The signature symptom of fibromyalgia is chronic pain. We don’t know the exact cause of fibromyalgia, but we do know it makes you hurt all over.
While fibromyalgia doesn’t damage your joints or muscles, it can still make your muscles twitch and tense up. The pain, fatigue and depression caused by fibromyalgia already make it hard to live your life to the fullest. Muscle spasms limit you further.
Fibromyalgia is a frustrating disorder to have, especially when you experience muscle spasms. But, using marijuana as a holistic alternative to traditional medicine can reduce your symptoms.
Fibromyalgia isn’t fatal, but it causes severe health problems that greatly interfere with your quality of living. It makes you feel aches and pains all over your body for no explicable reason. In fact, doctors diagnose fibromyalgia when there’s no other origin for a patient’s chronic, widespread pain.
In addition, fibromyalgia affects your head and mind. Many patients experience depression, brain fog, headaches and sleep problems. It causes fatigue that doesn’t go away even when you get extra sleep.
Around 5 million patients deal with fibromyalgia, and between 80 and 90% of them are women. It usually manifests during middle adulthood.
Many studies related to marijuana treatment for muscle spasms assume the spasms are caused by inflammation. Since fibromyalgia doesn’t involve inflammation, not every study is relevant.
Studies that focus on muscle spasm causes besides inflammation have promise. They suggest marijuana affects the central nervous system by binding to cannabinoid receptors. The symptoms of fibromyalgia are theorized to be caused by your brain misreading pain signals, so marijuana could be a vital treatment.
Also, we have tons of anecdotal evidence supporting medical marijuana’s effectiveness. When surveyed, weed patients indicated it majorly relieved their muscle spasms, sometimes even better than prescription medicine.
Marijuana strains that have a balance of THC and CBD in them tend to treat muscle spasms the most successfully, such as One to One and White Berry.
One of the best perks of medical marijuana is its versatility — not only do most strains treat multiple symptoms, but you can find a strain that treats a specific set of symptoms. As a multifaceted illness, fibromyalgia often requires more than one kind of medicine. But, medical marijuana could help you reduce the amount of medicine you need to take if it works well for you.
A common reason patients use medical marijuana is for pain relief. Unlike traditional painkillers, medical marijuana doesn’t cause liver damage or have a high chance of addiction. Fibromyalgia patients will appreciate the relief from their disorder’s most difficult symptom.
You can also address your fibromyalgia-related depression and fatigue using medical marijuana. Sativa strains have uplifting and energizing properties that give users a boost.
If you use the right strain of marijuana, you can tailor your treatment to your health problems. Some weed strains that help fibromyalgia symptoms include Harlequin, Sour Diesel, Northern Lights and Doug’s Varin.
Before you sign up for medical marijuana, check your state’s laws so you know what you can and can’t do. Every legal state has unique marijuana laws. Some need you to get an ID card, and others don’t due to allowing recreational use.
Once you can legally use medical marijuana, stay in contact with your weed doctor and dispensary staff members. They can advise you on what strains will help you the most. Also, since marijuana affects everyone differently, you can adjust your treatment as you go.
