View Full Version : Osteoarthritis pain
My knees are a mess. The years of farming & lots of heavy lifting, as well as being overweight much of my adult life has really taken its toll. Bone spurs, degrading cartilage - truly ugly x-rays! I've been medicating with prescription strength ibuprofen, and worrying about the systemic impacts, though I only take it every so often.
So, I decided to try the alternative med, which is marijuana. It's been at least 15 years since I even considered doing this, largely for health reasons. I had some a friend baked into brownies, just a wee bit, and the pain is largely gone.
I was in lots of pain after 5 hours of gardening yesterday, and I just took an great walk with my DH. I feel so much better! Amazing. I now understand the drive for medical use. I may get a prescription! I wish I could talk my elder father into trying it - he has intense chronic pain due to degenerative bone and joint diseases, and end stage cardiac issues. Don't know if the heart stuff would preclude use, but the pain management, well, it's amazing.
Anyone else using marijuana for osteoarthritis pain?
Nope - no Dope! Advil for me, though I feel for you. The arthritis in my fingers has really been brothering me of late - often shooting pain. When I discussed it in my last physical - my doctor basically said there was nothing I could do. I just don't accept that - but I am not into taking a lot of drugs.
I have lots of family members on both sides with arthritis. I remember my grandfather (a hard working farmer and rancher) was always in such pain from his arthritis in his fingers. He tried almost any thing that came along promising relief. The endless pain and disfiguring hands is nothing I am looking forward to.:(
Greg, I am going to my doc this week to discuss this, as the damage advil/ibuprofen can do to one's liver is an issue. It is a drug - just a legal one; and I am with you, I don't like taking drugs. I wonder what data there is regarding health effects of ingested marijuana. Here in Seattle it's not much of an issue, and there are licensed dispensaries, though they operate in a legal grey area.
It's been incredible to be out of pain today.
Marijuana is a drug just like Advil, etc. No different. And in my opinion much better for pain related issues as well many, many other usages. Cooking MJ for pain relief has a few advantages over smoking or vaporizing. It may take up to an hour or even longer to take effect, but it prolongs the drugs effects for several hours longer than if you were to smoke. This is great for people using medical marijuana for arthritis. The medicated state can last up to 5 hours and sometimes longer.
I would do what it takes to feel good. The stigma of MJ usage still exists for some - I think it has more to do with generational experience and of course in some locations is considered "evil" but for the most part is accepted as a valid and wonderful choice for the usage you describe.
BTW - I smoke for recreational purposes and not pain relief so I have no first hand experience. Let us know of your experience.
Peace
My right hand fingers are disfigured and my knees need replacing, but I'm choosing to treat them very conservatively. As far as my knees, I have discovered that certain exercises help tremendously. They strengthen the muscles that support the knee. Using a bike or a peddler device helps to produce good fluid in the knee joints too.
I've made alot of compromises. I ride the electric carts in big stores, and we bought a golf cart to get around the property in. I can't take NSAIDS. They help alot, but then my entire GI tract shuts down very quickly. And I've discovered that our GI tracts indeed are our 'Second Brains' and really affect our totally well-being.
I can't work any job that would require me standing alot. I might be interested in marijuana as a medication, but when I smoked it in my younger years, it made me unbelievably ill. I never understood that. Everyone else would be totally enjoying it, and I would be dizzy and nauseous to the point of being incapacitated. (I always knew my brain was different!!)
I really think educating ourselves on the exercises that help our bad joints is a big part of the answer to keeping our function as long as possible, without surgery or drugs.
I've heard tart cherry juice is very good, as is glucosamine and chondroitin, but my GI tract can't even tolerate those.
So for me, its exercises, ice to the affected joint, tylenol (in moderation). I have the feeling that some of my eating habits are hurting my joints (carbs, salt, sugar), but its really hard to completely give those up.
dado potato
3-28-11, 12:11am
Growing older is not for cowards. Joint pain is one frequent companion of the AARP discount. I am not aware of a remedy that is risk-free. DW has used ibruprophen, then, under doctor's Rx, continued with cortisone injections, surgery and (painful) daily physical therapy and excerises. Massages from the old man help some. But sometimes it is just tough. We enjoy what we can, endure what we must, one day at a time.
I just read that celery seed extract is good for osteoarthritis. Also turmeric. I use boswellia and accupuncture on the cats. After my recent experience with a chiropractor, I highly recommend it. I have acheived 90% pain relief in my lower back after only 3 months of treatment. One caveat is that you MUST do the exercises at home also. Apparently a lot of patients (75%) according to my doc) do not do the exercises at home and then wonder why they aren't any better.
I find it absolutely ridiculous that something that has such a proven effect as a pain and nausea reliever is so stigmatized, while alcohol is not only legal but (in Washington at least) sold directly by the state! I think you should take whatever you need to to relieve your pain and help keep you contributing to society, redfox.
lhamo
Thanks all! I look forward to marijuana being legal. In the meantime, I am continuing to use it for pain.
Redfox did you see Dr. Oz 3/29/11 he had a good panel discussion about Medical Marijuana - for and against, a very
lively debate.
Wildflower
3-30-11, 6:25pm
Redfox, glucosamine chondroitin with MSM has helped me tremendously. I've been taking it for a few years now. I quit taking it for a couple months and the pain and stiffness came back with a vengence. I could barely function. So I faithfully take it daily now. It does take a few days to a few weeks to kick in. I hope you try it.
In my pot smoking days MJ used to make me horribly paranoid and then terribly hungry. Neither added anything to my life, so I'm not so sure I would want to try it again for pain when I've already found a solution. I also do leg strengthening exercises that were advised by a physical therapist. They have strengthened my leg muscles so much and therefore less pressure on my knees. I'm working on the losing weight part too. I know that would be very beneficial as well....but easier said then done.
I do hope they legalize medical marijuana in every state soon. So many would benefit from it. I can see where it would be very helpful for a cancer patient that has lost their appetite, etc.
I can't respond to the marijuana aspects, but ibuprophen... Good lord. My doctor recommended prescription strength dose for bursitis, and I agree with Cathy. It really screws with the GI system. In a BIG way. It took me weeks to get myself straightened out. It's fine every so often at the OTC dose, but that's it!
domestic goddess
4-3-11, 3:05pm
While I'm not delighted that so many of us have chronic pain of one kind or another, it's good to know I'm not alone. The pain and stiffness in my kneeshas a big impact on my life, as I have to really consider that in terms of career choices, since I can't walk very far or for very long. In one knee the pain is from osterarthritis, in the other it is from a damaged MCL. Glucosamine and MSM has really helped with the pain; doesn't do much for the stiffness. Everywhere I go people ask if they can help me, which is nice, but I'm really not that badly off yet. Still, I can't see myself smoking pot, though I did in my younger days. I'm a nurse, and if it should show up on a drug test, that would be the end of that, I guess. Some family members try to get me to smoke occasionally, but my lungs wouldn't be very accomodating, since I have asthma.
So, I take lots of ibuprofen, my glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM combo, am working on losing weight (I hear you, Wildflower, about it being easier said than done) and I found a video of exercises for people with knee problems, so will probably take a look at that, soon. I get up and move around when I can, which helps the stiffness some, but try not to do too much when the pain is really bad. Got reamed by my dd the other day for texting her a question when she was in the basement, but she doesn't really understand how much pain there is, some days. In another 30 years, though, I can't wait to hear her complain.
My mother has pretty severe arthritis in her hands, as did her mother. I'm doing better at this age than she did, though. One little finger has a bit of a curve at the last joint, but no pain. I've heard that hot wax treatments can be helpful. I have also used capsaicin on my knees, with good relief, but I know a number of people who get burned from it. I guess I'm not overly sensitive to much, as neither the capsaicin nor ibuprofen bother me at all. But just the smell of burning pot makes me nauseous, so I doubt that will be a good solution for me, along with the whole respiratory thing, because I am very sensitive in that regard.
I wish there would be a good solution for us "older folks", with arthritis problems. Growing older certainly isn't for sissies!
Domestic Goddess, there are so many preparations of cannabis for pain, including tinctures, drops you can put into a cup of tea, sprays you can use orally, creams to massage on inflamed areas, & baked goods (called medibles! cute.) that there is no reason to smoke it.
As an experiment, I filled out an online form at a dispensary clinic to see if I qualify for a medical cannabis prescription. I don't think I do - but the clinic only charges me if I am accepted, so they have quite the incentive to accept me. The online form is a pre-screen; the next step is in-person, and I am required to bring my medical records & state ID. It's quite obvious that this is a grey area legally, which pending legislation in our state Lege will hopefully remedy.
In any event, I cannot afford the fee (nearly $150), and have more than adequate access to cannabis as it is. In Seattle, personal possession is the lowest priority for law enforcement - by law - and the DA has stopped prosecuting for it, so it's essentially decriminalized here.
We watched the movie Green Union last night. It makes good points; I wish it weren't so flip and cutsey counter culture; I'd love to have a scholarly version to show my retired attorney father. He would be put off by the foul mouthed former growers and users. The people he'd listen to are a Harvard professor who wrote a book some 40 years about how ridiculous the prohibition is, and the former mayor of BC Canada.
Well, the quest continues! And now, to the garden, where I get both my deepest satisfaction, and the most pain to my poor knees...
Did you try an anti-inflammatory diet?
Redfox -Do you happen to know the name or variety of the pot in your brownies? The concentration of the analgesic cannabidiols varies from none to lots.
I'm looking for the right pot for lower back pain.
Is everybody with this affliction stiff as a board when you first get up? man, when I first get up, I feel like I might crack into a thousand pieces! It gets somewhat better soon though.
Is everybody with this affliction stiff as a board when you first get up? man, when I first get up, I feel like I might crack into a thousand pieces! It gets somewhat better soon though.
Yeah, I am incredibly stiff all over and it takes a long while before I start loosening up. It is pure misery to get out of bed most mornings and it is not a good way to start the day. :( The last rheumatologist I saw thought I had a mixed disease of both Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. My Mother had RA and Lupus is on my Dad's side. CathyA, have you been tested recently for either disease? All over stiffness in the morning is one of the main symptoms.
Did you try an anti-inflammatory diet?
Until I know what foods you'd dis-include, I couldn't tell you.
Redfox -Do you happen to know the name or variety of the pot in your brownies? The concentration of the analgesic cannabidiols varies from none to lots.
I'm looking for the right pot for lower back pain.
Sorry, no. It was a gift from a friend who lives in N. Cali.
I found this on targeted use:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100909204549AAWnEBD
white beard
4-25-12, 12:01pm
I highly recommend checking out the website medicalcannabis.com and watch the video "Marijuana as Medicine". I have severe osteoarthritis in my right hip and knee and had my left hip replaced in 2006 for the same problem. I have used medical marijuana (it's legal here in California) for pain alleviation of my osteoarthritis for the past 6 years and consider it a godsend. It is safe, effective and, as I mentioned, perfectly legal in my state. Although some people (Greg44, for example) still consider cannabis "dope", don't be misled or negatively influenced by these naysayers. Call it what you will, this plant has some amazing analgesic properties. I wish you luck in finding relief from your pain and hope to hear from you that you have done exactly that, redfox.
Wildflower.......sorry, I just know saw your question to me. Yes, I've been tested for just about everything......Lyme, RA, etc., etc. I have fibromyalgia though. I also have osteoarthritis pretty bad.
It wouldn't surprise me if I eventually find out I have something funky.
My osteoarthritis has sped up alot recently. Now all my fingers hurt, along with my knees and feet. I didn't expect to have so much pain at 62 and to have all my body parts wear out so early in life.
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