Cannabis, a few things you need to know

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PainWeek 2018 has a series of conferences in different cities. This weekend 10/13-10/14, it was in San Diego teaching pain management. 

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There was a talk on cannabis by a nurse practitioner from Stanford. I would add or highlight a few things.

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There are two species:

–Indica often said to help pain, sleep.

–Sativa more activating, for daytime use.

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Most are hybrids. Some people have opposite responses. It may be contraindicated for those with bipolar disorder. Those with multiple sclerosis may use it for spasticity. It can help depression but may cause anxiety, depression, paranoia, etc.

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The plant has 400 chemicals. More than 90 are cannabinoids. Two best known cannabinoids:

–THC is psychoactive.

–CBD has no psychoactive properties and does not make you high. In recent years, it has been found to help certain forms of epilepsy in children who are resistant to all known epilepsy medication.

–THCV has been said to prevent the munchies. Only one strain I know of has this cannabinoid, Durban Poison.

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It is not necessary to have THC for pain relief. Pain in some patients may respond to CBD alone.

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Tolerance does develop. It becomes less and less effective with use.

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Side Effects: the very worst is the munchies – deadly weight gain. Dry eyes and dry mouth can affect all, but for those with Sjogren’s Syndrome, it increases the risk of corneal transplants and loss of teeth that already exists and can be a serious problem. It can increase heart rate and blood pressure especially in those who have never used cannabis.

 

Update 10/19/18, cannabis may boost risk of stroke. The drug has system-wide effects therefor not limited to smoking it. Note that we have known it does increase heart rate and blood pressure, at least initially when starting use, but may develop tolerance to side effect with regular use – or not. The new study does not indicate how much cannabis these patients were using, their ages and blood pressure baseline and during use. Was their use conservative or were they overdosing, couch locked, less active than usual?

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• Stroke increased by 15% among marijuana users between 2010 and 2014
• Rates of stroke in non-cannabis users stayed constant over that time
• Compounds in cannabis may cause blood vessels in the brain to narrow

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Rates of stroke among non-cannabis users didn’t change. However, rates among recreational users jumped by 15 per cent.

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“Avalon University researchers…analysed 2.3 million people between the ages of 18 an 84 who used cannabis recreationally and spent time in hospital from 2010-to-2014.

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Of these, 32,231 – 1.4 per cent – had a stroke.

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And 19,452 had an acute ischemic stroke (AIS), which occurs when blood supply to an area of the brain is suddenly cut off, leading to a loss of cognitive function.

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Over the four years, the rate of all strokes among marijuana users rose from 1.3 per cent to 1.5 per cent. And AIS increased from 0.7 per cent to 0.9 per cent.

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The research was presented today at the World Stroke Congress in Montreal.

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They scientists believe their findings ‘warrant further prospective studies to evaluate the marijuana-stroke association amidst legalisation of recreational use’.

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But the study contradicts previous research that suggests smoking cannabis can actually reduce the risk of stroke by boosting blood flow to the brain.

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Marijuana has also been linked to faster recovery post stroke.

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Stroke is the second leading cause of death and disability globally, with one person passing away from the condition every six seconds.

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Around 140,000 people die from stroke in the US and 32,000 in the UK every year.

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Leafly.com is a nationwide resource for locations where cannabis is legal, listing strains and dispensaries by zip code. For each local strain it shows a bar graph of Effects, Medical, Negatives. Negatives may include dry eyes, dry mouth, sleep, anxiety, paranoia, headache, etc. rated by buyers. For example, one strain may be rated 100% dry eyes, but only 50% dry mouth. Each strain is different. But dry eyes, dry mouth are the most common, always highly prevalent, whereas paranoia, dizziness, anxiety may be rated only 3%.

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FDA has approved 2 THC compounds available for medical use:

–Dronabinol (Marinol), schedule III drug. I have never seen a single person with cancer pain, HIV AIDS pain or chronic pain benefit. Instead they complain about it, including those who heavily used cannabis.

–Nabilone (Cesamet), a schedule II drug. I had it diluted 10 times for a healthy senior with intractable pain. He hallucinated for 12 hours after a tiny dose. I’ve never seen a plant do this.

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More research is greatly needed. It has primary effect on the immune system in brain and body including neuro-inflammation in the central nervous system and the skeletal cannabinoid system. It is anti-inflammatory. In the brain, the microglia makes and reabsorbs one of the endogenous cannabinoids made by the brain. Studies show cannabis can help pain but almost all of my patients who tried many many strains reported that it failed to help intractable pain. Others stopped due to side effects. But I have seen patients with intractable pain and treatment resistant migraine who responded to CBD alone.

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Use the search function top left above photo for previous posts on cannabis.

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Beware the munchies and weight gain. It can be deadly. That effect can be life-saving in cancer patients and end of life care.

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Urine drug testing does not always include cannabis. It may be present in urine for up to 2 months. Don’t even think about getting on a plane with cannabis.

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The material on this site is for informational purposes only.

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It is not legal for me to provide medical advice without an examination.

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It is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified health care provider.

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Comments are welcome.

This site is not for email, not for medical questions, and not for appointments.

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For My Home Page, click here:  Welcome to my Weblog on Pain Management!

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Please IGNORE THE ADS BELOW. They are not from me.

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Cannabis That Can Stop the Munchies? What is THCV?

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA

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Cannabis is legal in California for adult use as of January 1, 2018. This may be helpful to someone you know. It is a most important drug. Below you can find a few pointers that are basic to understanding what strains to try. Distributors are swamped with ten times as many buyers as last week, prices are doubled, taxes are very high, it is very expensive and you will need to test many strains before you find what works for you without making you stupid with euphoria that lasts 12 hours. Do be warned of turning the body into sofa-size obesity overnight. Munchies occur with high THC strains. To discuss below how to avoid that torture and still relieve pain or muscle spasm.

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Horvath et al at Yale in 2015 found cannabis stimulates hunger and arousal in hypothalamic neurons. Here’s the YaleNews on the multi-authored work.

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Horvath is the Jean and David W. Wallace Professor of Neurobiology and of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, director of the Yale Program in Cell Signaling and Neurobiology of Metabolism, and chair of the Section of Comparative Medicine.

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To orient you in the quote below, cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB₁R) is one of the two known cannabinoid receptors in the brain. Others are located outside brain, throughout the body.

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“The Pomc gene encodes both the anorexigenic peptide α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, and the opioid peptide β-endorphin. Hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons promote satiety. Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB₁R) is critical for the central regulation of food intake. CB₁R activation selectively increases β-endorphin but not α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone release in the hypothalamus, and systemic or hypothalamic administration of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone blocks acute CB₁R-induced feeding.

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Interesting. Low dose naltrexone, which is essentially long acting naloxone, may block munchies in humans? At what dose? Please comment if you take naltrexone 4.5 mg or 15 mg (anti-inflammatory doses) or 28 mg (weight loss dose) or 50 mg and above doses of naltrexone (high doses for addiction).

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One strain that is better at stopping or reducing the munchies, and that is believed due to a cannabinoid in the strain called THCV. You can always do a search for THCV.

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Cannabis is one of the few medications that can relieve some of the worst side effects of opioid withdrawal. Many patients find they need to use fewer opioid pills for pain or can stop them altogether; they need to use fewer muscle relaxants; and they can eat or sleep better if they use cannabis. Once cannabis became legal, many alcoholics were able to give up alcohol because their first preference is cannabis.

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Get a low cost recommendation for medical marijuana in minutes at home from your mobile phone. The best source for recommendation is : HelloMD.

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Cannabis may be legal in all states once tobacco companies toss some money at Congress. Could cannabis be related to the vow of Phillip Morris and a wave of big tobacco companies to stop selling cigarettes this year?

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It is dreadfully expensive and heavily taxed. All states should adopt New Mexico’s law that allows healthcare insurers to reimburse patients who have paid for medicinal cannabis. Voters…

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Cannabis is made by the body and the brain makes two of the endogenous cannabinoids. If is highly anti-inflammatory, and profoundly important mainly in the immune system but also in bone turnover. You have more cannabinoid receptors in your body than any other kind. It is as old as sponges, an ancient medicine.

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A WORTHY READ

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Mr. X – by Carl Sagan who describes his experience with marijuana at length and used it creatively for decades opening his brain to experiences he was otherwise not oriented to at all.

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MUNCHIES

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Fear the munchies. Cannabis, medical marijuana, can cause the munchies, an overwhelming desire to eat nonstop, usually all the most high calorie things your desperately fevered brain can dream of cramming in.

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Certain strains of cannabis can be life saving for those who have loss of appetite from conditions such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, depression, inflammatory conditions, etc. But the munchies can be disastrous when you cannot afford to gain weight due to pain or disability or simply wish to develop an important standard to maintain best health which means good lean body weight. The best way to reduce inflammation is to avoid obesity, avoid sugar, avoid diabetes, heart attacks, strokes. Remember inflammation is the root cause of 90% of the conditions we die of: diabetes, cancers, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autoimmune disease, atherosclerosis, etc.

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Those with an eating disorder should scrupulously avoid those strains that are highly rated for helping anorexia, loss of appetite.

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CHOOSE STRAINS THAT STOP THE MUNCHIES

STRAINS WITH HIGH THCV  OR HIGH CBD 

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If needing high THC for pain or appetite, for example, then a strain with high THC and high THCV is Durban Poison. Read in detail about strains on leafy.com using the search function and it will find dispensaries in your area.

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If low THC is all you need, then Leafly discusses high CBD strains with low THC currently available. Google it or ask the dispensary.

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I am not going to do more than mention these three cannabinoids: THC, CBD, THCV. You can google them but do glance at my outdated 2009 cannabis website – CBD has vastly changed since then, available even at farmer’s markets and nutrition departments of groceries.

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The cannabis plant has 400 chemicals of which about 86 are known cannabinoids but we focus on just a few and hybrids have been bred to display many qualities and various percentages of cannabinoids.

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THC

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THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, can cause euphoria and is the principal psychoactive ingredient useful for pain, depression, appetite, multiple sclerosis, fatigue, stress, and many conditions including just to have fun, be giggly or creative. For the California Medical Board, a strain with 18% THC is considered high, but some strains such as Holy Grail have 27% or more THC. Some strains are noted for causing more anxiety or paranoia due to THC content. It is widely said THC is necessary for pain relief but… see CBD below.

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CBD

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CBD, cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive cannabidiol that blocks the psychoactive component of THC so that you may be able to mix with THC in order to use a stronger dose of THC for the underlying condition —  find your best ratio of CBD to THC. Or use 100% CBD. Among strains of flower sold at dispensary, I’m not sure what % CBD

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Some people are highly sensitive to THC (paranoia, panic attacks, anxiety) and cannot use any THC or only very tiny amounts of THC with higher percentage CBD.

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Some use pure 100% CBD which is said to be useful for Crohn’s Disease, PTSD, multiple sclerosis and certain seizure disorders, the severe childhood Dravet Syndrome. There is a recent single report of an adult who failed all anticonvulsants and responded to CBD alone. I have seen a patient with depression after 2 years of severe disability from 4 major chronic pain conditions, surprisingly all pain 100% relieved by CBD. It is widely said that THC is essential for pain relief but for this case not needed.

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Some dispensaries will mix liquid CBD:THC in ratios of 15mg/mL CBD to 0.1 mg/mL CBD all the way up to ratio of 15:15 or more. Use topically, under tongue or swallow. One patient dilutes and uses topically. Very expensive!!! It is the only thing helping his extremely painful autoimmune neuropathy.

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THCV

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Leafly discusses ten strains that will not make you (as) hungry. 

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After discussing high CBD strains, then turn to high THCV:

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High THCV Sativa Strains

“By now you know what THC and CBD is, but you may not be familiar with the less ubiquitous THCV, a related chemical that suppresses appetite. While most strains on the market today tend to test anywhere between 10-20% THC, what’s considered a high THCV content might only hit a high-water mark of 5%. THCV tends to be more abundant in sativa strains, and it’s possible you’ve noticed that sativas tend to provoke hunger less than indica strains. The unique metabolic effects of THCV even have researchers considering its utility in treating obesity and diabetes.”

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Durban Poison is the name of the strain with highest THC and THCV, and a good profile detailed on Leafly: Maximal effect is Energetic > happy > uplifted >> focused >> euphoric. Not everyone may have all these effects.

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Always check Leafly’s negatives for each strain and look at the bar graphs — how severe are the side effects? Note that always worst is dry mouth. Half as bad are dry eyes for this strain – at least not as bad as dry mouth; and much lower in incidence is dizzy, anxious, paranoid. Overall a very good profile for a high THC strain.

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RISKS

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Note, those with Sjogren’s Syndrome who have dry eyes are at risk for corneal transplants and who have dry mouth are at risk for all teeth crumbling, so choose and treat accordingly.

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Cannabis can increase pulse and blood pressure which can be a risk of heart attack and stroke for any age. It is especially likely if you are naive to the drug, i.e. have never used it or have not introduced it to your system for decades. Check blood pressure and pulse before use and after you feel the peak effect.

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The youngest person I found on the internet who died of heart attack caused by cannabis was a healthy 17 year old male, possibly a false report, but cardiac arrhythmias can be fatal and there are undiagnosed cardiac conditions in young athletes who may be likely to use cannabis.

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Cannabis can interfere with memory.

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The adolescent developing brain may be vulnerable to harmful effects.

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HOW TO USE IT

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Vaporize it. Avoid 4 toxins. Rapid onset, short duration of effect.

If smoking, you will inhale 4 major toxins.

Use under tongue or topically on skin.

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If you swallow cannabis, you will not feel effect for 90 to 120 minutes so allow 2 hours before you add more or you may seriously overdose. Duration of effect may be 4 to 12 hours or more – overdosing can last days.

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5 mg oral THC may be too much for a starter dose for some people, but may be average for many, and some may need 10 mg. But heavy users need far, far more: TOLERANCE DEVELOPS!!! Money down the drain. Use only as much as you need or you will develop tolerance and require more frequent and higher and higher doses to reach same effect. That can be unaffordable for the average middle class person. 

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And yes, it may appear in urine for 30 to 60 days, possibly more.

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Cannabis is still a schedule I drug. The Emperor has no clothes. Do not take it onto planes or attempt to mail it.

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Do read more about it on my cannabis website linked above. It is a drug. You will benefit from learning how to use it.

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The material on this site is for informational purposes only.

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It is not legal for me to provide medical advice without an examination.

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It is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified health care provider.

~~

Comments are welcome.

This site is not for email, not for medical questions, and not for appointments.

~~~~~

For My Home Page, click here:  Welcome to my Weblog on Pain Management!

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Please IGNORE THE ADS BELOW. They are not from me.

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