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Has anyone tried medical grade marijuana for their ME/CFS symptoms?

Tired of being sick

Senior Member
Messages
565
Location
Western PA USA
This could be any group of your ME/CFS symptoms..

I'm curious as I smoked regular marijuana before and hated how it made me feel
but they say medical grade marijuana doesn't get you high or paranoid............
 

Learner1

Senior Member
Messages
6,305
Location
Pacific Northwest
Due to experiences in my youth, I've had a dim view of marijuana.

However, I've had nausea from MCAS and headaches after IVIG, and taking Quicksilver Colorado Hemp Oil, which is high CBD and low THC, which helps. No high.

I'd be hesitant to take anything else and risk increasing fatigue, though.
 

ScottTriGuy

Stop the harm. Start the research and treatment.
Messages
1,402
Location
Toronto, Canada
Daily for decades. Indica in the day, sativa in the evening.

For nausea, promotes neurogenesis, decreases inflammation, increases appetite, anti-tumor properties, makes me feel chillaxed. Also helps with pain (but I don't have that).

I have a colleague who says it helps with his depression and anxiety and now he's off anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds. A friend uses if for sleep (he has Crohn's and sleeps sooooo much better since using medical marijuana).

Perhaps go low and slow with high CBD and low THC as per @Learner1
 

Diwi9

Administrator
Messages
1,780
Location
USA
When I crash, by the afternoon I experience muscle spasms in my back. I'm not into cannabis, never have been, but it can take the edge off that pain...I think it helps relax me so that the pain does not lead to secondary emotional distress. Tried CBD, but no success.

I have also found that salves work when I get joint pain in my hands or muscle cramps (I use Mary Jane's Medicinals).
 
Messages
17
I tried medical CBD oil which I got from a company in Holland. At first, it did seem to help but as time went on I regressed back to my usual levels of fatigue, headaches, slight nausea etc.
I don't know that it really made a difference although my mum, who's also a sufferer, experienced the same when she tried it - seemingly improved, then regression.
 
Messages
759
Location
Israel
I have some brain fog now so excuse my rambling and unclear writing.

I take medical grade cannabis. It lowers blood pressure and blood sugar. This worsens POTS, fatigue, weakness. So I take it with a lot of sugar at night only.

It helps fibromyalgia muscle pain at night, but does nothing for the exhaustion and brain fog.

It's a fantastic alternative to Codeine and other heavy pain drugs. (Mild pain drugs like paracetemol don't work for me.) Codeine is more addictive and it is lovely to have pain relief without horrible constipation from Codeine.

I also noticed that it helped the pain and sleep a lot at first then the effects became weaker.

Even for just the pain relief, it took a long time to find a strain that worked. Everyone improves on a different strain but this is what helped me:
Royal Medic - equal amounts of THC and CBD, was OK.
Purple Bhudda for really bad pain at night only - with very high THC, little CBD, makes brain fog worse.

I would advise against anyone with severe/moderate POTS taking cannabis in the form I am taking. I have low blood pressure and suspected mild NMH, so I can tolerate cannabis at night when I don't have to be upright and am trying to sleep. For someone with severe POTS or severe NMH, cannabis would worsen your condition a lot.
 
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eric_gladiator

Senior Member
Messages
210
I tried it many times and it made me much more tired and confused than to get psychotic. The good thing is that it greatly improves gastric symptoms by greatly increasing appetite. I have to try to smoke it without tobacco or in infusion, surely the result is much better
 
Messages
71
Daily for decades. Indica in the day, sativa in the evening.

For nausea, promotes neurogenesis, decreases inflammation, increases appetite, anti-tumor properties, makes me feel chillaxed. Also helps with pain (but I don't have that).

I have a colleague who says it helps with his depression and anxiety and now he's off anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds. A friend uses if for sleep (he has Crohn's and sleeps sooooo much better since using medical marijuana).

Perhaps go low and slow with high CBD and low THC as per @Learner1
Scott- can you tell me more about your condition? I know my physical symptoms are most improved when I’m chilled...low anxiety. I know Valium can get me there but I don’t want to start a dependency thing. Any more intel you can share around your symptoms pre and post indica/sativa would be helpful. Thx
 

ScottTriGuy

Stop the harm. Start the research and treatment.
Messages
1,402
Location
Toronto, Canada
I have a lot of nausea, so I use it for immediate relief and / or to prevent nausea - for me, it doesn't seem to matter about the strain for that benefit.

I also use it for appetite stimulation, and sativas seem to help for that.

For me, indica is calming and I use it during the day to be productive. Sativa I use in the evening when I tend to do more creative and divergent thinking.

I believe marijuana has a low 'addictive' qualities of the physical kind. People don't vomit and go through any major withdrawals from marijuana use.

I also use a vaporizer, harm reduction and more economical as less waste.

If you've never used before, go low and slow of course.
 

PracticingAcceptance

Senior Member
Messages
1,858
I've been thinking about this for a little while but not together enough to make a start on trying it.
Someone once let me try vaping weed with their posh vaper, and it didn't make me cough, just a nice high. (I have asthma so smoking it with tobacco is a no-go.)

If I was to try cannabis again, I would get a vape.

But if I react the same way as @redrachel76 it would be useless for me. My main problem is energy levels and brain fog - pain is low on the list.

Can cannabis help with migraines?

I like the high as long as it's only mild.
I can imagine doing it once every few weeks for symptom relief - I wouldn't want to get dependant.

Initially I really struggled with CFS because I'm super driven, organised, I'd fill every moment of my day. I'm un-learning that and working hard to learn to be ok with not being in control. I can imagine that weed might help me relax without having to discipline myself into relaxing. Might that work? If so, I can see how it could help me recover - resting well with an aid like this, even on occasion, would be good. Resting without sleeping.

This article seems to have some potentially useful info - haven't been able to read it all but might help you.
https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/how-cannabis-can-treat-me-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/

I've never bought weed before... I have no idea how to get started. This one is probably going to stay in the too-hard pile for a long time. Hopefully by then, it will become legal haha!
 
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Messages
71
I have a lot of nausea, so I use it for immediate relief and / or to prevent nausea - for me, it doesn't seem to matter about the strain for that benefit.

I also use it for appetite stimulation, and sativas seem to help for that.

For me, indica is calming and I use it during the day to be productive. Sativa I use in the evening when I tend to do more creative and divergent thinking.

I believe marijuana has a low 'addictive' qualities of the physical kind. People don't vomit and go through any major withdrawals from marijuana use.

I also use a vaporizer, harm reduction and more economical as less waste.

If you've never used before, go low and slow of course.
Thanks Scott! I guess I was asking specific to any cfs symptoms...good or bad? I don’t have nausea or lack of appetite. Just curious If you think your fatigue has changed in either direction.
 

jesse's mom

Senior Member
Messages
6,795
Location
Alabama USA
Cannabis is rapidly becoming legal in some states in the US. I agree with Scott, but I only vape at night when I don't need to walk (PoTS).
It helps with sleep and appetite and nausea and pain.
way better than any opioids, although they have their place.

It also helps with anxiety.... unless I smoke too much or too fast remember it the buzz goes away if you don't fight it.
It lowers my blood pressure I know because I experimented with my BP cuff.

I am a believer that it helps me with my pain. the deep muscle pain and the pain in my feet and hands. It does not help me with migraine although I have heard it does for some.

Even my daughter says it is good medicine for me... she says the swelling in my neck goes down (spinal inflammation) I know I am also more tolerant of sound when I vape. I never mix with tobacco.... It is a stimulant and with me all stimulants are a set up for all my symptoms to increase

the down side, memory problems while I am high and low productivity. (I don't get that much done anymore anyhow...) giggle. It's after 4:20

If you chose to give it a try my biggest tip is time and place. Be in a safe, comfortable place with only people you trust. put on some music you like and make sure you are in control of your environment. (no paranoia) The high goes away within a couple of hours, but the benefits last about 12 hours.
 
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jesse's mom

Senior Member
Messages
6,795
Location
Alabama USA
I just saw you have been diagnosed with Aspergers... two of my boys have it and it helps them with anxiety, but again. A time and a place. Be very careful about the paranoia with Aspergers. (I wrote my thesis on Aspergers).
 

Kenshin

Senior Member
Messages
161
“A guardian lives in the bhang leaf. …To see in a dream the leaves, plant, or water of bhang is lucky. …A longing for bhang foretells happiness. It cures dysentry and sunstroke, clears phlegm, quickens digestion, sharpens appetite, makes the tongue of the lisper plain, freshens the intellect and gives alertness to the body and gaiety to the mind. Such are the useful and needful ends for which in His goodness the Almighty made bhang." - Indian Hemp Drugs Commison Report (1984)
 

hmnr asg

Senior Member
Messages
558
I live in california so i have access to everything mj related :D
I take this tincture (i dont like smoking): https://www.cbd.org/products/cbd-sublingual-drops
i take the 1:8 ratio of THC:CBD. You just take two drops at night and i can swear it has been helping me with brain fog. I have been taking it for a month now and in the beginning i had a bit of a weird reaction : i felt SO energized for a few days, then a minor crash, then things stabilized and now im maybe 15% above baseline.
At the beginning i tried the 1:2 ratio but it was too much THC and even though it helped me with sleep a lot more, i didnt like to feel "high".

H
 

E.man

Senior Member
Messages
196
Location
Bega Valley , Australia
How useful to be able to have access to known variants and forms of application.

I find some smoko can help Fibro pain/insomnia.

A pipe in the evening is OK but I get the munchies for pizza which isn't good to drop into my guts at night.

I don't smoke when Im' really sick. I fall over and pass out already.
 

frozenborderline

Senior Member
Messages
4,405
I want to get access to medical marijuana because I feel that the cbd products at a dispensary may be more varied and cheaper than the ones I can get online. I also may experiment with occasional smoking of weed that has some THC. people say that THC helps activate the CBD, even at small doses. THC is anti-androgenic and bad for sleep quality, so overall I don't want to use it much, but occasionally seems alright, and I want to see if small amounts help the cbd hit harder
 

perrier

Senior Member
Messages
1,254
Can someone help me out with the strains, and the potency. Cannabis is now easily available in Canada.
What strain (not just indica and sativa) ,as there seem to be all sorts of names in each line, would be recommended for say Sleep? What for inflammation? What dosage? We have tried edible oil, but want to try further. Thanks.