Medicinal Marijuana

Mm.... I doubt it would do anything.  Unless relax it and you.   Probably make you eat more and make it worse. 

Munchies and obstructions are not a good combination. 

Making light of the subject. 

Bowel obstructions are serious and waiting on an experiment of this type to work is not good. 

As in anything.... It may work for one and not another. 

As for pain.  Never been proven to work for pain but many use that for an excuse to smoke. 

Miralax worked for the ones I had. 

Richard. 

I tried it in an editable browine for pain and all,it did was give me the munchies. It helped me to sleep longer. It was suggested to eat it before bed for that reason.  I don't sleep more than 4 - 5 hours due to pain waking me up.

I see where Richard is coming from with the munchies. I would suggest something like a xanex for anxiety might be better.

I hope it passes soon.  

http://medicalmarijuana.procon...ce.php?resourceID=89

Never tried it...The 'real thing'  (used for the side effects of chemo) made me sick, dizzy etc and had such a horrible reaction to it that I never touched it again.

Not sure what it is used for medically...but I know of people who use it for other bowel problems like constipation...they say that it regulates them...others just use coffee

Sharon

I experimented with marijuana and cocaine while I was in college, as it was fairly prevalent and I was repeatedly offered the drugs for free by my dorm-mates, many of whom were inner city guys who had an eternal stash of marijuana.

At the time, I had very bad UC, but my college drug use was done strictly for experimental recreational purposes, and also to experiment with whether it enhanced sex.  I found cocaine didn't have much of an effect on me and I never used it again.  The marijuana I smoked, depending on the batch, either had very little effect, made me high or in one case made me hallucinate, when I was given one batch that the supplier told me was something called "sensomilia".  In reality I do not know what that stuff really was, it could have been angel dust.  But what happened was that all the frames on the wall in my dorm room started moving.  Other inanimate objects that do not normally move on their own, like my refrigerator,  started moving.  I realized I was hallucinating all of that because pictures on the wall and refrigerators do not move on their own.  But it was pretty scary.

About a little over a year ago I tried marijuana at a party, which was supplied to me by a 54 year old "stoner" (think Seth Rogen 15-20 years from now).  It had no effect on me at all.  He claimed it was really good stuff.  I don't think I used Bill Clinton inhalation technique.  I have not used the brownies, but I have heard they can have a delayed reaction, and that users then get impatient and start eating more brownies, ending up in overdose as with the qualude scene in "Wolf Of Wall Street". In that scene of that movie, Leo DiCaprio consumes what he thinks are expired qualudes, and getting no reaction he then takes a bunch more, and ends up smashing every mailbox and lamppost in the way of his car on his way home.

I am certainly open-minded to using medical marijuana if it would in some way help my chronic pouchitis, but if it doesn't even get me high, can I reasonably expect it to do anything for me?

I would rather... I don't anymore... Never did heavy... But I would rather see someone smoke than drink. 

Alcohol causes more problems.  My view.  Only mine. 

It's a great sleep aid and makes food taste Soooo good. 

Lol.  It should be decriminalized.  Not  legalized.  People are doing it anyways.  So what's the point of all the jail time over a plant.  They let drivers with three...  four dwi"s drive still and go out and kill someone in a wreck.  But throw you in jail for two years for a joint.  Stupid. 

This is a debate that will not end in our lifetimes. 

Moderation.  Like anything is the key. 

I have never tried it.   I read the article I found online and thought it might be a viable solution as in the story the woman using it found it helped her with bowel obstructions. I spoke to my doctor about it but she doesn't prescribe it.

.She advised me to get in contact with the college, I am assuming she means medical college.

The link you posted did not work for me, and I could not find the article you referenced. I did read the pro/con regarding treatment for Crohn's and IBD. It did not seem that there was any concensus of the value other than symptomatic relief. 

I would suspect it is yet again one of those highly individual things. If you wanted to experiment, I would suggest consumables or vaping, not smoking. Why trade one problem (lung damage) for another?

Jan

Jan Dollar posted:

The link you posted did not work for me, and I could not find the article you referenced. I did read the pro/con regarding treatment for Crohn's and IBD. It did not seem that there was any concensus of the value other than symptomatic relief. 

I would suspect it is yet again one of those highly individual things. If you wanted to experiment, I would suggest consumables or vaping, not smoking. Why trade one problem (lung damage) for another?

Jan

Well said.  

If tried... It can't hurt if it doesn't help well... You know.  

Yes.. Edibles or vaping. And be careful.  Some of this new stuff they have out is very potent.  Not like the 70's anymore.  

I wasn't interested in smoking it.  I have never touched a cigarette nor drugs other than the medical variety when in hospital for the multiple surgeries and bowel obstructions I have faced.  I was going to do whatever there is to do besides smoke.  I don't need any other health issues :-)

My family doctor does not prescribe it.  So I am not sure where to go to now.

Maddie,

I am a bit curious as to why you think medical marijuana would help with bowel obstructions?  Are there any studies on this?

Also, I assume you are in a medical marijuana state.  You haven't said.  My understanding of how it works in my state is that there are certain dispensers of it to go to.  Your family doctor may not prescribe it because he/she does not see any medical value in marijuana generally.  You can always ask for a referral to someone else who values the treatment and is an authorized dispenser.  In my state I think the process is very regulated in that regard.  I read the statute when it was enacted and it sounded like not every family doc would dispense even if they believed in it as medicine.

As previously mentioned, medical marijuana can be consumed in food or by vaping.  For whatever reason, brownies seem a popular method of ingesting edible marijuana.  I have a friend who consumes marijuana recreationally and he does make the brownies.  I never thought to ask him for his recipe.  I heard from another friend who ate his brownies that there was a delayed reaction.  So if you are taking it for bowel obstruction I wouldn't understand why you would want to eat brownies to treat an obstruction.  Vaping would make more sense, but I still do not know what the mechanism of action would be that would help other than to alleviate the pain.

Please read link I posted above on Feb 14

I don't eat when obstructed.  I have no idea on ways of using medical marajuana for pain that is why I was reaching out to the J pouch community. 

Maddie,

The link you posted does not work, so I was/am unable to read it.  It says "404-Not found."  jan Dollar previously posted that the link does not work and she could not find the article, so apparently nobody here knows what it is you are referring to. 

Hi Maddie,

I've smoked pretty much every day for 15 years, mostly because I'm not much of a drinker and it's my vice of choice. In terms of how it affected my IBD I did notice it helped with nausea and appetite (of course!) Depending on the strain, it can either help or exacerbate anxiety. I have yet to get a prescription for it, but I have a good friend who works at a hospital and was given medicinal marijuana oil after a rotator cuff surgery because all other pain killers made him too sick to his stomach. He vaporizes it. My understanding is that the medicinal strains are more focused on delivering cannibanoids (CBD) which do more for pain management vs THC, which gives you the high. 

I've had a few obstructions since take-down (today's my 1 year anniversary, actually!) and smoking has never made a difference. Now, that's not medicinal stuff so maybe there could be a difference, but I'm not sure I see how it would help an obstruction either way. Sometimes I'll pop a gas-ex and that helps get things moving, or if it's really bad I'll take an Ativan, leftover from surgery, which helps relax muscles (maybe that's the idea behind weed helping, that it can relax you?). But typically I just roll around on my heating pad feeling awful and throwing up until I finally start pooping again. Once I've hit that point taking a puff can help me recalibrate. I typicall don't eat it - the high I get from ingesting it is a little too heavy and sometimes gives me the runs. No bueno!

They approved the oil in my state but only for a few kinds of seizures children have. I think it is priced too high at thousands of dollars and the parents can't afford it. Insurance companies won't pay for it either. People have to move to different states where they can get the low thc kind in an edible form to keep their children from having many daily seizures. Very sad for all concerned.

CT, while Maddie's link did not work for the article she was referencing, it was not a totally dead link. If you do a little poking around at the Pro/Con site there, you can find information as it applies to treatment for IBD. It would appear it is mostly for symptomatic relief. 

http://medicalmarijuana.procon...hp?questionID=000138

As far as obstructions go, I suspect it would mostly be useful for pain and to relax the gut.

Jan

Yes Jan, that is correct.  It is ProCon.org and the title of the article is 'A letter from a medical marijuana patients mother'

Well worth the read, I have sent excerpts of it to friends and family to  try to help them understand the pain involved with obstructions. 

What I don't understand is why anyone wanting to treat the pain of obstructions, as opposed to inflammation, would take a substance that potentially slows motility- if in fact it does, but I would want to know this.   Most pain meds really slow down intestinal motility and I got a blockage from taking TOO MANY pain meds, called an ileus- what can't go down must go up.  A truly painful and nauseating lesson in both human biology and gravity in reverse.  I was throwing up gallons of gastric juices until they used an NG tube to suck the rest out of me like a Hoover vacuum cleaner.

I had a total of around 4 obstructions/blockages, fortunately none in the last 23 years and all were right after surgery.  The pain was severe, but was ultimately relieved by nausea and vomiting from the nausea.  In my case, the violent spasms of retching, even dry heaves in one case, seemed to free up the obstruction and pain relief was then pretty immediate.

If scar tissue is the culprit, I don't see what the mechanism of action would be other than pain relief but then I wonder if slowing things down, if in fact that is the effect and it's not apparently an issue addressed in that article, is really what one should be doing.

Not sure,  but only a few of us know the pain.  I have been battling obstructions for 30 years now.  One almost killed me, requiring emergency surgery,  surgeon said I had one hour.  i have been in and out of hospital four times since July 2015 and on short term disability now.  When I read this article I was really excited, as you can imagine my quality of life has been shot down lately.  However, the excitement has died down now as it seems pointless. 

Maddie,

Nothing is pointless until it's tried, but I would not get your hopes too high on it (no pun intended).  It could help for pain.  Good luck.

Maddie, thanks for posting the title of your article. I think I found it. It looks like marijuana did not directly treat the obstruction, but the related pain.

http://medicalmarijuana.procon...e.php?resourceID=891

Try not to put too much credence in a single anecdote, as it is not good evidence,  but  they can be uplifting.

Jan

Nothing is giving me an appetite! Marijuana, marrinol, nothing. I think I am relating eating to the pain of constantly going to bathroom with my ulcerated j-pouch. Have been on Rhemicade, humira, cimzia, and now intravenous Entyvio. I have this pouch over ten years and more and more problems. Going to see if colostomy will be better in this scenario. Any feedback would be awesome.

CHERYLSCUDERA,

I had surgery to divert from using my j-pouch to an ileostomy 6 months ago. I am going back to have my j-pouch removed next month. My surgeon at the Mayo Clinic is fantastic.  She advised me to get it removed at that time but I wasn't mentally ready for it then. I am use to my permanent ileostomy now. Thank God it is nothing like my temporary one was. I am still in the awful pain and can tell it's due to my j-pouch.  I got to cancel 4 daily medications when I went to my ileo. That's a good feeling. 

We each have to decide when the time is right to remove them. I gave it a good try for 5 years and it just got worse the longer I had it.  It was totally dysfunctional and I had to give myself 4 to 6 enemas to empty it everyday.  I used my bidet "turbo" function when at home but staying overnight elsewhere was depressing.  I had a nice silicone enema kit that I used when I had to be away from home. I only left town for appointments at the Mayo Clinic and to stay with my son's family. The bag is 100 times better than giving myself the enemas. 

It sounds like you have tried just about all you can to keep it. Hopefully you have a good surgeon to consult with. It is a big surgery but unfortunately we all have experience with big intestinal surgeries.......

Thank you so much for your kind words. I am on so many medications for this inflamed j-pouch, I am now addicted to all these as well. I am ready for better days. I have a nurse come to house now and intravenous me with meds entvyio. .cheryl scudera

Marie, I am seeing a new surgeon in 2 weeks, if the bag is advised, will go with it. I had a temporary one after my first surgery and the stomach was not large enough. My skin was irritated and had a lot of problems, but I think they have different and better appliances now. That was 10 years ago. I will do what it takes. Thank you so. Much. Cheryl Scudera 

Hello Maddie,  This is my first post to this site and I realize that it might offend some members so I apologize in advance for those with a different belief on marijuana than me.  I had my third and last surgery for the J pouch three weeks ago and I am having a very hard time with the new plumbing.  I am using the toilet round 30 times per day and my bum feels like I have been wiping with a mixture of stinging nettle and poison oak leaves.  I have not suffered from a blockage yet and I feel much sympathy for you. This is hard enough without extra complications.  I started smoking  weed two weeks ago to see if it helped with my symptoms and I can not say why but it seems to help  me tremendously.  I am not new to weed I smoked enough in high school to give Willie Nelson a run for his money.  A couple of things might help you out if you decide to pursue this route of medication.  First off what state do you live in?  Things differ state to state but in California there are doctors who have practices for the sole purpose of prescribing marijuana.  Your GP and other Doctors are not willing to risk their reputation prescribing this controversial medicine.  To find one of these doctors I would recommend  a internet search for medical marijuana doctors near your town, also small local papers advertising musical events will have advertisements for the marijuana specialty doctors, and if all else fails go to a dispensary and ask them to refer you to a doctor.    As far as methods of ingestion go I believe their is a strong correlation between smoking and bowel movements.  I think a doobie might help more than  a brownie would.  The small amount you smoke can not be that much different than sitting around a camp fire our sitting in traffic.  I do not like edibles because there effect for me is more hallucinogenic  and smoking is more relaxing.  Start small with a hit or two and then determine your proper dosage.  The worse that can happen is you do not like it and then you quit.  It is not an addictive substance and the effects are much more mellow than alcohol.  If you feel comfortable leave me a way to contact you privately and I would be glad to see if I can help you further.  I hope you find this information helpful and I will pray that your condition improves rapidly.

People are offended when they don't understand.   I heard medicinal Marijuana does not make you high. I have never tried it not even as a teenager but I hear Pharma Drug companies are killing patients with their synthetic drugs.....I am willing to try it, however I am in Canada. My GP asked that I contact the College. Not sure what she meant. When she first suggested it a few months ago I was under the assumption that she could prescribe it. No such luck.

http://www.naturalnews.com/053...rma_painkillers.html

Hello King,

Can you please tell us the benefits of using it?

That link is pretty biased, Maddie. It is a stretch to put the blame of drug overdose deaths on big pharma, although it is clear that drug companies don't do enough to address chronic pain in safe ways. Opiates are great for short term use, and can even be useful for long term use. That said, it is way too easy to become addicted by chasing an impossible goal of pain relief. Some people are just more susceptible to it, and the need for more opiates far overreach the need to relieve pain.

This is why the pendulum has swung the other direction, with crazy strict opiate prescribing rules to protect us from ourselves. Left in the lurch are those of us with incurable chronic pain problems. Why the DEA has never allowed adequate research on the proper use of canabinoids is beyond me. Conspiracy theories abound, going back to hemp rope wars. But, progress is slowly being made. I have not tried medical marijuana, but have tried recreational commercial marijuana when I was in Oregon. I found it to be quite potent. I tried consumables and smoked joints. Much stronger than the illegal stuff from my youth in the '70s. Maybe I am just a lightweight now. did not use it long enough to tell if it had any impact on pain or bowel function for me.

My solution has been to switch from hydrocodone to the less restricted tramadol. I am careful not to increase my dose and live with pain that is acceptable. 

Jan

Hello Maddie,

I am experiencing two or three episodes per day where I am constantly running to the bathroom every five to ten minutes without much success.  During these times I experience a severe debilitating pain from my waist down through my toes.  Often I end up curled up into a ball on the floor just waiting for the pain to pass.  I am suffering the pain associated with the butt burn as well.  Two weeks ago  I started taking three or four hits off a joint  during these episodes and for me it seems to help relax my body and ease the pain.  It also takes my mind off of these problems and helps me do something I enjoy instead of dreading the next toilet run and concentrating on the pain I am experiencing.  I believe these calming effects help to regulate what is left of my bowels because after I smoke I seem to use the bathroom less frequently and with a greater effect.  I do not want to get your hopes up too much weed is not a miracle drug but I do believe it has helped me through this hard time.  I intend to quit when my condition improves because of the complexities of my work (and I am not the greatest multi tasker even without the weed). 

I must admit to being completely ignorant of Canada's medicinal marijuana laws so unfortunately I can not advise you on this subject. I imagine your surgeon told you to try the college because there is a lot of pot floating around college campuses these days.  I do not wish to take over this post but a few replies on whether any of you suffered the same symptoms two to three weeks post operation would be helpful. 

Best of luck Maddie I hope for better days ahead.

Jan Dollar posted:

That link is pretty biased, Maddie. It is a stretch to put the blame of drug overdose deaths on big pharma, although it is clear that drug companies don't do enough to address chronic pain in safe ways. Opiates are great for short term use, and can even be useful for long term use. That said, it is way too easy to become addicted by chasing an impossible goal of pain relief. Some people are just more susceptible to it, and the need for more opiates far overreach the need to relieve pain.

This is why the pendulum has swung the other direction, with crazy strict opiate prescribing rules to protect us from ourselves. Left in the lurch are those of us with incurable chronic pain problems. Why the DEA has never allowed adequate research on the proper use of canabinoids is beyond me. Conspiracy theories abound, going back to hemp rope wars. But, progress is slowly being made. I have not tried medical marijuana, but have tried recreational commercial marijuana when I was in Oregon. I found it to be quite potent. I tried consumables and smoked joints. Much stronger than the illegal stuff from my youth in the '70s. Maybe I am just a lightweight now. did not use it long enough to tell if it had any impact on pain or bowel function for me.

My solution has been to switch from hydrocodone to the less restricted tramadol. I am careful not to increase my dose and live with pain that is acceptable. 

Jan

Thanks Jan.

Always good to have the opinion of others.

I understand about your pain Cheryl.  I have been taking Norco, hydrocodone 10 and Tylenol, for over 5 years.  I used Tramadol before my surgeries but it does/did nothing for me afterwards.  It seems like I am in chronic pain and have been so forever. My hopes of relief from diverting to a permanent ileostomy never was realized.  

I am never pain free.  The norco doesn't get rid of it and since I have been taking it so long my body is use to the maximum dose of 4 per day.  But when I can't tolerate it I take a 5th or 6th one and this is approved by my doctor.  I take 800 mg of ibuprofen some times but am not to take it all the time.  I added a tramadol the other night too.  After my last surgery at Mayo's on 8\31\15 they were giving me tylenol, ibuprofen, tramadol and oxycotin.  Not all at once but they were going on the level of my pain.  When I saw  my Internist after surgery he said to pick one and I went back to Norco as I can manage that.  So I understand why you need a nurse to come to your house.  My body is dependent on Norco but I am probably not addicted.  If I kept  taking more and more then I would get addicted.  If I am addicted then I will face that after the surgeries.  I have tried everything I can think of to ease my pain and am depressed as hell.  I am on 2 antidepressants, see a therapist and a psychiatrist.   I was in a chronic pain therapy group but only went to the weekly meetings for several months.  It was too painful just getting there that it wasn't worth the effort.  I quit track of how many heating pads I've worn out but have 3 in my house. They are in my bedroom, living room and family room. People don't understand the pain.  Mine is right there at my tailbone so it's not just my abdominal pain.

Most on here don't have pain like some of us do.  I wish I could have gone back to work after the surgeries but when all of my health problems were heaped on those with my j-pouch I wasn't able to go back.  We are all different.  Most have the surgeries and are back to work after as little as a 6 weeks. I'd rather be working.

We have to do what we have to do as the pain isn't tolerable. That's why my j-pouch will be history on 3/24.  

Regarding the changes in the federal law for narcotics.  I disagree with Jan about that.  The law was to attack doctors and drug addicts that were abusing them.  Since the new laws there has been an increase in heroin addicts.  People like my 84 year old frail father have to see his doctor monthly to pick up the prescription.  His dosage hasn't changed in 5 years.  I have to go pick up a prescription too but in my state I don't have to have an appointment.  I call ahead and then physically go to my doctor's office to sign a log and pick it up. The doctors now have to sign every prescription. Many have had to change doctors as when the law changed many doctors quit prescribing narcotics.  IMO it was a stupid change that hurts those that need the legal pain relief.  The abusers just moved onto illegal drugs to feed their addictions.

The DEA has in fact gone after doctors, one of whom was a high school classmate of mine now doing time in federal prison. People who were addicts went to him because he had a rep of prescribing narcotic pain meds like candy. It always happens that the few bad apples spoil things for the majority. One of his patients finally overdosed (dead) and after her family squawked and the Feds investigated him, there was literally a mountain of evidence that he hadn't heeded warnings from pharmacists and other professionals to stop prescribing freely to abusers. There was unfortunately a paper trail of many warnings he had not heeded and he ended up getting 7 years in prison if I recall correctly. Other doctors see this and they get spooked by the possibility of going to jail.

One of the red flags for the feds was the patient who overdosed had come from 180 miles away in another state (New York) to get meds from him as her apparent PCP.  Who goes to a PCP that is 180 miles away? This guy was an internal medicine PCP, not a pain management specialist.

I have had probably about 50 blockages but get very few of them now as Dr Shen recommended taking digestive enzyme before every meal and thad made a gigantic difference for me. I have someone make a product of boiled marijuana and coconut oil that allows me to sleep so much better.  Even though it is not the medical type, once it is boiled, the way she makes it, there is no high. The State of Georgia has recently allowed pot now for crohns and 4 other medical situations and the studies out of Israel on pot and crohns and IBS IBD show a lot of promise.  I can't imagine it being helpful for blockages but if you take the type called CBD which is medical variety and doesn't make you high, it really helps you sleep and relax but I have not seen any results with other symptoms.

 My question about this topic is would it actually helped reduce Bowel movements per day ? 

It has not helped me reduce the number bowel movements.

Hi, 

I find most postings here reflect more or less my general experience of Crohns etc.  I was diagnosed at 11 (in 1973) with UC, at 50, with the change of life, I was re diagnosed with Crohns - Colitis.  However, I'd like to share with you how my condition is improved by using medicinal marijuana.  It slows down motility, both the THC and CBD strains, I like a 50/50 mix.  Slowing down motility helps me produce more formed stools which are better digested.  Also, it improves my appetite and as the motility is relaxed, excludes any pain and improves continence to no end.   Research proves  that the CBD strains reduce inflammation. Here in Israel, where there are more IBD that anywhere else (more Jews), medicinal cannabis is a really big thing, and is almost automatically issued to people with the disease.  It promotes well being as well as improving digestion all round.   I find it strange that it's not so in the States!   It's saved me from Humira and Remicade, I've never had to take any of those.  I take 500mg. of Cipro every other day and feel well.  BTW, I had a j pouch (Park's Pouch originally) in 1991 at St. Mark's in London, it was performed by Sir Alan Parks himself.  I've still got it, and it's going strong!

Also, I cut out all animal products (except the occasional egg) - this has been remarkably helpful, life changing in fact.  I find that in my improved state, a diet with plenty of fiber is good for me, it enables complete and easy evacuation and somehow drags out all the "gumpf" from the intestine with it.  My sterling secret is a bowl of all-night-soaked whole oatmeal. The unpressed kind.  In the morning I cook it for a minute or two slowly, with boiled water and it's a fabulous tummy cleaner.   

Good Luck everyone!  

Oh, and why does it help a blockage?  Because it reduces the inflammation causing the blockage, and then relaxed the bowel movement through the intestine and eases the pain which also serves to allow the tummy to do its job without the cramping.  I tell you it's magic.  But there's a learning curve to using it, no doubt about that.  Big drug companies are terrified of it BTW!