Marijuana for migraines

Before I start, let me say this: Marijuana use, posession, cultivation, sale, or purchase is illegal federally in the US. Some states allow for the use of marijuana for medical purposes for those registered as patients. 2 states, Colorado & Washington, allow recreational use.
In Colorado where I live, migraines are very near the top of the list of ailments that qualify for a medical marijuana license.
Hi, I am an herbalist, holistic caregiver, and massage therapist from Colorado. To give you a little background, my mother is a Shaman in the Houma Native American Tribe. She is 90 years old this year and has been using herbal, spritual, and holistic remedies her entire life on hersef and others. She made it 90 years doing it and aside from some arthritis and a bit of short-term memory loss, she's healthy as a horse. The proof is in the pudding. She has been hospitalized 5 times in 90 years. 3 to have my sisters and me, in the late 80's for cataract surgery, and once for an appendectomy in the late 40's. I started learning about these things from her at a very young age and have continued to learn more.

The reason I joined is mainly due to on of my patients and friends who suffers from Juvenile Rhuematoid Arthrtits, a debilitating form of arthritis. As if that wasn't enough, the poor soul recently has developed migraines. I think it's at least in part due to lack of sleep from her pain. I decided to go on a mission to see if I could help her since all else has failed or had very limited effectiveness. I should note here that we have been VERY successful in treating her arthritis pain.

OK first some layman's info about cannabis. Cannabis contains 2 major compounds. The first and most well known is THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol, which is responsible for the "high" associated with cannabis. I won't get into the mechanics of how and why it does this except this exerpt from a study done at the University of Arizona in 2012. It should be noted that THC is also the culprit for appetite enhancement AKA "the munchies".

"THC has mild to moderate analgesic effects, and cannabis can be used to treat pain by altering transmitter release on dorsal root ganglion of the spinal cord and in the periaqueductal gray. Other effects include relaxation, alteration of visual, auditory, and olfactory senses, fatigue, and appetite stimulation. THC has marked antiemetic (anti-vomiting & nausea) properties, and may also reduce aggression in certain subjects"

Wait, didn't I read that the most common treatment for migraines was analgesics? We're onto something here.

The other main ingredient is CBD or Cannabidiol. CBD accounts for over 40% of the cannabinoids in the plant.

"Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabinoid found in cannabis. It is a major constituent of the plant, representing up to 40% in its extracts. Compared to THC, cannabidiol, though psychoactive, is non-intoxicating, and is considered to have a wider scope of medical applications than THC, including to epilepsy, multiple sclerosis spasms,vascular disorders, cancers, migraines, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and nausea."

CBD does not get you high. In fact, CBD has been shown to reduce the effects of THC. I'm currently looking for a strain that has a high CBD count and little or no THC to see if it will effect migraines without impairing the user's ability to function normally. Israel claims to have developed a strain that does just that. I've not been able to obtain any yet but I'm working on it. There are several strains out there that produce high CBD and low THC. A fellow grower, breeder, and patient in California is helping me with this. His extract has been wildly successful in treating epileptic seizures. Once case study has a child having 10-12 seizures a day. With CBD treatment he is now having less than one a month! The reason Marinol doesn't work as well is that it contains little or no CBD, so while Marinol can be somewhat effective, we're getting the salad without the dressing. Marinol was originally developed to increase appetite in AIDS patients. Basically it's lab-created THC and contains none of the other benifits of the cannabis plant. It took nature millions of years to perfect this system. Sorry, a lab cannot create it.

Cannabis can be introduced in just about any form you can think of. It can be smoked, eaten (alone or in food known as "edibles"), vaporized for those concerned about lung damage from the smoke or thoe who just don't like it, or there are cannabis treatments that cab be applied to the skin as well, which produce no high whatsoever since the THC is absorbed to slowly to have any effect. I am experimenting with the effectiveness of those on migraines, but it does wonders for joint pain, itchy skin, muscle pain, and the like.

My story:
After my second heart attack, I lost my job which meant no insurance so I could no longer afford my meds or doctors. I decided to do something about it and use mine and my mother's knowledge (and a great deal of Google!) to find a way to live without being a lab rat held hostage by the criminals running the big drug compaines. Since then a good part of my life has been dedicated to relieving the pain, ailments, and discomforts of myself and others through natrual, safe, proven methods without chemicals or poisons. Mind you that a great deal of this is due to healthy eating and living. Just eating, smoking, or drinking a concoction of herbs will not accomplish this. You can't just replace the carburetor and have a brand new car. You have to treat the whole body.

1. I no longer need insulin (I'm type II diabetic) My last A1C was 6.3. My insulin alone used to cost me $700/month.
2. I have no signs or symptoms of heart disease (I've had 2 heart attacks,one at 39 and one 5 years ago)
3. I no longer need blood pressure meds (I used to take 3 different ones)
4. I no longer need gout medication or treatment. No attacks in over 3 years.
5. I still have to take thyroid meds, but at a lower dose than before.

I am under a doctor's care (he is a D.O) so I'm not making this up. He's 100% onboard with what I'm doing and is actually recommending some of my finds to his other patients!

If anyone has questions concerning this or other herb-related or holistic treatments, I'd be happy to answer them for you or at least help you find an answer (completely free of charge). Please feel free to e-mail me.

I hope this has been helpful and informative, and I wish you luck!

I've been using pure THC via Marinol for years to control my migraines and spasticity. Very good results when used in small amounts as a migraine preventative and to reduce my spasticity so I can sleep better.

Recently, a company out of Colorado has started selling CBD extract. It is apparently now legal in the USA. For years the DEA had banned it as a "highly abusable, schedule 1" drug, even, as the previous poster stated, it has no psychoactive or any other abusable effects. Apparently the DEA just made a blanket ban on any cannabinoids. In any case, this has apparently been resolved and you can purchase the drops.

I tried using this in a one-to-one milligram amount with my Marinol THC, hoping to get better spasticity management. It did help that, a lot, but gave me the worst migraine I have had for years. The migraine lasted 10 hours, got better for 10 hours, they got bad again for another 12 hours.

I figured I had taken too much CBD. So I tried it in a 1-to-4 ratio with the Marinol and still got a very bad migraine.

So, for me, pure THC seems to work better. Don't know why. When I was in a cannabis trial many years ago, the cannabis definitely worked better than just THC. Maybe something else in the whole plant?

You're more correct than you know, Quark. As I said in my previous post, nature worked for millions of years to perfect this system and it takes humans and test tubes to completely screw it up. There is nothing simple about any natural prouct or system. There are things you can read about what's in cannabis, how it works, and why, but reading it will make your brain bleed. How these chemicals work, form and interact with each other will probably never be known and certainly not duplicated.

Webster defines synthetic, as it pertains here as:
1. Produced by synthesis, especially not of natural origin.
2. Not natural or genuine; artificial or contrived
3. Prepared or made artificially

Cannabinoids, both THC and CBD, are GROUPS of chemicals. For example, the specific THC that intoxicates is known as Delta-9 THC. THC is the chemical's surname and Delta-9 is its fist name. There are a plethora of siblings to Delta-9 THC, all with specific properties and chemical makeups. Both CBD and THC have healing & pain relief properties, & both are pychoactive. They just affect different parts of the brain in different ways. The reason the CBD oil is legal is because the test that law enforcement uses doesn't detect CBD, nor do many commercial labs! All will contain some THC, but if prepared correctly only trace amounts.

The marijuana plant contains less than 1% CBD. CBD, as I said actually counteracts the effects of THC. Strains have been developed that can produce up to 10% CBD. The 10% is probably exaggerated, but is probably more like 8%. Let's face truth, most people in the United States started smoking pot to get high. The medical properties were discovered way down the line. I suspect that in your case, the CBD amount was high to enough to all but nullify the pain killing effects of the THC, and perhaps even have the opposite effects, which sounds like what might have happened.

I am currently experimenting with a high CBD strains called "Harlequin" and "Omrita". I'll keep you posted on our progress.

People here in NJ have been trying to get our Alternative Treatment Centers ( dispensaries) to carry strains like Harlequin so they can get good anti-spasmodic effects without significant high.

Here's what I've found.  I live in California where Cannabis is legal for medical purposes, so I can go down to the local dispensary and sample.  Smoking about anything does not work for me and in fact makes the migraine worse.  Sativa pretzels, the Auntie Delores brand, have been lifesavers as has the Cannalicious hash lozenges.  I do generally use these at night or in the evening because of the "stoned" feeling; however, I rarely get so that I can't do things.  I play my fiddle, bike, hike, watch a show, listen to music--often entirely pain free--so I am guessing that those of you who get so you can't do anything "might" be taking too much?  And, true, it may take a whole bunch once the pain gets great (I think my migraines of forty some years are tens once they get bad), but the trick is to take Cannabis before things get out of hand (and into our heads!)  I generally can feel my pain coming.  The pain starts with some vile beasty attaching a vice to my head and cranking it shut, yet I usually have about fifteen minutes to take something to stop it (or at least assuage it.)  Then too, I monitor the pain as I go and eat some more stuff as needed.

The tricky thing with edibles, however, is that you don't know the full effects of what you've eaten for an hour or more.  So careful.  Generally I notice some relief  after a half hour or so, as if a cool breeze has blown into my head and calmed everything down, nice.  But a doctor at the dispensary told me that too much Cannabis too often can cause rebound headaches, too, so I try and limit this treatment to once or twice a week.

Actually there was phase where a boyfriend I had (a lovable pothead) would practically force marijuana on me when I was down with a migraine. This was during a period in my life when I had difficulty obtaining triptans. I actually did not like smoking it while I had a headache at all. I found the smoke and the smell and the taste and even the glow of the lighter to be very irritating. I found that it took away my nausea but not the pain. It barely even began to touch the pain. That goes to show how painful a full blown migraine is. When not even the pain-relieving qualities of marijuana is enough to take the edge off.. that is some serious pain.