Advice switching from painkillers and antidepressants

Smoker's Lounge Medical Club
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#1

Hello fellow members,

I need some advice or first hand experiences in a certain case.

A friend called me today and asked about cannabis medicine.

Her dad is in chronic pain. He went to several doctors, had pain therapies and so on. Nobody can find the reason for the pain. Of course he’s on prescription drugs like tilidin and the like. Also he’s on antidepressants due to the life with chronic pain making him miserable. Nothing seems to work.

Has anyone of you guys a similar history and can give me some advice? I brought here a little bottle of oil (thc mixed with mct) but am not sure how it will behave with the above mentioned drugs in his system.

Currently he’s laying in bed the whole day and has almost given up.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Mndlss

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#2

I wish I could offer any soild ideas, as my wife Is I this boat also and I’ve been on the search for years now to help her with daily life.

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#3

Hey cadman, thanks for chiming in!

How does your wife cope with the pain? Does she use also other drugs than cannabis?

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#4

Bro, she’s been on opoids for 10+ yrs.

Daily, she used to smoke 30+ bowls of Cannabis daily, now because of coughing, she smokes probably 10+ joints daily & still takes pills almost daily. She also has a stupid high tolerance & other medical issues, like chronic pain syndrome to name just one…

Literally she gets as AF & takes pills & keeps her mind busy = forget or try to forget about the pain.
Other this this, lots of hugs, support and never give up looking for something better.

She only started using Cannabis because I wanted her to use less pills in general, so far it’s worked. She’s cut the pills down 50%. So it’s slow progress.

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#5

And when she took cannabis for the first time, were there any interactions? My fear is that he might get so high or confused that he maybe has a psychotic episode or something.

I told her that it’s no wonder drug in terms of pain killing, I told her that it will help to cope with the pain and he may get new Lust for life.
And also to get him reduce the opioids.

He’s not old either, early 50s.

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#6

Each person’s reaction to Cannabis in general and especially when talking about consintrates like RSO, Shatter, Edables are ALL dependent on that individual persons body… :flushed:

Example: My wife takes edables at seriously high doses like 500mg to 2500mg at one time & she gets high and does kill the pain temporarily.

Myself on the other hand, If I take just 5mg I litterly “green out” sick to my stomach, room spins, hug the toilet ect, it’s actually scary.

So I’d have to recommend Anything this person takes, especially if it’s a consintrate or edable, take a super low dose and take things slow.

If it’s just a joint, smoke till high and wait, that should ease them into Cannabis without causing them any horrible experiences.

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#7

If he’s open he might wanna try microdosing.
Might help him get to//over cause of his issues
Getting off heavy pain medication could be a whole story all together.
Lactusa virosa (wild lettuce)can be grown in any garden and made easily into a tincture//tar that can be used as a mild pain alternative without all bad effects.

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#8

Of course this is what I told her too. First try a single drop and then wait till he feels anything and so on. I just thought maybe interaction with antidepressant could have a bad outcome.

In this situation he can try or not, that’s all there is.

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#9

I thought about that too. I will look into lactusa virosa too, thanks for the tip!

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#10

No doctor can tell you with any certainty otherwise. I’d rather believe someone who takes the same meds and Cannabis and even then it’s still dependent on the individual.

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#11

That’s my take too.

Last week a guy I met on work told me he doesn’t sleep more than 3-4 hours a night and that is fucking him up. He don’t want to use sleeing pills and stuff. He’s also no stoner, just drinks his beer on the weekend and that’s it.

I gave him a little bottle too. He took just one drop and slept for 9,5 hours the first time in months, he’s happy like a baby and me too.

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#12

Exactly, take things slow.

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#13

Tilidine is a pretty mild opioid. He is fortunate. Kratom is a popular tapering tool, so is loperamide.

He will likely fare far better with a taper than sudden stopping, especially with the anti-depressants (are they SSRI’s?)

The main way to heal the body and mind after addiction is by restoring the natural rhythms. Exercise is extremely important. Sleep and nutrition are very important.

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#14

I have severe bipolar disorder and chronic back pain from a crooked spine/army service. I take a handful of pills a day and smoke weed sunrise to sundown because I abused all the painkillers out there trying to find my own fix. Ultimately there is no perfect fix and cannabis is a bandaid not a cure. Therapy, medication and maybe a lil weed will help but chronic conditions and mental health issues can last a life time often getting worse not better. For me it was about embracing my situation and working on what solutions are available ie back stretches, special chairs, therapy every other week, medications, exercise etc. none of these fix the problem but they make it a little better. Gotta find your own answers for his situation but Sometimes that’s all you can do.

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#15

One thing to be aware of regarding CBD specifically, is that it tends to extend the half life of other compounds in your system.
My understanding is that the way in which it binds to various receptor sites, slows chemical uptake, similar to how caffeine prevents binding with adenosine receptors.
So if a patient begins consuming a therapeutic dose of CBD, and is on a medication that their medical team monitors, the patient should receive a blood panel to confirm if dosages of other medications should be adjusted.

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#16

This is correct. I also described it to her with aspirin use (own experience). If you need usually 2 pills to get away your headache it will take only half a pill with cbd and thc in your system. That’s why I’m seeking advice here.

I ask her what antidepressants he’s using.

My plan so far is that he took a drop instead of a pill and then go from there

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#17

He is right!
There is research out stating CBD does interfere with some drugs, I suspect cannabis does too, look at the anesthesiologist reports.

Also cannabis in his system may stop him from getting pain meds depending on what the rules are.
Pain managment doctors are a real bugger round here.

I have chronic pain and it gets worse the more I lay around, I need to stay active or I get real bad, it is a double edged sword, it hurts when I do and it hurts worse when I don’t, right now is the worst for me I have been in the house most of the winter.

But I feel stretches are my best choice to feeling better.
This keeps me from getting worse.
Of course you gotta do as much excercise as you can too.

One thing you may want to try is fresh juiced cannabis buds.
It is mostly THC-A at that point so less high is expected.

Also a person needs to find something in life that excites them, as someone previously said, it takes your mind off the pain.
I find this works well for me.
The distraction part.

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#18

When they can not find anything wrong it may be musculoskeletal or myofascial pain ect.
I have spinal issues as well as both of those.

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#19

Be careful about going cold turkey with anti depressants… I know from experience the side effects when coming off can be nasty

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#20

My long term advice would be low dose edibles like 5-10mg.

But first, a few puffs off a joint to see how he reacts. A bad edible experience will put someone off weed totally.

I know people who do this for pain management.

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