cannabisnews.com: Migraine Sufferer Finds Relief from Marijuana Migraine Sufferer Finds Relief from Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on June 01, 2005 at 08:05:30 PT By Shirley Hsu, Staff Writer Source: Whittier Daily News California -- Not a week goes by that Julie Garcia doesn't get a migraine. It's not the type of headache you can take two aspirin for, or draw a hot bath and wait it out.It's a splitting, unrelenting pain that lasts hours and renders her unproductive for an entire day. "It's just pounding and pounding ... It's awful. It's really awful,' said Garcia, 36, who's been getting the migraines since she was a teen. Garcia, who lives in Santa Fe Springs, used to take drugs such as ibuprofen and codeine to treat the pain, but worried about the cumulative effect a lifetime of using the drugs would have on her liver.Then, last September, a doctor recommended that she use marijuana."It does wonders for the migraines,' she said. "It relaxes your head, and the muscles in your head.' The drug doesn't have the side effects the prescription medications had, said Garcia, who also smokes to relieve the pain from back and neck injuries from several car accidents years ago. The former manicurist is now on permanent disability.Her case isn't unusual, said Dr. Philip Denney, a family practitioner based in Orange County who now specializes in medical marijuana.Denney said he recommends marijuana for many of his patients who suffer from migraines."Cannabis is one of the best medicines for migraines,' he said. "It's so effective - it works rapidly, and it has limited toxicity,' although lung damage from smoking is a concern, he added.Marijuana can effectively stop a migraine from happening if used at the first onset of a headache, Denney said.What's more, it takes "relatively small amounts,' to treat some pains, he said. "People don't have to get high. You don't have to be impaired,' he said.Meanwhile, Garcia makes the three or four hour trip, with traffic, to West Hollywood, where at least seven marijuana "collectives' or clubs dispense the drug.A dispensary a little closer - like in Hacienda Heights - would be a godsend, she said.She also dreams of a day when the medication will be covered by her insurance - she spends hundreds of dollars a month on the drugs, she said.But for now, Garcia wishes people would stop demonizing the drug and people who use it."Drinking is far more dangerous (than smoking marijuana),' she said. "I don't understand. It gets me so mad - that something so lethal of a killer (is legal) ... and something that can save lives isn't.'Note: Medical marijuana relieves her symptoms without dangerous side effects.Newshawk: MayanSource: Whittier Daily News (CA)Author: Shirley Hsu, Staff WriterPublished: May 31, 2005Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc.Contact: steve.scauzillo sgvn.comWebsite: http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Hemp For Headacheshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hh.pdfMedical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmTaking a Leaf From 'Pot Docs'http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19776.shtmlMedical-Marijuana Evaluators Are Inhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18330.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #38 posted by Hope on June 02, 2005 at 08:32:14 PT Adopt a highway.... Just be sure to keep an eye out after the sign is posted saying that your local NORML chapter has adopted a section of highway, to be sure that no one thinks it might be a grand idea to "over grow" that little section of America!*smile* [ Post Comment ] Comment #37 posted by Hope on June 02, 2005 at 08:29:39 PT runderwo Check with your local NORML chapter to get the project started in your own area. Send an e-mail to the national organizations to find out if they've ever mentioned it on a national level as a good public relations option to the individual chapters. [ Post Comment ] Comment #36 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 22:53:24 PT runderwo I don't think it has ever been done. I remember road side clean ups happening but that was a long time ago and I can't remember the details. [ Post Comment ] Comment #35 posted by runderwo on June 01, 2005 at 22:48:58 PT FoM No I haven't. As a newbie to the cannabis reform movement, I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the history of the reform organizations themselves. It seemed like an obvious idea to me, so obvious that I thought it must have been attempted at some point in the past... [ Post Comment ] Comment #34 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on June 01, 2005 at 22:16:11 PT ekim The death sentence for marijuana in Indonesia is un human. GOD DAMN THIS KIND OF HUMAN TREATMENT !!! They treat people like they are nothing but a thing. These people who do this are human trash. [ Post Comment ] Comment #33 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 20:54:18 PT runderwo I believe your idea of doing service in the name of one of the reform organizations is an excellent idea. Have you mentioned it to anyone at NORML or MPP? [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by runderwo on June 01, 2005 at 20:41:18 PT community service Has NORML or anyone related to cannabis reform looked into doing volunteer community service as representatives of NORML or MPP or some reform group? Specifically, I'm thinking about doing things like volunteering for the Red Cross or adopt-a-highway or something along those lines, that gets us exposure as normal citizens without necessarily confronting everyone we meet with the cannabis issue.I think this would do wonders for the public image of us lazy, apathetic, anti-social stoners. But I have a feeling this has been explored and probably some roadblock was run into related to what is "acceptable" for activists groups doing volunteer work.I would love to pick up trash or work at a soup kitchen for several hours a week as a representative of NORML as long as it contributed towards a positive association in the public perception! [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by runderwo on June 01, 2005 at 20:36:22 PT LTE "And now everyone wants to legalize marijuana as it will save money and police lives! That is ridiculous. I read the commentary about the four Mounties being killed that suggested if marijuana was legal they would not be dead.That is a completely self-serving statement from a pothead trying to get his favorite drug legalized. Those brave officers were killed serving a warrant for stolen property and found the grow-op while serving that warrant."This is the kind of thing that I mean when I say that we need to be careful with our statements especially in the media. I remember blame being placed on his hatred for cops from his previous marijuana-related arrests, which would not have happened if not for prohibition. Unfortunately, the claim that these murders would not have happened if it weren't for these previous arrests is speculation at best - however, it was passed off as our position by the media.The position should have been that marijuana is unfairly implicated here because the police were searching for stolen goods at the residence of a subject with a known history of violent and anti-social behavior, and that *no* conclusion regarding marijuana prohibition can be drawn from this event. But by overstating our claim, some dumbass prohib got an easy shot at us.Remember, political debates are won by employing three tactics: appeal to reason, appeal to ethics, and appeal to emotion. We are doing pretty good on the ethics side, and with the medpot issue, pretty well on the emotion side too. If we can reason consistently and irrefutably, then all we need is time and the walls will eventually come crashing down. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n861/a08.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 19:49:10 PT Sam I was raised Catholic so yes what you say is true about sex before marriage and condoms but they go to confession before receiving Communion. That makes it A OK to the Church. Church rules always drove me crazy. That's why I don't go to any church anymore. [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by Sam Adams on June 01, 2005 at 19:39:56 PT Rasta I'm afraid that Rastafari is not exactly equal-rights when it comes to women, and there are some strict dietary rules.However, let's not get carried away here....not everyone is an Orthodox Jew, not everyone has to carry out Rastafari to the extreme either. There are plenty of Catholics who take Communion who also had sex before marriage, or used condoms.here's a story on the Supreme Court decision I mentioned....http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/06/01/court_upholds_law_on_prisoners_religious_rights/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by ekim on June 01, 2005 at 19:28:58 PT i hear ya Pain-- Comment #23 posted by mayan on June 01, 2005 at 18:24:03 PT unrelated Australian appeals Indonesian drug sentence: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/01/news/indo.php this is bull-- a boycott of travelers maybe, but don't try pinning this basscillyass on those who pity a human for inhuman treatment.here the trail got cold at a gov't site. where is the modern deep throat --why has this story not been seen by the masses. where is the Cinderella man when you need him http://www.leap.cc/howard [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 19:08:15 PT PainWithNoInsurance Life is full of problems. When things are going well I appreciate it. I know that bad times will come again but then they will leave too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on June 01, 2005 at 18:51:41 PT life Is So Full of Problems ?????? [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 18:32:33 PT ekim That sure would take away a headache for me if I had one. Thanks! I turned it on. They are singing Hotel California. Today from a Neil friend from Arizona she sent me a concert of Neil in Germany from May of 2002. He sang Let's Roll and he had a firemans patch on his sleeve. It sent chills down my spine. [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by ekim on June 01, 2005 at 18:24:33 PT loose the head ache see nbc Egales far well tour http://www.leap.cc/events [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by mayan on June 01, 2005 at 18:24:03 PT unrelated Australian appeals Indonesian drug sentence: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/01/news/indo.phpMarijuana eradication is a bust: http://www.thedailysentinel.com/story.lasso?ewcd=332a20217eac8c38Magic mushrooms and cannabis eased psoriasis: http://www.aberystwyth-today.co.uk/today/options/news/newsdetail.cfm?id=12809On a completely unrelated note, has anyone heard anything regarding the health of King Fahd? There are many conflicting reports and it makes one wonder. If Saudi Arabia becomes destablized it could effect the entire world's economy... King Fahd of Saudi Arabia reported dead: http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050527-123922-6459r.htmSaudis look to change of direction from King Fahd's successor: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=642322 [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 17:33:01 PT goneposthole I had serious migraines that put me down for days back years ago. It started with my nose feeling stuffy or like I was exposed to something I was allergic to. I took this drug for years and I do believe it was what might have caused my liver problems. It worked for headaches and I thought it wasn't addicting. Well it was. Now when I have those symptoms I get a wash cloth that is saturated with hot water and put a few drops of Eucalyptus oil on the cloth and inhale for a few minutes. The moist wash cloth helps and the oil is the most important thing. I pay $8.00 for 4 ounces of pure oil of Eucalyptus so it isn't expensive. It's been a god send for me. That's why I don't get those horrible headaches anymore. I also put oil in our pillow cases on a tissue every night.http://www.migraines.org/treatment/pro_frct.htmFiorcet: Common Uses: This medicine is an analgesic, barbiturate, and stimulant combination used to treat tension headaches. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by jose melendez on June 01, 2005 at 17:26:49 PT safer http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n877/a02.html?397 Reminder From The Doctor Vaporizing is an important technique for avoiding the breakdown products of burning. Follow-up interviews of patients who have made the switch report that they experience significantly less irritation to the throat and lungs. Besides being relieved of chronic bronchitis, improved pulmonary functioning appears to increase physical mobility and exercise. For those patients who medicate before exercise the experience is changed in a positive way. Prohibitionists conspicuously avoid mentioning vaporization because it detracts from their argument that anything smoked is not medicine. This censorship is prejudicial to public health and well-being. It represents a lapse of ethics and disrespect for medical fact. -Tod Mikuriya [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by goneposthole on June 01, 2005 at 17:14:19 PT my head hurts bad with migraines I have always suffered from headaches. Long before I ever smoked cannabis.I can always tell when one is going to happen.I experience several sneezes in a row, and then my sinus membranes become really dry. Tightness in the neck and shoulders along with a night of restless sleep is what always happens. The next day is a headache. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by Dankhank on June 01, 2005 at 16:48:16 PT Shellfish ... I missed the attraction of shellfish, I guess 'cause I never lived by the sea, or something ...Crabs are too much work for little return ... snapping the heads off of little red shrimps, ditto ...Cow was always so painless, and good ...just carve a steak and throw it on the fire, so easy ...Gut a pig and put the whole damn thing on a spit, wonderful ...Birds, in the middle there somewhere ... [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by E_Johnson on June 01, 2005 at 15:54:17 PT The Bob Marley song of the week In honor of our waiting for the Supremes:************************************************I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;I don't wanna wait in vain for your love.From the very first time I rest my eyes on you, court,My heart says follow t'rough.But I know, now, that I'm way down on your line,But the waitin' feel is fine:So don't treat me like a puppet on a string,'Cause I know I have to do my thing.Don't talk to me as if you think I'm dumb;I wanna know when you're gonna come - soon.I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;I don't wanna wait in vain for your love,'Cause if May is here,I'm still waiting there;June is here,And I'm still waiting there.Like I said:It's been five months since I'm knockin' on your door,And I still can knock some more:Ooh court, ooh court, is it feasible?I wanna know now, for I to knock some more.Ya see, in life I know there's lots of grief,But your decision will be my relief:Tears in my eyes burn - tears in my eyes burnWhile I'm waiting - while I'm waiting for my turn, See! [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by E_Johnson on June 01, 2005 at 15:48:31 PT Rasta women I'm not sure but I think it's like in orthodox Judaism, the women are expected to cover their heads and not bare their shoulders or arms, and not be heard from too much outside the home.But I read that women like Rita Marley are starting to change things. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by jared3602 on June 01, 2005 at 15:35:52 PT: Migraine When I get a Migraine the first onset is when my left eye goes blury and then I have about 10-20 before the pain hits and nothing will stop it. The only thing that works is taking 2 hits and lying down and trying to sleep through it without moving and no light.so what is the SC waiting for this i wonder if we are going to have to wait till the fall. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by charmed quark on June 01, 2005 at 15:26:32 PT Migraine I have the type of migraine that can leave me too disabled to work for days on end. I use to get 3 or so migraines a week. There are three types of drugs for migraines: preventatives; drugs to abort a migraine; and drugs to treat the pain and nausea with migraines.Over the years, I was on all of the preventatives: tricyclics like elavil, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, anti-seizure. I had horrible side effects with the ones that worked. I felt drugged all the time. The worst was the anti-seizure drug topamax. It's nickname is dopamax because it causes, in some, significant cognitive impairment.I can't use the abortants because of the type of migraine I have and its frequency. You shouldn't use abortants more than a few times a week. Plus, they make me feel like I'm having a heart attack. However, if you haven't tried the triptans like imitrex, you should give them a try.I don't use pain drugs like codeine and morphine because my migraines, while painful, are very neurological and the pain drugs just leave me dopey while I still have all the other symptoms.I use marinol because cannabis is illegal in my statement. It doesn't work nearly as well as cannabis but is still a major improvement over the other drugs i've used. it's too slow for an abortant ( cannabis is superb for this) but works well as a preventative. Unfortuantely, it causes some impairment and often anxiety attacks, something cannabis is less likely to do.It's a shame more physicians don't recommend cannabis or even marinol. For some, the benefit to side effects are vastly superior to the other drugs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 15:20:38 PT A Comment About Migraines This is weird for me to think of but it's true. I only got Migraine when I was a church lady! LOL!Oh no what does that mean! [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Hope on June 01, 2005 at 15:10:58 PT Migraine If you don't take something during the aura stage, it's too late by the time the pain hits. Nothing...absolutely nothing in the way of medicine will stop it once it hits the pain stage, in my experience. Thankfully, the aura is the signal to do something and do it immediately. There is usually, at least for me, ten to thirty minutes before the pain starts. Of course, you can sleep through an aura and wake up with the pain already in progress. After the pain starts...it's unrelenting pain and sickness until it ceases on it's own. The best anyone can hope for at that point is a dark room and perhaps sleeping through some of it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Hope on June 01, 2005 at 14:17:49 PT Rasta I've done a little research on Rasta and have noticed, in at least what I've read, a lack of mention of women. Can women become Rastafarians? [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 14:09:11 PT CSDP Ad Latest CSDP Ad: Canada Trumps USA: Approves Cannabis-Based Medicine http://www.csdp.org/publicservice/canadatrumps.pdf [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by E_Johnson on June 01, 2005 at 12:44:07 PT Sam I can't become Rasta Leviticus and I don't get along too well. I like shellfish too much to keep a Rasta diet. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on June 01, 2005 at 11:37:33 PT against the migraine I get migraine headaches so bad, aspirin won't dent them. Cannabis provides relief. The one and only substance that does provide some relief. The headache doesn't always go away, but it becomes tolerable. The high is umimportant, ti is the relief from the stress of the migraine. Smoke two joints, it's better than two aspirin or two shots of Scotch whiskey or two packs of cigarettes or two bureaucrats deciding which of any you can take.Give me liberty, death sucks. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 11:09:25 PT Sam Yes I read that yesterday and thought the same thing you did. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Taylor121 on June 01, 2005 at 10:59:37 PT Migraines Well, this was one of the primary reasons why I used cannabis. I have suffered from migraines since 3rd grade, the kind that left untreated ends you up at the toilet.I found relief in marijuana more so than any other medication I have taken. I had to stop cannabis a few months ago. My migraines have increased substantially to several a month, I am now addicted to caffeine because of migraine over-the counter medications having so much of it, and I have taken more immitrex (prescription) in this period of time than ever before (universities are stressful). In any case, I miss cannabis as a tool to both prevent (kills stress) and relieve my migraines/nausea. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Sam Adams on June 01, 2005 at 10:37:52 PT Supreme Court I don't know if people noticed, but yesterday the SC upheld the right of all sorts of people (specifically, peope in prison) to practice religion. Apparently, this was a big victory for the religious right. The good news is, the same religious right people are lining up to fight IN FAVOR of those Brazilian people who want to use the hallucingenic drugs in their rituals. This case will be heard by the SC later this year. Seems to me a victory here could have HUGE ramifications for MJ - we could all become practicing Rastafarians. Some of us already are! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on June 01, 2005 at 10:32:50 PT EJ Good One That sure made me smile! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by PainWithNoinsurance on June 01, 2005 at 10:30:27 PT Addicted society Many people suffer headaces because they are addicted to the drug caffeine, and they don't recognize the withdrawl symptoms when they experience them . Caffeine addicts (I am one) have to keep consuming regularl doses or will suffer a withdrawl headace. I know migraines are a different story, and those of use who are spared of this can be thankful.I'm sure there are plenty of expensive and dangerous drugs to treat migraines out there that very few people can afford and barley work, but the manual of life in this country says every sufferer must visit the pharmacy for relief.Noinsurance [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on June 01, 2005 at 10:11:46 PT Still no decision? I'm getting nauseous waiting.Oh wait, I have a cure for that! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by sam adams on June 01, 2005 at 09:14:45 PT hundreds of dollars? Sow your seed, Julie. It's the right time of year! I believe some of those clubs could supply you with a few clones also. If it was legal in my state I'd be off & running with a few big ol' containers on my deck. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on June 01, 2005 at 08:22:47 PT: Another 'non-existant' medical use Literally every week, we learn of 'new' uses for cannabis...which turns out to be the same old uses it always had. The same ones for which it had remained in the US pharmacopeia for over a century.And still the antis scream (with fingers jammed so far into their ears it's a wonder they don't touch) "No medi-cal use-es! No medi-cal us-es! NO MEDI-CAL US-ES!"While a liquid marijuana is ready to be marketed. The hypocrisy is so glaring now, you need shades. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment