Sixteen years ago, my mom had two difficult operations on her spine. Since then, she has been taking Tramadol, Clonazepam and Baclofen for pain – all of them twice daily. When these are not enough, she has to increase her dose of Tramadol. We would like to get her off these heavy drugs in favor of cannabis. Could you advise us on how to do it?
From the combination and dosages you state, it is obvious that the pain is intense and it would certainly not be advisable to wean your mother off of all her meds at once. It’s a question of first saturating the body with cannabinoids in a daily dose which would be comfortable for the patient on both the psychological level as well as for treating pain.
She needs to get into the state when a person does not have the feeling they need to take their painkillers earlier than what is prescribed. At the same time, you keep increasing the dosage of cannabinoids. If it were legal, cannabis extract, which contains the complete profile of cannabinoids and terpenes, would be best for that.
For fits of acute pain, vaporizing dried cannabis is good due to quick onset of pain relief and easy dosing, with short-term effect. Keep in mind that the feeling of pain and the feeling of being “too high” are individual, so it is not possible to easily determine the period of time it will take to transfer from opioid treatment to cannabis therapy, nor the timeframe of reducing the opioids. You need to consult your doctor about all this. And read the interview with Dr. Hřib in issue no. 1 of Cannabis Therapy.
Your Happy Doctor
Daniel Bárta, M.D. a.k.a. “Happy Doctor CZ” is a general practitioner. After finishing his degree in medicine, he worked for several years as a doctor in Malta, Nepal, and the Philippines. In Malta, he took part in semiofficial research on the effects of cannabis extract on leukemia cells, and has wide experience with patients who use cannabis as part of their treatment.
Do you have any questions about cannabis, but are afraid to ask your doctor? Ask ours! Just send an e-mail to poradna@konomag.cz and put “Happy Doctor” as the subject.
Source: Cannabis Therapy Vol. 2
Take a quick look at this preview of the contents:
Feel free to read, share and download here. Enjoy!
