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Weed and migraines

Discussion in 'Medical Marijuana Usage and Applications' started by redhead420, Oct 4, 2010.

  1. #1 redhead420, Oct 4, 2010
    Hey I posted this in the apprentice section but no one responded, so I'm reposting it here in case anyone else is dealing with migraines. I thought you guys might find some info useful, since it helped me. I'm newer to mj but know a SHIT TON about migraines, so if you get them from mj, want to use pot to cure them or are just curious, here are a few things that may help.

    First, pot dilates the blood vessels in your head. Migraines are typically related either a constriction or an expansion of the blood vessels in the head. If you're already getting migraines, how do you know which kind you have? If caffeine makes it worse and heat makes it better, yours are caused by constriction. If this is the case, mj will ease your migraines. If caffeine makes if better and cold helps you, your blood vessels constrict when you have a migraine and it's probably not a good treatment. You should probably smoke when you don't have one.

    For those who get migraines AFTER pot: I've found that caffeine (like the concentrated kind in mcdonald's ice coffee drinks) helps regulate my head by constricting the blood vessels when I'm readjusting during the day or two after smoking. Also, consider whether or not you get migraines from allergies. It may be that smoking the ash is causing them, in which case, put only one toke's worth in at a time, smoke it and throw away all the ashes, or simply switch to a vape.

    Hope that helps! [​IMG]
     
  2. #2 Kevin08, Nov 6, 2010
    Thanks for the help, i'm actually getting a rec for migraines, so this is good info!
     
  3. #3 Dr Neko, Nov 17, 2010
    Interesting. +rep:wave:
     
  4. #4 whiskey, Nov 17, 2010
    This is not always true. Caffeine helps my migraines but so does smoking a sativa. I used to get delibitating migraines, as much as once or twice a week, and since I started smoking daily, my migraines have pretty much stopped other than once a month, which is hormonal.

    Marijuana does not help all migraines though, or all migraine sufferers. I have a friend who gets migraines just like mine and when she smokes any kind of weed, her migraines get worse. For me, an indica will not do anything, but a sativa will stop it dead in its tracks for as long as I'm high - at least and the stronger the sativa the better.

    Know your body, know your headaches and know your medicine - that's the key.
     
  5. #5 chicoguy, Nov 17, 2010
    That's interesting, Sativa makes my migraines 10x worse, indica 10x better.

    It depends on what kind of headaches you get.Migraines are generally associated with overly dilated blood vessels in the temporal regions causing them to expand onto neighboring nerve cells sending signals of pain to your brain. Tension headaches are commonly associated with a constriction of blood vessels.

    I wish more studies could be done between THC and migraines, its interesting that THC is a vasodilator, so it would make sense that a sativa species high in THC would make migraines worse, as is the case for me. On the other hand THC is a seratonin corrector so the trigger is treated which perhaps subsides the temporal dilation.

    With indica's however the trichomes breaks down into various cannabinoids when you wait longer for harvest (cloudy vs amber trichomes) and perhaps these cannabinoids have a antagonist effect on dilated vessels. Hopefully more research is done soon.

    More and more research is coming out showing the actual causes of migraines are chemical imbalances in the brain, mainly seratonin, caused by various triggers such as irregular sleep patterns, stress, foods, etc. Its best to treat the trigger, and not the symptoms.

    okay i gotta stop typing and get back to work :)
     
  6. #6 JennyFer, Nov 28, 2010
    Thanks for sharing this information!
     

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