Ok, I'll break in this forum.

[norm]

Back when I used to smoke pot (late 70s early 80s) I really didn't have any problems so I don't know if it helped with any. So tell me, what ailments does MJ help YOU with...Depression, back pain, leg cramps, IBS, memory loss???

[2point4]

Last year, I woke up to the most painful...pain in my back I've ever felt in my life. I could not even get out of bed. After a few days, I went to the doctor and after numerous test and scans, she conculded that I had a degenerative l4-l5 disc and had a herniated l5-s1. The pain was bad enough that she put me on a cocktail of (2)10mg Percocet, (1) 350mg Soma, and (1) 10mg Valium, 3 TIMES A DAY. Needless to say, I was whacked out of my gourd. This was actually nice for a few days cause I was REALLY whacked out. But once that got old, it got really old. In fact, the only thing I noticed was that I was having these horrible nightmares(which I later found out was a side effect of too much Percocet). After about a month of this torture, I went back to my doctor and explained my plight to her. During earlier visits, I revealed to her that I smoke pot. Surprisingly, she wasn't completely against it. I told her that for the past few days I had not taken the cocktail and had instead decided to smoke some weed(I should have thought of this earlier). She was surprised to hear that the weed did a better job at pain relief than the narcotics did, but went on to say that if that's what is helping, then by all means, continue. I did that and continue to do it to this day when the pain flares back up. Now I have this pharmacy of all these good drugs that I will probably never use.

On a side note, I've never been a big pill popper. I experimented here and there with muscle relaxers and pain killers in my youth, but never really liked them too much. Much too dangerous to be used as a day-long suppressant for any pain. With that, I'd like to express my continued dissatisfaction with the current cannabis laws in place. I never got addicted to weed. I was on pain killers for just over a month and went through a small bout of withdrawal...and they didn't even help with the pain. In your mind, which should be criminalized?

[Mr Burns]

Lumber pain and surgery.

I find opoids work best but only during it's 'fix' period. MJ gave and can give me lasting results into the next afternoon when smoked the previous evening.

[SirTokeAlot420]

Opioids help my pain better than anything but im on none at the moment. Marijuana helps alot of my struggles though. Cheers!

[torchthatbird]

I have smoked my entire adult life(20+years). This is what I have noticed:

Good things:
Pain relief, it doesn't do anything for inflamation but kicks ass on pain relief. Think of it as a super strength tylenol. Great for arthritis. Great on pain from inflamation if taken with anti-inflamatories(these drugs should be limited because of ill effects on the stomach and heart).

Allergy relief, if you suffer from hay fever weed will dry you up toot sweet. However, if you smoke it, it can irritate the ears nose and throat which allergy sufferers already have to deal with.

Depression, hell yeah, it's like a damm happy pill. But be careful if you become dependent, everyone here knows how cranky we can get if we run out. That said, I believe there are many psychiatric uses for this medicine.

It is said that MJ reduces the pressure on the eyes caused by glaucoma, I can't speak to this first hand, but my eyes are not great and I can't help but wonder if weed effects them.

Blood pressure and stress, this could be one of the most important uses. Heart disease is the number one killer in america and much of it is caused by a genetic predisposition. Weed helps reduce stress and lowers blood pressure(more with indicas than sativas) that can be deadly to people with these problems. However, certain heart racing sativas may have the opposite effect and I have seen first hand people have trouble with these kind of soaring highs. If you have any heart problems at all I would stick to indicas.

And of course, everyone knows the positive effect weed has on cancer patients. No, it doesn't cure it(though the jury is still out)but it can help relieve the symptoms and help a person recover more easily. Everyone in the world knows there is no better drug to increase appetite. Cancer patients frequently have trouble getting the proper nutrition and suffer from intense pain. MJ takes care of both of those problems and allows the cancer patient to focus on their recovery. Thanks God for the munchies.

Bad Things:
Weight gain due to overeating and lethargy. Lets face it folks, those couchlock indicas don't do anything for your waistline. However, good sativas do not have the same effect. Taken in moderation a good sativa can provide pain relief and still not cause lethargy. You may still have the munchies, but at least you'll still have the energy to work it off.

Bronchial problems, weezing and excessive mucous. Chronic smokers all know what the see coughed up in the sink every now and again. Smoking in general is not good for you, It errodes the wall of the esophagous and causes damage to the bronchi. I admit that eating it and vaporizing it doesn't give you same high as smoking it, but if you mix it up a bit your lungs will thank you.

Memory loss: lets just admit it, MJ effects short term memory. That's why we space out from time to time. It causes little holes in your short term memory that can lead to disorientation. Like anything, you can't abuse it.

All in all, you have to weigh the good with the bad, determine what it is you are trying to accomplish medically and choose the strain appropriate to you medical needs. This is why it needs to be legal everywhere. People need to consult with their doctors to determine the right course of action and they are hesitant to because they are afraid to tell them. Doctors practice confidentiality to a certain degree. When I talk to my doc about it, he doesn't make any notes in the chart, he just advises me. Your medical records however are not always private. Insurance companies have access to them all the time and them I don't trust. Find a doc who will talk to you about it without mentioning it on your chart.

We're fighting a paradigm here. The world has come to expect every cure to come in the form of a prescription that leads to more profits for the pharmacutical industry. And lets face it, the drugs that they have legally been able to give us are in many cases far worse for you than MJ. But it's allowed because it's big business. The powers that be don't want to see a drug that people can cultivate themselves, that has so many applications. It hurts their bottom line. But we all know that the best things in life are free. Clean water, exercise, healthy nutrition, these things will do more for you than any drug. Combine that with home cultivated vaporized organic MJ and the pharmacutical companies will have to reevaluate their profit estimates.

[milagro]

I use it preventively.

So far, so good.



milagro

[Bazzy]

Depression and Insomnia.

Seems to work alright

[scherrah]

There seem to be a lot of nudge nudge and winks going on here, so I thought I'd share...

I am 26 and I have MS. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was 21. Over the past five years I have suffered horrible, tearing pain (think the worst charlie-horse possible) in my legs, shooting pains in my arms, and my leg muscles getting so tight that I can hardly walk.

Because I have MS it's hard for me to get painkillers from my physician. MS is not a well-known disease because everyone has different syptoms. Anyway, I take muscle relaxers for my legs, but they don't take care of the pain. That's why I smoke marijuana. It does help me, a lot, and it's ridiculous that my government would rather me be locked in my pain or in a prison, instead of using mj.

[Xgone.]

Originally Posted by Milagro

I use it preventively.

I herniated the two lowest disks in the sprine, l4,l5- l5,s1 and prolapsed a third years ago.

Ive found that marijuana really helped with the pain, but I am in pretty good shape these days and my back rarely hurts the way it used to....I smoke quite a bit, so maybe it would start to ache if I stopped but I kinda doubt it.

I feel like my young body has recovered extraordinarily well... I feel great

[panamajuice]

Don´t know about the medical benefits of smoking MJ, but growing it is definately therapeutic!!!, after leaving my growroom I feel a great stress relief, specially during flowering season.