Marijuana and IBS

I came across this little item via Heather Van Vorous's incredibly helpful IBS info site.  For those of you who don't know - IBS is an enteric nervous system disorder characterized by abdominal pain (read agony) in association with constipation, diarrhea, or alternating bowel dysmotility.  What all that boils down to is the kind of pain usually associated with migraine headaches.  Imagine someone setting your hand on fire - then plunging it into your gut.  It's that bad.  I was finally diagnosed a couple of years ago.  Before that I was forced to undergo numerous surgical procedures - each more painful than the last, all in an attempt to figure out what the fuck was wrong.  It was also a pharmaceutical nightmare - drug after drug after drug - nothing working; until finally the doctors threw up their hands and told me to just cope.  Then I found Heather's site - and my entire world changed.  I was able to control the symptoms through diet - meaning I could actually begin to have a life. 

Anyway - I found this article fascinating - as I would often treat the pain and spasming on my own with marijuana; it being the only soporific available to me.  Now - the pot would help control the symptoms - not eliminate them.  My radical change in diet did that.  Trust me folks - read over the material, and have a gander at Heather's site.  If you have this problem - help is available.  And it doesn't involve medications with life-threatening side affects (would you believe one doctor actually suggested putting me on a medication with a proven record of sudden death as a side effect?  What a maroon - as Roger Rabbit would say!).  Now I just avoid certain foods, eat others and drink lots and lots of heathfull tea.  Two weeks after going on this diet my pain had all but disappeared - though I still have bouts (stress can bring it on).  So if I say I'm having a bad pain day (and I do mean all damn day - this is not something short-lived, I'm afraid) - this is usually why.  But before taking control of my disease - every day was a bad pain day.  It's all in how you look at it.

So - here are excerpts from that marijuana study:

Endocannabinoids and the gastrointestinal tract - Department of Physiological Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany. ([email protected])

In the past centuries, different preparations of marijuana have been used for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, such as GI pain, gastroenteritis and diarrhea. Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; the active component of marijuana), as well as endogenous and synthetic cannabinoids, exert their biological functions on the gastrointestinal tract by activating two types of cannabinoid receptors, cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1 receptor) and cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2 receptor). While CB1 receptors are located in the enteric nervous system and in sensory terminals of vagal and spinal neurons and regulate neurotransmitter release, CB2 receptors are mostly distributed in the immune system, with a role presently still difficult to establish. Under pathophysiological conditions, the endocannabinoid system conveys protection to the GI tract, eg from inflammation and abnormally high gastric and enteric secretion. For such protective activities, the endocannabinoid system may represent a new promising therapeutic target against different GI disorders, including frankly inflammatory bowel diseases (eg, Crohn's disease), functional bowel diseases (eg, irritable bowel syndrome), and secretion- and motility-related disorders.

Interesting - yes?  I thought so too.  I also think more study is warranted.  I just do not understand our government's antipathy to studying this drug.  I have been smoking pot on and off (off at the moment - no place to get any) since I was an undergrad.  I have never felt the urge to dive into other soporifics - nor am I interested in smoking the kind of marijuana that sends you reeling; or stones you out to non-functioning levels.  When I do smoke - I use very little - either as relaxant, to inspire or as a pain modifier.  And it really works in controlling pain - lemme tell 'ya!  So pass this on to someone you know who has the disease.  It will change their lives - I guarantee! 

Comments

[thepoetryman]

Excellent post my friend! The medicinal properties and actual relief of pain in a joint compared to pharmaceuticals is staggering!

War on drugs my tail! Leading to stronger drugs, BS! Used in moderation pure marijuana trumps them all...Legalize it but keep it out of the hands of the pharmaceutical companies!@

[Ann]

Great post, and great blog, lady! I was diagnosed with IBS 20 years ago just before my wedding. My doctor gave me Metamucil, and asked if I was experiencing undue stress. I never had the problem again, so it clearly wasn't as bad a case as yours. Should it come back, I'll know to light up a doobie, thanks to you! I totally agree with you and the post above - this nation's hysteria about pot is insane. People should absolutely be able to grow and smoke their own.

[Rain]

I was speaking to a friend just the other day who is experiencing the same symptoms. When I get back home I will pass on this information.Thank you, you are an amazing woman.
I agree with thepoetryman, legalize it but keep it out of the hands of the pharmaceutical companies.

[Peacechick Mary]

I think the reason it's not legal is that we can make our own and not be dependent on corporate meds. Change war on drugs to war on health.

[Comandante Agi]

My uncle suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Dear Mary Jane is the only thing that helps the severe pain caused by his ailment.

Peacechick Mary is right. The government-industrial complex doesn't want you to be in control of your own body, they want to dictate the terms of your own existence by regulating drugs.

[oldwhitelady]

This is great! As I was leaving work, today, I met up with a girl I very rarely see. I asked her if she was losing weight. She said that she was, thanks to IBS. She then told me what it was. She is happy that she lost the weight, but also said she had to change her diet. She might appreciate reading this, too.

[sb_gypsy]

Legalize it, and tax it! (the vast majority of users would way rather buy it at a reasonable price than hassle with growing their own) it could be the answer to our growing deficits... and perhaps would open a few minds as well.

[Neil Shakespeare]

I have a friend who says it's the only thing that helps with her horrible menstrual cramps. Read before about that gastrointestinal study. What? No ulcers? Good to hear you're diet is helping you, FLS.

[The Fat Lady Sings]

It used to help with my cramps too. It was either smoke a joint - or drug myself out on codeine (and I'm allergic to synthetic codeine). I also tend to shy away from heavy drugs and alcohol. I grew up seeing the effects of over-use - something I don't want for myself. So pot fits the bill - as long as it’s not terribly potent. A few hits of a medium intensity marijuana, and the pain is controlled while allowing me to still function. Great stuff. I wish more doctors were allowed to prescribe it. My own doctor said - use whatever works. But then - he's sensible!

[zoebeth]

I suffer from IBS and hypoglycemia. The doctors were able to do nothing for me except put me on anti-depressant and anti-anxiety meds which left me unable to function and suicidal. Medimucil? That makes it worse. I have tried all sorts of modifications to my diet, however, because I am hypoglycemic (which requires an opposite diet of an IBS patient), I have had little to no success. I have tried acceptable herbal remedies, such as peppermint & fennel tea, and it really does nothing.

I find it ironic that most of the established medical community states that IBS is caused by anxiety/depression. I, as well as others to whom I have talked, did not develop such symptoms until after the IBS had taken it's toll. If you lived a bloated, cramped, diarreah filled life with little hope of help or gaining control, you would be depressed too.

I live in pain from the time I awake until the time I sleep. I can no longer function as a normal adult, as I spend most of my days on the toilet or curled up in a ball next to it. I know I must make the people in my life miserable because I am a miserable shell of a human being. I think of suicide daily.

I am angry at our society for instantly classifying marijuana advocates as "druggies". I am tired of the assmuption that we just want to "get stoned" and "rot our brains". I don't want to rot - I want to live. I want to live! That's why I want the plant in the first place - life.

I am angry at our greedy government. There is no reason that people like me should suffer - should loose control of their lives - when there is a simple and natural remedy that allows me to regain control of my body and return to the world of functioning people.

It is not right - it is criminal.

[The Fat Lady Sings]

Zoebeth - go to this website (http://www.helpforibs.com/) and you will find help. Really. I was just like you. The pain - honey, I know more about pain than I ever want to! This website was my salvation. That diet the doctors tell you to go on? It’s dead wrong. It actually makes the pain worse. I know. Then I found 'Help For IBS'. The woman who runs the site - Heather - she has the disease. She knows. Her food combos work. Really, really work. I'm not hypoglycemic - but I am sensitive to wheat (borderline celiac). Her diet accommodates that - it accommodates everything. Two weeks after changing my diet I was relatively pain free. Note I said relatively. I still have episodes. I sometimes get off track on eating the right foods and the pain will hit - but not every day like before. I still have to take medication - and I need to know where the nearest bathroom is - but I have much more of a life. Try it. Please try it. Email Heather for more strategies if you need extra help. She's very accessible. I really do understand your plight. I wrote about it - "Pain" - (http://www.fatladysings.us/the_fat_lady_sings/2005/11/pain.html). You don’t have to be in pain like that any more. If Heather could help me – she can help you. Try it. What have you got to lose?

[Maxsta]

After 6 months of going from doctor to doctor. numerous tests and alternative medicines, i have found Marijuana to help when symptoms flare up. Hopefully it will be legalized in the near future. it would be nice to just be able to go to the store and buy it..

it is less addictive and less harmful than Alcohol and Cigarettes, and no good reason it is illegal.

[Crystal]

Wow! What a surprise to find others that have found relief of this terrible at times unbearable pain...
I was diagnosed with IBS almost 2 years ago. I was going through some real stressful times at that time and just thought it to be a nuisance. When I finally did go to the doctor, I knew what it was before being diagnosed. I tried the change in diet approach, took meds that were prescribed. They helped but just for a few hours. So I was taking the next does before I should have. The pain was so bad that I would not get out of bed. Could not eat, and therefore, could not function. This all changed when I decided one day to smoke a joint (after not touching it since my early teen years) and much to my surprise not only does it help to take the pain away I can function normally. Legalize it!

[The Fat Lady Sings]

I'm with you, my dear. I'd like to see medical marijuana legalized too. One of the main reasons being: uniformity of strength (I don’t need ‘super-stoner’ marijuana to help with the pain. Another: Since we moved 4 years ago, I’ve not been able to find a source. This is not something you can just walk up to someone and ask. My pain has worsened, and I have to rely on addictive codeine medications (which I’m allergic to, by the way). As you probably know – it doesn’t take much to ameliorate the pain. I wish like hell this could be a topic of conversation here in America – but far too many people these days seem to be living in a faux fifties fantasyland. Marijuana is considered anathema; and there’s not a legislator out there willing to tackle the question.

Good luck with your pain, Crystal. I really do empathize.

[Jael]

I am also really depressed, and find myself not being able to live a normal life. I have more bad days than good and the one time that I did smoke marijuana, I was able to have a cinnamon bun and french fries and guess what? No pain, no indigestion, no gas! I think IBS is more related to the nervous system than the actual foods we eat.

[MJ4IBS]

I would just like to say, I've suffered from IBS pain for 3 years, I finally, through much trial and error, made some interesting discoveries. First of all when they say go to helpforibs.com, do it! Secondly, I found that Bacteria Infantis to be a significant pain reducer in high enough doses. Do a search on metabolic maintenance probiotic ib, this is the most potent Infantis I have found. Finally, I discovered that you cannot completely defend yourself from attacks and I must say, marijuana beats every single drug the Dr. has tried. Marijuana will take my pain from an out of control panicked state, to a comfortable level, if not eliminate it in minutes! I know how devestating this "Functional disorder" can be. It's not a "Functional Disorder" it's a fucking disease! That's just the Government's way of phrasing it... not recognizing IBS as a disability. If you know someone with this disease, do them a favor and go buy them a bag of pot!

[JACK KNIGHT]

SOMETIMES YOU WONDER IF THE WORLD WILL EVER CATCH ON..........FATJAX

[JACK KNIGHT]

well it failed being legelized in california agen but you know how the goverment works . any law they want to go there way they will make it go there way . the system sucks here but not for long .......................fatjax

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