Let's get some true medical discussion going!

so I wanted to get this area of RIU to talk more about how cannabis helps them and what strain they use to get such effects.

I'd also like to hear some new information about things cannabis can potentially help, and this could also be determined through your personal experienced shared here.

I have a permanently disabled arm. the elbow joint has been permanently damaged, and I can't straighten my arm, bend it back all the way, or rotate it completely.

the pain is very erratic for now, it's entirely based on how much I use it. I am however, medicated so often I hardly know if I should be in pain or not.

the main thing I have noticed, especially with heavy indica strains, the usual grinding in my joint that I have on a bad day, is hardly even present after vaping some indica or even sativa. but indica works best.

I read a research article that said there are cannabinoid receptors in the cartilage of our joints . . . which is essentially where my grinding problem is.

so I'd love to hear more stories like this, and more scientific information if anyone knows anything more. I know plenty and am willing to share much much more to spurt discussion.

Have you seen Granny Storm Crow's list? It's the definitive link list for conditions and the studies that have been done regarding them.

I'd also recommend the Strain Selector, but it seems like it may be a little more guesswork.

Look forward to contributing to this thread, though. We need more like it.

Hey pops, here is some info from a recent study done by The Pew Research Center For The People & The Press:



With a growing number of states moving to legalize medical marijuana, nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) say they favor their state allowing the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes if it is prescribed by a doctor, while 23% are opposed. Support for legalizing medical marijuana spans all major political and demographic groups, and is equally high in states that have and have not already passed laws on this issue.
There are public concerns about legalizing medical marijuana. For example, 45% say they would be very or somewhat concerned if a store that sold medical marijuana opened near other stores in their area. And roughly the same percentage (46%) says allowing medical marijuana makes it easier for people to get marijuana even if they don’t have a real medical need – though just 26% of Americans say this is something that concerns them. These concerns are highest among opponents of legalizing medical marijuana, but are no higher or lower in states that already allow marijuana for medical purposes.
Far more Americans favor allowing marijuana for prescribed medical purposes than support a general legalization of marijuana. But the proportion who thinks the use of marijuana should be legal has continued to rise over the past two decades.
The most recent national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted March 10-14 among 1,500 adults on landlines and cell phones, finds that 41% of the public thinks the use of marijuana should be made legal while 52% do not. In 2008, 35% said it should be legal and 57% said the use of marijuana should not be legal, according to data from the General Social Survey. Twenty years ago, only 16% of the public said the use of marijuana should be legal and 81% said it should not be legal.
Seniors, Conservatives Less Supportive

Younger Americans are more likely than their older counterparts to favor legalizing marijuana for medical use, but a majority across all age groups supports this; 80% of those younger than 30 favor allowing medical marijuana compared with 63% who are ages 65 and older.
About six-in-ten (61%) Republicans favor permitting medical marijuana in their state compared with 76% of independents and 80% of Democrats. Conservative Republicans are the least likely to support legalization of medical marijuana; still, 54% favor this while 44% are opposed. At least three-fourths in all other partisan and ideological groups favor this.
People living in states where medical marijuana laws have not been passed are just as likely to favor the idea as those living in the 14 states where such laws have already been passed (72% vs. 74%).
An overwhelming percentage (95%) of those who support general legalization of marijuana favor the sale and use of medical marijuana in their state. Yet even a majority (55%) of those who do not favor general legalization of marijuana say that the sale and use of medical marijuana should be allowed.


Does Medical Marijuana Lead to Broader Access?

The public is divided about whether legalizing marijuana for medical purposes inherently increases access to marijuana more generally: 46% say allowing medical marijuana makes it easier for people to get marijuana even if they don’t have a real medical need, while 48% think it doesn’t make a difference. When those who believe it does make it easier are asked whether this concerns them or not, just over half – representing 26% of the total public – say they are very or somewhat concerned about this, while 20% of Americans think this might happen but are not concerned about it.
About seven-in-ten Americans (71%) who oppose allowing medical marijuana in their state say this makes it easier for others to get access, and 53% say they are very or somewhat concerned about this. By contrast, just 39% of those who favor legalizing medical marijuana believe it leads to easier access for non-medical purposes, and only 18% are concerned. People living in states that currently allow medical marijuana are no more or less likely to see the policy as making it easier for people to get marijuana even if they don’t have a real medical need. There also are no differences in levels of concern between those living in states that have legalized medical marijuana and those that have not.

About a quarter (27%) of Americans say they would be very concerned if a store that sold medical marijuana opened up near other stores in their area, and 17% would be somewhat concerned. But a majority (54%) say they would be not too (20%) or not at all concerned (34%). Opponents of legalizing medical marijuana are far more likely to be at least somewhat concerned about this (81%) than supporters (32%). But again, there is no greater or less concern about medical marijuana stores in states that have legalized medical marijuana compared with states that have not.
Support for Legalization of Marijuana Continues to Grow

In terms of the public's views about the general legalization of marijuana, 41% think the use of marijuana should be made legal while 52% don't think it should be legal. These findings are similar to a Gallup Survey conducted in October 2009 that found 44% saying the use of marijuana should be made legal and 54% saying it should not be legal. Support for legalizing marijuana is the highest it has been in 40 years of polling on this issue.
In 1969, only 12% said the use of marijuana should be made legal. Support grew to a peak of 30% in 1978, and then declined over the course of the 1980s to a low of 16% by 1987. Since that time, the proportion of Americans who think marijuana should be made legal has been steadily increasing, to 31% in 2000 and 41% today.

​

Young People, Liberals Most Likely to Support Legalization

There are substantial demographic differences in opinions about the legalization of marijuana. A majority (58%) of those younger than 30 think that the use of marijuana should be made legal. That compares with 42% of those ages 30 to 49, 40% of those 50 to 64, and just 22% of those 65 and older.
While men are evenly divided over whether the use of marijuana should be legal (45% yes, 47% no), most women (57%) oppose legalization.
Fully 71% of Republicans – including 77% of conservative Republicans – oppose the legalization or marijuana. By contrast, Democrats are evenly divided, with a majority of liberal Democrats (57%) in favor of legalizing the use of marijuana. about half of independents (49%) favor legalizing the use of marijuana while 44% are opposed.
People living in states where medical marijuana laws already have been passed are more likely than those living in other states to support a more general legalization of marijuana (48% vs. 39%). Those who have tried marijuana are more than twice as likely as those who have not to favor legalization (64% vs. 25%).
Increased Support for Legalization Among Democrats and Independents

Although independents and Democrats have generally been more likely than Republicans to support legalization of marijuana over the past 40 years, the partisan gap on this issue has increased substantially since 2000. Democrats and independents are far more likely to say that marijuana should be made legal than they were 10 years ago while the views of Republicans are virtually unchanged.
Nearly half of Democrats (48%) and independents (49%) now support the legalization of marijuana. In 2000, 29% of Democrats and 35% of independents said the use of marijuana should be made legal. By comparison, 24% of Republicans support legalization now, similar to the 26% who favored this a decade ago.

Who Has Tried Marijuana?

Four-in-ten Americans say they have ever tried marijuana while 58% have not. Men are more likely than women to have tried marijuana – nearly half (48%) of men have tried marijuana compared with only 31% of women.
There also are substantial age differences. About half (49%) of young people admit to having tried marijuana, as do 47% of those ages 30 to 49 and 42% ages 50 to 64. By comparison, only 11% of people age 65 and older say they have ever tried marijuana.
Fewer Republicans than Democrats and independents say they have ever tried marijuana. About a third (32%) of Republicans admit to having tried marijuana compared with 41% of Democrats and 44% of independents. Conservative Republicans are the least likely to report trying marijuana (26%), compared with at least four-in-ten in all other partisan and ideological groups.

I have been using it for 2 1/2 years now for my severe IBS-D . Similar to everyone else, my IBS-D is at its worst early in the morning. The pain wakes me up at about 5am or 6am and I sit on the toilet for the next hour or hour and a half. As soon as I smoke a pipe the stomach pain ends and the diarrhea subsides. At this point the medicine will make me feel in control of my bowels. I can go on to school, and work like a normal healthy person again (kind of). In about 3 or 4 hours I will have to medicate again and that is only because the meds have worn off and the trots came back.
I live in California for now and have a medical recommendation from my Dr.

I just want to say that for me.......No medicine has even come close to working as good as marijuana.
I have tried many many different prescription drugs and none of them worked.

It helps me get through the day.
I have found IBS to be a very personal thing. What works for me may not work for some one else with similar problems.
But if you don't see for yourself you may never know the relief that could be available to you through marijuana.

my office before marijuana

I have osteoarthritis, the most common joint issue.

My doctor gave me some medicine, which worked, immediate relief from pain.

But it also made me sick, thought I was going to die, lost 10 lbs.

Got my card, MMJ reduces inflamation and allows me to sleep. Or go back to sleep when I wake up with pain as I twist my leg.

Indica works just fine, but most others do also.

I am growing Super O.G. , Sour Diesel and C4.

I also medicate for IBS. I don't have it as terribly as the poster above, but it does alleviate my intense cramping I get from certain foods. The more sativa, the quicker the fix for me. I smoked a friend's Kali Mist once and it was almost an instant cure. I am now growing it myself.

I live in a non-friendly state, so I will have to wait out the ignorance. Sentiment seems to be turning around though!

I'm bipolar, it runs in my family at least five generations deep on both sides, and I've been using cannabis as an alternative to Lithium (which I refuse to take regularly) for a few years now. Here's a thread I started a while back, while on the hunt for medical strains for bipolar manic episodes.

Being bipolar, I have a predisposition to manic episodes, or highly exaggerated and uncontrollable emotional responses and impulse driven, highly self-destructive behavior that escalates beyond anything a non-bipolar person could even attempt to understand. Us bipolar folks are truly unique.

My consciousness essentially breaks down into unintelligible shards as the pace of my thoughts and the scope of my emotions explodes beyond my capacity. At first it's a truly wonderful feeling, more profoundly pleasurable then any drug or the best sex, but the energy fueling a manic episode is unstable at best and eventually runs out; at which point I crash into a crippling and life threatening depression that can take weeks, months, or years to recover from. It literally takes minutes to go from raving-mad-lunatic to crying-fish-puppy. I can experience depression for no reason without a manic episode as well.

Keep in mind these are not like normal episodes of depression, caused by life stress. I have lost family members, lovers, pets, jobs... yet because of my condition I have faced such deep dark episodes (for no reason) these things pale in comparison. I have buried people who were most dear to me and felt the pain of loss numerous times, but this isn't even a fraction of what I feel post-mania.

At my best I have an episode about once every few months. But the more depressed I am the more likely I am to have a manic episode all the sooner and the worse that episode will be. At my worst, I was cycling multiple times a day.

Needless to say, I'm all fucked up and need to be on meds at all times.

I started off using heavy sedative strains, as I noticed the calming effects would stop the progression of my disease and most sativa strains would trigger manic episodes (primarily by increasing my anxiety I think). But I found myself over-medicating to treat individual episodes, which left me equally non-functional (couchlocked and brain dead) though I felt loads better.

In recent months, thanks to Hobbes' suggestion in my bipolar thread, my treatment has improved in leaps and bounds with the introduction of Kali Mist into my system.

Kali Mist is an ultra-clear headed, highly motivating yet therapeutic sativa dominant strain unlike anything I've ever come across before. I use KM daily, and to lessen the stimulating effects of KM when appropriate I supplement with sedative strains (Blueberry, Herijuana, God's Gift).

I have not had an episode for many months. Not since that first crystal clear, frosty blue summer breeze of a hit. To me that speaks for itself.

My family is horribly anti-marijuana, and so was I until after I found a successful therapy relationship. Yet I suspect my ancestors have been eating cannabis for millions of years and it has protected our sanity, and so it should be part of my daily intake, like any other vitamin or mineral. I wish I could share my findings with my family because so many of them suffer for our condition.

Even my therapist (who I no longer need to see) strongly advised I not use marijuana. His advice was valid, many of the strains popular on the streets will really fuck me up, but because previous therapists mis-diagnosed me as depressed and pushed me onto anti-depressants with disastrous results I learned early on to be a skeptic and think for myself.

Even now I feel as though I'm on pressure on all sides to conform. But I have always been an independent, free thinker, willing to put everything on the line for the sake of discovering the truth and claiming more for myself. I started my first business at 16 and moved out of my parents house at 17. This is my life, and damnit I'm not going to let anyone keep me from living it!

Now I'm a steadfast convert to the benefits of MMJ, and I regret I ever doubted the healing power of this deeply spiritual herb at any point.

Marijuana has freed me from the burden of my genetic history and now I can live like a normal person every day for the rest of my life.

Browntown777 said:

my office before marijuana

Click to expand...

Hey Hey! Cheers to you brother. No one really understands what its like when I try to explain it. Getting up, havign a world of pain in my stomach, and not being able to do anything about it in the morning until hitting a pipe(or vape)

Have you found a more indica dominant strain to help you in these early morning battles? Thats all that seems to help me.....not saying sativa wont....but man, a nice indica in the morning cuts out the BS for me.

-hFb

ah the last few posts refreshed me. I"m currently lacking Indica, but I do have a nice half oz stash left that I only hit up at night. nocks me out good .


man I'm glad I don't have that IBS, that sounds terrible. my arm is just one of those things that has it's bad days but mostly good days; only fucks with you when you need to do something beyond your capability.

but I feel as though I'm stretching my capability with cannabis, which I imagine is the ultimate goal for people with permanent disabilities and/or ailments . .


keep the discussion coming guys btw, that half oz I have is some indica dominant diesel

poplars said:

ah the last few posts refreshed me.

Click to expand...

You're getting off on me sharing my misery! YOU SICK BASTARD!

Yep, I feel ya, working to my fullest potential is all I ask.

yeah, I'm evil

but for real this is a medical marijuana section so it's just good to get this sort of discussion going more.

I have severe anxiety, and chronic pain, I find a good indica helps, but sativa is so much easier to find, that's why I'm growing mostly indica doms.

highflyby said:

Hey Hey! Cheers to you brother. No one really understands what its like when I try to explain it. Getting up, havign a world of pain in my stomach, and not being able to do anything about it in the morning until hitting a pipe(or vape)

Have you found a more indica dominant strain to help you in these early morning battles? Thats all that seems to help me.....not saying sativa wont....but man, a nice indica in the morning cuts out the BS for me.

-hFb

Click to expand...

Yeah man, I feel like know one really gets it when I try to explain either. But thats ok, I don't understand other people problems to there full capacity either, it is a perspective thing I guess.

I am always smoking indica buddy. If I buy some sativa I find myself wishing I had indi. They both work for me but the indica is definitely better for my situation.

It is nice to hear from other people out there that are going through similar problems as me. I know they are out there but just really hard to find. Plus 1 n 3 people have some form of IBS. So every one thinks they have (or know some one who has) IBS and they think they can solve all my problems. But the truth is I have heard it all and tried all the meds and let me tell you. Good ol mary jane works the best.

p.s. I didn't smoke pot at all until I asked my Dr. if it would help. He said "probably, but I wont prescribe it to you. I found a new Dr. and have been able to control it better ever since.

Browntown777 said:

Yeah man, I feel like know one really gets it when I try to explain either. But thats ok, I don't understand other people problems to there full capacity either, it is a perspective thing I guess.

I am always smoking indica buddy. If I buy some sativa I find myself wishing I had indi. They both work for me but the indica is definitely better for my situation.

It is nice to hear from other people out there that are going through similar problems as me. I know they are out there but just really hard to find. Plus 1 n 3 people have some form of IBS. So every one thinks they have (or know some one who has) IBS and they think they can solve all my problems. But the truth is I have heard it all and tried all the meds and let me tell you. Good ol mary jane works the best.

p.s. I didn't smoke pot at all until I asked my Dr. if it would help. He said "probably, but I wont prescribe it to you. I found a new Dr. and have been able to control it better ever since.

Click to expand...

Yeah man I completely feel you. Everyone knows my problem, and knows the remedy of how to fix it. Frankly its gotten annoying. I also suffer from G.E.R.D. and again, when I spell it out for them and they hear "reflux disease" they instantly tell me they too suffer from it, and then give me their remedy. Apparently, commercials for prescription medicine are telling people if they get heartburn even twice a week, they have Acid reflux. Jesus christ.

I wake up every single night, usually with a small pool of some disgusting stomach bile in the back of my throat, and burning the hell out of my throat. Thats really the easy part. Every single time I eat anything, I usually get kickback from my stomach. As Poplars has seen for himself, If i even cough too hard, it leads to puking. This can also occur for no reason, just get some stomache acid in my throat, makes me cough and puke.

This has been building over the years, and has not always been this bad. I also wish to note I was on 3 or 4 prescription pump inhibitors, and tried every home remedy to date. Cannabis is the only thing that has ever helped me. As you said before browntown (wait, is your name a pun? lol), Indica is the best kind of medicine I have ever used. IF you have the ability, make yourself some indica medibles, and eat some not too long before bed. Man it makes the morning easier! I have also tried to wake up mid-night and eat a medible, but to be honest, It didnt help much because my stomach wasn't use to food mid-night.

Anyway, tonight I actually ran out of meds, and wont be able to afford any until around saturday....so well see how these few days go...

i have neuropathy. I got it bad. the cannaboids in thc and some other chemicals in fact have been shown to especially active against neuropathy. I take morphine and so on but the weed takes away completly all at once my pain in a flash. Like a wieght in suddenly off my legs. It comes back with a vengenacne, lol, so I got to take both still for pain.

However I also have severe insomnie that nothing works on. Nothing except pot. Puts me gently to rest and I wake up feeling refreshed. Nothing, not evern ambien, or lyroca or tylenol pm.

For what I got I prefer a high cbs strain and high thc. I currently am growing lavender, herijauna, purple wreck, and super lemon haze.

highflyby said:

Yeah man I completely feel you. Everyone knows my problem, and knows the remedy of how to fix it. Frankly its gotten annoying. I also suffer from G.E.R.D. and again, when I spell it out for them and they hear "reflux disease" they instantly tell me they too suffer from it, and then give me their remedy. Apparently, commercials for prescription medicine are telling people if they get heartburn even twice a week, they have Acid reflux. Jesus christ.

I wake up every single night, usually with a small pool of some disgusting stomach bile in the back of my throat, and burning the hell out of my throat. Thats really the easy part. Every single time I eat anything, I usually get kickback from my stomach. As Poplars has seen for himself, If i even cough too hard, it leads to puking. This can also occur for no reason, just get some stomache acid in my throat, makes me cough and puke.

This has been building over the years, and has not always been this bad. I also wish to note I was on 3 or 4 prescription pump inhibitors, and tried every home remedy to date. Cannabis is the only thing that has ever helped me. As you said before browntown (wait, is your name a pun? lol), Indica is the best kind of medicine I have ever used. IF you have the ability, make yourself some indica medibles, and eat some not too long before bed. Man it makes the morning easier! I have also tried to wake up mid-night and eat a medible, but to be honest, It didnt help much because my stomach wasn't use to food mid-night.

Anyway, tonight I actually ran out of meds, and wont be able to afford any until around saturday....so well see how these few days go...

Click to expand...

Luckily I don't have G.E.R.D. also. I have heard of some other people with IBS that have G.E.R.D. Is this common to have both?
Indica is for sure the best bro! I totally agree with ya.
I have not had much luck with edibles. usually the meds are cooked into something I can't eat. Like a brownie, cookie, and so on. I am always game for trying new things though. When I have tried edibles they don't seem to have a huge effect on me. Maybe it is because I smoke so much, I am not sure.

WOW! Good luck till saturday man. That is a huge fear of mine. Running out of meds when I am also out of cash. I think I would just have to be a shut in for a few days.
Good luck. If we were neighbors in the real world I would spot you some herb.

tea tree said:

i have neuropathy. I got it bad. the cannaboids in thc and some other chemicals in fact have been shown to especially active against neuropathy. I take morphine and so on but the weed takes away completly all at once my pain in a flash. Like a wieght in suddenly off my legs. It comes back with a vengenacne, lol, so I got to take both still for pain.

However I also have severe insomnie that nothing works on. Nothing except pot. Puts me gently to rest and I wake up feeling refreshed. Nothing, not evern ambien, or lyroca or tylenol pm.

For what I got I prefer a high cbs strain and high thc. I currently am growing lavender, herijauna, purple wreck, and super lemon haze.

Click to expand...

Well I am glad you found the herb to help yourself with the situation. I was amazed when you said that the weed helps with the pain more than morphine does!!! That is amazing to me.
I don't have insomnia at all, but I do have sleeping problems sometimes and yes weed is great or putting me back to sleep after my stomach cramps wake me up and make me sit on the toilet for a while. I will smoke a bowl and go back to bed and fall asleep again. Before I would just toss and turn because my stomach was in pain.

Good luck with your grow!

Folks I have severe rhuematoid arthritis and have suffered from PTSD ( severe & chronic for 24 years)... I am a licensed Med mj user and grower in Canada..I use white Russian for my daytime relief of pain .... If I am having a particularly shitty evening I break out the chronic ( Serious seeds geneitcs).... My pain relief is much better and the night sweats and nightmares have been much better..... Blessed with natures healing....

whoa I love the pot but the pain thing is weird. Anone else notice. The morphine takes away the pain and I will need it always, but some mj takes away all the weight, it feels like. Certain cannaboids act in a way that medical science does not know yet according to some reading I have done. What I really want is some of these cannaboids mixed with morphine! Lol. I am not a saint here the morph and excercise are my best pain control techininiques mixed with the weed evenly. I was surprised when I first felt how it works. Differecnt yet effective. I will need it all apparently.

As for sleep it is like no other. Ambien in my older days only makes me order weird shit off the internet that I dont remember in the morning!

In my legs every nerve fires in pain 24/7 the morphine takes it away and the weed makes me forget I got legs.

Any other neuropathy sufferers? Not diabetic or aids, but just some nerve down there. Is it not the wierdest thing to smoke?


I forgot. lol. I just got diagnosed with some form of ibs. Severe cramping had me in the hospital for two days. bummer.

Browntown777 said:

Luckily I don't have G.E.R.D. also. I have heard of some other people with IBS that have G.E.R.D. Is this common to have both?
Indica is for sure the best bro! I totally agree with ya.
I have not had much luck with edibles. usually the meds are cooked into something I can't eat. Like a brownie, cookie, and so on. I am always game for trying new things though. When I have tried edibles they don't seem to have a huge effect on me. Maybe it is because I smoke so much, I am not sure.

WOW! Good luck till saturday man. That is a huge fear of mine. Running out of meds when I am also out of cash. I think I would just have to be a shut in for a few days.
Good luck. If we were neighbors in the real world I would spot you some herb.

Click to expand...

Not sure if its common for them to go hand in hand, but man it sure is a middle finger from mother nature. Im kind of amazed you said edibles dont help....maybe your not making them strong enough? Last time I made them I used just over an oz of vaped herb, and honestly, they didnt do anything other than calm my stomach down. IF your trying to get fucked up, you definatly need to mix in some trim, or bud, or anything with trichs on it

Dude, I did run out, but I scraped the mouth pieces and parts of my Herbalaire vape. What comes out of this thing is really hash oil, and it simply was amazing. I got lit up last night, and slept great, and have had no battles with my stomach this morning......yet.

But today, I am out of everything, hashoil, bud, everything. I may be able to scrape a pipe, but bleh, that shits gross.

Dont really trust anyone in my area, which I guess is really my fault, so I doubt someone will help me out till I get paid. Its sad, prohibition jacks our prices so high the fucking meds are barely affordable as it is.

*sigh* Oh well.....ill let you know how day 1 goes