Cannabis Provides Additional Pain Relief In Patients Already Treated With Opioids

[AlternativeSolutionsPlus]

Science: Cannabis provides additional pain relief in patients already treated with opioids

 

A clinical study was conducted at the San Francisco General Hospital, USA, to investigate the effects of inhaled cannabis on 21 patients with chronic pain, on a regimen of twice-daily doses of morphine or oxycodone. Participants were admitted to hospital for 5 days. They were asked to inhale vaporized cannabis in the evening of day 1, three times a day on days 2-4, and in the morning of day 5. They inhaled 0.9 grams of cannabis (3.56 per cent THC) with a Volcano vaporizer of the company Storz & Bickel. Blood sampling was performed at 12-h intervals on days 1 to 5. The extent of chronic pain was also assessed daily.

 

Pharmacokinetic investigations revealed no significant changes in blood concentrations of morphine or oxycodone after administration of cannabis. Pain was significantly decreased by an average of 27 per cent by cannabis inhalation. On a pain scale from 0 to 100 average pain intensity was 39.6 at baseline and 29.1 on day 5. Researchers concluded "that vaporized cannabis augments the analgesic effects of opioids without significantly altering plasma opioid levels. The combination may allow for opioid treatment at lower doses with fewer side effects."

 

(Source: Abrams DI, Couey P, Shade SB, Kelly ME, Benowitz NL. Cannabinoid-Opioid Interaction in Chronic Pain. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2011 Nov 2. [in press])

 

http://www.cannabis-med.org/english/bulletin/ww_en_db_cannabis_artikel.php?id=360

[Kevin]

I will personally attest to that.

 

That 3.56% THC is very low potency cannabis yet the patients still received medical benefit. A truly amazing plant.

[Croppled1]

I can verify this too . Though I find higher doses of cannabis make a very pronounced positive difference in comfort and activity levels at times . I really try to commit to medical use through a consistent daily routine of behavior , dosing , and base activity . Quality of the cannabis makes a huge difference with a typical F1 strain medical flowers only around 20% requiring about a 1/3rd or less then the quantity of typical bag seed or the weak government cannabis using the whole plant ground up . When you compare the two it is amazing the effects of their cannabis made such a pronounced difference .

 

The issue of dosing is the catch all no matter what Doctors and other health care professionals use to criticize patients . I make no bones about my belief that since this is non toxic the dosing should be left up to the patient . What can it hurt ? This is where one size fits all medicine usually leaves people misfit . .I find the whole theory of substance abuse is more often then not a excuse to force mandatory treatment services and views on a suffering individual by professionals or people whom receive financial gain directly or indirectly from the practice as well as explaine away suffering they cannot properly diagnose or solve in our times .

 

I have found cannabis completely safe in adjunctive care with other medications though as with any sustained medication use blood panels should be done periodically checking hornomes and certain vitamens . I also use b-12 shots myself which help my liver cleanse my blood . I swear I can feel the difference .

[purklize]

Cannabis is amazing combined with opioids. I can also attest to this. The level of pain relief is synergistic and you'd have to be in a coma to otherwise get a similar level of relief from opioids alone.

[+Dizledot]

I can verify this too . Though I find higher doses of cannabis make a very pronounced positive difference in comfort and activity levels at times . I really try to commit to medical use through a consistent daily routine of behavior , dosing , and base activity . Quality of the cannabis makes a huge difference with a typical F1 strain medical flowers only around 20% requiring about a 1/3rd or less then the quantity of typical bag seed or the weak government cannabis using the whole plant ground up . When you compare the two it is amazing the effects of their cannabis made such a pronounced difference .

 

The issue of dosing is the catch all no matter what Doctors and other health care professionals use to criticize patients . I make no bones about my belief that since this is non toxic the dosing should be left up to the patient . What can it hurt ? This is where one size fits all medicine usually leaves people misfit . .I find the whole theory of substance abuse is more often then not a excuse to force mandatory treatment services and views on a suffering individual by professionals or people whom receive financial gain directly or indirectly from the practice as well as explaine away suffering they cannot properly diagnose or solve in our times .

 

I have found cannabis completely safe in adjunctive care with other medications though as with any sustained medication use blood panels should be done periodically checking hornomes and certain vitamens . I also use b-12 shots myself which help my liver cleanse my blood . I swear I can feel the difference .

 

Well stated! I'm off all opiates because of mm. Of course I've been kicked out of 4 pain management doctors offices because I test positive for THC. There are other treatments I desperately need and can no longer have due to the fact almost every doctor in my area is negative about mm.

[SparklyBuds]

.I find the whole theory of substance abuse is more often then not a excuse to force mandatory treatment services and views on a suffering individual by professionals or people whom receive financial gain directly or indirectly from the practice as well as explaine away suffering they cannot properly diagnose or solve in our times .

 

 

I was an example of that statement... I've struggled with depression for many years & in my 20's i was medicating with mm for it. Well I couldn't maintain an adequate supply, and the quality was not what it is now either, so of course when the supply ran out I was miserabble. Ended up in Rehab as a "marijuana addict", getting dosed to the gills with antidepressants & antiseizure meds to the point where I couldn't stay awake in group therapy or anywhyere else. I kept falling asleep, was a total zombie &i complained but they wouldn't listen. It took the other patients complaining about how zombied out I was, before they'd reduce my dosage. Still, all the antidepressants did was make me numb. No highs, no lows, no nothing. No emotions at all, really.

 

Now I've found a balance with a lower dose of antidepressants, and having to do some work at maintaining my mood, and using mm too. It helps with pain control, making the pain pills effective for longer, and I've reduced my muscle relaxer use by about 3/4. And it helps my mood a lot; since I can't work anymore & in pain a lot, can't do the things I used to, it's hard to find joy in life (I just have to look harder for it now). MM helps a lot.

[lawyercaregiver]

Well I can certainly verify this. I have interviewed a couple dozen MM patients for my PhD dissertation and all the chronic pain cases agree they can significantly reduce narcotic use with cannabis. Usually a bit more than 27% pain relief though.

 

That they were able to find significant results using 3% THC cannabis is astounding.

 

Gee, I wonder if Sour Diesal or Romulon would be more effective than the schwag they are forced to use? :rolleyes:

[Glyphia]

Uh, I resemble the remarks above. Me too. However, for the record, it is not the THC content but the CBD content that takes the pain away. THC is the psychoactive ingredient. CBDs help with the pain.

[lawyercaregiver]

Uh, I resemble the remarks above. Me too. However, for the record, it is not the THC content but the CBD content that takes the pain away. THC is the psychoactive ingredient. CBDs help with the pain.

 

That CBD and not THC 'takes away the pain' is certainly a reasonable hypothesis but do you have proof? A similar hypothesis relates to the reports by some of increased perception of pain with high THC. I cannot find good evidence to support either and am attempting to preliminarily research this issue.

 

CBD has some anti-inflammatory properties which should indirectly relieve pain. THC basically numbs the mind and 'takes the edge off' or perhaps a bit more. Which was the analgesic again? Want to bet that everybody is right- THC, CBD, and alot of other compounds in cannabis may contribute to the pain relieving qualities.

 

BTW: In testimony before an administrative law judge (in the Lyle Craker case) the chief grower guru for the government testified that ALL the pcerceived effects of cannabis could be from solely from the psychoactive effects of THC. Personally I think he is nuts. Compare the effects of Sativex (pure THC) to smoking medical grade cannabis. Which is better for you, swallowing vitamin-C pills or drinking a glass of juice? Medicine has little respect for the complexity and the interactionsof various compounds in the body. They always want a purified product that man can make and ignore what God has already made.

[purklize]

The problem is they are trying to apply reductionist science to pragmatic application of the substance. It is obviously best to take a reductionist approach when trynig to understand how something works (studying it scientifically). But it makes no sense to use this same approach in medicine, when a complex and little understood mixture is known from actual use to be more effective.

[Croppled1]

You are correct in what you say about reductionist science though most of us patients are finding that to be indeed feasible but where the problem is in the lack of freedom to treat oneself nowadays . The loss of individual protections and rights where out of control individuals are forcing their subjective analysis directly on others harming them . No Doctor , Politician or Individual in Law Enforcement can feel another's pain . They are duty bound to create the best system of free will surrounding the treatment of it as it just as improper drug use kills . If the system is proper as has been seen in Spain and Portugal people choose wisely as proper choice equals the best quality of life .

 

 

The effect of the people opposing cannabis with the same old penalties that were sadly increased the last decade in Michigan is creating a terrible situation for struggling patients . The sad reality is dosing when incorrect must be adjusted by the patient as the balancing mechanism of last resort on any item from acacia to zinc . Punishing patients when their struggling to survive , treating it as a criminal or even behavioral problem is not only fundamentally and morally wrong it can kill or literally torture individuals via others direct actions .It is a prison without walls through the health care system . That is where I myself felt threatened and departed beliefs with the U of M when I was toxic and force switched to a medication that stayed in ones system longer making toxicity poisoning more problematic while already on dependent medication . A medicine that mentally was tolerable with severe side effects and they traded one worse but more acceptable ( for them ) . This can be a real concern with suboxone and methadone therapy whose overdose records speak volumes of truth in fact .

 

Cannabis is definitely a substance I can increase to promote comfort while decreasing opioid or any other substances as well as come off later with less stress in terms of survival . However no adjusting of medication addresses the fundamental health problem of terrible suffering without proper treatment as defined by the individual who feels the pain . Hopefully the public is getting it that people like Bill Schuette and his followers are not doing anything to promote positive patient outcomes and further societies understanding of cannabis as a herbal healer . Their just abusing people angry and frustrated by the same basic issues which we all face in lack of jobs , poverty , mis-allocation of funds and demise beyond the control of mere mortals . Smoking cannabis isn't a beneficial across the board but it sure is a wonderful help to many with more serious problems then the risks involved and though I wish it weren't so it is going to be beyond my education to know why . I have to have faith in what my body is telling me . Just as I have faith in the golden rule prohibitionists and those who treat drug abuse as a crime have tarnished .

[lawyercaregiver]

The problem is they are trying to apply reductionist science to pragmatic application of the substance. It is obviously best to take a reductionist approach when trynig to understand how something works (studying it scientifically). But it makes no sense to use this same approach in medicine, when a complex and little understood mixture is known from actual use to be more effective.

 

I am going to use this in my PhD Dissertation. Nicely stated. I tried to say something similar but you said it better even though I could probably write an entire book on the failings of reductionist science.

[purklize]

Great, glad to be of help!