Can Marijuana Help Me?

[CanadaToke]

Hello Cannabis.com Forum Go-ers,

A quick, relevant, background story about my condition:

Alright, to keep it short, two years ago I was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a malignant bone cancer, in my right fibula. After going through a lot of chemotherapy, I had a limb-sparing surgery. Since the fibula doesn't bear a lot of weight, they took out the top 65% of it and didn't replace it with anything. I am very grateful that I was able to keep my leg, but I do have some problems that at times can be very debilitating and tend to keep me from doing a lot of the things I enjoy.

My right leg hasn't been the same since my surgery, I get these extremely annoying aches in my leg that makes it hard to focus on anything. My surgeon said that these may never go away and I might have to put up with them for the rest of my life. In addition, I often get really bad cramps when I'm trying to sleep at night. He recommended that I take an OTC pain relief medicine (ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc...), but i find those to be ineffective. I refuse to take any sort of opioid for pain due to a dependance I developed in the months following my surgery. I need something to help me relieve my pain and live my life in a somewhat pleasurable manner.

To sum it up, I am looking for an effective way to manage my pain, and am too afraid of the possibility of dependance to even consider using an opioid to help me manage my pain. Would the use of cannabis be effective in managing my pain?

[Storm Crow]

Hon, may I suggest that you take a look at my "Granny Storm Crow's list" (linked below in my sig). There are several medical studies about lessening pain and also some about cannabis replacing more dangerous opiates. Cannabis can also make opiates and even NSAIDS work more effectively- reducing your chances of addiction or other problems.

Cannabis works as a muscle relaxant and eases "restless leg syndrome". Cannabis is effective for difficult to treat neuropathic pain. It can help you sleep at night, especially the indica varieties.

In addition, cannabis plays a part in bone formation (see the "Osteoporosis/ Bones" section of my list), so it may help out there, too.

Many studies seem to indicate that cannabis can slow or perhaps even cure some cancers, but I don't have anything on Osteosarcomas... yet. More studies are being done so there may be one for your condition in the near future.

You may wish to run a search on "Rick Simpson"- to be honest, I don't know if what he says is true, but it sure looks interesting!

Cannabis may make a big difference in your life- I know it has in mine. OK, click on the link below and start reading "Granny Storm Crow's list"!

And may I suggest getting a "Vaporizer", a device that heats, but does not burn the cannabis? It is much easier on the lungs, uses less cannabis and has less odor than smoking. The "vaped" cannabis leftovers can be reused in cooking to get a second high from the same cannabis. Run a search on "vaporizers" to get filled in on them- My list has some studies under "Methods of Use- Vaporizers" that details the health benefits. I have a little "Vapor Brother's" and recommend them, but if money isn't a problem, the "Volcano" is top of the line!


Granny :hippy:

[Hempsouth]

Ctoke,

You are a perfect patient for MMJ. I had major reconstruction of left Tib & Fib. Five years later I still have all the symptons you describe. If not for MMJ I think it would have driven me to suicide.

It will take some trial and error to find strains that work best with your body.

Good luck.

[MrMojoRisin7127]

It couldn't hurt to try cannabis. But just like opiates can't solve all pain, neither can cannabis. They both have limits, but I hope your condition isn't one of them.
But if cannabis isn't effective for you, then there are also non-opiate prescription pain killers you could look in to.

[dennisjill]

As hempsouth said, you have to try diff strains until you find the one that works. My care giver calls her strains by "anti-anxiety", "anti-pain" etc. I don't care if it's supposedly white widow, skunk number 57 or whatever, as long as I can walk without wincing and get to sleep at night!
Dennis in Montana

[CanadaToke]

Thanks for all of the awesome advice guys, I can't express how much I appreciate all of your help! I will definitely look into the use of MMJ and see if I can finally get a good night's sleep :D