Disclaimer: not asking for medical advice, just for information.
My mother has peripheral neuropathy in one foot, so bad that it keeps her awake at night. She takes prescription medication, but it doesn’t always help and she doesn’t like the side effects.
Living in the great state of California, we can’t escape hearing about how medical cannabis is the new great panacea. Seems like you can name any ailment and there’s a product to treat it. That’s all very well and good for the dispensaries, but mom’s a hard sell and needs real facts before she tries something nontraditional. I know there’s some research showing that THC works for some conditions. Has there been any research as to its effectiveness on nerve pain? Do any dopers have any personal experience in the matter?
CBD is actually more effective for pain, although it often helps to have both.
From the National Institute for Health in 2008;
*Sativex®, a cannabis derived oromucosal spray containing equal proportions of THC (partial CB1 receptor agonist ) and cannabidiol (CBD, a non-euphoriant, anti-inflammatory analgesic with CB1 receptor antagonist and endocannabinoid modulating effects) was approved in Canada in 2005 for treatment of central neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis, and in 2007 for intractable cancer pain. Numerous randomized clinical trials have demonstrated safety and efficacy for Sativex in central and peripheral neuropathic pain, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer pain.
*
Most medical marijuana recommendations will be for an equal amount of THC and CBD, recommending that you pair a high THC strain with a high CBD strain if you don’t find one available with near equal levels of both.
Anecdotal evidence: CBD is extremely effective on things which involve inflammation. Not myself, but my mother: CBD has demonstrably reduced her arthritic inflammation to the point where not only do her replaced hips not pain her, but she moves like a woman 15 years younger.
Based on that admittedly anecdotal evidence, I’d suggest that a trial with CBD would be worthwhile. If it doesn’t work, well, you’ve lost very little.
How do you know that it has reduced her arthritic inflammation? Pain reduction could instead be achieved through its analgesic effect. After all, a LOT of the causes of pain after total hip arthroplasty are not related to inflammation but rather to degeneration or neuropathy or muscle spasm.
While Cannabinoids have been shown to have anti-inflammatory activity, I’m still waiting to see how they compare in effectiveness to more traditional anti-inflammatories such as steroids or NSAIDs like ibuprofen and meloxicam and others.
A new randomized, controlled study from the University of California at San Diego has shown that inhaling cannabis can blunt diabetic neuropathic pain for several hours. “We found that the more concentrated the dose, the more relief people got,” says lead author Mark Steven Wallace, MD, chair of the Division of Pain Management at the University of California, San Diego.
about the MD.
about the study.
There’s so much more to know though.
Smoking, vaping, ingesting, or oils.
High THC, or High CBD.
Indica, Sativa or Hybrid?
Mom probably doesn’t want the psychoactive part of the cannabis, and there’s ways to avoid that completely. THC will still be in her system, but the psychoactive parts are inactive due to the CBD.