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…

Today in Irvine I took care of a 32 year old man who was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, a specific type of non-hodgkins lymphopma. It is a cancer that typically effects older men (mid 50′s) but he was diagnosed a month ago. he was in my office because of a lack of appetite, difficulty sleeping and general malaise. He had been using medical marijuana with good results and wanted safe access to the medicine. This is fairly common with my patients. They try it first and get good results and then come into the office. READ ON….

Iit seems like these days physicians have become people who chase and treat symptoms. Patient comes in with a symptom and we give them a pill to treat that symptom. Then they get a side effect and come back in. What happens is we give them another pill to treat that side effect and so on and so forth.

Today I treated a 43 year old women who came to me to try medical marijuana as an alternative to Wellbutrin, Xanax and Ambien for her insomnia, anxiety and depression. She states that this has gone on for about 15 years. She was tired of how those medications made her feel. “Like a zombie” she said. Then she asked me “do you think this will help.”

My first response to her was: “Let me ask you this question. What do you typically eat throughout the day and how often do you eat?”

That is when her husband started shaking his head and she became reluctant to discuss her diet with me. To put it mildly; she ate like shit. Skips breakfast, drinks soda and coffee, eats a ton of candy and ice cream prior to going to bed.