Medical Marijuana and Meniere's Disease

[GOLDIE111]

Recently been diagnosed with Meniere's, I am only 23 years old and the loss of hearing in my right ear and the thought of possibly losing all my hearing is making me very stressed/anxious (which I know can worsen the condition)

Has anyone used Marijuana as a stress reliever for this condition, if so does it help?

 

[mintblue]

I wouldn't recommend it. Marijuana may in fact make you more anxious. If you can get your hands on some pure CBD oil (made from the plant) that may or may not help with the side effects of Menieres (dizziness, vertigo, etc.) but you should be careful about how much you take. I'd avoid any strain high in THC.

 

[Ecip]

I'd agree with avoiding high thc strains. Your results may differ, and you always have the option for trying yourself, but I find that a high thc strain will make my T louder.. or I perceive it as louder. Not sure. A CBD strain doesn't seem to affect it.
Havent tried oil yet.

 

[donnyb]

I can't offer any advise on this, but I'll share a little of my own experience.

I have meniere's disease. I don't like the high from marijuana, but I've recently been experimenting with small dose edibles for persistent headaches. I've only been doing this off and on for a few months. One of the reasons I don't like marijuana is because too much of it (more than 1 or 2 puffs from the popular strains) can contribute to dizziness (in my experience). I haven't really liked marijuana since I was a young adult, though I did like it back when I was about age 15 to 20. I'll be 60 in December and have had Meniere's since 1990.

The candies I've been trying probably contain something like 1/3 or 1/2 of a hit from a joint. They are not uniform sized candies, so some are slightly stronger than others, and I use them accordingly. I rarely eat more than 3 medium sized pieces (maybe 1 "hit"), usually once per day and occasionally twice.

I haven't noticed any increase in vertigo attacks. The lightheadedness that I almost always experience from Meniere's seems to be very slightly reduced. The tinitis seems to be about the same or very slightly reduced. That's about all I can say about the effects on my Meniere's Disease. Marijuana effects everyone differently, and my experimentation with it is very new and up to now has not been consistent enough for me to think that it helps my Meneire's more than very slightly. But, then again, Meniere's is not the reason I'm trying it.

As far as my persistent headaches (which I assume are caused by sinus problems) I'm personally convinced that Marijuana is extrememly helpful to me. In fact I usually get from 5 to 24 hours of relief with a dosage that I believe (my own unscientific estimated calculation) is equivalent to about 1 hit from a joint.

I will try to describe what I mean by relief:

On a scale of 0 to 10, I would describe my pain level as about 2 to 4 on a fairly consistent basis and often as high as a 9. My small dose of Marijuana usually reduces it to between about zero and 3. More often it's zero and lasts at least 5 hours, and at least half the time it's more than 12 hours. It's very rare that I don't get a drop of at least 2 points on my subjective pain scale. I use the word subjective because I don't believe that pain can be accurately measured, at least not in this way. I think we perceive our pain differently at different moments. Which is why everything I just said is not truly scientific. But, I do believe that it indicates that more research is needed in the area of medical marijuana. And I've definitely concluded that it's worthwhile for me to continue my experiment.

I'm thinking that it's at least somewhat likely that I will always continue using it unless I begin to notice side effects that are too intolerable or risky; or if I find something that works as well or better and/or with less risk involved. So far I haven't found anything that works better for my headaces, at least not over the counter. Since the negative implications and side effects of low dose usage are so small for a person of my age, I don't believe there's any great danger in my experimenting with it in this manner. I've gone from an average of 3 full doses per day of either asprin or ibuprophin to an average of less than one full dose per day. I'm supposed to take one small dose of asprin per day as a precaution against potential heart attack, and some days it's either not convenient or not safe for me to use the marijuana; other times I'm either low on it our out, so I still do use those OTC drugs sometimes, but not nearly as much as I used to, which I believe is another benefit of the marijuana.

We go to doctors to manage our pain, as we should. But ultimately, unless we are institutionalized or hospitalized for some reason, we all have to manage our own pain. It's hard to find a Doctor who has the good sense to allow people to experiment with this treatment, at least in low dosages. In my state it's hard enough to get a doctor to fill out the paper work. Finding one who will actually work with you in trying the treatment is even harder. I'm glad some of the pharma companies are at least interested enough to make derivatives and synthetic versions of some of the components of marijuana. But, I can't help thinking that the reason Doctors often say they don't "believe" in medical marijuana is out of fear they may lose business. LOL

 

[donnyb]

I forgot to mention that the only drug that has ever been effective for me for Meniere's is Antivert. It helps a little when the dizziness is real bad or when experiencing vertigo. I think it might help prevent vertigo to a small degree, but that's a hard thing to be certain of. I still use Antivert, but probably only a few times a month. I haven't found any other drug to be significantly helpful, including marijuana.

I should also reiterate that the main reason I use such small doses for the headaches is because If I use too much (enough to feel "high"), the tinnitus often becomes worse (or at least I perceive it as worse) as well as the potential for dizziness and vertigo increasing very significantly. I have doubts that anyone who uses marijuana recreationally (to get high) would find any help for Meniere's. I suspect that the opposite would more often be true. At least that's my experience. Usually, if I smoke it and have more than 3 or 4 hits from a joint, I get dizzy. Sometimes it's so bad that it causes vomiting.