If you're not interested in hearing about the details of my injury and how I treat it, but wouldn't mind answering a few questions, just skip to the last paragraph.

I herniated two disks on the L4/L5 & L5/S1 vertebrae about fourteen years ago. Since then, I've had multiple failed surgeries to repair the herniations, leaving behind scar tissue that only exacerbated the irreparable nerve damage adjacent to those regions.

After every conceivable procedure (nerve blocks, epidural steroid injection, sacroiliac joint injection, facet joint injection, several bouts of physical and aqua therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, Craniosacral therapy, even Reike), had been attempted and met with abject failure, I finally began my journey into the world of over-prescribing of a seemingly endless cycle of opiates, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, blood pressure and cholesterol medicine, etc. I think I've had every opiate in the book at one time or another. My current regimen of opiates consists of 120mg of Oxycodone, 40mg of Methadone, and 100Mcg of Fentanyl daily. I'm not as crazy about the Duragesic as the previous narcotic: 96mg of Hydromorphone per day, and instead of 40mg of Methadone, I was taking 200mg daily. Believe it or not, the change was prompted my the death of Heath Ledger. One of the nurses warned my Doctore that my opiate level was way off the chart and if I ever OD'ed, it might raise some legal eyebrows.

Truth is, because of my tolerance, the meds just barely controlled my back/buttocks and radiating leg pain. When they finished titrating down to my current dosage, I had to curtail my activities to some extent, which already didn't add up to much anyway. To top it off, I got hit by an even more intolerable infirmity about two years ago and it has steadily worsened.

It's called peripheral neuropathy and it stems from the nerve damage in my back. The disease started as a tingling in my toes that slowly turned into a burning sensation akin to leaving one's hands in the snow until the commencement of an icy, burning sensation. As bad as that was, it slowly spread to engulf the entire surface of both my feet and has been progressing up my ankles.

Walking becomes even more tortuous as the day turns goes by. It starts out as soreness (akin to standing in one place all day), but that's just the prelude to the next stage. I call it walking on rocks, which soon turns to into the feeling of walking on a few bones, to the final stage, which I liken to walking on nails, definitely the most painful of the four stages. As one might surmise, I stay off my feet as much as humanly possible to avoid the hell that is my existence.

But recently, I was going through the process of changing doctors to one a little closer to home, to combat the steady rise in gas prices. Upon meeting my first potential candidate, and now I'm getting to the crux of this mini opus, I described my symptoms. He calmly said, "Have you tried medicinal marijuana?" The question kind of caught me off guard. Being offered marijuana from a doctor whom I had just met was truly a surreal experience. Heck, I was just glad that he had agreed to take on my previously mentioned, opiate-heavy, med regimen without even reading my file (my previous doctor hadn't faxed it over yet, but I brought in my prescription bottles as proof that I was on the meds I mentioned earlier).

I told him I hadn't tried MJ. I said, "Would I have to smoke it? I've never even smoked cigarettes." He dropped the subject, saying to keep it in mind if my neuropathy became any more unmanageable.

Well that was three months ago and I have another visit coming up soon. I did some research and learned that MJ is commonly prescribed (in states where it's not prohibited) for my condition and I was thinking about giving it a try. So, here are my questions:

Does anyone use MJ for severe pain, and is it effective?
Is it possible to ingest it (in brownies for instance) and get the same effect?
Does MJ harm your lungs (or body) like cigarettes?
Is it true that you have to build up a tolerance before MJ is effective?

Thank in advance and sorry for the shoddy grammar. I had another sleepless night in hell, so if anyone wants me to give a shout out to Satan, let me know.

JD

Stupid noob uses weed for severe pain, wait for him and he'll help you out.

It is quite possible that weed could help you out, by decreasing and even taking your mind off the pain. When it comes to smoking, inhaling any combusted material is gona be bad for you, but marijuana, when compared to tobacco is rather benign and cases of lung cancer produced just by the smoking of marijuana is very rare if it even happens at all.

Also id suggest you smoke it because you get more of the cannibiniods out of the marijuana, which are responsible for its medical and "high" effects, when compared to eating you only get THC by itself.

Though if you are not ok with the smoking of it you could try eating it, it is easily prepared, and you wont have any lung problems (though i know some people who have been smoking for 10 years who's lungs are just as capable as they were when they stated).

Whatever you do I wish you luck and hope that you can eventually find the relief you so clearly need.

Marijuana is one of the most effective substances to deal with pain, especially neuropathic pain that is not reponding well to opiates. What level of pain are you at before your first opiate dose of the day, and what level are you at after the dose starts working (x/10)?

You can use oral marijuana for pain relief, but smoking is the preferred route b/c you can titrate your dose easier, the onset of pain relief is faster, you need less marijuana, etc. Oral MJ is most often used in cases where the person either cannot smoke b/c of lung problems or when the person cannot smoke for some other reason. However, oral MJ lasts a lot longer than smoked MJ. That doesnt mean it provides better pain relief though. When I would use MJ for pain (pinched nerve, migraine headaches w/nausea) I would tend to use oral MJ and smoke some when I needed more pain relief. The oral MJ provides a baseline (like a long-acting opiate) and the smoked MJ is like a breakthrough dose.

Marijuana can harm your lungs but nowhere near anything like cigarettes. Smoking anything period can harm your lungs from inhaled smoke. With marijuana the damage is not clear, a study a few years back found that the incidence of lung cancer in marijuna-only smokers was only slightly above the incidence in the control group (nonsmokers), whereas smokers of both marijuana and tobacco had lower incidences of lung cancer than smokers of just tobacco. Even though smoking marijuana makes you cough, this isnt a direct indicator of lung damage. Basically, you would have to smoke a lot of marijuana for a very long time to be at risk for lung damamge I think.

You certainly dont need to build up a tolerance for MJ to be effective. Where that statement is coming from I think is that some people dont get high their first time smoking. Getting high doesnt always correlate with pain relief, I've gotten pain relief most of the time long before I got high (within 3-5 inhalations usually).

A good thing many pain patients like about marijuana actually is that there are fewer side effects than with opiates, and when you start to use marijuana for pain relief you will probably have better pain relief (especially with regard to the kind of neuropathic pain you have, though yours is not completely just nerve pain I think from your description of it) with the combination of marijuana and the dose of opiates you are used to than you would if you were to take more opiates. Basically if you work MJ in with your pain management regimen, it should (theoretically) allow you to stabilize your opiate dose rather than continue to increase it without compromising pain relief. MJ can also be helpful to use with opiates b/c it can sometimes combat opiate side effects such as nausea, appetite suppression, and sometimes can even help with sedation (depending on the variety of marijuana you'll be getting, sometimes the MJ can be stimulating sometimes sedating).

Would you be getting marijuana from a local dispensary, or would you have to go look for a dealer? If you would be getting it from a dispensary, you should definately give the MJ a try. It could improve your quality of life tremendously.

Also, if you're worried about the lung damage smoking MJ can cause, you can vaporise it instead, which will leave you with no lung damage at all.

I know lots of people who smoke weed for severe pain. Weed doesn't harm your lungs anywhere near as bad as cigarettes (if at all) and if the idea of smoking it bothers you just make some leary biscuits.

Eating weed gets you high, but it's a different high and lasts longer but requires more weed, pretty sure it would help with the pain still.

No you don't have to have tolerance for weed to take effect.

For me personally, weed increases my senses and makes pain worse, unless it is a stomach ailment.

What kind of pain did you try smoking for? And what grade of pot, mids, bud, hash? I find that mids dont help my pain, even when I havent smoked in months, and that hash doesnt always help either, but really good sativa dominant weed help almost every time. Could be different in your case. I understand where your coming from with the increased senses thing.

What kind of pain did you try smoking for? And what grade of pot, mids, bud, hash? I find that mids dont help my pain, even when I havent smoked in months, and that hash doesnt always help either, but really good sativa dominant weed help almost every time. Could be different in your case. I understand where your coming from with the increased senses thing.


I don't get the best weed, but it's decent. I don't know how to tell the difference between indica and sativa though so I'm not sure on that one.


I have a herniated disc/pinched nerve in my L4 and L5. Nothing helps.

Dude, TRY IT. Smoke the pot, you will not regret it. I have tried EVERYTHING for my chronic pain, and so far, marijuana works the best for me. Keep in mind NOTHING is going to make you feel totally pain free, that's just not possible for folks like us, but it DOES help more than opiates, or any of the bullshit injections they give.



Marijuana in combination with some good NSAIDS, a low dose of opiates, and a nice fat lidocaine injection is the closest I've come to being pain free, without being too fucked up to think.


I am out of pot, and don't have the extra money for any right now. I've smoked only a few times in the last couple weeks, and even then it was only a bit at a time.


I fucking hurt so much right now, and am so pissed off and irritated. I am so fucking tired of hurting all the time.


At least try the pot. Start slow, and make sure you are at home and all your shit is taken care of, as in, nothing you need to do for a few hours, and smoke up. Go slow, since you've never smoked it will be a bit harsh and make you cough a bit, but you will get the hang of it.


Best of luck to you friend, I know you need it.

Thanks for all the replies. You guys basically told me what I was hoping to hear. I'm just so tried of being in pain all the time. So many times, I've looked over at the pistol on my shelf but I just don't have the guts to do it.

Don't you love the awesome electrical type shooting pain you get that goes from the low back through your right ass cheek down your calves and into your achillies tendon?

One thing that helps a LITTLE, is to get down on all fours, and put your legs and arms to the left of you as much as you can, and then stretch your hip/ass area the opposite direction of your hands/feet.

Yeah give the herb a chance for sure, it'll at least improve your pain a little (feeling pain different is good in itself if someone's been having the same pain to deal with for a long time, and at least you'll feel that) and should improve your quality of and satisfaction with life. It sounds like you've never smoked MJ before but it does help with this VERY legitimate medical issue you've got. Sounds like you'll be trying it though and I'm very glad an hopeful for you, hope your pain improves and you feel better and happier.

Its a great plant, try it out man. Itll help your pain

Same here. I have a degenerative bone disease and I have a script for pot. But I use it for getting an appetite since some of the meds I take sometimes fuck it up.

But I don't use it for pain because it makes the pain worse by making me concentrate on it more.

Same here. I have a degenerative bone disease and I have a script for pot. But I use it for getting an appetite since some of the meds I take sometimes fuck it up.

But I don't use it for pain because it makes the pain worse by making me concentrate on it more.

Just out of curiousity does higher or lower grade make a difference? Or Whether its Indica or Sativa?

Just out of curiousity does higher or lower grade make a difference? Or Whether its Indica or Sativa?


Of course. There are many varieties and hybrids. Some are better for hunger, some for pain, some for sleep, etc.

There are so many varieties in the Clubs that it's often hard to make a choice. Like 20 types of pot - all of it is top quality too, 4 or 5 types of hash and 3 or 4 types of hash oil. Then there are the edibles: Candy, chocolates, brownies, jelly, you name it.

It really was like something from a Cheech and Chong movie the first time I went in one.

ask for mouwi wowie

Does anyone use MJ for severe pain

Talk to stupid n00b.

and is it effective?

EVERY US-OTC painkiller works through the cannabinoid pathway.

Is it possible to ingest it (in brownies for instance) and get the same effect?

Yes!

Does MJ harm your lungs (or body) like cigarettes?

No, actually... THC has been shown to inhibit cancer growth.

Still probably healthier to vaporize and/or go with oral ingestion.

Is it true that you have to build up a tolerance before MJ is effective?

I don't believe so... you'll just have more side effects (i.e. "being stoned") until you get a tolerance...

damn dude I really feel for you pain sucks my mom has something called cervical dystonia and she is in pain 24/7 I know alot of people with fibermialgia and cystic fibrosis pain sucks I know nothing about it because Im in no pain except Im severly bipolar. but Id say really strong heavy indica and diluidid or however you spell it. also mdma will make you forget your pain. weed will prolly really help you good luck bro

take stupid noobs advice at least try it i use regularly for recreational use. but when i do happen due be in pain it works for me better than oxycodone(percocet oxycontin). also it can have several other benefits such as less nasua due to the opiates icreased appitite wich should be helpful because most people i know with a steady opiate dose NOWHERE near yours dont often feel like eating and it should kill the thoughts of suicide and depression too. i wish you the best of luck

also mdma will make you forget your pain.

Yeah, using MDMA PRN for analgesic purposes multiple times a day is definitely a good idea.

Yeah, using MDMA PRN for analgesic purposes multiple times a day is definitely a good idea.


Yeah it definitely doesn't increase your senses in the least. Might as well take 3 or 4 tabs, you won't feel ANYTHING for days. You can hit yourself and masturbate and won't feel a thing...