a drag on a joint if you gave her a million dollars. I have no idea why. Me??? If I were her. Well, let's just say my name would be........ MELLOW MELLO |
More thoughts
Agree with both of you - my doc prescribed the synthetic form - marinol, which inurance pays for - for my constant nausea associated with the autonomic PN - BUT they are pills - and you cannot regulate how much you get.... found even the smallest dose too strong because since I've had such a severe loss of balance already due to the sensory nerve loss - I ended up lying on my face... its too bad because I know it helps many...
Melody - your friend on chemo - there are lots of other nausea meds out there - especially for people on chemo - like zofran, anzimet, reglan - which help many - do you know if she has tried any of these? (I live on a combo of nausea meds to be able to drink ensure - without them I'd have to have a constant IV feeding tube into my intestines).... also, was she anorexic before the chemo? Cause eating and then having severe nausea due to it can certainly trigger it..... In any case - I hope they can help her. |
My friend is now 59 years old. I met her around 18 years ago through another friend. She weighed 58 lbs when I first met her. You have no idea what it feels like to be looking at a human skull but that is exactly what she looked like at 58 lbs.
She's been anorexic since she was 15. I often speak to her mother who is 83 who is so sweet and nice and goes crazy when my friend refuses to eat. She will not, under any circumstances go above 100 lbs. When we visited her in the hospital (she gets hospitalized a lot because she bleeds a lot), she was retaining fluid and she got up to 120. Well, she caused such a scene in the hospital roomI could not believe it. Accused everybody of trying to get her fat. The gave her lasix and she dropped the excess water over night. She's been in and out of eating disorder clinics. It broke up her marriage. She and I have had many talks on this. More often I just listen because you can't make anybody EAT, the same way you can't force anyone who is obese to diet. It just doesn't compute in her head. I have no idea what her meds are because she's on so many. She's been on antidepressants and xanax for years. She was on coumadin but they had to put a port in her because she has bad veins but they couldn't put the port in because she was bleeding. They took her off the coumadin and put her on heparin for a while. They finally got the port in. She came home yesterday. She won't eat. Oh, on the phone she tells me "I think I'll have a nice chicken pot pie for dinner". I know she tells me this but I also know she doesn't eat. In all the 18 years we have known each other (and we have been to many luncheons and affairs), I have seen her eat exactly one piece of chicken. I got so excited I went over to her and said "My god, you are eating" we both laughed. But she did go from 58 lbs to the 100 in about 8 years. But she got diagnosed with emphasema at 51 (big smoker), then last year she got the stage 3 diagnosis. We offer support, comfort and friendship. This is her second bout of chemo. It seems that during a scan they found 3 spots on her lung (she had had radioactive seeds implanted) and her whole family wouldn't go near her because they felt she was radioactive. It was the most ridiculous thing I ever saw in all my life. I actually called the department of radiation in some city and spoke to an expert on radiation and he set me straight. She was no danger. And this was about a year ago so the half life of these pellets is over but noooooooooooo, some of her family still don't get it. Ignorance is terrible. She thinks 100 lbs is suitable for her 5'3 frame and everyone looks at her like she's bonkers but she is adamant. I bet she weighs herself every day. She once had a laxative habit which landed her in the hospital and they had to do something in her colon. It was a big surgery. To me, the anorexia (in her case) is hurting her more than the cancer because don't you have to have good nutrition while you are undergoing radiation and chemo? Don't you have to drink ensure and stuff like that? I've been to her house many times and have NEVER seen her eat a thing. This anorexia is a really devastating disorder but honestly no one can believe she has lasted this long. Yesterday I was doing my supportive pal thing. I'm the only one who can actually make her laugh. She was starting to cry and say "I don't know how much more I can take" and I blurt out: "For gods sake, you have anorexia and cancer, what are you crying about"?? She started laughing her head off. We had a good talk. Can a person with anorexia, stage three lung cancer, etc. (oh, she has a spot on her brain which they gave her radiation or), can she actually make it? I am always on the upbeat with her but honeslty, she must have some strong heart to have lived so long and not gained a pound. No one can make her eat a thing. Her poor mother, well, it's hard. I've never weighed 100 lbs in my entire life. I can't imagine being that tiny. All we can do is pray. I keep telling her that God has a purpose for her on this world. Thank God she has her faith. be well. Melody |
I think its ridiculous for it to be illegal for people suffering horrible unrelenting pain, especially terminal ill patients, let them go for it i say, yet they allow the manufacturing of cigarettes and hard alcohol, then our goverment has the cheek to put advertizements on TV, warning us of the terrible diseases we can get from these LEGAL products they allow to be made and sold :rolleyes: what a joke, its all about $$$$$$$$$$$$ taxes out of them.
I smoke and i use to drink alcohol, i have stopped the beer but having problems trying to cut down on the rotten smokes. The only thing i worry about legalizing weed is the long term abuse of weed, i have personaly seen the damage it can do , i have seen a complete turn around of personality from a long term abuser of weed, but for severe pain it should be legal. Brian I |
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I stopped smoking about 5 times before it stuck. That was before the nicotine patch. I took stop-smoking classes twice. They taught several things that helped: - Alcohol and caffeine go with cigarettes, so don't drink liquor or coffee until the habit is under control...six months for me. - Avoid smokers until the habit is under control...six months for me. It's too easy to bum a smoke, then another, then you're obligated to buy a pack for them, and you're back into it. - Pick an alternative incompatible with smoking. It was running for me, but you could join a monestary or live on your own little island or piece of outback for example until the habit's under control. - If you backslide, it doesn't mean that the habit is stronger than you are. It only means you backslid, and that's part of your process of quitting. I backslid at least 4 times. - Fresh smoke still smells alluring to me, but it's been years since I've craved a smoke. I'm still addicted in the sense that it would be easy to start again...so I don't. - Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. Smoke has carbon monoxide in it that supplants oxygen in your blood. Both are just what your PN doesn't need, nor the healing process when you get your new hip. - The physical habit is gone in a few days, but the craving lasts longer than your willpower. My crisis every time I quit was about the 2 week point. You need help and support, and to follow guidelines and principles like those above to get past that inevitable hump. The craving will slowly go away and your willpower will grow with practice. - Stopping smoking is the best single thing you can do for yourself and your PN. You'll be a hero in your eyes, and mine too. |
Thanks for those very valuable tips, over the last couple of months i have cut the cigs down to half to what i was smoking and i was a very heavy smoker, but i am still not happy even with that amount, i just brought some " nigarette patches " so here goes, i am going to give it my best shot, right now.
thanks again for those goood tips. Brian :) |
I've quit smoking tobacco before, but it never stuck. I've been smoking since I was 14 or 15 (62-15=47 years). I'm now at 1-1/2 packs to 2 packs/day and really have to stop soon. I saw what it was like when my son broke his neck and was on a 'vent' for almost 2 months- and he was not a smoker of cigarettes (but did do weed off & on. So did I.... do the math ;). I was in college from 1962-1966 ).
Cannabis was used for glaucoma and CA patients by Rx only for quite a few years. I'm not sure if it still is, but the medical component of cannabis sativa (tetra-hydro-cannabinol) has been put into a pill form. It also has been synthesized- Marinol (Users say that it is not as effective as smoking or vaporizing the real thing). There always has been a big lobby against the legalization. N.O.R.M.L. has been around for many years and hasn't been found to be too effective in the quest to legalize. I'm not sure why, but the old B & W warning films (Pot Smokers are Baby Killers and Rapists-Degenerates...."something... Mania") from the 50's still are burnt into the minds of the lawamkers and a once used med (it was used around the turn of the century up until it was criminalized, I think in the late '40's or '50's - It could've been the late '50's, or early '60's, but they say: "if you remember the '60's.....you weren't there!" ;) ) that was extremely helpful, and did little harm- is now on the list of illegal substances- it seems, forever. I don't know what it will take to get it off he DEA list, but those guys are adamant about keeping it on. |
Brian....
I used to smoke also. I actually quit when I got pregnant. It was a great reason, but it didn't make it any easier! What I told myself, was something I learned in Alcoholics Anonymous. That smoking (or drinking) wasn't an option for me anymore. I had used it all up in my life. It just wasn't an option. As long as I thought I had a right or an option to a cigarette or drink, I would take it. Absolutely. If i had no right to it, or option, it helped me to say no. To drink (or smoke) was to die. This may sound very dramatic, but it is actually very true. You may not die today from smoking, but it definately does affect our health, and shortens our life.
You are having major surgery and would be very well served by not smoking. Smoking really negatively affects the healing process. Being pregnant helped me because I had to protect my baby. It was a very good reason to quit. Perhaps you can use your PN as your reason to quit. Your PN will get better if you stop. You will heal more. Perhaps you will see some improvement. You will definately stop coughing so much and breath much easier. Good luck to you...with the nicorette and telling yourself that you can do it, you will succeed and be much happier and healthier! Good luck.....if this smoker could do it you can! Ann |
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Brian :) |
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little tricks...like washing all your clothes. make sure that the old smoke smell is gone. same with around the house. curtains, carpets...linens. that smell can trigger the need for a smoke. that spray called Febreeze really helps. don't forget your car. the patches and gum do work great. just don't do both at the same time. :eek: if you feel the need to put something in your mouth...you can take the patch off..put it back on the little plastic disc...and chomp on some nicoette gum. them put the patch back on. the patches...follow what the boxes say. don;t try and stretch out the times to make them last longer. this will just put you in nicotine withdrawls. i can't tel you how many time over the years i have seen that happen. awesome advice on this thread. i hope others will read it. :hug: you can do it brian. got you in my prayers. |
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It might sound a bit weird, but its only been 15 hours of no smoking and my smelling is becoming more sensitive, and my nostrils were always blocked but now i am actually breathing through them easier. many thanks Brian :) |
Best wishes to you Brian - hope this thread helped, and is helping -quit smoking- but ya hijacked it, Mate!
What happened to Cannibis for Pain! Did we totally exhaust David's original thread? |
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You know, i did feel a bit guilty when this thread got off the real subject, sorry David but THANKS at the same time :D :D Brian :) |
A couple of summers ago when we were in Oregon I smoked with my SIL and I really saw a significant decrease in pain. My headache dissappeared and I was able to do so much more. So of course I tried some more when we got home and found that I was able to work in the yard, spray painted a patio set, and generally got alot done that I normally would have been in pain and had to stop. I also don't get the munchies like many do, but instead I am full of energy.
I was a big cannibus user back in my late teens, early 20's but quit when I got married, kids and all of that. I also quit smoking cigarrettes then. I have smoked a few times here and there but the thing that keeps me from using it full time is being afraid of breaking the law. I would much rather smoke pot than put all these chemicals in my body just to make it through the day. We have had the initiative here to legalize it on the last three ballots and it has not passed yet. It seems to be getting closer but I just don't know if it will ever be legal here. Hopefully someday...Sue |
Excellent source of information
http://www.druglibrary.org/
Yes, the federal government sends poor-quality joints every months to a few people who had qualified for the compassionate use program before it was ended many years ago. It's all about greed and lust for power. Someday another generation will look back on these decades with dismay. rose |
Other vices and healing
There was an article I just read about how much nicotine aids myelin formation, and studies showing that it is a terrific help in protecting myelin and regenerating it.
Delivered by patch (or gum, I guess) not cigarettes. So maybe there are more roles for what one might consider vices, and healing. It's extremely compelling research. Even those of us with axonal neuropathy lose myelin, and anything that helps remyelination is a good thing. Here's one link: (okay, I copied the piece instead of the link, sorry. Google for the entire piece. Home › Myelin to Blame for Many Neuropsychiatric Disorders Myelin to Blame for Many Neuropsychiatric Disorders Tue, 2006-11-21 08:06 — BJS What makes the human brain unique? Of the many explanations that can be offered, one that doesn't come readily to mind is — myelin. Conventional wisdom holds that myelin, the sheet of fat that coats a neuron's axon — a long fiber that conducts the neuron's electrical impulses — is akin to the wrapping around an electrical wire, protecting and fostering efficient signaling. But the research of UCLA neurology professor George Bartzokis, M.D., has already shown that myelin problems are implicated in diseases that afflict both young and old — from schizophrenia to Alzheimer's. Now, in a report published in the journal Biological Psychiatry and available online, Bartzokis argues that the miles of myelin coating in our brain are the key "evolutionary change that defines our uniqueness as a species" and, further, may also be the cause of "our unique vulnerability to highly prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders." The paper argues that viewing the brain as a myelin-dependent "Internet" may be key to developing new and novel treatments against disease and aid in assessing the efficacy of currently available treatments, including the use of nicotine (delivered by a patch, not smoking), which may enhance the growth and maintenance of myelin. Myelin, argues Bartzokis, who directs the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic, is "a recent invention of evolution. Vertebrates have it; invertebrates don't. And humans have more than any other species." Bartzokis studied the reported effects of cholinergic treatments, using drugs that are known to improve a neuron's synaptic signaling in people who suffer diseases like Alzheimer's. Furthermore, he notes, some clinical and epidemiological data suggest that such treatments may modify or even delay these diseases. Looking at such effects from a myelin-centric point of view, Bartzokis argues that cholinergic treatments may have nonsynaptic effects as well, perhaps by enhancing myelination and myelin repair — and the better the myelin, the more efficient the neuron signaling and our "Internet's" function. Specifically, such cholinergic treatments may enhance oligodendrocytes, a type of glia cell in the brain that produces myelin during the brain 's development and constantly maintains and repairs it as we age. While more work needs to be done to fully understand the role of nonsynaptic cholinergic effects on brain development, said Bartzokis, his hypotheses can easily be tested through in vivo imaging of the brain to study the breakdown and growth of myelin. That will make it possible to directly test in humans the practical utility of the myelin-centered model of the human brain. Ultimately, it could foster the development of novel treatments, as well as aid in assessing the efficacy of currently available treatments. These include the use of cholinergic treatments that include acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (used to treat Alzheimer's) and nicotine patches. "Through these rather benign interventions," Bartzokis said, "such effects on the brain's vulnerable oligodendrocyte populations may offer exciting opportunities for the prevention of both developmental and degenerative brain disorders. They deserve much closer scrutiny." Bartzokis work was supported in part by a National Institute of Mental Health grant, a National Institute on Aging Alzheimer's Disease Center Grant, Research and Psychiatry Services of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Sidell-Kagan Foundation. The UCLA Department of Neurology encompasses more than a dozen research, clinical and teaching programs. These programs cover brain mapping and neuroimaging, movement disorders, Alzheimer disease, multiple sclerosis, neurogenetics, nerve and muscle disorders, epilepsy, neuro-oncology, neurotology, neuropsychology, headaches and migraines, neurorehabilitation, and neurovascular disorders. The department ranked No. 1 in 2005 among its peers nationwide in National Institutes of Health funding. For more information, see http://neurology.medsch.ucla.edu/. From UCLA animal kingdom Add new comment Read more Email Story 733 reads Reply Subject: |
If anyone wants to quit...
I could loan you my hubby for about a week-that should do it. He is an AVID anti-smoker. He is a good guy, but I MEAN AVID!
Thirty years ago, we had been married about 6 months; I smoked and he did not. Little did I know that he had in mind that I would be quitting... He did NOT tell me this up front and tolerated it for the first few months... I worked nights at the time and would come in at 11:30 PM and make a mad run for the bathroom, locking myself in, brushing my teeth and gargling.. He would be out there beating on the bathroom door, demanding that I come out and wailing about how I "promised" that I would quit, that I smelled bad when he kissed me, my clothes stunk, etc. etc. etc... I would come out and we would go around and around, always ending with him saying, baby, I am SOOO, SOOO sorry, I will NEVER say anything again and me swearing that I would quit... Oh, it was bad... Next night, 11:30 same song, second and third verse... Finally, after about a week of this, I decided that I was either going to have to quit or we weren't going to be able to stay married... It took me about probably a month before I lost the urge. I gave up my coffee breaks for a while and changed some other habits-like grabbing for my cigarettes and lighter when the phone rang-some of the things you associate with having a cigartte. Boy, it feels good... :) Cathie |
I do my thing,
and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expections And you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, And if by chance we find each other, its beautiful. Frederick S. Pearls |
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