Alternative Treatment for Vertigo; Marijuana (Cannabis)
November 12, 20098 CommentsDisease Treatment
Benign Positional vertigo,
Dr Sean Breen,
labyrinthitis,
Medical Marijuana,
meniere's disease,
migraine headaches,
Vertigo
As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often evaluate patients who complain of vertigo to see if cannabis can help with their symptoms and improve the overall quality of their life.
Vertigo is the sensation of spinning or swaying while the body is actually stationary. In most cases it is a symptom as a result of a primary disease process. Most of the time it is caused by malfunctions in the inner ear or vestibular system. Common causes are infections, Migraine headaches, Meniere’s disease labyrinthitis, benign positional vertigo and a host of other disease processes. On a physiological level there are multiple neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) which play a role in vertigo. The dizziness can lead to nausea and vomiting which is very debilitating.
Yesterday I evaluated a 49 year old male who has been experiencing chronic intermittent vertigo for the past three years. He suffered from regular nausea and vomiting. It affected his appetite and he had been losing weight as a result of poor nutrition. The battery of tests that his doctor ordered failed to identify the exact cause. The treatment plan had been to try traditional medications. He had been given anti-histamines, SSRI’s like fluoxetine (prozac), gabapentin (Neurontin) and valium. None of these had given him any relief and he suffered from many side effects as a result.
One month prior to my evaluation he had been given cannabis by a family friend in the midst of one of his attacks where he was severely nauseous. To his amazement it almost completely eliminated his nausea and he regained his appetite. As a result he worked up the courage to come to my office to see if he qualified under California’s proposition 215 which gives patients the right to cultivate, possess and transport cannabis in california.
Upon evaluation I determined that the benefits of trying cannabis far outweigh the risks. He left yesterday with a recommendation and went to purchase medicine within 5 minutes of leaving my office. I was very encouraged by his feedback and look forward to following up with him in a few months.
If you would like more information about cannabis to see if it can improve the quality of your life please visit our website at www.MCSoCal.com or call our professional staff at 877-721-0047. Dr Sean Breen has two offices located in Orange County and Long Beach and see patients daily.
I’m in Chicago, IL. Any suggestions for those of us suffering from Vertigo 24/7/365 who are outside of California. If I came there to be assessed & was/prescribed/bought a prescription, could I bring it back to Chicago? ANY help is really appreciated!!!!!!!! Thanks, Maureen
Unfortunately your recommendation would only be good in California. Hopefully the law will change so that if you have a doctors recommendation to use cannabis that it is good in every state. That is how every other prescription works. It is silly that this is different but again as this evolves I think that will become the norm. For now you have to sit and wait for Illinois to join the club. Dr. Breen
I love your blog – great effort!
I’m in Northern Texas and just went thru a pretty bad case of it…………any help for me? Thanks in advance.
Hey i have the same problem.it all started a couple weeks ago when i was getting stoned with my frinds lol dont judge. as all of you i had a quick case of virtigo along with side affects of dizziness that last a while. it was all gone untill i woke up one morning not feeling well with dizziness.
i have learnd that sleep or laying dowm seems to help ALOT. the doc perscribed me Meclizine it seems to help with a really drowsy side affect. best thing if you smoke Marijuana to not smoke. also if you think positive it can help since Labrynthitis is viral, bacterial, and somewhat mental lol. Labrynthitis can trigger panick attack along with heavy breathing. so dont worry if you freak out it will subside. also do not stare at things that move in unison, or look at patterns because it can trigger the dizziness, virtigo, and panick attacks. i smoked a little marijuana to see if it would help and it triggerd the affects so avoid the herb. i hope this has helped i know its scary but it will pass with proper treatment and positive thinking. my email is SeanE.Sullivan@yahoo.com if you feel like talking about Labrynthitis it helps to share our owen stories. we are all troopers of our owen fears. so stick in their
I have been suffering from extreme vertigo for a week and decided to try a couple of puffs of week. It really helped
i have been dealing with vertigo for 5 years now and im only 27.. for the past 5 years i went to different doctors and nothing they did seemed to help…. so i self medicated with weed… weed seemed to help me when my symptoms were bad…. some days just looking to the side without moving my head would make me dizzy… i dont think i would have made it all those years without weed because i found it so hard to function without it..(b/c i was so dizzy). weed helped the symptoms of vertigo but it didnt prevent them… finally this year my doctor put me on meclazine which has really seemed to help prevent the vertigo… i still get dizzy though but not nearly as often and same with my headaches…. i have to say weed still helps when i do get dizzy though… thanks you weed and meclizine for helping me… now i can workout again and have fun without getting dizzy as often… i dont smoke just to get high… i smoke to function…
I am only 17 years old and I have had intense vertigo for 3 months now. I’v been to the hospital and saw lot’s of doctors about it. Since I am still younger compared to most people that have vertigo they do not give me any medicine to help me. I get very dizzy, have bad nausea, and also get confused a lot. KNOW ONE seems to under stand how bad it is and don’t think weed will help it at all. So I tried smoking weed and BOOOOM made me feel way better. I do not get dizzy at all it takes my nausea away to. Still feel a little confused some times. I live in NJ so i know smoking weed is illegal and my mom caught me smoking a few days ago and did not approve of it. So now i am feeling horrible again. With out smoking weed I now throw up just about every morning and get very dizzy to the point I feel like i’m doing flips and can’t see straight. If I was a doctor I would strongly recommend weed to everyone. I don’t know why it’s illegal when it seems to help a lot of people. But yes smoking weed helped out a lot with my vertigo.