Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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Medical Marijuana and Chronic Fatigue
When you struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome, cannabis can help with your symptoms. There are plenty of strains of medical marijuana for chronic fatigue for you to choose from depending on the symptoms most affecting you.

How and Why Marijuana Can Be an Effective Treatment for the Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue

Although there haven’t been many clinical trials or empirical studies on medical cannabis for chronic fatigue specifically investigating its ability to improve symptoms of ME/CFS, many patients who live in states that approve medical cannabis report experiencing relief from their symptoms for certain qualifying conditions.

Unrefreshing or disturbed sleep, muscle and joint pain, emotional imbalance and depression are all CFS symptoms medical cannabis can offer relief from. Some patients report marijuana even improves their main symptom of fatigue. Most report this was due to using Sativa-dominant strains because of their energizing effects.

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What Side Effects and Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Can Medical Marijuana Treat?

Although traditional treatments can be successful at relieving some symptoms of CFS, they may also cause their own adverse side effects. Cannabis and chronic fatigue treatment not only helps ease your CFS symptoms but also the side effects of the treatments. Some side effects of CFS medical weed can help with include the following.

Marijuana Can Help CFS Sufferers Sleep

There are numerous studies showing cannabis improves poor sleep. They demonstrate even with reduced REM sleep, marijuana increases deep sleep, which leads to greater levels of refreshment overall.

Marijuana Can Help CFS Sufferers Deal With Pain

Another well-established fact about cannabis is its ability to improve chronic pain. Studies have demonstrated medical pot’s ability to improve all types of pain, including neuropathic caused by dysfunction or injury of the nerve or nociceptive caused by other factors than nerve injury, such as inflammation in nearby tissue or wound.

Marijuana Can Help CFS Sufferers Deal With Depression

Other studies have shown marijuana’s effectiveness in treating cognitive impairment and depression depending on the regularity of use, dose and environmental and genetic factors.

Cognitive Effectiveness

Marijuana Can Help CFS Sufferers Deal With Drugs or Medication Effects

Often individuals may experience fatigue due to one or more medications they’re already taking for a different medical condition. For instance, steroids, antidepressants and sedatives may all lead to varying levels of fatigue.

Other symptoms marijuana for chronic fatigue helps with include:

  • Exhaustion
  • Headaches
  • Joint pain
  • Muscle weakness
  • Provides energy

Best Strains of Marijuana to Use for Chronic Fatigue Symptoms and Their Side Effects

The best approach in treating fatigue is to determine the underlying problem leading to it and treating it accordingly. In general, Sativa-dominant hybrid and Sativa strains are best for fatigue because of their energizing and mentally stimulating effects. Some strains specifically for treating CFS include the following.

Super Silver Haze (Sativa)

As a supreme, award-winning marijuana strain, Super Silver Haze has been around for a long time. It gives you an energizing boost to knock your fatigue away.

Jack Herer (Sativa)

An incredible energy-boosting Sativa strain, Jack Herer is useful for patients who suffer from fatigue, anxiety and depression.

Green Crack (Sativa)

Green Crack gives the precise amount of energy your body requires to get you through the day, but doesn’t keep you up at night. Patients use it for a variety of reasons, including anxiety, depression, stress and fatigue.

Blue Dream (Hybrid)

Blue Dream gives a lot of strains some serious competition. It’s helpful for combating chronic pain and stress — two symptoms often linked to fatigue.

Blue Dream Strain

Durban Poison (Sativa)

This is a classic strain excellent at removing physical and mental pain. It’s effective at treating depression, pain, stress, anxiety and fatigue.

Best Methods of Marijuana Treatment to Use to Treat Side Effects of Chronic Fatigue

Although smoking is a popular method of consuming your medical marijuana for chronic fatigue, it’s not the only way. You have a whole range of methods available to you to consume your medical weed.

Drinks

While you can’t simply throw a bud into a pot of boiling water to brew weed tea, it’s possible to brew weed tea. Because of this, many people have even come up with ways to make weed soda and weed beer.

Capsules

Like any other medication, you can take medical pot in pill or capsule form. Capsules are much more potent and concentrated, so be sure you know the exact dose before taking them.

Dabs

Dab is also called wax, or BHO (Butane Hash Oil). Dabs are strong hash oil extracts you smoke with a bong or other type of rig.

Tinctures

Cannabis tinctures are extracts drawn from the cannabis plant and are easy to manage and highly potent. You take them under your tongue. They start working about as quickly as smoking but without the smoke.

Sprays

Sprays are tinctures you put into a spray bottle. They’re convenient, quick, effective and discreet — just a quick spritz in your mouth and you’re done.

Vaporizers

Vapes heat up the cannabis to where the psychoactive materials become active but with no smoke. Vaping is better for your lungs, too.

Edibles

Edibles are a popular method many patients favor. They’re a delicious way of consuming your medical cannabis.

Start the Process of Obtaining Medical Marijuana for Chronic Fatigue

If you’re looking into trying marijuana and chronic fatigue treatment, you’ll need to talk with a doctor first since different states have different legislative policies on pot.

If you are looking for medical marijuana appointments, laws and research for all legal states, MarijuanaDoctors.com makes it easy for you to start the process of finding qualified physicians. Be sure to browse our list of dispensaries or locate a medical marijuana doctor to get started with your cannabis treatment.

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What Is Chronic Fatigue?

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex condition characterized by severe fatigue doctors can’t explain from any underlying medical disorders. With CFS, your fatigue doesn’t improve when you rest and can get worse with both physical and mental activity.

CFS symptoms often start suddenly. Some individuals may develop their symptoms over weeks or months. Your symptoms may vary during the day, or they can change from one week to the next. They may go into remission (stop) and then relapse (start again). The term for this is myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), often abbreviated as ME/CFS.

There’s no known cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, although there are plenty of theories, ranging from psychological stress to viral infections. Some experts believe a combination of factors can trigger CFS.

History of Chronic Fatigue

CFS isn’t a new condition. Nervous exhaustion (neurasthenia) was a name used in the 19th century for symptoms resembling chronic fatigue syndrome. Between the 1930s and 1950s, the U.S. and other countries reported outbreaks of the condition with noticeable prolonged fatigue. Reports in the U.S. and other nations of separate outbreaks of prolonged, debilitating fatigue revived interest in CFS in the early to mid-1980s.

Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue

There is an expansive range of chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms. However, just about everyone with CFS experiences some common symptoms:

  • Intense mental fatigue, physical fatigue or both. Fatigue may be constant or come and go. Rest doesn’t relieve it, and it may be so severe it interferes with your social activities and work.
  • Not feeling well after you’ve been active. You either feel weak or ill, or your symptoms get worse. You may not feel this way immediately after being active, since there could be a delay before it starts. You may not feel better right away, either — it could take over 24 hours.
  • Sleep problems. Disrupted sleep is a hallmark symptom of CFS. You may have difficulty falling asleep or problems waking up. You could feel utterly exhausted even though you received a full eight hours or more of sleep.
  • Pain in one area or widespread. Your pain may start in one area and move to another. Pain may be joint pain, muscle pain or a headache.

With CFS, you may also have two or more of the symptoms below:

  • Short-term memory issues, troubles concentrating or thinking of the right word
  • Sensitivity to noise, light or emotions
  • Slow thinking, confusion or feeling disoriented
  • Muscle coordination problems or muscle weakness

Chronic fatigue syndrome may also cause the following symptoms. You may experience them separately or have a combination of them. These symptoms include:

  • Dizziness and lightheadedness
  • Shortness of breath with and after activity
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • Feeling worse with stress
  • Nausea, urinating often or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • Cold feet and hands, low body temperature, trouble with cold or heat or sweating
  • Appetite change or weight change

These are the main symptoms of CFS. Everyone experiences them in different ways.

Potential Conditions Leading to Chronic Fatigue

Individuals with CFS come across as hypersensitive to even average amounts of activity and exercise. It’s still unknown why this occurs in some individuals but not others. Some may be predisposed to the condition since birth, which then triggers a combination of factors such as:

  • Immune system problems
  • Viral infections
  • Hormonal imbalances

Researchers are still looking into this.

Effects of Chronic Fatigue

It’s common to have depression along with chronic fatigue syndrome — and your low spirits can make your symptoms of CFS worse. CFS and depression can cause you extreme fatigue, even after you’ve had a good night’s sleep the night before. You can also have both conditions simultaneously and mistake fatigue as being an effect of either one.

When you experience depression, you feel anxious, sad or hopeless for a prolonged period. Sleep problems are quite common with depression, where you’ll either not sleep at all or sleep too much.

Many individuals with CFS report cognitive impairment as their chief and most incapacitating symptom — even over fatigue. Other effects you may experience include problems with attention, memory, processing speed, word-finding abilities and language comprehension.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Statistics

Chronic fatigue syndrome happens in all ages and both genders. It occurs in all ethnic and racial groups as well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates up to 2.5 million individuals in the U.S. have CFS. Millions more experience symptoms similar to those with CFS but don’t meet criteria to receive a CFS diagnosis. Also, according to the CDC, fewer than 20 percent of people with CFS in the U.S. have received a CFS diagnosis.

Facts reported by the National Center Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reveal:

  • Fatigue lasting over six months with accompanying symptoms like joint and muscle pain, tender lymph nodes, sore throat and cognitive difficulties characterize chronic fatigue syndrome.
  • Increasing estimates are arising from Asia and developing countries like Nigeria, although most reports are from Europe and the U.S. Incidence rates vary from 0.2 percent to as much as 6.41 percent.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Stats

Current Treatments Available for Chronic Fatigue and Their Side Effects

Changing certain harmful habits in your lifestyle may help decrease the symptoms you experience. For instance, you can ease your insomnia and sleep by reducing or eliminating caffeine. Limiting your alcohol and nicotine intake can help too. Avoiding daytime naps, creating a regular sleep routine, going to bed each night at the same time and waking up each morning at the same time are all things you can do to help with chronic fatigue.

It’s also a good idea to pace yourself while performing activities. Your symptoms may get worse with overexertion and induce an episode of fatigue. Schedule time in each day for relaxing or taking part in activities you enjoy, and avoid physical and emotional stress.

Besides lifestyle changes, several other treatment methods for CFS include therapy, medications, alternative medicine and medical marijuana.

Therapy As Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

There are two types of therapy you might benefit from. Your doctor can help you decide if GED or psychological counseling are safe options designed to benefit you:

  1. Psychological counseling. This can help improve your mindset and cope with your CFS.
  1. Physical therapy. A physical therapist gives you an evaluation and designs a tailored exercise routine with a gradually increasing intensity you can implement. The term for this is graded exercise therapy (GET), and it works by progressively getting you into your own day-to-day optimal activity level in a steady and paced fashion.

You have a better chance of successful therapy treatment if you meet the following criteria:

  • Your impairment level is low.
  • You don’t focus too much on your symptoms.
  • You pace yourself to avoid too little or too much exertion.
  • You comply with your counseling program.

Medications As Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Usually, one medication won’t be enough to treat all the symptoms you encounter. You may experience changes in your symptoms over time, and your CFS could trigger depression or be part of it. If this happens to you, you may require an antidepressant along with other medications.

Side effects of most antidepressants include:

  • Weight gain or increased appetite
  • Nausea
  • Drowsiness and fatigue
  • Sexual problems and loss of sexual desire, such as decreased orgasm or erectile dysfunction
  • Blurred vision
  • Insomnia
  • Constipation
  • Dry mouth

If changing your lifestyle isn’t enough for you to get good sleep at night, your physician may advise you take a sleep aid. They may also recommend you take a pain-relieving medication for any joint aches and pain related to your CFS. Side effects of most pain relievers, depending on the type of pain reliever, include:

  • Lightheadedness, dizziness or feeling faint
  • Constipation
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Drowsiness

Alternative Therapies As Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Alternative treatments such as tai chi, massage, acupuncture and yoga may help relieve your CFS-related pain. Before you begin any alternative therapies, consult with your doctor.


Resources:

  1. http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/chronic-fatigue-syndrome
  2. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/10/beyond-tired.aspx
  3. https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3616604/