So I have been looking around. and wondering about weed. I have smoked before and it relaxes my body... doesnt take the pain away. What I am looking for as an alternative is to take strong pain medication to be able to go out with my friends. It is so hard on my body. It is a plant grown in the earth, so it has to be better than chemically produced pills. I am 21 and want to be able to go out with my friends without doping myself up on meds to be able to go out for the day. I am not looking for all the time, but on bad flared days, being able to go out and be as normal of a teen ager looking as possible.

If you are able to give me some information on if you smoke, how often, the effect that it has on you, and how long it lasts and any other information. If you would feel more comfortable please send me a message.

Blessings on your day!

Hi,
I was diagnosed with RSD in July, suffered with it since Dec 09. Before I had health insurance I had to self medicate and I attempted to use marijuana as a pain killer, but it doesn't work by its self. I am on pain medications and still have flare-ups, when I have flare-ups is when I use marijuana. It relaxes the muscle spasms and helps counteract some of the medications side effects. I use morphine and percocet, I rarely get a "high" feeling from my meds. I am in so much pain that it helps dull the pain, but I am not getting "high" off the pain medications.However, I would recommend staying close to home until you have tried out all of your meds( 3weeks maybe) then if you go out you should use the percocet. Do not drink while on any of the medications, your liver could really get messed up. I honestly feel the gabapentin (neurotin) that effects me the most; I get dizzy, feel fatiqued and like I might faint. Be careful, follow your meds exactly how your doctor tells you and accept that things may be different for you then they have in the past (dependent of illness and length of illness)
Painfull

Hi Hannah

I have tried it a couple times but it wiped me out way too much...and it was too strong. it helped my pain, but knocked me out.
we have talked about this several times here so i did a search for you so you can go back and read the different threads if you dont get enough answers here...

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/se...uery=marijuana

hope that helps!
Lori

From the posts I have read by others, it's hit and miss, just like any medication is. Works for some, a little for others, and not at all for some. Gotta try it to find out. May help with the appetite too.

My understanding is that CRPS would be a qualifying condition though for medicinal marijuana in the states where it is legal. But you would need documentation from your doctor.

From my personal experience I can tell you that it seems to give me some relief. I am on oral Ketamine for my RSD pain but I do still have some break thru pain mainly in the evening. This is when I will use the weed. I have morphine to help with this pain but have found it to do little good for me. I do find that the weed really relaxes me....to the point of making me sleep. Needless to say, it must help my pain if it helps me to sleep. On a negative note, here in VA we are not a State/Commonwealth that has a legal medical marijuana law on the books so I am unable to do this legally.

Virginia---http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?101+sum+HB1136
"SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:
Scope of prescription for marijuana for medical purposes. Provides that no person shall be prosecuted for the possession of marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol when that possession occurs pursuant to a valid prescription issued by a medical doctor in the course of his professional practice. The bill also provides that no medical doctor or pharmacist shall be prosecuted for dispensing or distributing marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol for medical purposes when such action occurs in the course of his professional practice. Currently medical marijuana can only be prescribed for cancer and glaucoma."

I'm also a virginia residence. Dig a little deeper to see if it truly only applies to cancer and glaucoma patients.

Colorado has legalized it on a state level but it's not legal on a Federal level. You are allowed to raise I believe 3 plants here if you have papers from a Physician but if the Feds come in, they can take your place. Go figure. I chose not to do either when I was given the paper by my Neurologist about 5 years ago.

People need to realize also that you can't drive when you smoke it, and it is happening.

It's a personal choice but I don't want to do it due to my Grandson's. We have raised them to say no to drugs and want to try and keep it that way.

Good luck on whatever your choice.

Ada

Dear Hannah -

Very sorry for not responding earlier. I concur with katcam831, with the qualification that the literature (primarily around MS) stands for the proposition that marijuana /cannabis is something of a wonder drug for spasms, while working perfectly well for pain. The only problem is that, well, you're stoned, something that may very well not happen at a dose equivalent level of opioids and Baclofen, although both may initially make you sleepy.

Here are three freely available articles that I recommend:

Cannabis use as described by people with multiple sclerosis, Page SA, Verhoef MJ, Stebbins RA et al, Can J Neurol Sci. 2003 Aug;30(3):201-5, FULL TEXT @ http://cjns.metapress.com/media/9e27...xvtpjrwf1.pdf;

Smoked cannabis for chronic neuropathic pain: a randomized controlled trial, Ware MA, Wang T, Shapiro S, CMAJ 2010 Oct 5;182(14):E694-701, Epub 2010 Aug 30, FULL TEXT @ http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/182/14/E694.pdf AND

Smoked medicinal cannabis for neuropathic pain in HIV: a randomized, crossover clinical trial, Ellis RJ, Toperoff W, Vaida F, Neuropsychopharmacology 2009 Feb;34(3):672-80, Epub 2008 Aug 6, FULL TEXT @ http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v3...pp2008120a.pdf

The funny thing is that I live in California where medical marijuana is supposed to be legal, but my pain mngt. physician is uncomfortable with me using marijuana - even if prescribed by someone else - where he and his university pain clinic write a lot of prescriptions for Schedule II medications, and is sufficiently concerned about the watchful eyes of the DEA that all patients being treated there are subject to random drug screens, although I have never been required to enter into a "treatment contract" as such. Instead, he's willing to prescribe a perfectly legal drug, Marinol, which is a synthetic but exact copy of one of the nine naturally occurring THC molecules [Delta-9] in marijuana. The only problem is that the Delta-9 molecule is apparently not the sharpest knife in the cannabis drawer: while it does a great job of resolving spasms, it takes roughly 30 - 40 minutes to become effective and then leaves me somewhat delusional for hours thereafter. Sort of like the brown Mexican pot I remember from 40 years ago. (And in stark contrast to the sensimilla buds a close friend of mine in San Francisco - who was dying of cancer - used to have delivered to her door from the marijuana dispensary of the most established AIDS clinic in the city.)

And as to Marinol, I've found that my need for it dropped dramatically after I went through an altogether new course of physical therapy, which focused solely on stretching and "nerve gliding" exercises, which I would recommend to anyone.

Finally, by way of an aside, my psychiatrist wanted me to talk to a former colleague of his, who is now running a medical marijuana practice exclusively, in which he primarily prescribes concentrated droplets know as "tincture of cannabis." I spoke to the gentleman briefly, before determining that he wasn't for me. Then ran tincture of cannabis on PubMed, and was surprised to come up with only 3 hits, and only one of them was a free article, dating to 1847! A Case of Dysmenorrhoea [painful menstruation] in Which the Tincture of Cannabis Indica Was Employed, with Some Observations upon That Drug, Barrow B, Prov Med Surg J 1847 Mar 10;11(5):122-4, FULL TEXT @ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...00388-0010.pdf (Check it out.)

I hope some of this at least is helpful.

Mike

fmichael -

"Instead, he's willing to prescribe a perfectly legal drug, Marinol, which is a synthetic but exact copy of one of the nine naturally occurring THC molecules [Delta-9] in marijuana."

Boy, this caught my eye. The dr. is willing to give you a synthetic copy of something that already exists in a better form. Ok doc, that's logical.

I'm in California and smoke mj nightly. I have a routine with the wifey.... After dinner and before we sit down to vegitate in front of the tv, I'll go out back and medicate. When I come in, we both go on the couch and she rubs my feet and legs and in return I rub her feet. She has no pain, but likes her feet rubbed. By the time this is over, I have NO pain and when bedtime rolls around, I sleep like a baby til morning.

I have a good relationship with my g.p. and I can talk to him about anything. He once told me he didn't like me 'self-medicating' with mj. I told him, fine, prescribe me something I can grow for free in the backyard, eliminates my pain for a few hours, lets me sleep all night and awake refreshed. He just gave me a dirty look, lol.

I have a good gp, but I think drs. have a God complex or something. If they didnt learn it in med school, it can't be good for you.

They have the DEA and FDA glaring at them.