medical cannabisprovides relief to patients with fibromyalgia

Everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing or cooking can become exhausting for fibromyalgia patients. In addition to being quite uncomfortable and evolving over time, this type of chronic pain commonly ends up causing other problems such as insomnia, intense fatigue and mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.

The drugs usually prescribed for the treatment of fibromyalgia (antidepressants, gabapentinoids, anxiolytics and muscle relaxants) often fail to control this myriad of symptoms, and increasingly, doctors and patients feel the need for new and more effective therapeutic alternatives.

Fortunately, scientific research on the use of medicinal Cannabis in the treatment of fibromyalgia has been bringing increasingly promising results. Many of these studies prove significant relief from fibromyalgia pain, even in the most severe cases. Continue reading and stay on top of this context!

 

Symptoms and Disorders Due to Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia predominantly affects women. One Brazilian study points out that 3% of women aged between 30 and 55 suffer from this disease, which is characterized by the occurrence of high-grade generalized pain. 

The level of pain perception increases over the years and, in some cases, the musculoskeletal discomfort is so great that it can become disabling.

Another complication of fibromyalgia are the neuropsychiatric disorders that arise associated with poor control of the disease. Over time, it is common for patients to develop sleep disorders, mood disorders, severe headaches, difficulty concentrating, among other symptoms that directly affect their quality of life.

Because it is a chronic disorder, treatment basically consists of controlling episodes of pain and improving the quality of life of these people. In addition to pharmacological therapy, the regular practice of physical exercises, psychotherapy and a acupuncture they are also highly recommended by doctors to treat fibromyalgia.

 

Cannabis and fibromyalgia: use of CBD and THC in the treatment

One of the most relevant scientific studies on the relationship between medicinal cannabis and fibromyalgia was carried out by Brazilian researchers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). This research, published in 2020, confirms evidence obtained in previous studies and updates important data regarding the use of phytocannabinoids in the relief of chronic fibromyalgia pain.

Among the results of the experiment, there was a reduction in the severity of the disease from 75 to 30 points, on the scale of 0 to 100 points of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ ) in patients who used cannabis-based products for eight weeks.

In the placebo group, the reduction was only 70 to 61 points on the FIQ scale during the same time interval. In addition to the significant result in relation to the decrease in the degree of the disease, the research also pointed to an improvement in aspects related to well-being, ability to work and pain perception.

 

THC and Fibromyalgia

It is important to point out that, in the aforementioned research, THC was the main active ingredient in the experiment, confirming the therapeutic potential of this substance in specific contexts. In the evaluated cases, it was possible to obtain significant medicinal effects even with a low daily dose of THC, which consequently reduces the possibility of psychoactive effects.

Including, as for medicinal attributes of THC, it is worth remembering that this phytocannabinoid has a unique therapeutic potential, even compared to CBD in several clinical contexts, such as its ability to modulate the perception of painful stimuli in chronic pain situations.

In addition, the substance is also potentially effective as a muscle relaxant, appetite stimulator and sleep inducer. Which is very welcome in the treatment of other disorders that, as we said, often arise as a result of fibromyalgia.

 

CBD and Fibromyalgia

Another survey, conducted by researchers from Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, showed that, from a group of 2,701 patients with fibromyalgia, 32% of them used CBD as a therapeutic agent to combat the chronic pain of the disease, anxiety and sleep disorders.

This article indicates that the use of CBD is common among people with fibromyalgia and the results infer that many patients benefit from the use of CBD in different aspects of the disease. The authors suggest that clinicians should discuss the use of CBD with fibromyalgia patients and that future studies are needed to more rigorously assess the therapeutic value of CBD for fibromyalgia symptoms.

Therefore, it is essential that physicians expand their therapeutic arsenal and seek adequate training for the safe and effective prescription of cannabinoid derivatives. It is essential to have extensive knowledge about the profile of prescribed products to develop assertive dosage strategies.

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