Who is using THC for pain management?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hope this doesn’t get locked. I’m aware that I am soliciting Opinion, not medical advice.

Who here is successfully using THC products to manage pain? At this point I’m living 24/7 with lower spine pain, hip pain and stunningly strong and deep left knee pain.

The causes are known and cannot be treated. One is an old fracture. One is permanent damage from a hip replacement. And the knee is severe arthritis.

OTC meds are just useless. They barely touch it. Can’t sleep, affecting work, etc. After 3+ years of chronic pain, I’m trying to set my abiding dislike of all things pot aside and do some research.

Why not start here at SDMB?

I’ve tons of specific questions, but before I dive in with them, are members willing to share stories of success or failure using THC for pain management?

A few requests: No preaching for/ against the wonders of grass. No preaching for universal legalization. No slamming users of THC.

I badly need some real info from people living this situation.

Thanks in advance,
Toons
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2

I don’t have stories. The clinical evidence is sparse and mixed. Hopefully someone better qualified will be along.

Best of luck to you no matter what.

Regards,
Shodan

3

It’s my understanding that it’s CBD that has the pain-relieving properties, not THC, and it will not get you high by itself.

4

I came down with a severe case of tennis elbow a few months ago (mousing elbow, actually), and I tried some ointment from CBDistillery - the active ingredient of which was 100% CBD, no THC. It worked quite well at knocking down the pain, but it smelled so strong I couldn’t wear it at work.

I then tried a far less smelly ointment with equal parts THC and CBD. This one works, too, but not nearly so well as the CBDistillery ointment.

Then I tried actual cannabis. After smoking, the pain in my elbow pretty much vanishes. But the effect is temporary, and the pain is back in about an hour or two.

5

Isn’t this because you are high?

6

It’s actually both. Without commenting as to its efficacy, a lot of the pain relief products made with marijuana-derived ingredients contain both THC and CBD, often with higher levels of the former than latter.

ETA: As many of these products are salves or ointments or similar externally-used products, you still won’t get high from them.

7

Personally, I’ve never experienced the slightest pain-relieving effects from smoking marijuana.

8

This is a picture of one such product:

750mg THC 250mg CBD.

It actually does help somewhat, with minor muscle soreness and joint pain. I definitely don’t see it as an alternative for prescription analgesics however.

9

In my state, cannabis is legal in all its forms.

I am personally not a fan of THC effects so don’t use it in that way.

I do use a CBD Cannabis pain stick from Sacred Herb Medicinals as a balm on my left knee with a suspected torn meniscus. (CBD = 0.683%, THC 0.023%) It definitely helps and makes longer walks quite bearable. The odor is pleasant, almost lavender-like.

I don’t think my pain is as severe as what Cartooniverse describes in his OP, however.

10

I personally dont see cannabis as being of much use to the OP. His pain issues seem to far exceed what can be relieved by use of CBD/THC.

11

My sister has had a lot of issues recovering from knee replacement surgeries (both knees, multiple surgeries) mainly due to non-knee issues. Apparently vaping pot (however that works) is the only non-opioid pain relief she gets. She doesn’t use it constantly - only when the pain get unbearable. I could ask her for more specific info if you’d like.

12

But she uses this vaping in conjuction with narcotic pain relievers, correct?

13

I am in agreement. I’ve been using 1500 Mg CBD for quite a while now. Perhaps 8+ months. Not as religiously as I should. It’s the sub-lingual tincture method. ( Swallowing CBD reduces any efficacy to +/- zero ).

Far as I can tell, I get a small amount of pain relief. I know because if I forget to tincture for a day or two, the pain is up a bit. Not a huge amount. But look, it’s legal and I’ll take what I can get. So I do it.

But Ambivalid is correct. The pain far exceeds what CBD can relieve. Hence my O.P.

14

I’ve got some chronic low level arthritis in neck and shoulders, and a recently reconstructed elbow. Individually, they’re tolerable, but they all tend to wind each other up and when they are all at their worst, it’s quite distracting. Topical CBD keeps things in check, and when it’s on top of me a hit or two on a pipe (equivalent to me if 4-5 beers, for a couple hours) makes it go away. And that lasts anywhere from a day to a month.

But, my stuff is annoying and not at a level deserving opiates. It is a distraction that is nice to be rid of, but tolerable if not. And the effects vary from person to person.

15

The effects, like the Pain Rating Scale, is entirely subjective.

Cannot imagine how medical people can evaluate pain in groups of patients.

16

Exactly. Could do nothing for you, could do enough to make it worth ditching milk of the poppy. Only one way to find out.

17

The same way you do with objective tests, but in this case you just understand that the tests are subjective and will vary wildly from person to person.

There’s no reason you can’t take a group of 1000 people that have some type of pain, ask them to rate their pain, then give some meds and some placebos and ask again.

If 80% of the people that get the real med have lower pain levels and only 10% of the placebos have lower pain levels, the med likely works. It might not help any one specific person, but there’s a better than not that it will.

18

You’re right.
That was a foolish thing for me to say.

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19

And if it is? I’m not sure I understand your point.

I’m a medical marijuana patient with a certification diagnosis of PTSD. I haven’t touched NSAIDs in years. If my shoulder pain flares up and I want to not be in pain, I reach for my pipe or pen. Works for me. Manson, would you prefer I suffer?:confused:

20

There are ways to objectively evaluate performance/pain even if the patient cannot articulate. In horses, one way joint pain is studied is by measuring stride length. The horse is walked on a long piece of pressure sensitive material and the length of each step is measured. A painful horse takes shorter steps.