Increasing, people are turning to medical marijuana to treat many diseases, including cancers. In a published study it was found that marijuana does nothing to advance the treatment of glaucoma, anxiety, or Parkinson’s disease. The study did not look at any cancers.
Not reaching any level of evidence, I am aware of a few men who have used medical marijuana to treat their prostate cancer, but their experience has been that the marijuana has not had an effect on their cancer.
What is more important is that this study did conclude that marijuana is highly effective in pain control. The study found a major and what I would describe as a dramatic reduction in the use of pain control medications. Given the nature of progressed advanced prostate cancer I can only conclude that medical marijuana does have a legitimate medical role in palliation.
See this Malecare Advanced Prostate Cancer blog post at:
I hope medical marijuana does not have the same effect on me as the stuff I have accidentally taken thanks to my youngest son! Once he made some lovely cup cakes for his Mum and me - I should have known something was wrong because he watched us intently while we ate them. He used to do that when he was a little boy when he had put spiders in my sponge pudding - I used to eat that and say how lovely it was! The second time I ate some cookies with a cup of coffee when I was working at his flat. His girlfriend and him were out at the time otherwise they would have stopped me. That time I had a really bad reaction - mind, I had ingested rather too much. I would love to try the medical grade stuff though because I have heard it is very good for pain and I have severe, chronic pain in my neck and back which is barely controlled by all the painkillers I am taking.
Soon baby, soon. I had my consultation with the Pot Doc today, the trick is to figure the right ratio of THC to CBD. Too much THC makes you high, and too much CBD makes you to active and productive during the day.
Anything with the THC has a high.. Cbd’s alone .. no high.. like alcohol or most drugs with use you gain some tolerance for the high ..and for me I crave the calming effects ..Take care , happy holidays Joel . Thanks for doing a great job bringing us together . Time to donate to HealthUnlocked.. Peace
No we can buy CBD oil in the UK I have been using it for about 2 years now. I aso know someone who uses it for his Stage 4 Prostate Cancer who belongs to our prostate cancer group - "the walnut club" Athough his Doc still ignores it he is confident that it works for him. He has refused any treatment as he doesn't want the side effects and had mets to his brain, lung and hips. The mets have mainly either shrunk or disappeared completely and his PSA is undetectable. He was importing CBD from USA but at very high financial cost but now can buy it here in a health food shop and even though it may be a lower dose it is still working. He came off the oil totally for 3 months and his PSA went up and then went onto the UK CBD oil and at his next PSA test 3 months later it had gone down to undetectable again so he is now happy to take the lower dose from a health food shop. I was gien advice by a pharmacist who has made an indepth study of the oil so am taking higher dose tablets - which again cost a little more. I can't say that it is doing anything for my pain but some of the pain is mechanical so maybe there is nothing to be done for that. So glad that the UK government has agreed to the use of the oil in this country now what we want is really good medical research. BTW my friend's Doc will still not believe that the CBD oil is what has caused his PSA to get so low but he is not taking anything else so he must be doing something right.
Please tell me more about your friend. He had mets to brain, lung and hips (from prostate cancer) and they shrunk completely or disappeared and PSA undetectabel taking just CBD? How much, which strain? Seems incredible!!! What therapy did he have before, what Gleason, what PSA?
He originally got CBD oil from the US - cost about £400 for a 3 months supply so very expensive and at the time CBD oil was not legal here in the UK. Then a little while ago one of our health food shops started selling it and he tried that Next time I see him at our club at the end of the month I shall ask him what percentage CBD oil was used originally and if he remembers the make etc. He tried the UK CBD oil which was 2.75% CBD oil and you take it twice a day and, for the moment it seems to be working. He stopped taking the oil completely for 3 months and his PSA went up - started taking it again and then the PSA went down. It certainly works on his PSA at the moment. Whether this is also what caused the Mets to slow or disappear who can tell it wasn't a scientific study all he knows is that this has happened. Don't forget the Mets may still be there but have shrunk to a size that scans cannot see. This is all so unscientific at the moment but at the moment this certainly seems to have worked for him. He has had no other medical treatment - no hormone therapy, no radiotherapy and no chemo or anything he didn't think that the side effects of those were worth going through with his cancer as it was.
No. He has not had any treatment at all which is why this is so interesting. However, as I say not a good scientific experiment. All he knows is that in the 3 months he stopped taking CBD oil his PSA went up and when he went back on it went down again. His consultant still refuses to believe that it is the CBD oil doing this but if not what is?
JoelT , What is your opinion on Rick Simpson Oil (RSO)? I've read several stories from stage 4 prostate cancer patients that claim that it knocked the cancer back. I also read about some patients that it didn't help. The government won't allow testing/trials due to the class 1 status.
My husband took the Rick Simpson oil for about a year and a half. We got it froma dispensary in San Jose originally. He had very aggressive cancer with a lot of pain. When we first started the oil, our primary Dr didn't want him to take it because he was already using Fentynal patches, 50 mg. every two days, as well as Vicodin every 4 hours or so for the neuropathy in his feet due to diabetis and the pain in his bones. So we used the oil as prescribed by the scrip Dr. and weaned him off the other narcotics. It took a couple months to get him off the other drugs and on the full dose of 1 gram a day but by then he no longer had neuropathic pain in his feet any more, his blood pressure fell so much that the Dr had to take him off his blood pressure medicine, and his blood sugars got so low that he was able to eliminate most of his diabetic medicines. This was not temporary. When he began getting his blood work, the primary Dr was always surprised how everything was in the middle of normal range. he didn't know Harley was on the oil. He was able to sleep at night finally, something he wasn't able to do because he worked nights for 24 years and just couldn't do it. The broken sleep or lack of was really rough on him and when he was finally able to sleep, he felt so much better. The oil did not stop the cancer, as you know, and of course his spinal mets became spinal cord compression causing paralysis. When this became a problem, his pain level went so high that he did begin taking oxycodone but nothing seemed to really help and the primary told us opiates don't really do much for nerve pain or even bone pain. After he became paralyzed, when he was in the hospital and acute nursing home he did not take the oil. He was afraid they would find out and send him home! He couldn't sleep, his blood sugars were higher once again, and he didn't want to eat, started losing a lot of weight. When I got him home and started the oil again, he was able to sleep, left better in general, blood sugars back to normal. Then the radiation to his neck and spine caused an 11 day stay in the hospital with multiple problems and 6 weeks in rehab where he took no oil once again, but the cancer had grown in his skull causing horrible pain in his face, auditory and optical damage. When he returned home, again the oil helped regain his appetite, his sleeping improved, and so forth. I can't tell you why it helps with the blood pressure and the blood sugars but it did. The help with sleep, the appetite aid, the lowering of the pain, it all makes a huge difference when you are suffering with so many things. I am a huge advocate even if it didn't cure his cancer. By the way, the reason I even began using it was due to a report I read where English universities were doing HUMAN trials with cancer patients using the cannibidiols for possible cures. Like our Dr. said, it won't harm you unlike the pharma drugs.
Joel, just a quick note. Our scrip Dr has Parkinsons. He takes it for this disease. If you looked at him you would never know he has it. He really doesn't have the shakes. But when you read his writing, it is clearly there. I found that interesting.
I have been creating a number of pod casts about prostate cancer (iTunes - Prostate Cancer Podcast). I would like to do one with either you or Harley about the experience you wrote about as well as other cancer journey. Would you be willing to participate?
Charlean, I'm glad medical cannabis made Harley's life better for a year & a half near the end.
The percentage of THC in Rick Simpson Oil seems higher to me than needed for medical purposes, but maybe that's helpful at least to some patients in some situations. Did Harley feel high all the time? Did he find that a helpful distraction from pain, or otherwise beneficial (if you know)? I guess he never used a CBD-dominated cannabis product--right?--so he didn't have an opportunity to make a comparison.
Hi Neal. The oil Harley took made him sleep a lot for the first few weeks until he got used to it. He never thought it made him feel high after those first few weeks. Its hard to say what the real effects were though because he was also going through withdrawal from the Vicodin at the same time. I cut that back a bit too quickly not realizing it was why he was so out of it. But he was probably lucky he was pretty out of it..because he got off both the vicodin and the fentanyl, and once we got to the 1 oz per day, he was fine. Our urologist almost acted like I was a liar when I said Harley had gotten himself off of those drugs. He kept saying, really, are you sure he's completely off it, how did you do that? Now remember we were trying to take huge doses too because that was what was suggested to slow the cancer. It took about two months to get to that dose. I do remember one time we got a different variety because they had changed it at the dispensary in San Jose and it made him feel very weird, definitely high, but we then got it from another and he was fine after that time. Harley never drank or took any sort of drugs before so I know that if RS oil made him feel high, he would have known it. The Dr told us that the way the oil helps with pain is not that it gets rid of it as much as that it takes your focus off of it and you don't think about it so you don't feel it. All I know is he was years suffering with the neuropathy until the oil totally took it away. I also feel that since the oil lowered his blood sugars as well, that may have helped the neuropathic pain.
My opinion is very positive .I was stage# 4 almost 4yrs back. I started and have continued RSO and holistic eating and nutrition this entire time..I did a lot of IV’s and spent much $ my first two years. Not a candidate for surgery . I did 8 wks Rt and continue adt to date. I’ve been under the radar for over three years now.. Thank God .
I wonder what pain I would be in if I didn't partake? I don't get stoned, I get mellow. Although I have mets in my spine, my hip, and perineum, it's the latter where I have an occasional stabbing pain. I don't take any pain meds, except a motrin here and there.
Now, if I could find something for the constant fatigue.
After seeing Wayne's question I checked out Rick Simpson Oil. It's what I do, vape wax. That's why it's only available in CA, with a script. I can't say how available it is around the country, but I've seen quite a few people vaping in public.
I am really glad that your pain is under control. In reference to your fatigue it could be due to the drugs (what are you taking?) or to the MJ itself.
Not sure what the wax is but we used oil. The first dispensary was very yellow, clear stuff but the San Jose oil was very dark green and thick. I put it in small capsules because he couldn't stand the taste. After we got to the max dose, he took it three times a day.
I live in "Christieland", which is a disapproval state. 'Wax' is vaped, which is a means of smoking. Using a vaporizer, the wax is instantly turned into a vapor, and inhaled. It has from a tarry to a taffy like consistency. It's color comes from the plant it was made from, just like oil.
Do I break the law? Yes. Should I have to break the law? Absolutely not.
I know what you mean about the laws. California allows medical but our county won't allow anyone to grow their own unless they have 5 acres for 6 plants, fencing so high no one can see it, and not in town at all so that cuts out a lot of people. The supervisors just made these changes because they think it will be passed in Nov for recreational and they want to prevent it no matter what the people say. I don't smoke it or use it but I totally believe in the right to use it and wish that our scientists could do more research on its ability to help medically but unless our government or biggies like Monsanto can keep control of the $$$, they won't do it.
I read recently that big pharma has a synthetic MJ drug in the works. Shoot, when I was a teen I new a mad scientist who made his own too. Liquid bliss it was. That's beside the point. So, these guys are lobbying congress to keep MJ as a schedule 1 drug, which in and of itself is totally insane. This dates back to the prohibition days, back when cocaine was in your cola. Everything was illegal. So, when liquor was re-legalized, every thing else remained illegal. Just watch "Reefer Madness", that says it all.
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I've heard that some states with medical marijuana have the odd restriction that it be edibles only -- no smoking or vaping. No such restrictions here in Arizona.
Edibles go through the liver which converts the thc into another form. I have found the edibles are superior at controlling body pains and muscle spasms.
I can not have an opinion about the oil because all I know are the individual patient stories which do not rise to any level of evidence pro or con. Most of the guys I know who do have used MJ of any type have not had any real cancer control, but they have had pain control. Even this negative does not rise to being considered evidence, so I simply do not know.
Personally, I am skeptical about cancer control, but I can not really say why. As I mentioned and you reflected the problem is that it still remains a class 1 drug, until we can get it to a class 3 we will not really get reliable answers.
It's infuriating that our government is preventing research on this product that clearly does have medical uses, if not as many as it may ultimately prove to have, & has an excellent safety profile.
I assume that the continued Schedule 1 classification is a result of lobbying by the alcohol industry, Big Pharma, & perhaps the tobacco industry. I would like to see a strong effort to lobby the Hillary Clinton administration by a coalition of medical & research & patient organizations, plus Democratic office holders from states that have at least medical marijuana legalization. What do you think? Thanks.
I like your idea of educating the next president, whoever that might be about the positives of medical MJ. The most important, in my opinion, is the palliation that it has. As a result there is much less opiates prescribed and less overdoses in medical MJ states.
Neal, I just ran across this post. Who'd a thought it would be like this today. I thing legalizing MJ for medical use is the least of our worries. There is a demented man in charge, that frightens me.
Joe
I live in Michigan where medical marijuana is legal. I'm currently in stage 4 with mets in spine. I find that medical marijuana is a great pain relief. My dispensary has many strains to choose from, some that create no feeling of being "high". My 2 cents.
Well it's been 48 hours since I started my Medical Marijuana and I feel great. I am in a 1:1 ratio THC/CBD and I have more energy than i've had in months. Yes there is a mild buzz, but i haven't taken a nap in two days. A real milestone for me. I'am trying to be guardedly optimistic so i'll have to give you an update later in the week.
I am still contemplating getting a medical marijuana card. It is an option where I live. Pain isn't an issue but sleeplessness is. I've gained almost 20 lbs after getting my eligard shot. I am worried about really putting on weight from "the munchies" related to marijuana. On the other hand I've heard that regular users see a benefit in blood sugar level and don't gain weight. Wondering what to do.
LG's doc gave him a choice....marijuana or his pain meds that he can't walk without. He gave up the marijuana after he failed the drug test. He's lost about 13 lbs., having trouble sleeping, having trouble eating. Doc said after he pass' a drug test he can prescribe Maranol. I hope this helps his symptoms. Just not fair that is not legal. In my mind, I think it helped to keep the cancer away.
My partner was sent home with hydromorphone and oxycodone, after a 4th stage gleason 10 with bone mets diagnosis. He was told to alternate one every 3 hours. They had no effect so we ground some marijuana in a coffee grinder and added 1 TBSP to his food at lunch and dinner. The first time out, he slept for 12 hours and ate a respectable amount of food the next day; no pain whatsoever. We brought back the meds to the pharmacy and spent the weekend making pot butter which we leave in sticks in the freezer and use to cook with. A year later, he takes 1 naproxen every 12 hrs and 1/2 pot brownie before bed. No codeine, no morphine, no heroine derivatives; weight holding.
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