Today in my Irvine office I took care of a 31 year old male who was suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome. He wanted to use medical marijuana to help reduce his pain as a result of this disease.   None of the opiates or NSAIDs that his doctor prescribed were working and they were making him nauseated and constipated.   Read on.

Guillain-Barre is a disease that affects the nerves in the body.   Typically what happens in most patients is within 1-3 weeks of having an infection (Campylobacter, HSV, CMV virus) their body develops antibodies that not only fight the infection but attack the nerves as well.  This is what is meant by “autoimmune” where our body creates antibodies (soldiers that fight infections) that attack our own healthy tissue.

Patients typically complain of motor weakness in the muscles of the legs bilaterally.  This weakness can extend up to affect the arms, mouth and throat as well.    Weakness can be progressive and move quickly.  Patients sometimes can die of respiratory failure due to weakness in the diaphragm.    80% of patients will recover without significant loss of muscle function is treated quickly.    PATIENTS CAN EXPERIENCE SEVER PAIN as was the case with my patient today.

Cannabis is a great alternative to help patients combat the pain that comes with this disease.  In this patients case he medicated with a vaporizer twice per day and used an indica strain which allowed him to stay “functional” and avoid the typical “high” experienced with the sativas.    Hopefully his pain will subside and he will not require any treatment in the near future.

Other treatments for guillain-barre include IVIg (antibody therapy) and other supportive therapies.

Again, if you suffer from pain and would like to see if you could benefit from medical marijuana feel free to contact me by calling 877-721-0047 or through my website at www.mcsocal.com

Be blessed,

Dr. Breen