Medical Marijuana

Here you can share your experiences with substances that are ingested, inhaled, or otherwise consumed for the purpose of relieving RLS, other than prescription medications. For example, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements, diet, kratom, and marijuana (for now) should be discussed here. Tell others of successes, failures, side effects, and any known research on these substances. [Posts on these subjects created prior to 2009 are in the Physical Treatments forum.]

Important: Posts and information in this section are based on personal experiences and recommendations; they should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a healthcare provider.
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Polar Bear
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Location: United Kingdom

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by Polar Bear »

I guess I was thinking of what could happen taking it from USA home to UK..... drug sniffer dogs ??
Do I watch too many movies.....
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

Rustsmith
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by Rustsmith »

PB, this is one area where you cannot claim too many movies. In Colorado, the tourists are warned when you make your purchase that you cannot take it out of state. I have not seen them yet, but I understand that there are lots of signs and a few trash can disposal sites for people who are tempted to take their purchases home. I suspect that there are a number of drug dogs around and that they are kept quite busy.
Steve

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Rustsmith
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by Rustsmith »

Okay, final report on my experience with MM during an 8 day stay.

1. The MM allowed me to get a full nights sleep. I averaged about 7.5 hrs of sleep each night that I took it (as compared to about 4 hrs without. It was nice to wake up to sunshine for a change.
2. I was not able to reduce the dosage of either medication that I take (Neupro and gabapentin).
3. Side effects - two times during the week I had to get up during the middle of the night. I found that I had very poor coordination and that my blood pressure was so low that I had to move quickly to avoid fainting. Moving quickly is not realistic when you are stumbling around due to poor motor control of you legs.
4. I found that I had a mild headache each morning, sort of like a hangover. It slowly disappeared each day and was not bad enough to alter anything.
5. The first night that I did not take the MM, I had problems falling asleep and ended up taking eszopiclone so that I could get some sleep before a very early run to the airport.

So, the summary is that it was generally a favorable experience in that it allowed me my first full nights sleep in over a year. The cost was also a fraction of what I was expecting to have to pay, and like anything else, the tourists pay more than the locals.

So, if you can arrange a trip to one of the states where MM is available for recreational use, by all means try out the edibles. It is a simple, clean way of getting MM without the need to get involved with the issues associated with smoking anything.
Steve

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

NatWest
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by NatWest »

Good morning, Steve. Thanks for your detailed update. It's very helpful to understand what your experience was like and compare it to what I've experienced.

I found that I had similar side effects a couple of times when I used the ethanol based tincture, mostly it was a feeling of dizziness, like I might fall down if I didn't hold onto something. I thought it must be the ethanol, about 150 proof, and decided I would only use it at the beginning of the night, or no later than 1:00 am, so it would be out of my system by the time I got up. Not sure if that's what you used, but your symptoms sounded very similar to mine.

Withdrawal from the Mirapex was difficult, painful, and exhausting, even taking the MM at the same time. Going down from 3 pills/day to 2 was pretty easy, I did that for about 4 days, then went down to 1/day, taking 2 Marinol, still not too bad. But when I eliminated that final one, I spent about 4-5 nights up pacing around for hours and became pretty exhausted. Even the MM did not overcome the symptoms induced by withddrawal. Once I finally had the Mirapex out of my system things became easier. But I know that doesn't make too much sense to do that when you don't have something readily available to replace it.

For now, my go-to is still the vapor pen. I know this would be easier if studies had been done to determine what varieties and what dosages work best for rls. I know it works for me, so I'm trying to fine-tune it, looking for something that will release into my system about the time the vapor pen wears off, and stay in my system another 3-4 hours. This won't be the solution for everyone, but for me, I am very happy to be free of augmentation all day long, and knowing it would just keep gettng worse.

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure your experience will help others who are considering making the move to MM. :)

Rustsmith
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Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by Rustsmith »

Thank you NatWest, your early input was very helpful to conducting my experiment. I wanted to use a tincture, but had to go with edibles in the form of dark chocolates. The large store that I visited was out of most of the tinctures. So, the only ethanol in my system was a half glass of white wine around 4PM each day.

However, my "experiment" is not over. We expect to move to Colorado in the very near future. So once I get my red card, I can continue on this journey. And hopefully my doctor will have arranged for me to be free of DA's by the time that I get here (using an opiate cover/replacement treatment).
Steve

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

NatWest
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by NatWest »

Hi Steve, thanks for the clarification. I hope everything goes smoothly for you, and I'll look forward to further updates about your move.

I tried my first edible over the weekend, in the form of 2 peanut butter cups. They didn't work at all, but they were sooooo delicious! :) Yesterday I baked a batch of cookies from a recipe I just got. Unsure if it worked, so going to double up the per-cookie dosage and try again tonight. Though I did get a total of 8 hours of sleep last night, I woke up with symptoms around 12:40. I was back asleep within 10 minutes, after consuming an Agave Stix, so not sure which one gave me those additional 5 hours of sleep. Maybe both.

I think for most people, MM treatment for rls will be a matter of experimenting and fine tuning.

Polar Bear
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Location: United Kingdom

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by Polar Bear »

Thank you Rustsmith and NatWest for the benefit of your experiences.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

Yankiwi
Posts: 548
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:20 am
Location: West Coast, South Island, New Zealand

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by Yankiwi »

Hi Polar Bear, I agree with Rustsmith, you can't watch too many movies.
I wouldn't dream of trying to cross a border with any drug, no matter how small the amount. New Zealand has very cute dogs at the airport who can sniff out a banana peel or a backpack that had an orange in it last week. Discovering marijuana would be easy!

ViewsAskew
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Location: Los Angeles

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by ViewsAskew »

Oh, those cute airport drug dogs can find just about anything, lol. My MIL tried to smuggle homemade salami her to the US (her family in Italy made it for her). A cute little Beagle wagged and wagged right at her bag :-).

I wonder - does anyone using MM also have PLMS?
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Bess
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 9:08 pm

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by Bess »

OK, reporting in.
It seems the CBD hemp oil vaping worked well for my insomnia and for my legs, but only if I vaped a decent amount of it. Recently though, it seems to have stopped working at all. Maybe I got tolerant to it? Or maybe it was just placebo effect the first few times? I'm not sure. In either case I doubted the hemp oil variety would be quite strong enough to have an effect. Oh well.

NatWest
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by NatWest »

Bess, sorry to hear the hemp oil has stopped working. I had a similar experience with my first MM vapor pen, and discovered I was supposed to keep it, and most other MM products, in the refrigerator or they lose their potency. Don't know if that's a factor with hemp oil, but thought I'd mention it.

ViewsAskew
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Location: Los Angeles

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by ViewsAskew »

This stuff can be so tricky to figure out.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

NatWest
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by NatWest »

Yes, ViewsAskew, someone should write a book called "Using, Storing and Maintaining your Marijuana," just to get you started. Then it would be nice to find a web site where you could click on RLS and it would give you a list and description of all MM products that have been shown to be effective for treating it. That would simplify everything. Then you could go to the dispensary and ask informed questions! :)

ViewsAskew
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Location: Los Angeles

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by ViewsAskew »

I did find a list - I didn't save it, though - that did list all the different strains and what they were good for treating. But, I didn't stay long and am not sure how comprehensive it was. Maybe it's in my history...
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

NatWest
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Medical Marijuana

Post by NatWest »

I just found this:

Best Strains for RLS: Blue Moon Rocks, Big Bang, Deep Chunk, Citral, Herijuana x Trainwreck, Medicine Woman, Juicy Fruit, Jack Herer, C99 x Great White Shark, Blue Satellite, Hog, Chronic

Very Best Strains: Oregon 90, Lemon Haze, White Berry

Going to write this down and take with me on next visit to the dispensary. Also going to keep looking on google .....

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