Considering Medical Marijuana for Chronic Illness Management? - My experience.

Medical Marijuana has given me a higher quality of life and functionality. Usually I would spend all or half the day in bed due to the onslaught of pain but now I am able to get out of bed more often. I’ve found that mmj works well for my vertigo, nausea and pain due to CVM, it helps with preventing seizures when I get an aura, and it helps me calm down in the midst of high anxiety and panic with PTSD. 

  1.  Mental Illness

Different strains tend to help different conditions, I found that “gorilla glue” helps with Anxiety more than pain it’s a half and half mix of sativa and indica. There are some strains of MMJ that can actually give you panic attacks I think it’s usually a high percentage of sativa that can give panic attacks, I’m not sure so I’d consult a professional or enthusiast on that. I find that it’s more likely to happen when you’ve smoked too much and you can’t grasp on to reality properly. But gorilla glue does help me when my mind starts racing. If you have depression MMJ can also be helpful for this, one of my friends uses it to help her manage and says it helps.

  2. Chronic pain / Seizures

Indica is the best for chronic head pain and seizures, sativa usually has this rebound effect which at first takes away the pain but then it comes back as you come down. I also find that sativa doesn’t suppress my seizures enough.  They call sativa a “head high” & Indica a “body high” so it’s easy to see why sativa can be counterproductive with brain conditions. If you’re dealing with widespread chronic pain Indica is also good for that.

   3. Vertigo (Disequilibrium, Vertigo, Nausea )

As far as my disequilibrium dizziness (tight rope sensation) it’s a little hard to describe the pros and cons to it. It does help my balance but not that much, I still have to use my cane or at least keep it nearby because I still lose my footing but it’s possible that is because my general vertigo has gotten worse or maybe I was not taking the right strain. In the past smoking helped me to the point I didn’t really need my cane but that was before my relapse. Nowadays it’s a lot more helpful for nausea and nystagmus/vertigo dizziness (room spinning, eyes shifting, on a rocking boat sensation) which are incredibly uncomfortable.

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     4. Fatigue

As far as fatigue medical marijuana does not have an effect on this, which is why sometimes I use it as a preventative I take it within the first few minutes of the pain onset because I get postdromal fatigue on top of constant fatigue which usually turns me into a husk of a woman.

 Not letting the pain sit in for an elongated time gives you a fighting chance to not get worn down by it. If there is anything that medical marijuana does for fatigue that’s already present it’s making you so spacey that you forget that you’re tired, you still feel it and it’s still there when you come down but you don’t focus on it as much. It does help with the uncomfortable body aches that come paired with the fatigue though.  & it can help you fall asleep when you’ve reached the point where you’ve become too tired to sleep.

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    Other Info.

Medical marijuana has definitely made a huge difference in my life, but it is not a miracle drug. My pain is severe most of the time my 6 is too strong for OTC meds. It helps take away most of the pain and sometimes all of it but there are levels of pain especially around 9 & 10 that it’s not very effective. It does take away some pain but anything that high is going to completely and utterly dominate your world. Personally by the time I’m around a 9 I won’t be able to go to an emergency room because I’d be so incapacitated and unable to handle light. I’m not sure if opiates would be more effective for that level but I’ve read that medical marijuana is just about as effective as opiates but treats the pain in a different way.

MMJ has also helped in leaving my house, I have a hard time going outside and sometimes smoking is the only thing that’s giving me just enough to get through an outing or if I’m feeling unsure it’s a top up that gives me enough spoons to feel more confident that I can make it. One con of starting to smoke MMJ is the coughing. For migraineurs this is difficult because the coughing can be triggering and leaves a little pain behind with novice smokers it’s a harsh rejection and vibration of the head that it causes can be triggering. Using a bong can be less irritating and I’ve also heard that some people use vaporizers or do “shot gunning” (That’s when someone else smokes it at you and you get it second hand).  I used to borrow someone else’s bong but I hate not having access to effective medication whenever I need it.  So what I did was just reject the urge to cough enough times until my throat was used to it and I drank water afterwards. There are many ways to take MMJ but for chronic migraines/subtypes the method of inhaling can give you a much faster and sometimes instantaneous relief because it goes directly to the brain.

Anyways, I definitely definitely recommend MMJ for anyone with chronic pain, seizures, anxiety, or any health conditions that MMJ has been proven to be beneficial for.   I had a friend with Crohns disease who also said it was the best decision she made because she doesn’t have to deal with the crazy side effects of manufactured drugs and she can get out into the world easier as well she described it as a miracle.  It’s kind of close to one!

  I made the switch because I was taking so many painkillers that weren’t effective so often that I was afraid of addiction, not to mention that my doctor prescribed me a painkiller that was expensive and you could only take it 3x a week. I generally have severe pain every day so that would not cut it. Of course, consult your doctor about your plans.  & speak to an MMJ doctor or even a pot enthusiast who can guide you to the right strains so that you don’t have to go through a potentially painful trial and error.  & before you spend money on a MMJ Card test it out and see if it’s right for you.

Once you know how you react to it you can look for pipes/bongs ect.  I got mine for 88 cents from Aliexpress. It’s a looks like a long metal cigarette and I think it’s adorable for some reason lol. They have a whole BUNCH of pipes for cheap at AE so check them out once you are sure MMJ is the right step in pain/illness management.

I also love the fact that it provides stress relief when taken not just as a pain killer but in general and stress relief is so important when you’re sick every day.

I hope this helps anyone considering MMJ. I hope you have a positive experience with it; every spoonie deserves to have effective/semi-effective medication.