Today in Long Beach I took care of a 77 year old women with metastatic breast cancer.   She has been on chemotherapy for the last 4 months and is experiencing excruciating pain, nausea, insomnia and lack of appetite.   Her pain medications (narcotics) are no longer effective and are only making her nauseous.   [...]

Quite often I get patient in my office who have used medical marijuana to sleep for years with excellent results.    Across the board, they all tell me that they sleep soundly and do not wake up feeling groggy.   Most doctors are prescribing sleeping pills like Ambien, Lunesta or even Trazodone.   Most of [...]

Since 2008 Doctor Breen has been evaluating patients in Long Beach that qualify to use medical marijuana under California’s proposition 215.    His office is located at the Los Altos Medical Center at 1777 N Bellflower Blvd Suite 212 which is down the street from the VA Hospital and Long Beach State.   His practice [...]

Today in Long Beach I took care of a 49 year old white make who suffers chronic insomnia as a result of a Circadian Rhythm Disorder.    Normally our bodies are on a 24 hour sleep/wake cycle.   Normal people have feedback systems that tell the brain it’s time to go to bed.  A simple [...]

Yesterday in my Irvine office I followed up with a 58 year old man who suffers from Huntington Disease and uses medical marijuana to improve his chorea, improve his mood, induce sleep and reduce muscle soreness from being in a wheelchair. At the end of my blog I include a basic patient handout that goes [...]

My name is Marie and I am a medical marijuana patient.  I am 63 years old and have suffer from severe arthritis in both my hips.  I am mother of 4, grandmother of 10 and live in a small retirement community in southern California. I use medical marijuana twice per day.  Once when I wake [...]

This blog is going to walk you through the steps of getting a medical marijuana card in Orange County, California. Step 1: Determine if you have a qualifying diagnosis Most patients think medical marijuana can only be recommended for dying patients or those with severe disabilities. In California, that is not the case. The most [...]

Today in Irvine I tok care of a 68 year old women who came in with her husband to see if medical marijuana can improve the quality of her life. She started experiencing symptoms of dementia in 2007 and was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband of 21 years wanted to try medical marijuana for her because she has been “increasingly agitated, can become violent and frequently has sundowners syndrome.” He is hoping that medical marijuana can help “calm her” when she gets in these agitated states. I was happy to help them. READ ON…

Lately I have been taking care a numerous patients who have been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). They are coming in mostly because of the side effects of the medications that they have been prescribed. The three most common medications that I see are ADDERALL, STRATTERA and VYVANCE.

All of these medication are stimulants (amphetamines) and have very similar side effect profiles. The most common reasons that patients with ADHD are seeking treatment with medical marijuana are … READ ON

Since 2008 I have been working full time discussing medical marijuana with my patients. More and more patients are coming in complaining of worry, anxiety, panic attacks and sleepless nights. Relationships, families and friendships are being strained because people are worried about how to make ends meet. Most of them at some point speak to their family doctor about their symptoms. Many of them get prescribed Ambien for sleep, Xanax for anxiety or an SSRI like Lexapro for depression. Some do OK but for many of these people the medication is not working or the side effects outweigh any benefit they are receiving.

MORE AND MORE ORDINARY PEOPLE ARE TURNING TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA FOR RELIEF.

Just this morning my first patient was a 46 year old man who has been working as a landscape architect his whole adult life. Since 2008 he has been out of work and has had to take handyman jobs here and there just to make ends meet. He has been happily married for 20 years but the financial strain has been “so hard on my wife and I”. As he is telling me this story tears are forming in his eyes and his head down at his chin. He is a very hard working, proud man. He wants to take care of his family but “does not know how much longer I can handle the stress.” READ ON…