Fibromyalgia and Medical Marijuana
Commentary by Greener Pastures
Fibromyalgia is a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain, and a heightened painful response to pressure. Fibromyalgia symptoms are not restricted to pain. Other symptoms include debilitating fatigue, sleep disturbance, joint stiffness, prolonged muscle spasms, weakness in the limbs, and palpitations. Some patients may also report difficulty with swallowing, bowel and bladder abnormalities, numbness and tingling, and cognitive dysfunction. Depression, anxiety, stress-related disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may accompany fibromyalgia.
Many patients experience cognitive dysfunction, which may be characterized by impaired concentration, problems with short and long-term memory, impaired speed of performance, inability to multi-task, and diminished attention span. Although fibromyalgia is classified based on the presence of chronic widespread pain, pain may also be localized in areas such as the shoulders, neck, low back, hips or other areas. Not all people with fibromyalgia experience all associated symptoms.
Evidence from research conducted the last three decades have revealed abnormalities within the central nervous system affecting brain regions that may be linked both to clinical symptoms and research phenomena. Some research suggests that alterations in the central nervous system (CNS) might be the result of childhood stress, or prolonged or severe stress.
Historically, fibromyalgia has been considered either a musculoskeletal disease or neuropsychiatric condition. Although there is as yet no cure for fibromyalgia, some treatments have been demonstrated by controlled clinical trials to be effective in reducing symptoms, including medications, behavioral interventions, patient education, and exercise.
There have been numerous successful trials in Germany for fibromyalgia with THC. Cannabis is a great analgesic, anti-spasmodic, and has euphoriant action. It is also known that the body naturally produces endocannabinoids, anandamide, and 2AG. These endocannabinoids produce analgesia, antispasmoic, and euphoriant actions, and that plant and natural cannabinoids may be better than any other chemical/pharmaceutical trial drug or combination.
Fibromyalgia patients typically experience body-wide pain, but they must often take multiple drugs for other symptoms, which can include difficulty sleeping, restless legs syndrome, depression, and anxiety. However, marijuana may treat multiple symptoms, and some patients are seeing amazing and relief-filled results.
Our bodies naturally make pain relievers called endorphins, but they also make other substances that trigger pain relief in the endocannabinoid system. This system seems to play a key role in many processes in the body, including modulating how we feel pain. Marijuana contains cannabinoids very similar to those that occur in the body naturally.
Medical marijuana for Fibromyalgia patients works well due to the natural pain-relieving properties of THC, the anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties of CBD, and other cannabinoids found in cannabis. Through studies, it has been found that THC, a primary substance found in medical marijuana, reduced both chronic pain and experimentally induced pain by at least 50 percent in all patients who completed the THC therapy trial.
In addition, most fibromyalgia patients who have tried medical marijuana for symptoms including depression, insomnia and muscle spasms report that medicinal marijuana is effective and has few side effects. Medical marijuana has nerve-protecting qualities, which makes another reason why fibromyalgia patients would benefit from the medicinal herb.
Greener Pastures dispensary is located at 7580 Pioneer Way, just outside Bozeman. •