Recently I have taken care a handful of HIV+ patients who are taking the medication Atripla and also using medical marijuana to combat it’s side effect. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that attacks the bodies immune cells leaving the patients susceptible to infection. Treatment has come a long way and today patients can live practically normal life expectancies if they follow a medication regimen to keep the viral activity down and their immune cells up. Unfortunately many of these medications have severe side effects that affect a patients overall quality of life. Nausea, lack of appetite and weight loss are just a few of the ones I have been seeing patients for.

As medical director of Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often evaluate patients who are taking Soma (carisoprodol) for muscle spasms. Typically they are frustrated because it not only is ineffective (for many patients) but they worry about being addicted and being on it for prolonged periods of time. Cannabis is a great alternative to Soma for patients who have muscle spasms.

I recently evaluated a 52 year old male patient who suffered from Nocturnal Seizures and had been placed on Dilantin (Phenytoin). He said that although the medication was working to reduce the amount of seizures he suffered from severe fatigue and “zero appetite”. He was coming for a recommendation to use medical cannabis as he has been using it with “amazing results” and wanted to “be legal”.