Today in Irvine I took care of a 54 year old women who is post-menopausal and uses medical marijuana to treat her insomnia, night sweats and mood changes. Because of a strong family history of breast cancer she did not want to use hormone replacement therapy (which has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer in some women).  She said that the medications that they put her on to help her relax and fall asleep were addictive and she “hated them”.  Specifically they put her on xanax for anxiety and lunestra for sleep.  In both cases the side effects were too much to handle.

In my clinical experience discussing the use of medical marijuana with patients I have seen fantastic results with women in their late 40′s and 50′s who use it to treat peri-menopause and menopause.   It really helps reduce the mood swings and improve sleep.   Most people do not consider sleep deprivation a “serious medical illness” and critics of California’s medical marijuana laws often point out that it was intended for seriously ill patients and has been abused.   I would argue differently.

SOLID SLEEP is VITAL to HEALTH.  I will say that one more time.  A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP IS VITAL TO MAINTAINING YOUR HELATH.  Many of our hormones, to include Human Growth Hormone, are triggered by the sleep wake cycle.   This means that when it gets dark and you go to bed the body signals itself to secrete HGH.   HGH is responsible for growth and regeneration of tissues.  It is vital to good health.  If you are not sleeping you will not be in good health. Period.

In addition, when you are tired you have less energy to handle the challenges that are inevitable in life.  You are more cranky, you have less of a SEX DRIVE which affects the relationships in your life.  Sleep is definitely a commodity and many patients use cannabis EXCLUSIVELY to help them sleep at night.

If you get the right strain of cannabis you can certainly reduce the anxiety and mood swings that occur with menopause.   YOu do not have to use strains that are very psychoactive.  There are many indica strains that effect more your body than your mind and many people find that they can still function normally even while medicated.

If you are a patient going through or in menopause I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU to at least consider is marijuana is something that can improve the quality of your life.   If it doesn’t work you can simply NOT USE IT.   In the meantime you have not harmed yourself in any way.

Be blessed,

Dr. Breen