Today I took care of a 58 year old women who suffered from Sjogrens Syndrome and Rheumatoid Arthritis who had tried medical marijuana recently and found relief of her symptoms. Her arthritis mostly affected her hands and shoulders and required multiple drugs for pain management. She had been on Bextra then Vioxx then Celebrex but had to stop all of them because of kidney disease. She was at her “wits end” and wanted an alternative to help her get some relief and sleep throughout the night.

As medical director of Medical Cannabis of Southern California I am intimately aware of the plethora of medical “clinics” (I use that term loosely) that patients can choose from to get their medical marijuana recommendation. A simple google search produces approximately 15 clinics on the first page for patients to choose from. For most patients they have no idea what to expect. Will they see an actual doctor? Is it in a safe area? Why the price discrepancy? The question that begs to be asked is: WHICH ONE SHOULD I GO TO?

This morning in my Irvine CA office I had my annual follow up with a 22 year old female who came in last year as a result of severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome or commonly known as IBS. Her symptoms were severe nausea, lack of appetite and intermittent diarrhea. She explained that for past year her symptoms have improved tremendously. She has been medicating with a sativa strain twice per day and very rarely has nausea. Her appetite is greatly improved and she very rarely has any diarrhea.

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.

Patients looking to see a doctor for a medical cannabis evaluation need to read this article first! http://cbs2.com/local/Medical.Marijuana.Doctor.2.1529594.html

Be very careful about visiting clinics that are operating illegally. Unfortunately they are everywhere.

Medical Cannabis of Southern California has two clinics operated by Dr. Sean Breen. He is licensed California physician and a former US Navy doctor who served with the United States Marine Corp at Camp Pendeton, California.

As medical director of Medical Cannabis of Southern California I see patients who want to discuss the benefits of using marijuana for medicinal purposes.  We have two full time clinics located in Irvine, CA and Long Beach, CA. I am often asked by patients “when do I receive my card?”  There is a misconception about [...]

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”.

The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California at San Diego is committed to studying the medical benefits of cannabis. It regularly conducts clinical trials for various medical conditions, most of the centered around pain and muscle spasticity. It findings clearly show that marijuana (cannabis) is effective in treating acute and chronic pain.

What is interesting is that researches found that patients do not have to get high in order to get pain relief. They found that cannabis used in smaller amounts was just as effective as patients who took larger doses.

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often evaluate women who suffer from pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)/premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). They often complain of headache, pelvic pain, breast pain, difficulty sleeping, bloating, irritability, anxiety, depression and an inability to concentrate. Typically the standard treatment that their doctors prescribe do not work well enough and they would like to try cannabis. I have seen amazing results with women who vaporize cannabis to treat their PMS.

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I have had the opportunity to take care of a few patients with the diagnosis of dystonia. Dystonia is an extremely painful disorder that is characterized by severe muscle spasm. It can affect any muscle group in the body. One of my patients c/o cervical dystonia which affected the muscles in her neck. She would get severe neck spasms and terrible headaches. She described them as incapacitating. The pain was frequent, interrupted her sleep and was breaking her spirit.