Medical Marijuana

[jrkiwi]

18 States now offer medical Marijuana, I really do not like taking pain killers or anti anxiety drugs. My question is does anyone have any experience using marijuana either pre-op or post-op to deal with anxiety or minor pain associated with healing.

I do not want any discussion on if it should or should not not legal, please, my only interest is if anyone has any experience and if it was helpful in any way. I understand smoking cannot be good but it can be added to foods and consumed in a healthy way.

I hope the moderators will not remove this post since in California and several other States it is legal.

 

[Jkm7]

Federal law still calls it illegal.

 

[Greg a]

I wonder what it would do for the constaint pain from my radical sternectomy and peripheral neuropathy it wopuld be so nice to have some relief

 

[Greg a]

got me thinking and this is what I found.....my GP and my Nephrologist are on the fellows list http://www.medicalmarihuana.ca/ hey I could even be a grower ....new career direction ?

 

[Cooker]

Oh brother, here we go again:rolleyes2: ... I do not think the moderators will remove your post but be prepared for a wide verity of responses / reactions ... I posted a pot thread some years back, took a while for the smoke to clear (pun intended:biggrin2

Ingesting cannabis would be better that smoking (brownies, cookies etc). There are medical indications for the use of medical marijuana ... ask your doctor:cool2:

 

[Bina]

Television reports show that some of the older "pot head" crowd seem to be stretching the
medical useage terminology to the limits; but I will agree that ingesting some pot-laced brownies
has got to be a whole lot safer than the majority of prescription meds sold for anxiety and pain relief.
So, now we should post some good brownie and cake recipes on the Recipe Forum?
(add herbs as desired)

 

[Jeff Edmonton]

Just watching "Untold stories from the ER". An older patient from an influential family with ties to the Hospital Administrator was complaining about feeling ill. The doctor did several tests and she was becoming belligerent as he could not find anything wrong with her.

The doctor did a urinalysis which came up positive for marijuana, she had eaten some of her nephews brownies.

Pretty embarrassing, I would be careful where you leave your brownies lying around.... You never know who might eat them.

 

[yotphix]

The only way to know if it would help you would be to try it. It wouldn't help everyone. One of the reasons that I don't smoke or eat pot is that it increases my anxiety and intensifies pain, or cold for me. I am in the minority but I am not alone for sure. I have met many other people with the same experience of it.

 

[Greg a]

....................................................................................................................................................

hey I could even be a grower ....new career direction ?

 

[Bryan B]

I would say the only way to find out if it helps is to try it assuming medical marijuana is legal in your state and your doctor is willing to prescribe it. I quit smoking it a long time ago because it started to give me anxiety. But I do have anxiety issues unrelated to my other physical issues so that may have been the cause. Also as I got older and more responsible I worried about it being illegal (never been arrested and want(ed) to keep it that way). I have no problem with it. Not to start a debate but I personally think it should be legalized...my reason being economical not social. If it was controlled and taxed that would create revenue and lower costs for law enforcement. I am not sure it is any more dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes and they are both legal. JMO.

 

[Jkm7]

Massachusetts voters, at the last election, approved the decriminalization of possessing/smoking small quantities of marijuana. I voted with the majority as I think it not something the police/courts and jails need to using resources for in this day and age.

That being said, I have never once smoked or eaten marijuana and plan to keep it that way. I do approve the medical use of it in cases doctors really think it might help their patient.

JMO....

 

[Mileena46]

I did try it for anxiety after MVR, and found it INCREASED my own as well! I thought I was going to die!! I tried doing on a smaller scale, but even in the smallest doses I find I cannot handle it.

Mileena

 

[New Guy]

I might be afraid to try it again. It's been many years but I seem to recall it can elevate the heart rate. I'm off caffeine for that reason and don't want to encourage my afib to return. Anyone seen that response?

 

[nngbwh]

Can someone please pass me a bong.

 

[Bina]

with my ongoing arrythmia issues I'm going to skip the weed brownies.....too bad, so sad.

 

[Julian]

You could also use a vaporizer instead of eating or smoking. Vaporizer is a lot better for you I read. If you don't have any arrhythmia issues there should be nothing wrong with using marijuana in moderation and as needed after HVR. I've read for the most part it doesn't affect INR levels. I've considered it myself for medical reasons instead of running to Xanax during stressful times, or a beer, or glass of wine when I can't sleep.

Doesn't hurt to know there are more options out there besides Vicodin for pain, Xanax to take the edge off, and alcohol to relax. I personally felt guilty considering marijuana use because of my faith but after I deeply considered it, its just like any other prescription drug, as long as its NOT used just to get stoned and actually being used in moderation to help with various symptoms.

I've come to the conclusion in my personal walk in my faith as a Christian that the taboo that follows marijuana use is basically "religious tradition" and has nothing to do with being a "good" or "bad" Christian. I would ask any other Christian opposed to marijuana use for medicinal purpose to consider ceasing the use of pain meds, occasional celebratory alcohol beverages, anti depressants, and sleeping aids for the risk of altering your state of mind and becoming less pious. :angel:

If its legal in your part of town and it helps, there's nothing wrong with it, as long as its not abused. That goes for any prescription drug. I found this one article of this major marijuana grower in California that had his aortic valve replaced and smokes like there's no tomorrow.

 

[Penny]

Interesting post for sure... I have a little tale to tell.... when I was in the hospital after my surgery there was a man across the hall from me that had bypass surgery. On day three, he was caught smoking weed in his room. The whole floor was in an uproar over that situation. The nurses were freaking out, the security guards were called in and they were considering calling the police. The man said it was for medical purposes and he needed it. This was a case of people taking advantage of "its medical" when clearly it appeared that his addiction was out of control. What person would put a whole hospital at risk lighing up a joint where there are oxygen tanks everywhere??? I do believe it can be benificial but as said in a previous post, moderation is the key.

 

[Ovie]

Sorry for bringing an old thread alive, but on numerous sites, I read that "it elevates your heart rate".....OK? You know what else does? Exercising, now don't get me wrong, that's obviously a healthy way to elevate your heart rate. Panic attacks and anxiety aside, what is the real alarm to smoking pot? The fact that smoking in general is bad? Do you know how many patients that have had heart surgery who were smokers before go back to Cigs? My surgeon told me in April that my heart was just like any normal persons, the issue is being on Warfarin..that's all I have to worry about.

Now I'm not trying to justify smoking, sadly I've fallen victim to smoking again, but I've smoked pot for a long time, and did just 2 days prior to surgery. I haven't touched it since surgery though. In my earlier 20's I started to get vertigo and have been diagnosed with it, pot was the ONLY thing that helped tame it, none of the prescriptions they gave me did anything. Lately I've been having terrible vertigo and once again nothing they give me helps so I've been looking into marijuana. I find there is very little on the Internet about post op heart patients, and I don't know if it's because they're all dead, or they don't exist. I also would like to know if it's one of those things that ends up taking its toll on you later in life like Cigareettes or something sooner. I'm not looking to go on a cheech and Chong smoking spree, but if anyone has any updated information from actual experience, I'd love a link or opinion.

 

[Agian]

I'll given you my opinion: Smoking (anything) is bad for you, but if you're determined to use cannabis you could ingest it orally. They call them dope cookies here.

 

[Rachel]

I don’t have any experience with this topic but I’ve heard that in some conditions medical marijuana seems to improve symptoms over anything else. I’ve never been a smoker so the thought of smoking anything kind of turns my stomach…. But if marijuana does have some beneficial qualities I’d be more inclined to eat it instead of smoke it.