This week I was contacted by the director of operations for The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy in Chicago because of the feedback they are getting from patients about how much it helps them. Unfortunately Illinois does not have a medical marijuana law on the books so the patients there are frustrated and want relief. The women I spoke with reached out to me because I have blogged about the success I have had using medical marijuana to treat neuropathic pain. READ ON….

Last week I had a patient who suffered from Transverse Myelitis come in for a medical marijuana recommendation. She was the first patient that I have taken care of with this problem. However today I had a 61 year old women who came in with a 10 year history of Transverse Myelitis and she complained of a burning pain in her left leg that makes it extremely difficult for her to sleep. She also has complete numbness to pressure in that leg. It wasn’t until recently, after her sons begged her to try, that she found cannabis not only reduces the pain but allows her to sleep through the night! Amazing.

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often evaluate patients who suffer from neuropathic pain as a result of diabetes. Neuropathic pain means pain that is associated with direct pathology to the nerves themselves. This is in contrast to pain in a muscle whose signal is transported to the brain via the healthy nerves. In diabetes the elevated levels of sugar in the blood actually cause damage to the nerves leading to chronic pain. Cannabis has been shown in several studies to reduce the pain associated with various causes of neuropathic pain including HIV neuropathy.

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I frequently evaluate patients with neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain results from damage to the actual nerves in the peripheral or central nervous system rather than stimulation of pain receptors.