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CBD- Reduce Pain, Anxiety, Stress
“Enter cannabidiol, or CBD, a chemical found in hemp and marijuana. Although the science is far from conclusive, it has been marketed as a cure-all for problems as varied as anxiety, chronic pain, inflammation and sleep disturbances.”
CBD is not a silver bullet that can reduce the inflammation, pain, anxiety and sleep challenges that I face daily. But it is one of several evidence-based, non-conventional therapies that I take daily that eases a number of my long-term and late stage side effects.
I was diagnosed with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma in early 1994. Several years of conventional therapies didn’t work and left with with an increasing number of long-term and late stage side effects including:
- anthracycline-related heart failure,
- non-cancer related pain,
- corticosteroid-related osteonecrosis,
- vincristine-related nerve damage,
- subsequent risk of neoplasms, and
- cognitive impairment.
And those are just the serious long-term side effects. I’m not going to talk about cataracts or skin damage.
My main point is that long-term cancer survivors, according to research, live with many serious side effects. And CBD oil is a safe, easy, relatively inexpensive therapy. The studies linked below attest to CBD oils uses as well as its safety.
Are you a long-term cancer survivor. Do you have pain related to past chemotherapy regimens or radiation? Scroll down the page, post a question or comment and I’ll reply to you ASAP.
I take and recommend Charlotte’s Web. Cannabinoids with very little THC.
Thanks,
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Recommended Reading:
The Cancer Side Effects Program –
A large Australian longitudinal cohort registry demonstrates sustained safety and efficacy of oral medicinal cannabis for at least two years
Introduction-Oral medicinal cannabis (MC) has been increasingly prescribed for a wide range of clinical conditions since 2016. Despite an exponential rise in prescriptions and publications, high quality clinical efficacy and safety studies are lacking. The outcomes of a large Australian clinical electronic registry cohort are presented…
Results- 3,961 patients (mean age 56.07 years [SD 19.08], 51.0% female) with multimorbidity (mean diagnoses 5.14 [SD 4.08]) and polypharmacy (mean 6.26 medications [SD 4.61]) were included in this analysis.
Clinical indications were for:
- chronic pain (71.9%),
- psychiatric (15.4%),
- neurological (2.1%),
- and other diagnoses (10.7%).
Median total oral daily dose was 10mg for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 22.5mg for cannabidiol (CBD). A stable dose was observed for over two years.
37.3% experienced treatment related adverse events. These were graded mild (67%), moderate (31%), severe (<2%, n = 23) and two (0.1%) serious adverse events.
Statistically significant improvements at a p value of <0.001 across all outcomes were sustained for over two years, including:
- clinical global impression (CGI-E, +39%: CGI-I, +52%; p<0.001),
- pain interference and severity (BPI, 26.1% and 22.2%; p<0.001),
- mental health (DASS-21,
- depression 24.5%,
- anxiety 25.5%,
- stress 27.7%; p<0.001),
- insomnia (ISI, 35.0%; p<0.001),
- and health status (RAND SF36: physical function, 34.4%:
- emotional well-being, 37.3%; p<0.001).
Mean number of concomitant medications did not significantly change over 2 years (p = 0.481).
Conclusion- Oral MC was demonstrated to be safe and well-tolerated for a sustained period in a large complex cohort of cannabis-naïve, multimorbid patients with polypharmacy. There was significant improvement (p<0.001) across all measured clinical outcomes over two years. Results are subject to limitations of Real World Data (RWD) for causation and generalisability. Future high quality randomised controlled trials are await
Can CBD oil help anxiety?
“Cannabidiol is a compound derived from cannabis plants. It may help people with anxiety reduce their symptoms with few or no side effects.
Research on cannabidiol oil (CBD oil) is still in its infancy, but there is mounting evidence to suggest that some people can get relief from anxiety. In this article, we examine what CBD oil is and how it may help reduce anxiety symptoms…
People interested in managing their anxiety with CBD oil should look exclusively at research on cannabidiol, not generalized studies of medical marijuana. Although there are fewer studies on cannabidiol specifically, the preliminary research is promising.
A small 2010 study found that cannabidiol could reduce symptoms of social anxiety in people with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Brain scans of participants revealed changes in blood flow to the regions of the brain linked to feelings of anxiety.
In this study, cannabidiol not only made participants feel better but also changed the way their brains responded to anxiety.
A 2011 study also found that cannabidiol could reduce social anxiety. For that study, researchers looked specifically at cannabidiol to treat anxiety associated with public speaking.
Research published in 2014 found that CBD oil had anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects in an animal model.
A 2015 analysis of previous studies concluded that CBD oil is a promising treatment for numerous forms of anxiety, including social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The report cautioned, however, that data on long-term use of CBD oil is limited. While research strongly points to the role of cannabidiol in treating short-term anxiety, little is known about its long-term effects, or how it can be used as a prolonged treatment.
A 2016 case study explored whether cannabidiol could reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety-provoked sleep disorder in a child with a history of trauma. Researchers found that cannabidiol reduced the child’s anxiety and helped her sleep…”
Medical cannabis safely helps alleviate cancer-related pain, may reduce opioid use
“Medical cannabis can safely help alleviate cancer-related pain while reducing the medication burden for patients with cancer, according to a study published in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care…
In the Canadian study of 358 adults with cancer, Vigano and colleagues found that strains of medical cannabis with balanced proportions of THC and CBD conferred better pain relief than strains dominant in either THC or CBD. They also found an association of medical cannabis use with a reduction in overall medication burden and a decrease in opioid use.…”