GROWTH HORMONE, is a chemical that is produced in the pituitary gland in the central area of your brain.    It’s normal function and secretion is essential to a healthy life.  Specifically growth hormone:

1. Causes the growth of bones and cartilage in growing children.

2. Stimulates the growth of skeletal muscle by increasing the uptake of amino acids.  It facilitates the healing and regeneration of healthy connective tissue.

3. Breaks down fat.

4. Supports the immune system by influencing the production of anti-bodies and the function of many immune cells.

5. Effects mood and behavior.

6.  Effects the production of a compound called IHG-1 in the liver which has MANY important metabolic functions.

So as you can see, GH is essential for living a healthy life.   It’s secretion peaks in adolescence  and slowly declines over time.    THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT CAN EFFECT THE PRODUCTION OF GH IN THE BODY.

SLEEP HAPPENS TO BE THE NUMBER ONE FACTOR IN ENSURING THE HEALTHY PRODUCTION OF GRAOTH HORMONE IN THE BODY.   GH is primarily secreted in the first few hours of deep sleep at night.  LIke many other hormones GH is triggered by a circadian rhythm and when we fall asleep the body inherently knows to ramp up GH production.

If patients are lying in bed staring at the ceiling until 1 or 2 am and then have to get up for work in 3-4 hours they are missing out on the peak time when their bodies should be secreting growth hormone.   THE RESULT:  breakdown of muscle mass, increases in fat stores, weakened immune systems and overall feeling and looking “much older”

Understanding the importance of getting a good nights sleep, you can now see insomnia in a new light.     Growth Hormone is only ONE of MANY hormones that are triggered by sleep.    Medical Marijuana has some incredible properties.  One of them is sedation.   I can not tell you how many patients of mine use a cannabis INDICA strain 30 minutes prior to going to bed and tell me they “had the best sleep in years.” The good news is that unlike many other sleep pills, patients do not report waking up feeling groggy or feel tired throughout the day.  Most can use a very small dose of the right stain of marijuana and do really well.

So I challenge those who mock physicians who provide medical marijuana recommendations for patients who can not sleep well to do the research and really study what the cost of not sleeping is on the body.   I CAN TELL YOU THAT DOCTORS IN GENERAL LIVE 15 YEARS LESS THAN THE GENERAL PUBLIC…mostly because of not enough sleep, overcompensating with caffeine and poor diets, which leads to chronic disease and early death.

With that… BE BLESSED AND GO GET SOME SLEEP——> If you are not using cannabis to help you sleep and would like to come in and see me feel free to contact us through our website or toll free number 877-721-0047

Dr. Breen

Standard treatment for many of these women are SSRI’s (anti-depressants) to treat any of their mood symptoms (irritability, depression and anxiety), high dose NSAIDS (naprosyn/motrin) for pain, spirinolactone for edema, ambien for sleeping difficulties and occasionally other non pharmaceutical therapies (Calcium and Magnesium Supplements)  The problem is that these treatment modalities come with many unwanted side effects and do not provide adequate relief.   SSRI’s can cause apathy and affect the patients sex drive.  NSAIDS can cause dangerous gastro-intestinal bleeding, ambien can be addicting and often makes patients extremely groggy upon awakening and spirinolactone can cause electrolyte disturbances.

Studies have shown that up to 75% of women suffer from PMS/PMDD on some level.  That is an enormous amount of people that are taking a lot of different medications that are not only ineffective but can be very dangerous if taken regularly.

Once patients understand how marijuana works in the body they are much more comfortable trying it for their PMS symptoms.  Cannabis can be extremely relaxing while elevating the patients moods and assist with sleep.  (good bye SSRI and Ambien).  It is amazing at relieving pelvic pain and headaches (good bye NSAIDS) and can increase a patients libido.

What I tell my patients is that it is definitely worth giving it a try.  If it works, GREAT!  If not, simply don’t use it.   In the meantime it is not going to damage your liver, kidneys or cause GI bleeding.  You can not overdose on it and there is an extremely low potential for physical or psychological addiction.

Lastly, you can easily avoid smoking it by using a vaporizer which allows you to inhale the medicine SMOKE FREE!

If you suffer from PMS/PMDD and would like to discuss using cannabis to treat your symptoms feel free to give us a call at 877-721-0047.  Or you can simply pre-qualify for FREE at www.mcsocal.com

Be blessed,

Dr. Breen

On a very basic level all of cells require glucose (nutrition) oxygen and a method of removing waste (lymphatic system).   Our body rests, cleanses and rejuvinates when we get sound sleep.

I won’t go into detail of the various stages of sleep and the brain waves that we can measure.  But what I will do is make it very simple and break this down BARNEY STYLE.

CANNABIS HELPS YOU FALL ASLEEP, STAY ASLEEP AND WAKE UP FEELING RESTED.

Unlike many sleeping aids such as Ambien (which is similar to a benzodiazepene ie. valium) which makes patients feel extremely groggy and tired the next morning, cannabis generally has little to no associated morning grogginess.

I can not tell you how many patients are using cannabis to treat acute and chronic insomnia!  I am glad that I can help improve the quality of their lives!

If you would like to find out if cannabis can improve the quality of your life please feel free to call my staff at 877-721-0047 and schedule an appointment to come to my Irvine or Long Beach office.

Respectfully,

Dr. Sean Breen

mcsocal@me.com

The typical symptoms that my patients complain of are insomnia (or a break from their normal sleeping patterns), irritability, headaches, nightsweats, hot flashes, decrease libido, vaginal dryness and overall emotional instability.   When many of these patients visit their primary care physicians they are offered a myriad of drugs to treat these symptoms.  For there headaches they are told to take NSAIDS such as motrin.  For there difficulty sleeping they are given drugs like ambien and lunestra.  For their emotional instability they are prescribed anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs such as lexapro and xanax.     In the end they are left with 4 or 5 different medications to take that have their own set of side effects that patients have to deal with.   Most of my patients get fed up and are “tired of taking so many pills.”  They are looking for a more natural approach to treat their symptoms.

The great news is that cannabis can alleviate many of the symptoms that perimenopausal women experience.   It is a great sedative and helps patients sleep through the night.  It can relieve the pain associated with headaches.   In addition, it functions as an anxiolytic and helps relax and calm patients after a long day.    Lastly, many strains of cannabis can increase a patients libido and enhance their sexual experiences with their partners.   The advantage I believe that cannabis has over many of these drugs is that the medically active ingredients found in the plant (collectively called cannabinoids) have few intolerable side effects.   Once they enter the bloodstream they bind to receptors throughout our nervous and immune systems and produce their physiological effects.   Within minutes patients feel relaxed and euphoric.  Many times the pain subsides immediately.    Because there has not been one documented overdose from cannabis use it is very safe and patients don’t have to worry about using too much.   I tell all of my patients that it is definitely worth a try.  ”if it helps and improves your quality of life, then great!  If not, simply stop using it.” The good news is that it is not toxic to any of your major organ systems and is not chemically addicting.   So there is little risk in giving it a try.

If you are worried about having to smoke it please see my website and read about the benefits of vaporizing cannabis (smoke free!).   If you would like more information please visit my website at www.MCSoCal.com or call 877-721-0047 and schedule an appointment.  You can also pre-qualify for free online from the comfort of your own home.   We have office locations in Long Beach, Irvine and Encinitas (San Diego)