Alright, apologies if this has been posted before, i've done a forum search and it's pulled up no related threads.

I've been suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/M.E for about 4 years, and as part of it i get incredibly bad muscle cramps. Painkillers, even the strongest stuff, seem to have no effect on me whatsoever, except for causing a slight headache. This beginning to interfere with my already highly disturbed sleep patterns. So, i have decided to try marijuana.. i need to relax anyway. However, i have slight anxiety, and i've heard tales of it aggravating that.. that's enough of a problem at the moment, so i really don't want that to get any worse.

Does anyone have any advice, or experience of using it to alleviate the symptoms of cfs?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Ianuam, I take it that you've never smoked before as you don't say, however a friend of mine uses it for her CFS/ME and has done for the past 10-12 years, no problems that I know of except trying to get/buy ANY good quality in the UK is a no-no unless you do a homegrow.
If you're worried about side effects etc., you can always try going over to Holland and having a smoke there, at least you'll be in good company, have a lot of decent quality draw and get to know what you like and don't like . On top of that you'll be able to buy some seeds, then come back and use UK420 for all the advice and help you could want to get a decent grow going and on top of that you get a decent holiday .
Like I said, I've never heard of any 'side' effects from this friend of mine, except maybe having fun and laughing a lot

I'm sure cannabis could help you.

you would need to find the right strain though, some cannabis, indicas for example can help with pain but can also make you somewhat lethargic.

in my opinion, you would be best finding a nice hybrid - sativa/indica mix that is good for pain, whilst energising you without anxiety.

Maybe an orange bud or DJ Flo could suit your need. I'm sure people will suggest which variety could help.

it is all about finding the strain that helps YOU then medicating in gradual quantities until you find the right level.

Good luck mate.

e2a Welcome aboard

hi , is the anxious feeling a bit like paranoia ,, if yes then i used to get that after the first spliff of the day every time then 15mins later i am chilled and reachin for the papers again ,, i use it for my back pain ,,, nirvana K2 ,,, easily grown and cloned ,,, good yield and moderate thc but if left for 10 wks its an exellent painkiller ,,, for me anyway ,,,,, ive tried alot too - ice - trance - sensi star - ak47(paranoia in a joint) - hawaian snow - bubblegum - power plant - afganxmoroc ,,,, i would recomend the hawaian snow if your not planning in doing anything , just my two bobs worth ,,,

Getting the seeds back seems somewhat risky, and for the home grow i'm somewhat concerned as to detection but I'm guessing that very small amounts are going to be quite difficult to detect?

Thanks for the help with the strains, i'll make a note of that

The best advice' get an appointment with a neurologist, who can prescribe sativex

this is a positive step in treating the malaise and fatgue with cannabinoids

Also as cfs is under the umbrella of cns problems they can also advise about pacing and healthy lifestyle.

heyo im a canuck and suffer; or used to suffer some of your ailments. a white russian direct from serious will help the pain management and aid you to sleep if taken only at night. i suggest a small inside grow for your own meds. research the medical marijuana forums for better infomation of what you require or talk to a compassion club in your area.

Righto, thanks alot for a direct strain. Still wary about a small indoor grow what with the recent busts, however.

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your problems, my father has been suffering from the same for several years now and has been happily smoking lightly to aleviate the symptoms. He has discussed this with GPs etc, and they have been in support of his self medication, although they warn about increasing the lethargy associated with the disease.

As for your anxiety, I suffered with that for years and things came to a head after a very bad break up (not my choice!) woud not even leave the house, eventually leaving my home town. I have been a heavy smoker for 15 years now and even complete abstinence did not stop the anxiety. I was introduced to a marvellous lady who was a Cognitive Analysis Therapist (CAT). After 16 hour sessions with her my life has been transfomed!

People don't realise how your life and health are affected by anxiety, and as much as I'd love to listen to the government, toking helps me deal with it, as long as I don't forget what I learnt in my therapy, and no, I'm not an American therapy freak, but I know what youre going through and I hope this helps!

Good luck

ME is under the neurological umbrella. CFS was devised entirely by Wessley-school psychiatrists in order to add a false psychosomatic element to the condition. In my experience; consultants rarely want anything to do with ME patients. Strong opioids can take a lot of fighting alone to get. I don't think there are many cases where a ME patient has been able to get Sativex prescribed. It would be more likely to get it from a supportive GP on a named-patient private prescription.

Dr's who try to treat ME as a physical illness with physical remedy are commonly chastised by the various governing bodies. This excessive scrutiny of every action they take makes them reluctant to prescribe schedule II controlled drugs. Let alone unlicensed schedule I drugs. If you can find a very supportive medical Dr then it might be possible, but I fear getting Sativex for ME is unlikely in the current climate.

sorry to "hijack" the thread a bit,but being an MS sufferer and not having a "sympathetic neurologist" is there such thing as a list of neurologists that CAN prescribe Sativex,i am fed up and frustrated trying to convince mine otherwise !!!!

Hi there, sympathy going out to all you sufferers out there!

I myself have ME/CFS and smoke for it. In my experience it does help a great deal, particularly with the sleep element and in helping to deal with the pain. Perhaps somewhat oddly, I also find it helpful with the 'brain fog'!

A point to be recognised in relation to ME is that it can help you rest when needed, even if you want to ignore the fact! This would account for the possible perceived increase of tiredness some see, but I have noted it to occur only when I've been pushing it a bit too much and need the rest regardless.

As for strains, it seems to be horses for courses, as what one person finds effective for their peculiar blend of symptoms another may not find quite so useful. Having said that, I find any to be better than none, especially with the aiding of sleep.

The concern over anxiety is a valid one if one is of an anxious disposition, yet I myslef have suffered with anxiety and have not experienced ill effects from smoke. It's not really necessary to smoke a great deal for the useful effects to be noticable so if used purely on that basis I think it much less of a concern than if one smoked heavily.

Oh, and no, I've never heard of anyone with CFS getting prescribed sativex and at the moment I also deem it unlikelier than Gordon Brown's entry into Miss World 2010.

Hope that helps someone!

I have ccfs and do get Sativex

My cfs is at end stage so rare if any remissions now

cfc is under the cns dysfunctional disease processes

ME was a misdiagnosis parody

its neither myalgic or encephalographic related, it often starts with Epstein Barr virus or a cross bacteria of the enteric virus

also if you have to take statins ,these can exacerbate the muscle weakness and burn.

I never said ME's original pathological theory was correct. Although I think you would find it interesting to read up on the psychiatrists that coined the CFS term in the first place. Namely Simon Wessley and Peter White among others. If you stick to the official criteria for "CFS": You are basically implying that your condition is in least part psychosomatic. Remember it is these Psychiatrists who were receiving lots of preferential funding from the US Medical/Disability insurance lobby in order to do so. That way they could often get out of paying out on a claim by using the "Psychiatric/psychosomatic loophole."

For that reason alone, I wouldn't trust Wessley's clinical work on defining CFS at all. Dr Melvin Ramsey (who defined ME after studying the Royal free outbreak:) Never accepted his original 1950's work as an absolute definition of ME. He continued to study throughout the decades until his death in the early 90's. He studied "outbreaks" and endemic cases the world over both in present time and historically to refine "ME" as an illness beyond the original scope of Myalgic Encephalomyletis.

Recent research has shown more clear physical signs giving even more validation to his work. Modern MRI technology has shown an alarming incidence of lesions in the brain-stem and irregularities in the hypothalamus (Dr Charles Shepherd's work among others.) Alongside this are those studies discovering specific immune and DNA markers in confirmed ME cases against healthy controls. Whilst Epstein-barr or enterovirus virus families are candidates, they are by no means the sole cause of ME.

The identified genetic markers giving way to predisposition support this: A reasonable number of ME sufferers who have had the condition for more than 25yrs show no evidence of significant original virus infection whatsoever. They appear to have acquired ME through exposure to Organophosphate-based pesticides; chemicals that are very similar in makeup to nerve agents. While tighter controls on pesticides regulation has meant there are fewer who have developed ME this way: They still do crop up. Some nasty bacterial infections in combination with lesser viral infections have also been cited as precursors to developing ME.

So it would seem that the CFS definition is simply not up to scratch to cover all this, whereas at least Me has adapted to be flexible. A more modern inclusive term that can be used is "CFIDS" (Chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome.) But only ME has adapted to move along with the latest clinical research and therefore is the term most patients and experts will use. It also has been fully recognised as an organic neurological disorder by the World Health organisation since 1969 (ICD-10 G93.3).

Group's like AFME may try to promote the CFS agenda under a thinly disguised veil of "ME/CFS." But the fact that they constantly push for bogus pseudoscience ME "treatments" like CBT and GED means I give their opinions very little credence.

southpaw.

Did you have any trouble convincing your doctor to prescribe it to you? The ones I have tried just don't seem to want the responsibility (or to blight their careers with a contentious issue).

No offence, but this isn't the place for a deep 'n' meaningful on what if ME / CFS etc. This is about the smoke.

I had ME for 2 years from 2005, mainly physical, with quite a lot of pain ("neuro-skeletal", whatever that is). The smoke worked for me - strains of skunk, smoked in a bong, as pure as possible. When you have a fatigue condition you need to stay as healthy as possible so it's best not to make your body endure lots of tobacco smoke. My specialist was supportive and it worked fine with small doses of amytriptylene for the pain.

Smoking a small quantity every day allowed relaxation, alleviated pain and mental suffering, aided sleep and good appetite. I don't know how I would have survived without it.

Here's the bit you won't like - in order to get better you do need to quit. Even if it is just while you are doing your therapy course, quitting is worth is as you may need to re-wire parts of your brain.

And the ending of this post? After 2 years ME free, I've relapsed.....Oh shit, not so clever after all...

where did I leave that bong?