Yesterday in my Irvine office I evaluated a 27 year old male for medical marijuana who complained of pain secondary to Behcet’s Disease (Pronounced Bah-shets) He had been using medical marijuana for the past 12 months to reduce the pain as a result of joint disease in his knee’s and ankles and also to help him eat when he gets painful ulcers in the mouth.

Behcet’s Syndrome is not common in the United States.  It primarily affects people from Turkey and the Middle East.   Is is believed to be an autoimmune disorder but the etiology is unclear.   The hallmark of the disease are PAINFUL ORAL AND GENITAL LESIONS (EXACTLY LIKE CANKER SORES IN THE MOUTH).  The sores are exactly the canker sores that most people get from time to time when stressed.    These are NOT herpes lesions as commonly thought by patients and medical professionals.

In addition, 2/3′s of patient develop and arthritis in their knees and ankles. Rounding out the common triad of symptoms is a rash that is commonly referred to as erythema nodosum (google “erythema nodosum picture” to see what it looks like). They are painful red nodules which commonly affect the anterior aspect of leg below the knee.

In this patients case he had gong to his doctor initially because he was having painful ulcers in his mouth.   He doctor told him it was a type of herpes and put him on an anti-viral medication called acyclovir.    Obviously it did not work or go away.   On a separate occasion he went to see another doctor for pain in his lower legs (arthritis from the disease) but was again mis-diagnosed with a muscle strain and given NSAID’s like motrin.

It wasn’t until he visited his ophthalmologist about a year later because he was having some vision changes and wanted to have his eyes checked out.   Behcet’s syndrome can affect the eyes and cause uveitis which ultimately can influence the retina.    His eye doctor had taken a pretty detailed history and asked him about having oral ulcers.   He then asked him about his rash and DIAGNOSED HIM ON THE SPOT!!!! That is pretty amazing that his eye doctor was the one who put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

In the end he was placed on oral steroids to reduce the inflammation throughout his body.   Unfortunately he was having residual pain in his knees and also having a difficult time eating when he had ulcers.   He stated that cannabis really helped him with his symptoms.

I am amazed at the variety of illnesses that I see patients using cannabis for.   It really helps an incredible amount of people who would otherwise have to suffer.

If you would like an appointment to see if cannabis can improve the quality of your life feel free to contact us through our website www.mcsocal.com or by phone 877-721-0047