Last week we wrote about Endometriosis. We also mentioned the use of unconventional pain killers. You might well be asking what unconventional pain killers mean? Are we talking about the hotly debated opioid pain killers? The opioids that cause addiction and abuse, and have every county in the U.S scrambling to minimize usage? No, actually we’re not; while opioids are rife for abuse they are not unconventional. When we say unconventional pain killers we’re talking about the use of medical cannabis for Endometriosis relief.
Obtaining medical cannabis for Endometriosis is not easy and is still not allowed in many states or countries however severe Endometriosis is one condition that can qualify you for obtaining a medical cannabis script.
Here’s a story from the UK about Katy who has suffered from Endometriosis since she was a teenager. Every month Katy would even be unable to work during her period due to the intense pain of the Endometriosis. All the pain killers she was taking helped a little but more than helping they just made her incredibly drowsy…. And she had tried many different kinds of pain killers over the years, everything from ibuprofen, paracetamol to a selection of strong opioids. As anyone with Endometriosis knows, it can be a severely debilitating disease. One that affects you daily and at certain times of the month can grind you to a halt. It affects your appetite, ability to sleep properly and exercise. Dealing with this on a daily basis can often lead to depression. No one can live long term with chronic pain and no sufficient treatment. One day Katy decided that enough was enough and she started hunting around for other kinds of symptom relief. Her research led to her to medical cannabis for Endometriosis.
Medical cannabis can be prescribed for Endometriosis, cancer, MS and other chronic pain diseases. In some countries it can even be prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical cannabis is not approved in the UK so Katy decided she would try some regular cannabis to see if it helped. It did, tremendously. Katy started baking with it or using it in a vaporizer and found that it did more for her than all the other painkillers and treatments that she had tried in the past. 20 minutes after cannabis treatment her body relaxed, she could eat and walk normally and even have a good night’s sleep without feeling drowsy in the morning. It greatly improved the quality of her life.
We are not implying that you should do this, we are just telling Katy’s story. (Katy is not her real name)
The debate rages on about the use of cannabis or medical cannabis for Endometriosis relief, instead of pain killers, there are so many reasons for and against it. The truth is, for some people it a right move and for others it’s not. First of all using regular cannabis is illegal. Katy says she has no choice, she does not drink or smoke, she is a law abiding citizen but she just can’t take the pain any longer and cannabis is helping her to be able to live a normal life. Medical cannabis is obviously a much better option, for starters it’s legal and you know where it has come from and exactly what’s in it. Sometimes with street cannabis you can never be too sure. It’s still a taboo subject regardless of whether it’s medical cannabis or regular cannabis. For some reason, unlike alcohol, smoking and opioids no one want to say the word cannabis out aloud. Why is this?
People are very concerned about medical cannabis as they see cannabis to the gateway to drug abuse. We’re not sure about this theory. It can happen obviously but opioid painkillers are far more addictive and the use of alcohol in teenagers as a more severe problem. Drinking alcohol is actually far more dangerous and leads to far higher rates of addiction that cannabis by itself does. Alcohol abuse also leads to other serious health conditions including anemia, liver disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia, depression, cirrhosis, high blood pressure…… the list goes on and even includes hepatitis. Using cannabis in a vaporizer or in food doesn’t create nearly as many side effects.
Really, the effects of alcohol, opioids and cannabis depend on the type of person using them. If you have a predisposition to mental health problems or have an addictive personality then you are susceptible to more side effects.
There have been studies linking cannabis to decreased libido and lowering testosterone levels in men, so this should also be a consideration before speaking to your physician.
If you are interested in medical cannabis vs pain killers then take a look at this opinion piece that we came across. It discusses the benefits of medical cannabis vs. opioid pain killers. It’s quite an interesting read! There are lots more opinion pieces out there as well – just Google it to see more from many different sources!
What’s your view on using (medical) cannabis as a type of unconventional pain killer?
NOTE: using medical cannabis, opioids or other pain killers treats the pain and discomfort of Endometriosis and other painful endocrine disorders. It does not treat the underlying issues like low progesterone and hormone imbalance. Pain killers only stop pain and physiological issues associated to pain, they do not stop the spread of disease or help to reduce the disease itself.