Endometriosis ~ Abdominal Pain ~ Endo ~ Scar Tissue ~ Adhesions ~ Infertility ~ Hysterectomy

Friday, January 04, 2008

Endometriosis: Marijuana Treatment

Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com

Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I don't think I have to explain what this is to anybody. If you have it, you know it. Endometriosis is graded in stages I,II, III & IV, with stage I being "minimized" inconvenience while stage IV is severe and usually requires surgery.
As a physician, I had known about endometriosis for years and that some women become narcotic addicts because of it. Pre Menstrual Tension (PMS) may be concurrent though different and I had many PMS patients as well. Some of them became addicts also. I was not surprised when lady patients came to our clinics offering chart notes that they had been prescribed every conceivable analgesic and other medications but they also told me marijuana works better than any regular prescription.
I have a severe pain problem myself caused by too high of a concentration of spinal anesthesia. I got disgusted by the anesthesiologist telling me he didn't cause it but I got a new understanding for patients in pain.
If the patient says marijuana works for pain, I believe them. Actually in Oregon about sixty percent of patients have some chronic pain syndrome of nerve, muscle, joint, bone, intestinal or genitourinary. It doesn't seem to matter whatever the source of pain, the bottom line is that MJ gives relief.
I presume stage I endometriosis and minor PMS are effectively treated with aspirin-like drugs, but when the pain etc. is in the moderate/severe level, the ladies have found out by themselves that marijuana/cannabis is effective without the hazard of narcotic addiction or alcoholism.

The U.S. government publicizes that as many as 77 million Americans have used marijuana and perhaps ten million use it frequently.
Marijuana as folk medicine has been used in the U.S. since the middle 1800's and probably in Mexico and Latin America since the Spanish introduced it in the late 1500's.
It is no longer amazing to me when a patient tells me of some new disease for which they have discovered marijuana treatment is beneficial.
It is time the DEA and its hoodlums backed off and allow the therapeutic use of medical marijuana, as more and more people are reverting to this tried and true "folk medicine" everyday.

19 comments:

Kayla D's said...

I agree. I sit here suffering right now with endo, wishing that I could tell my doctor to write me a prescription for MJ. The midwife called and told me today that I would have to wait over the weekend, and see how I was feeling before I am able to get any relief from the pain and nausea that I am going through, and have been going through for 2 weeks now. I can't sleep, eat, and I left work early today. I am so frustrated with this stupid disease, and I just wish my doctor could prescribe something beneficial.

Like you said, Something needs to be done and the DEA needs to realize that plants are not harmful.

Unknown said...

A very good friend of mine found this link for me. He uses MJ and has been finding info for me to support why he thinks it would be good for me too. I think it's definitely something I will have to talk to my doctor about.
Kayla, I've been there... I know saying that doesn't make it any easier, but know that you are not alone. I can't count the number of days in the last 5 years that I've felt that same way. If this helps, why not try it... there are much worse drugs and treatments out there.

Unknown said...

I have lived with endo since I was in high school. I am 28 now and have had several surgeries, tried the shots, prescribed pain killers all this time, and the only other recommendation my doc offers is to have another kid. Guess he didn't get the memo about endo cause fatigue- lol! MJ is the only thing that doesn't make me sick, or alter my mood in a bad way. Anyone who does not care for painkillers but has had to take it for a long period of time like me can tell you; its disgusting, hurts your stomach and alters your mood. MJ, aside from forcing you to stay indoors (never, never drive on it) helps get you thru the day. But I wish their was more docs can do. I wish my government would stop making me feel like a criminal in the public's eye! Have you ever tried to explain to someone you take pot to help your endo pain? No one gets it. Very frustrating.

Mel said...

i was diagnosed with endo 8 years ago, although i suffered from severe symptoms long before that. I am unable to use the regular drug treatments for endo because i have had severe reactions that have almost killed me and cannot afford the cost of surgery. I have been using MJ to treat my symptoms since before i was diagnosed. my doctor supports my use of MJ. My wish is for the governments of the world to see what MJ is capable of doing for seriously ill people and legalise its use.

Unknown said...

I just wanted to mention that endo is caused by an excess of estrogen in the body and marijuana is an estrogen based plant. Marijuana can be extremely helpful when dealing with pain management but ultimately it causes the condition to become worse, causing more pain. There are other alternative ways to treat the pain and inflammation as well as reducing the cause for the pain. As far as I know, marijuana can make the condition worse.

Unknown said...

Hello all! I have severe endometriosis I have had it for 10 years. I used to smok MJ everyday and it was the only thing that ever helped. I am now a Mommy and don't really want my son around it and I have not smoked it for 2 years, yet again my endo is getting worse. I have been on Vicodin, Narco's, even morphine tablets and nothing even touches the pain. I have learned to deal with it and no one understands that just because I don't cry anymore and whine does not mean I would rather go through a drug free labor again, with a smile on my face because labor was nothing compared to the pain from my endo. This is a terrible disease and I am about ready to go got my medical card since I live in CA. I just don't want my son to have a Mommy that is stoned all the time. But atleast I guess I could function and be happy again! Good luck to all of my fellow endo sufferers!

rabin said...

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jasonbiddle67 said...

hey all sorry i am a man lol anyway i'm looking for info on the radiation they want to give my wife. and reversal of endo threy stong oral doses of thc just like cancer btw read thc and cancer IT HEALS IT!!!! BUT HEY gypsyfaery388 let me tell you my wife can't smoke because of angziety but but but i give her half a peice of mmj candy and she is cool cool cool. not high ok just a little. . . but almost no pain. I smoke and half a candy wouldn't give me a buzz at all.i would like 5 to get a fat buzz lol
you're vicadin made you high when you started to use it and hurts liver kineys so use pot and build a tolarence :) your son won't smell it and neither will anyone else. they are 2-3 dollars a peice in Wa also you can medicate in the office once you are used to it.
just do it :) god gave this to us lets trust the creator not the damn gov. oh and good luck with your boy i have two girls 12 and almost 14 may you and yours be blessed everyday. god help us all:)

jasonbiddle67 said...

ok ok ok i forgot one more point to gypsyfaery388 you also won't be "high "all the time because most people don't suffer and treat all month lol maybe bad bad cases do i sorry to anyone if i'm wrong but it seems you'd only be high a week or so each month. my mom was bi polar trust me you can't do much worse but good for you that you care enough to think of your son good on ya friend :)oh again i treat my dpression and bi polar very well with mmj my script is for pain and nausea but when curled in a ball crying one hit pulls me out and then i just say thank god and smile again i love you all. good life filled with love to all. <3

Argus said...

I´m 35 years old, got diagnosed with Endo at 20, took Lupron for 10 months and it was the worst thing ever! I mean menopuase at 21 not fun! Anyway, i had 3 surgeries wich took most of my endo away but still had very bad menstrual pains after that, finally 1 year ago got diagnosed with Endo IV, will not take lupron again everm I´ve taken about 6 differten types of medicine, Ibuprofin, Anaprox, Shots, you name it, and nothing has relieved the pain like Marihuana. It´s natural and does not have awful side effects like medicine. My pain is gone. Definitely recommend it to anyone suffering from Endo. No one has to deal with this type of pain.

Anonymous said...

Jason, I just wanted to say how wrong you are. I am in intense pain all month long. The severity of the disease does not have anything to do with severity of pain. You can have stage 4 endo and have no pain at all or stage 1 and have severe pain. It just depends on where the implants are.

Let me explain to you what my pain I like.

Imagine a red hot poker being stabbed into your abdoman over and over. Then when you think your body can't take anymore, the poker suddenly starts to twist wrapping your insides around it like speghetti around a fork. Now imagine this happening every day with maybe a 4 day break right after aunt flo.

Now please understand why you would have to be stoned all the time.

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Anonymous said...

Pot would be excellent and safer for chronic pain sufferers. I say that because I have lived in chronic pain, with endometriosis and other diseases/medical issues for 15 years, and am now 30. I know that RX pain killers Dr's give us are very dangerous and much more addictive than weed...so NY (and the U.S) legalize medical marijuana! I read the original post, the author made some wrong assumptions about the horrific and often debilitating chronic illness, endometriosis...I suffer from stage IV and have had many surgery's to "treat" it...didnt work. I cant blame the person who posted it, most Dr's/experts dont know anything, they dont even agree on how and why it occurs, so if they cant find the fundamental cause, how can they find a cure or even a valid treatment? Also, I want to clear up; sometimes you can have stage 1 and it can be as debilitating as IV...no one knows why.
There are a host of other medical problems that come along with endo, and sorry a lot of us endo sufferers don't get "cramps", much more like labor pains. Ive been told by women with endo that endometriosis is almost as bad as delivering a baby! Also, typically OTC's do not work at all.
Along with the "labor pains" a lot of is throw up, get low grade fevers, dont eat enough, get infections a lot-since its an autoimmune disease, get migraines, are infertile, have a 50% chance of miscarrying-I did twice and almost died during the second pregnancy, have chronic pelvic/back pain, insomnia, chronic headaches, constipation, nausea, and usually suffer from other diseases and most of us dont even know. Also, the average time for an official diagnosis is 10 years! For me it was 11! And most Dr's do not take this seriously!
So, after this long winded post, I say legalize medical pot, these prescription pain meds are killing us-i heard something that it killed Marilyin Monroe-she had severe endometriosis, and OD'd on a cocktail of pain meds and other prescribed drugs to treat her endometriosis! Weed is natural, and so much less damaging than the man made prescibed pain killers- cant the government understand that they can make $ off of it if they legalize it? Mio Dia!

Bridget said...

I was diagnosed with endo after a surgery a month ago to remove what the docs thought was a cancerous tumor that turned out to be a patch of endometriosis in my very low intestines. Since then no doctor will even talk to me about what my endo means for me and I had to seek my own follow up...AND all the surgery did was take my mostly well balanced symptoms and send them flying in to chaos, me laong with them. I have been in constant pain since the surgery and all they will say is it's beacause of the surgery, which is weird that these "surgical healing symptoms" coincide with my period when they are at their very worst! At that point I can't sleep because of the pain and get sick more often than not when I eat. I am looking for ways to deal with this that aren't going to lead to addiction as it currently takes 2-6 percocet to get through the day and I still experience pain, the pills just make it tolerable. I'm open to any suggestions and have read everyone's input from this page....Thanks and it was more informative than my docs and very helpful as well!

Kristen said...

It's so great to see people supporting MJ. I have suffered from debilitating pain due to endometriosis for 10 years.
When I was 16 after trying all the non narcotics my doctor prescribed without relief I was told "the Pill" would be my best solution. I went through 7 years of horrible mood swings and depression because of the pill. Then I switched to a pill that almost caused me to have kidney failure! On top of that I was taking Nsaid's every month because I still had pain.
Since then I have switched to a primal diet, I workout regularly and consume mj using a vaporizer to manage my pain.
After doing tons of research on the effects of government approved drugs (ranging from nsaids to narcotics) it's kind of a no brainer. The bad drugs are the ones you get from the pharmacy, they destroy your insides! Marijuana, on the other hand is as safe as it gets!

Anonymous said...

I have been suffering with Endo for years..and some months the pain comes on so strong that I have to pull over if I'm driving... having kids in between helped for a few years, but I'm done with that lol! Docs have prescribed all sorts of meds and they all make me sick, have long term damage on organs, in fact one had my head pounding so hard I thought I was going to have an aneurysm! MJ has been the only thing that works effectively with no side effects... only bad side effects is I get the munchies lol... The government needs to stop force feeding us man made chemicals that do more harm than good and stop keeping nature's cures from us!

Anonymous said...

I was diagnosed with endo when I was 16. I was having ridiculous periods that never seemed to actually end because there was so much spotting in between. My doctor put me on all kinds of birth control to try to control it and nothing worked. The pain was terrible. I was sick all the time and slept my days away. Every morning I'd wake up with terrible pain before school. They put me on the shots and I had menopausal symptoms at 17. Then came the pain pills that didn't work. My doctor started to discuss surgery with me which scared me since I had never been in the hospital before. At this point I wad 19 and after 3 years of being prescribed random things in a hit or miss type fashion, I was done. I quit going to that doctor and started looking for another. Every doctor I contacted said I was better off sticking with the one I had. It seemed so hopeless. I tried MJ for the first time when I was 20. I had no idea it could help my symptoms. It changed my life. It's completely illegal where I'm from, but it's hard to care about that when it is the only thing that has helped. I'm 23 now and I use of to control my pain, (especially during that time of the month) my nausea, and it even helps my mood when I'm feeling super crazy/hormonal. Plus, it's natural and has no side effects. Unlike the shots that I was told to take calcium with or I'd be wayhappy more likely to get osteoporosis! If you are looking for something to help with your pain, at least try it. MJ really is better than all the habit forming, liver and kidney damaging pills you'll be prescribed.

lynn said...

i have endo and have been proscribed every painkiller (including morphine at one stage) and the only release of pain i get is when i have weed and i cant go in and tell my gp that so wat can i do only keep breaking the law but from one who has tried everything my doctors have given nothing even ease it weed is the best

Nicole.lascurain@healthline.com said...

Hi,

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Naturally, I’d be delighted if you share this embeddable graphic on http://endotimes.blogspot.com/2008/01/endometriosis-marijuana-treatment.html , and/or share it with your followers on social. Either way, keep up the great work !

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Nicole Lascurain | Assistant Marketing Manager
p: 415-281-3100 | e: nicole.lascurain@healthline.com

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