The cannabis cure part II: A doctor’s experience

If you read my posts regularly, you know that I have suffered chronic pain and migraine headaches most of my life. And my partner developed MS after receiving a flu shot about a decade ago. We both focus our life choices that will help improve our wellness and quality of life.

In doing so, we’ve looked to many sources including Traditional Chinese Medicine, and try for ourselves every treatment, supplement or method that comes across as valid and potentially helpful.

After all the recent changes regarding use of medicinal marijuana, we decided to seriously research the facts about cannabis’ health claims.  The decision was an intense process for me. I grew up very skeptical of what I was raised to believe was a drug for “losers.” You can read more about how I decided to pursue this research in last week’s article.

There are two main ingredients found in the marijuana plant: Cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Medicinally speaking, CBD is preferred for medical use because it does not have the psychoactive components that THC does. In other words, CBD won’t get you high. So with that in mind, we set off…

Denver bound

We decided to call a number of cannabis dispensaries in Colorado with specific questions, like “What is the best ratio of CBD to THC for inflammation and pain?” With all this new information and hope firmly I place, we travelled to Denver.

We visited three different dispensaries, all part of the same franchise, but each having different products. That was odd but the huge posters of Snoop Dog endorsing his products were a fun touch.

At each location, we had to be buzzed into the building, which was manned by an armed guard. Then someone behind thick glass took your ID and copied it and gave you a number. Then you waited to be allowed entrance into the main shop. Once in the shop you could see all the products and speak with the salespeople, who all were self-proclaimed experts on the subject — even though all of their information was different from shop to shop.

They informed us that without a prescription, they could not sell us medical grade, high quality CBD products. They could only sell us THC heavy recreational products, which we didn’t want, or CBD products with THC in them. This, of course, makes no sense. But we followed suit and purchased some 10:1 (CBD:THC) sublingual drops, some patches, and some liquid that is akin to cough syrup in consistency and use.

The not so great results

Back at the hotel, we tried these products with less than stellar results. For my partner, her pain did not decrease as anticipated, and her fatigue increased. Our purpose was to see if she could reduce medication which makes her too tired each day, while also reducing pain to wean off the prescriptions. Well, there was insufficient pain relief and the products made her just as tired.

For me, I was just curious to see if these products could reduce a migraine as I had read; and luckily the bad weather and other factors contributed to me having an onset. But my reaction was rather negative all around.

After a few minutes I noticed a pain in my throat, like a polyp suddenly showed up. It was difficult to swallow. After a few hours I experienced severe joint pain. After a second dose before bed, I again experienced the throat sensation and on waking in the morning several of my finger joints were so red, swollen and painful, I could not move them. I did not take more cannabis that day and the symptoms disappeared. I tried one more dose the following morning, and they came back again.

I suppose I am allergic to cannabis, but nowhere in the literature or when speaking to the salespeople was there any mention of such side effects. All the popular rhetoric these days, written and spoken, seems to be about the amazing cure-all effects of cannabis, with little if any mention of side effects or a non-event.

Back at home

We found that you can order CBD products via the internet, while we await PA to have the infrastructure to implement the medicinal use of cannabis. My partner ordered more products and is hopeful and says she is indeed feeling a bit better. It seems the CBD makes her tired and helps her sleep via a mechanism that also helps relax her muscle spasms in her legs. So part of the improved sleep is from the tiredness effect and part because her pain decreases through reduction in spams, which keeps her from waking up as frequently.

We found a local supplement shop that now carries hemp-derived CBD products. They raved about it, espoused the same panacea rhetoric as the show and the other shop users do. They offered a sample teaspoon of their high CBD liquid. We tried it. No change for my partner. For me, within a few minutes I felt the swell of a migraine coming on. And within 5 minutes it was full blown and we had to leave the shop; my day ruined.

Reflections

Reflecting back, I suppose one has to smoke it and that perhaps it is the THC that is helping. Or maybe, like with some other natural plants and herbs, you cannot isolate its components and expect them to work without the overall synergistic effect of all the phytonutrients that are in its original form.

Studies confirm that taking a vitamin C supplement does not affect you in the same way as getting vitamin C from eating an orange, for example. Extracting a singular component, as is the practice of the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries, simply does not provide the same health effects as getting the component as part of the whole source from which is comes.

A lot more research needs to be done, for sure. Anecdotal information just is not enough. Colorado has certainly laid the foundation for what is possible in growing, manufacturing and selling cannabis in a legal way that is neither seedy nor off putting. But without real clinical trials, it’s all trial and error for each person to see how cannabis can help them… or not.