Marijuana for mbc?

[Jac-genova]

Has anyone ever tried marijuana? I read a few studies that said it can help reduce metastases. My mom's oncologist said my mom can apply for a license if she wants. She doesn't have any pain (only has 2 bone mets in t2 and l4 regions of lumbar spine). Thanks!

[loopydo15]

Hi there. Sorry about your mom! I have stage four and mets to bones. I live in a state where it is legal thank goodness. I don't do well with Tylenol and pain meds. I can only have one pain pill and then my whole system locks up! I also have lots of anxiety (even though I am a pretty chill person). When I was in stage 3c I had incredible anxiety due to steroids in my chemo and my onco didn't want to give me any medicine that would interfere with the chemo. She also said it would help me sleep and not break a foot at night when awaking to go to the bathroom and being so messed up on pills. But I don't know about it keeping mets at bay.....I do know that it helps with the small aches and pains and anxiety. There are so many edibles available she would not have to smoke it. Whatever you decide...make sure her onco knows that she is using it. I told mine even though it is legal in my state I didn't want it in my medical records but I wanted her to know about it. So far so good and just a little bit really helps me reduce the anxiety and frees up my body to stretch a bit more than I might normally. If she does decide on it make sure it comes from a business that has had the product processed through the state labs. They check it for mold, insect, insecticides, chemicals, etc. And also the doseage would be more reliable. Hope this helps...I'm a firm believer in the usage because it really helps me with quality of life. I love that you are advocating for your mother in this area. Sometime we old moms need a push!

[viennagirl]

I live where marijuana is legal. My daughter recently told me about a documentary on the benefits of M. on people with cancer. She has Prime and I don't have that so she said we can watch it on her Tablet when she comes over in July. She said that the documentary explains that we are naturally wired for the healing benefits of marijuana. So she is encouraging me to take CBD which is part of the marijuana plant. She feels I should also take a mixture of cbd and some of the psycho trophic stuff too. My local store might be able to advise me as to what to take. I will check this out when our stores open up again. We are still under some stringent rules because of the COVID19 virus. I will also ask my Oncologist what she thinks but I have a feeling she is against it. I get the feeling from her that she is against any thing except the medicine she is currently prescribing. When I first started my cycles of Ibrance and Letrozole she told me not to take anything else - even vitamins. I didn't listen to that after a while because I knew I had to keep my immune system functioning. But I am careful and don't want to cause myself any harm. Having to deal with this illness is hard enough. I wish you the best in your search for answers and I will get back to you when I know more. Hugs Marlene.

[Dancer1000 in reply to viennagirl]

Hi Viennagirl! I am on Ibrance and Letrazole as well - just started a week ago and I have been using medical marijuana for a couple of months now. I think I am having an allergic reaction to Ibrance. After the second day on it I got chest pains, shallow breathing, dizziness and hard time talking. Stopped the Ibrance and just doing the Letrozole to figure out which one is giving me the issue. Oncologist wanted me to stop the marijuana also but when the pain, nausea and anxiety stared again so I went back on it. Best decision! After a week I will get back on the Ibrance again and see if I get the bad side effects again then we know its a problem with the Ibrance.

What is the name of the documentary that you are referencing? I would love t watch it.

[viennagirl in reply to Dancer1000]

Hi Dancer,

My daughter has Prime and she said the documentary on Marijuana is on Prime called the God Plant.

If you want to watch it on your homeTV you need a fire stick. I think you need to go on Amazon Prime to get information as to how to watch the documentary. However, you might find it on You Tube.

Let me know if you find it. Hugs Marlene

[Dancer1000 in reply to viennagirl]

I have Prime as well. Will check it out!! Thanks.

[viennagirl in reply to Dancer1000]

Hi again. My daughter sent me the God Plant documentary on my computer. It seems to be a different documentary than the one I found on You Tube. So if you are looking for it you need to find the one called THE GOD PLANT; A DOCUMENTARY. The good one starts at the beginning or our universe - at the Big Bang. It really goes into detail as to how the plant works to complement our brain and our body. We are wired for it and it is a true healer. I have just started taking it to help me with stress and I hope I get other positive benefits too. Hugs M.

[Hidden]

There is an excellent book on medical marijuana called Chronic Relief by Nisha Whitely I think. There is a place in San Francisco, Constance Therapeutics, that will customize a cannabis plan as well, but it costs thousands a month. There are also cannabis dispensaries in California that will provide the cannabis free of charge. But beware. I have a friend who enrolled in that, and the amount of THC you have to consume to come anywhere near the levels that will affect the cancer is so high it is completely debilitating. It also has to be consumed in the firm of oil, because you couldn’t possibly smoke enough, and the oil is nasty. My friend was never able to work up to even close to the necessary dose, as hard as she tried.

[Dancer1000]

Hi. Yes, I am in NY where it is legal and you have to have the appropriate doctor licensed to certify you for use. Once you are certified you get a ID card from the NY Medical Marijuana program which allows you then to go to any dispensary and get what you need. Insurance does not cover certification consult or the marijuana. My certifying doctor went over thoroughly with me what is available and I let her know what my needs are. We then decide which ratio (TCH:CBD) is a good fit for my needs and I get it from the dispensary. It has been a game changer for me because I couldn't deal with the opiods. I was losing weight rapidly due to not being able to eat because of the opiods and they made me feel sketchy and almost sicker than the cancer. The medical MJ helps me tremendously with the pain, appetite and anxiety. I found a dose that works for me. My oncologist is attitude is less favorable and I find that to be a problem with some of these doctors that refuse to think outside of the box of what they get kick backs for by prescribing big pharma meds. I am my own advocate and I dictate the terms of how I want to go on this journey. So she had to respect that I chose medical MJ over opiods. I hope you find what you need for your mom whether its marijuana or not. She is blessed to have you in her corner!

[Jac-genova in reply to Dancer1000]

Thank you so much!! Glad to her it's helping you

[Hidden]

My understanding is it can help with side effects from chemo and some strands can help with pain but does not do anything for metastatic disease. I have tried CBD oil alone, CBD and low level thc oil and also edibles and none of them did anything magical for me. I did relax some so my anxiety was as bad but that is all. I know of many people that find relief from nausea with cannibis.

[Shelly1009]

Also lucky to live in a state where it is legal. I use it for pain, anxiety and insomnia. I use a very low dose tincture. Comes in a little dropper bottle and I can dose appropriately by putting drops on a cookie and eating it.

[BluHydrangea]

I am in a state with legal medical marijuana. After seeing my moms pain and anxiety with lung cancer helped with THC &CBD I got my medical card 6 weeks ago. I am using small doses of THC and CBD and now getting pain relief and help with being able to sleep and stay asleep. My oncologist knows I am using it and as long as my blood work is normal he doesn’t say anything about it.

[loopydo15]

As mentioned by several folks above....when you have cancer and get chemo you also get a high anxiety level. It colors

everything. Sleep, eat, socializing, etc. I also am able to get to sleep and stay asleep without my thoughts consuming me in terrible ways every night. MBC is relentless and exhausting.....it's wonderful to not have to take a pill if I don't have to. Perhaps later down the road I may need heavy pain meds, I don't know....but at least I will have put it off for later! I wish everyone could go to the store and try it themselves without all the red tape. Big pharma doesn't want that!

[Red71]

I don’t use it but my husband uses it for sleep. If your mom doesn’t need it for pain or anxiety, then I would say not to bother. I would just be an extra expense. If it makes her feel better, go for it. But it has never been studied in a controlled study to prove that it does anything for the cancer itself. Most reports are anecdotal rather than scientific. I wouldn’t waste your money thinking that it might even help the cancer, but I’m the skeptic that wants good proof, so take that with my grain of salt! Elaine

[kearnan]

I told my pain specialist I had been using MJ even before I was diagnosed with cancer to help me sleep. I told her because she was going to start prescribing opiate pain medication for me. She said she had no problem with it ( I dont get from a dispensary) and that many of her patients use it to relieve stress and some of the pain and help them sleep but I never heard of it having any affect on the cancer mets themselves. It is for the minor aches and pains and for anxiety.