D<\/span>istorted vision, excruciating headache, intense nausea, extreme sensitivity to stimuli; few things are as instantly debilitating as a severe migraine.<\/p>\n For Pamela Hadfield, co-founder of HelloMD<\/a> \u2014 an online service offering medical marijuana recommendations and advice \u2014 migraines were a lifelong problem.<\/p>\n \u201cIt basically felt like a bolt of lightning hit my head,\u201d Hadfield says, recalling her first migraine. \u201cI got very ill for a period of days, I was vomiting, I saw the aura [lights in front of your eyes that cause a loss of sight] and a pounding sensation where your head feels like it is going to explode off of your neck\u2026 It is a very uncontrollable feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n What started as an occasional migraine<\/a> intensified into a regular occurrence. At their worst, the migraines left her completely debilitated.<\/p>\n As a mother of three working full time, migraines were not only extremely painful for Hadfield, they were interfering with her life and causing constant anxiety. Her doctor\u2019s best solution was a Vicodin prescription, which helped with the pain, but left her worrying about her own developing dependence on the drug and the sustainability of using it long term.<\/p>\n \u201cI always carried a full bottle of Vicodin with me, wherever I\u2019d go, just in case,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n When new restrictions on Vicodin threatened her ability to keep using it, she knew she needed a better option.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when a friend suggested cannabis.<\/p>\n At first, Hadfield was skeptical. Her past experiences with cannabis had been in a recreational setting and they hadn\u2019t been particularly enjoyable. But desperate to find a solution for her migraines, she decided to give it a try.<\/p>\n The results have been incredible. While Hadfield hoped the cannabis use might help her deal with migraine pain, she didn\u2019t expect that it would cure her migraines completely. But it\u2019s been two and half years since Hadfield has had a migraine, and in that time, taking a regular dose of high-CBD<\/a> cannabis is the only change she\u2019s made to her routine.<\/p>\n Hadfield is not the only patient to find migraine relief from cannabis. Research<\/a> suggests that cannabis use can significantly reduce migraine frequency.<\/p>\n In one 2016 study<\/a> from \u201cPharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy,\u201d 85 percent of participants reported less migraines with the use of cannabis and average headaches per month dropped from 10.4 to 4.6.<\/p>\n Researchers believe there are several mechanisms that might explain cannabis\u2019 helpful effects. First, cannabis can help reduce the body\u2019s natural stress response \u2014 which can be a strong contributor to the onset of a migraine \u2014\u00a0and second, THC and CBD help aid in pain relief directly as potent pain-killers and anti-inflammatory agents.<\/p>\n THC can also aid in migraine relief by raising serotonin levels. And while the role of serotonin in migraines isn\u2019t fully understood, migraines are potentially linked to low serotonin levels, with some suggesting that increases in those levels may help ease migraine symptoms.<\/p>\n But researchers also warn that taking too much THC could have negative effects, actually increasing migraine symptoms. So starting with small doses and working your way up slowly is advised.<\/p>\n As for Hadfield, she is now migraine and Vicodin free, but says she still carries a bottle containing the same few pills that were in it years ago when she switched to cannabis.<\/p>\n \u201cI took it out one day and realized that I hadn\u2019t actually taken a Vicodin in months,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is a big reminder for me because sometimes I see that pill bottle and I am like, \u2018Wow, that is a problem that no longer plagues me. And that was 25 years of severe migraines.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Her advice to others in a similar situation? It\u2019s natural to focus on immediate pain relief, but don\u2019t forget to pay attention to preventative measures.<\/p>\n \u201cYou might smoke for immediate pain relief or eat an edible, and it often will help relieve the pain,\u201d Hadfield says. \u201c[But] when I took CBD on a consistent basis\u2026 I realized that it was a preventative measure and I no longer get migraines\u2026 I have not gotten a migraine in two and a half years.\u201d<\/p>\n While not everyone has results as dramatic as Hadfield\u2019s, she encourages others to treat cannabis like any other preventative option and not to wait until it\u2019s the last resort.<\/p>\n Originally published in\u00a0Issue 27<\/a>\u00a0of Cannabis Now.\u00a0<\/em>LEARN MORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n TELL US, <\/strong>how do you treat headaches?<\/p>\n The post Surviving Migraines with Cannabis<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Medical marijuana can be an effective treatment for severe head pains. Distorted vision, excruciating headache, intense nausea, extreme sensitivity to stimuli; few things are as instantly debilitating as a severe migraine. For Pamela Hadfield, co-founder of HelloMD \u2014 an online service offering medical marijuana recommendations and advice \u2014 migraines wereContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,384,85,2022,53,2919],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22413,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22412\/revisions\/22413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nRead More: Surviving Migraines with Cannabis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"