The Trials and Tribulations of Effective Pain Management
Sometimes it begins with peer pressure, other times it’s a natural born curiosity. But the burning questions is – what really leads someone to trying marijuana when it’s such a controversial issue? I’ve attended programs about how horrible it is to smoke marijuana, and it’s quite interesting how the stigma has changed as it serves as a method to treat pain.
During moments of chronic pain, you might use a heating pad, swallow a few pills and try to relax without the slightest worry of task you must complete.
As someone living with sickle cell, I find myself constantly seeking alternative ways to treat pain, rather than just using pharmaceutical medication.
I once heard a story of a young adolescent with SCD who smoked marijuana while experiencing pain and moments after his pain cleared. But I’ve also heard stories of individuals smoking marijuana and it intensified the pain.
When it comes to cannabis, how exactly do we decide if we’ll use it for pain or not? I find cannabis to be very helpful in treating pain, but that’s just my opinion. The effect is different for everybody, and also how one choses to consume it, whether its through smoking, edibles, tinctures or using it as a cream and applying it to painful areas of the body.
Living with SCD, there’s sometimes a feeling of desperation to get rid of your illness. Sickle cell is likely to begin from birth and patients spend a lifetime in pain. So it’s understandable that when it comes to pain management, there can be a desperation to find anything to relieve the pain.
Cannabis and the Souljahs Journey
There is an advocate I know who could help me with these questions. I decided to ask AR the Prophet, a rapper with SCD who is a true believer in cannabis and even has an album titled “Cannabis Over Prescription.”
AR the Prophet started consuming cannabis at the age of twelve observing his brother and friends doing it, but at the age of seventeen he decided to stop hiding it from his parents. The debate on the medicinal value of marijuana has been controversial over time. Prophet stated,
“Cannabis has helped me in many ways. Cannabis helps me when I have aches and pains from sickle cell as well. It has helped me with discharges after being admitted for a crisis, to not have withdrawn from all of the Pharmaceuticals around the clock. It has helped me with my stress and anxiety as well as my appetite. Cannabis also helps my creative thought process.”
It seems as if cannabis aids recovery, and I can agree the withdrawal from coming off narcotics is intense. Being dependent on opioids is no joke. But the positive benefits include helping with anxiety, which can cause a sickle cell crisis. I decided to see what the research said about cannabis and dived deeper into its health components.
Research Garners New Insights into Marijuana
Thanks to research on marijuana, there are even states that have medical marijuana programs, as studies indicate it helps with chronic pain and anxiety.
Medical marijuana uses plant materials to treat particular health conditions or diseases. Health organizations posit that the use of marijuana risks people’s lives and can make them vulnerable to lung and heart diseases. However, an article titled, Medical Marijuana for Treatment of Chronic Pain and other Medical and Psychiatric Problems: A Clinical Review, by K.P Hill stated that marijuana can be used to treat chronic diseases and have other significant benefits in other diseases’ medication.
Marijuana is also used by doctors as a painkiller in cancer patients to treat chronic and neuropathic pains, according to Hill. The results were undoubtfully convincing that marijuana has a significant medicinal impact in treating such pains. Hill also answered questions about medical marijuana in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice and stated,
“The doctors deduced that medical products from marijuana helped reduce or manage the symptoms of anxiety, depression, epilepsy, PTSD, and so on. Though not highly recommended, pharmaceutical products of marijuana can be prescribed to persons suffering from different mental and neurological disorders to control such conditions. Marijuana can also be used to treat sleeping disorders such as insomnia.”
Other scholars who write about medical marijuana, such as Karst, indicated the relaxing effects that marijuana gives to the brain can improve sleeping and help in treating insomnia conditions. In a research study, “Exploring the use of Cannabis as a Substitute for Prescription Drugs in a Convenience Sample,” by Kvamme, found that cannabinoids pain medication were more effective than opioid pain medications, with more than 80% positive effectiveness.
The research, however, found that both pain medications had side effects, but cannabis had side effects that were 92% tolerable. The study concludes that cannabis is the safest and most effective method compared to other pain treatment methods.
There are also different strains of marijuana, for example sativa will give you more of a cerebral high as its more uplifting and energizing, while an indica will give you a body high which is perfect for relaxation.
The Choice is Yours
As someone living with sickle cell, I often seek different ways to treat pain. As an adult experiencing chronic pain daily, when you’re tired of taking pills, you may learn about holistic alternatives. Sickle cell warriors are experts in pain management.
Nonetheless, there are negative attributes that can be contributed to marijuana when not dosing correctly, making it important to talk to your health practitioner. AR the Prophet also gave some advice for those interested in pursuing medical marijuana as a method to treat pain,
“If someone is curious about starting cannabis, I would tell them to start low and slow introducing the plant to your system. Start with CBD, CBG, CBN and 1:1 ratios that have a balance of CBD & THC. If you don’t smoke, there are plenty of ways to ingest cannabis. Sublingual and or topical. Cannabis is a medicinal plant that can help with so much. Do some research and live well. The Souljah Strong Way.”
It’s no question as to why some patients may prefer to treat their pain with cannabis as opposed to pharmaceutical narcotics.There is a ton of information online about cannabis or medical marijuana, however it is up to you to judge the information based on your accord.
