Does marijuana treat migraines?

[Duer 157099]

Yes. I can say that in my case, on this particular day, that it did/does.

It started as a typical migraine with aura and since I have a MedMJ card, I'm legal and have been experimenting with what symptoms it relieves for me. I've read other reports that it works on migraines, but now I have my own experience.

As soon as I took some MJ, the aura immediately changed from the arc of flashing lights to the sensation of standing just outside of a door to a darkened room that is filled with fishtanks and blacklights--you know that sensation? You can detect, peripherally, that there is a glow coming from the right side. That's very different from the arcing flashing geometric shapes and lights that are typical at this stage.

Then, I could feel the pressure coming on. It wasn't painful, but I was aware of it. Normally, this sensation would have been perceived as pain, but now it was just a pressure, something that reminded me that I had a migraine even though I wasn't feeling the pain.

And then I thought: WOW! This is awesome! If only people who get migraines KNEW that they could possibly treat the pain with pot! Except maybe a pilot while he's flying a plane, or a surgeon who is performing surgery, then maybe they have to take Advil or something. (What *do* pilots do if they get a migraine mid-flight??)

The whole event lasted a couple of hours but without the excruciating pain and complete debilitation that usually accompanies a migraine for me.

Just sayin'.

[mzteris]

1. for some it does. for some it triggers. YMMV. n/t

[Duer 157099]

2. I can imagine that

That would suck, though.

[hlthe2b]

3. Hmm. If it stopped the nausea, it would be worth it...

Once the throbbing turns to nausea, I'm out and fully incapacitated for 72 hours....

[Duer 157099]

6. I have also experimented with nausea with it

I take thyroid hormone every day and it makes me nauseated for an hour or so after taking it. One day I specifically experimented to see if pot would affect the nausea, and it did, disappeared immediately.

Who knows if it will every time or if it's just an effect that works temporarily or under certain circumstances. Dunno.

Just doing my research and adding to the body of knowledge, hopefully.

[Warpy]

4. It never did a thing for mine, but it didn't make them worse

like opiates often did. The only thing that would abort a migraine was to take APC as soon as I started to get the aura. Other than that, it was a dark room until the bugger went away. Fortunately, they rarely lasted long.

Nothing at all ever worked on an established migraine, although being uninsured, I've been unable to try the newer drugs out there. The worst ones were the ones I woke up with, sheer agony.

Slamming it with caffeine probably did the trick more than either the aspirin or phenacetin.

[Duer 157099]

7. Ugh. Sounds like we have similar backgrounds with migraines

They suck! Luckily I don't get them near as often as I used to.

My typical treatment is: take Excedrin PM as SOON as the aura appears and then get into bed in a darkened room and go to sleep.

There was never any other treatment in my case.

[mzteris]

8. mine is at the first inkling -

two acetaminophen and two ibuprofen - works about 95% of the time. But it has to be immediately - I usually get a visual thingie with squiggles and such...

My son take Propanlol every day, and epidrin if he has one anyway.

[hlthe2b]

10. Since barometric pressure is a prime trigger for me...

I find that Aleve D (with ephedrine) can work in some instances where excedrine migraine may not.

Of course you get the added pleasure of being treated like a tweaker when you go ask for the ephedrine-containing version. :eyes:

[WyLoochka]

9. 2 aspirin and a red bull

sugar free red bull with - ugh - aspartame at the first aura sign. It's the only time I use a sugar free product with aspartame. I think it helps the aspirin and caffeine.

A full blown migraine has been very rare since I started this remedy

[mike_c]

5. unfortunately, my mileage did vary on that one....

Marijuana does NOT trigger migraines for me, thank goodness, but it never helped them particularly, and being stoned while suffering just made it more miserable. Maxalt does the trick though, and magically my migraines stopped a few years ago so it's a moot point now. Glad to hear pot helps your headaches though!

[Liberal Veteran]

11. As a migraneur, pot seems to exacerbate my headaches and cause rebounds.

I don't enjoy giving myself a shot of sumatriptan, but it works. The times I tried pot the only thing it really did was help me sleep when it didn't seem to make things worse, but it seemed to keep the episode going, as it were (meaning, after I wake up, the headache started up again in a couple of hours).

I've even taken to avoiding pot if I have had a migraine in the last 48 hours, because ultimately, it seems to trigger them when taken near an episode.