Trying to switch off of Oxycontin to Cannabis

[malinjj]

Hi Folks,
Here'a a little background on me. I'm 43 yrs old, and a 10 year cancer surviser, have MS, and lower back pain. For 10 years I've been on 60mg Oxy twice a day and Percocet 5mg 4 times a day. I know these drugs are bad for my body so I've been trying weed. Now I have no ill effect from these drugs nor do I get "high" from them.

Well when I smoke weed, I only smoke a very small amount and usually only take 2 or 3 tokes. This is hours after I take my regular meds. After I smoke I'm "HIGH" for hours, like 6-8 hours. I didn't know till tonight that most people only get high for a little while.

So a question I have is do you think the weed is releasing the oxy affects when I smoke?

Also I have high blood pressure and am on meds for that, last night I took my meds at the same time, "ie. Oxy, Perc, BP med". Then we went out to dinner, after getting back home about 3 hours later I smoked my usual amount. After about 15 mins I had a major blackout and my family thought I was having a stroke. When I came out of it I took my blood pressure and it was 70/46. Also I still felt high when I woke up today.

My question is what do you think happened and how should I take my "MEDS"?

Thanks for any help,

Joe

[Mal420xl]

major blackout? joe, id talk to your doc. smoking wouldnt cause a normal healthy person to blackout. there is some sort of interaction going on thats not helping you.
see if you can back off the hardstuff a little maybe get some of it out. smoking anything will raise your heart rate and grass is no exception but shouldnt cause you to pass out.
talk to your doctor to see if you can try to gradually give up the pain meds and make the switch. after 10 years, your body is gonna balk at having them stopped. just go easy and take it slow.
but id talk to you doctor....ok did say that enough? sorry but i thinks its imperative.

[boaz]

Joe, I'm no doctor or anything but you might want to look into strains that are high in CBN cannabinoids, which have some of the same medical benefits without the "high". good luck.

here is article that looks like a prohib study but still seems to be correct that talks about this.


Marijuana: Factsheets: Cannabinoids (http://adai.uw.edu/marijuana/factsheets/cannabinoids.htm)
-------------------------------------------------
Cannabinoids

(http://adai.uw.edu/marijuana/factsheets/cannabinoids.pdf)http://adai.uw.edu/marijuana/images/printsmall.png[/IMG]This information was prepared by the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (http://ncpic.org.au/) in Australia, and used with permission. Some information may not be accurate for U.S. readers.

What is a cannabinoid?

There are over 480 natural components found within the Cannabis sativa plant, of which 66 have been classified as "cannabinoids;" chemicals unique to the plant. The most well known and researched of these, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), is the substance primarily responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis.

The effects of THC are believed to be moderated by the influence of the other components of the plant, most particularly the cannabinoids.
The cannabinoids are separated into subclasses. These are as follows:



Cannabigerols (CBG);
Cannabichromenes (CBC);
Cannabidiols (CBD);
Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC);
Cannabinol (CBN) and cannabinodiol (CBDL);
Other cannabinoids (such as cannabicyclol (CBL), cannabielsoin (CBE), cannabitriol (CBT) and other miscellaneous types).


What do cannabinoids do?

Like opiates (substances derived from the opium poppy such as heroin), cannabinoids affect the user by interacting with specific receptors, located within different parts of the central nervous system. Two kinds of cannabinoid receptors have been found to date and are termed CB1 and CB2. A substance that occurs naturally within the brain and binds to CB1 receptors was discovered in 1992 and termed "anandamide." Additional naturally occurring substances that bind to CB1 have since been discovered, and these, together with the receptors are termed the "endogenous cannabinoid system."

The actual effects that the cannabinoids have reflect the areas of the brain they interact with. Interactions tend to occur in our limbic system (the part of the brain that affects memory, cognition and psychomotor performance) and mesolimbic pathway (activity in this region is associated with feelings of reward) and are also widely distributed in areas of pain perception.

We are still learning about the endogenous cannabinoid system. Much of the research however, has focused on the many potential medical uses of man-made cannabinoids, called "synthetic analogues."

What is the difference between cannabinoids?

The major differences between the cannabinoids are determined by the extent to which they are psychologically active. Three classes of cannabinoids, the CBG, CBC and CBD are not known to have such an effect. THC, CBN, CBDL and some other cannabinoids on the other hand are known to be psychologically active to varying degrees.

CBD is probably the most abundant cannabinoid, contributing up to 40% of cannabis resin. Interestingly, CBD may actually have anti-anxiety effects and lessen the psychoactive effects of THC. This means that a plant with a greater percentage of CBD may reduce the intensity of the effects of the THC, which in effect lowers the potency of the plant. Use of a cannabis plant with less CBD has been shown to have an increased psychological impact and result in unwanted effects such as anxiety.

When THC is exposed to air it oxidizes and forms CBN. CBN is only very weakly psychoactive and not unlike CBD interacts with THC to reduce its effects. This is why cannabis that has been left out unused will have increasing amounts of CBN and decreasing amounts of THC and thus lose potency.

[boaz]

and I agree with Mal, talk to your doctor, I've never heard of anyone passing out from smoking either.

[boaz]

Joe, I meant to say find stains high in CBD, Cannabidiols earlier.

[malinjj]

Mal and Boaz,
Thank you both for your concern and comments. I'm so glad we have a place to talk about this stuff. My problem with going to my doctor is my pain management doctor finding out I'm smoking. He would probably cut off my pain meds. At this point I'm not sure if cannabis will handle my pain. So I'm really in a a catch 22 situation. At the moment I'm feeling good and haven't takin the BP pills and cut back on the oxy and smoke. My BP has returned to normal so I'm just gonna take it slow and try to wean myself off the oxy.

Boaz - I'll read that artical as soon as i can.

Thanks the both of you.
Joe



major blackout? joe, id talk to your doc. smoking wouldnt cause a normal healthy person to blackout. there is some sort of interaction going on thats not helping you.
see if you can back off the hardstuff a little maybe get some of it out. smoking anything will raise your heart rate and grass is no exception but shouldnt cause you to pass out.
talk to your doctor to see if you can try to gradually give up the pain meds and make the switch. after 10 years, your body is gonna balk at having them stopped. just go easy and take it slow.
but id talk to you doctor....ok did say that enough? sorry but i thinks its imperative.

[Mal420xl]

sounds like a descent plan. i dont know if its feasible, is it possible to consider another pain management doc? maybe one who is a little less stuck on the conventional....i realize that A. there isnt a ton of research available for doctors to rely on and B. the potential for legal ramifications are numerous and will unfortunately sway many doctors but it might be worth looking into.
failing that just keep weaning yourself off and you may want to also look into concentrates of some sort more than smoking. edibles and oil can offer some alternatives that give you longer lasting effects or in some cases multiple benefits. if you havent already you might want to check out the vid for RSO. its pretty enlightening

[Esteban1]

Mal;

Hate to tell ya but its a slippery slope. Been there & here to tell you that I'm a survivor of western medicine & it sucks! That's a lot of pain meds & ur gonna need to wean off & then can try to ingest just cannabis. I'm not an addiction specialist but 1st hand knowledge of schedule II meds like that are hard core as opposed to schedule I (mj). Boaz is right on with cbd cannabis. Take it slow & steady.

Sic Semper Fubaritis


:cool:

[bitemybud]

I don't have a lot to add, but want to wish you luck and support for your transformation.

Great advise above. Yes; I also say; "See your Dr." Peace

[boaz]

Joe, I meant to say find stains high in CBD, Cannabidiols earlier.

that ^ is all that article was saying that I was talking about. oh course, finding good quality fresh bud rich in CBD resin is easier said that done if your like me and stuck in non med state. it's not like you can make a special order from your hookup. lol. hopefully CO and WA will open up legal private sales soon and give us all some better choices in meds.

[painretreat]

We aren't allowed to post on a post with an infraction (naming drugs that aren't cannabis)...tis how I received a ban!

Since, many have posted and this is a topic, someone asked me to come view.

MS acts much differently than many other diseases. The cannabis enhances the medications you have taken and I highly suspect, that is what happened. Unless, you have issues with your Blood Pressure with the M.S.~I do. B/P can go as dangerously low, as it can go, dangerously high, with M.S. in a small % of patients.

Vaping and smoking help plenty. Just cut down on your opiates. A little at a time. And check out: http://boards.cannabis.com/concentrates/200017-my-experience-rick-simpson-oil.html

I am sure you are on other meds and need to discuss them freely, while changing your meds. There are other boards you can freely post your medications on and have open discussions, with MS patients. pr

[Mal420xl]

was wondering where you had been pr. makes sense now.

[malinjj]

painretrat- Thanks for the info. Sorry I wasn't sure if this was allowed or not.

Everbody else - Thank you so much for you kind words and help. All of you folks are awesome!

JoeM :thumbsup:



We aren't allowed to post on a post with an infraction (naming drugs that aren't cannabis)...tis how I received a ban!

Since, many have posted and this is a topic, someone asked me to come view.

MS acts much differently than many other diseases. The cannabis enhances the medications you have taken and I highly suspect, that is what happened. Unless, you have issues with your Blood Pressure with the M.S.~I do. B/P can go as dangerously low, as it can go, dangerously high, with M.S. in a small % of patients.

Vaping and smoking help plenty. Just cut down on your opiates. A little at a time. And check out: http://boards.cannabis.com/concentrates/200017-my-experience-rick-simpson-oil.html

I am sure you are on other meds and need to discuss them freely, while changing your meds. There are other boards you can freely post your medications on and have open discussions, with MS patients. pr

[Esteban1]

Mal, my thoughts are with ya mate. Cbd's will help a bunch..... Godspeed

Sic Semper Tyrannus

:hippy:

[nascarmike]

Hope this helps I had similar situation. I found with Cannabis I did not need as much of the pharma. Take your time ane remember even in this age of insurance your dr. still works for you, if he won't work with you you might look for another dr. ( just my way of doing things). The blackout is not cool.