Increased Pain with Marijuana Use?

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Snoozer

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For the last 15 years I've experienced amplified pain when using marijuana in any form... various strains, joints, edibles, vape, drops -- learned I can tolerate up to 2.5mg of an edible. I've asked all my docs, friends, forums, and nobody has ever heard of this except one person in Canada who said they've seen material on it caused by hypersensitive nerves, but I haven't been able to find anything online about it.

I don't partake any more, not worth it, but have always been so curious why this thing I used to be perfectly fine with now gives me the exact opposite effect it's supposed to. With a recent fibromyalgia diagnosis, I'm wondering if this is possibly the cause.

Have any of you experienced this?
 
I have not ever heard of this and only of many people being helped by medical cannabis.
I wonder if perhaps you have an allergy to it that developed alongside your fibro? It is interesting to know that someone has had this reaction, though. All info is useful so thanks for writing about it here.
 
Hi Snoozer, and welcome to us lot!
I never tried MMJ, altho my pain docs applied for me, because I was so zombified by micro-amounts of CBD oil, and am hypersensitive, and it seems a pandora's box for someone like me.
As I now put many of my oversensitivities/"allergies" down to MCAS, which I've now discovered I have, I was thinking along the lines of @sunkacola that maybe people with MCAS tend to have problems like you suggest. Looking around I found that quite the opposite people with MCAS often use it as a mast cell stabilizer. But I also found people like you who said it's ambivalent or makes symptoms worse.
So like sunkacola I'd see it as a specific allergy, and definitely not "caused" by FM, or MCAS for that matter...
 
I wonder if perhaps you have an allergy to it that developed alongside your fibro?
I never thought of an allergy and honestly it would not surprise me... I'm allergic to every grass, tree, mold --- if it's environmental, I'm probably allergic to it. This is a brilliant thought. I wonder if my allergist could do a test for it to finally settle the curiosity. Thanks for the thought!!
 
So like sunkacola I'd see it as a specific allergy, and definitely not "caused" by FM, or MCAS for that matter...
Oh wait, I was digging this idea of possibly being allergic, but one additional bit of information, @JayCS / @sunkacola --- I've also had the exact same pain caused from other *things* consumed that are supposed to relax and feel good.

My joints hurt, my skin feels like it's going to peel/rip right off, my muscles burn... it's my daily experience, but x10.

Now I'm curious what an actual prescribed muscle relaxer would do haha. I was hoping to try one for my TMJ, but I guess they interact with something else I'm on so I can't. Seriously considering botox for my jaw at this point, but man, what if that too has whatever amplifies the pain in it and it takes 3 months for it to wear off..... this also hadn't crossed my mind before...
 
I advise against botox or anything else in the way of chemicals that are not absolutely necessary for your life. I always advise people to remove all non-essential medications entirely, even if they have to taper off them, and to start approaching fibro with natural methods - maybe trying some of the suggestions I have in my advice post, and any other natural methods they want to try. Many people find that if they do, they are better able to manage FM. Of course, this is something that is a very personal decision and I would never try to tell you what you should do. Just thinking that if you have a strong tendency toward allergies, maybe going off most if not all chemicals would tell you something.

You might also try removing all chemicals from your home. No perfumes in anything ( I buy everything like laundry detergent, soap and so on "unscented"), use only all natural cleaning products (vinegar works for almost everything) and so on. In the average home in the modern western world there are so many chemicals that it is amazing, and sometimes eliminating them is very helpful to people with allergies.

And you mention mold. Mold can be found in so many things. You might want to research that on the internet and see what all in your home would be good to inspect for that. Sometimes when people do that they find mold in places they would never have thought to look, like under carpets, in books, behind furniture..... I found black mold on the underside of my wooden dish rack recently and that thing went outside to the garbage instantly, to be replaced by one made of stainless steel! I was rather horrified, I'll admit. 😲
 
No I never have. For me, marijuana reduces pain. But I always choose strains that are higher CBD as they help best with pain
 
muscle relaxer
If you're up to dabbling with amino acids / neurotransmitters (Trudy Scott's blog and website are helpful), I use GABA to increase my serotonin and that helps even my involuntary muscles to relax. Maybe first have a look at the symptoms on her "amino acid questionnaire" if that fits.

Joints hurting always makes me want to ask if you're sure it's really the joints since analyzing mine and discovering it's the tendons above and below the joints, which makes a lot of difference for finding the right treatment.

Allergy type symptoms all over, incl. mold, no explanations? - ehrm... OK, can't help myself: look into MCAS!
 
@sunkacola
Trust me, the botox is a last ditch effort that I'm only resorting to if I can't find a better alternative. It's the last thing I want, but I'm running out of options. Trying acupuncture next and hoping for the best. Physical Therapy was hugely helpful, but it's not covered by my insurance to maintain.

I've already removed all carpet from the home, dehumidify, air purify, try to get furniture that that doesn't have formaldehyde and other chemicals, working on getting rid of plastics, and I'm very sensitive to scents so perfumed anything is a no-go in my home. Even when I travel I avoid places with carpet and fluffy dust mite filled furniture.
 
If you're up to dabbling with amino acids / neurotransmitters (Trudy Scott's blog and website are helpful), I use GABA to increase my serotonin and that helps even my involuntary muscles to relax. Maybe first have a look at the symptoms on her "amino acid questionnaire" if that fits.

Joints hurting always makes me want to ask if you're sure it's really the joints since analyzing mine and discovering it's the tendons above and below the joints, which makes a lot of difference for finding the right treatment.

Allergy type symptoms all over, incl. mold, no explanations? - ehrm... OK, can't help myself: look into MCAS!
@JayCS --- it's funny you ask if I'm sure it's my joints --- I'm not --- I even tell me doctors, "I'm not sure if its my joints, my muscles, my bones..." I'm not good at identifying the source of the pain. How did you figure out it's your tendons?

I'll look into the the amino acids / neurotransmitters. Might be worth a chat with my doc!

I'm trying to find examples of MCAS... does this user submitted list of examples look accurate in your experience?
[] I'm allergic to the sun... like, how? Hahaa It really doesn't take much for me to break out into a rash, but I've gotten really good at avoiding things I know I won't respond well to and dope up on extra allergy pills when it's unavoidable.
 
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@Snoozer :
I edited your post above to remove the link. Posting outside links on this forum is not permitted, with only a very few exceptions.
Please read the forum rules before you post again, so that you can become clear with what they are. Thank you.
 
I edited your post above to remove the link. Posting outside links on this forum is not permitted, with only a very few exceptions.
Please read the forum rules before you post again, so that you can become clear with what they are.
Ah, I did read the rules and it wasn't promoting anything or spam so was hoping it would pass the vague "frowned upon"

Thx
 
Ah, I did read the rules and it wasn't promoting anything or spam so was hoping it would pass the vague "frowned upon"

Thx
Understood. Basically almost any link to anything that is not verifiable to be a government link (.gov) or a link to a well known place like the Mayo clinic is not allowed.
Sorry if that rule is not clear enough....sometimes it's hard to know how to word something.
In this case, this part of the rule would be your best guide:

"If you are unsure whether or not a link will be accepted do not post it."

The best way to direct people to something is to direct them without linking, for instance you can tell people to Google a certain phrase or name, or go to YouTube and type in a phrase.

Probably a good thing this came up; if people read this it will hopefully make it more clear for others.
:)
 
How did you figure out it's your tendons?
By putting a hand to my joints and moving the limb itself or using my hand. And feeling where exactly it hurts.
I thought it was my joints, but I can feel the joint is smooth, but the the tendons ending "on" and around the joint are painful points.
When my muscles & tendons are better, the joints have nothing.
Might be worth a chat with my doc!
Improbable - even many functional docs don't know their way around amino acids... I educated mine and they found it very interesting.
E.g. very much agreed that if GABA works for so many of my symptoms then it is able to cross the blood brain barrier, whatever earlier research seemed to say.
I'm trying to find examples of MCAS
You could try one of the MCAS questionnaires on the web.... :)
 
I tried smoking M. in my teens, six decades before my fibro diagnosis.
I think everyone's body chemistry and "wiring" is slightly different, meaning that a medication that helps one person may have an undesired effect on another. In my case, M made me anxious. On one occasion, I thought a friend was laughing at me (he had also been smoking M). I got angry, started fighting and other friends had to pull me off. (He and I are still friends today).
 
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