Dr. Sean Breen has been recognized for his outstanding treatment of women going though menopause using medical marijuana.   Since 2008, a growing number of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women have turned to him for advice getting through this difficult time.   Not only does he discuss the benefits of using medical marijuana to combat the [...]

Yesterday in Irvine I took care of a 59 year old women who had been taking Arimidex (Anastrozole) following treatment of Breast Cancer. She was experiencing a variety of side effects from the treatment, specifically hot flashes, nausea, lack of appetite and headaches. Her symptoms were also compounded as a result of having to stop estrogen replacement therapy because her breast cancer was estrogen receptor positive (meaning that estrogen accelerates the growth of the tumor).

She came to me because for the past month one of her friends had convinced her to try medical marijuana for her symptoms and she has felt amazingly better. READ ON…

Today in Irvine I took care of a 54 year old women who is post-menopausal and uses medical marijuana to treat her insomnia, night sweats and mood changes. Because of a strong family history of breast cancer she did not want to use hormone replacement therapy (which has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer in some women). She said that the medications that they put her on to help her relax and fall asleep were addictive and she “hated them”. Specifically they put her on xanax for anxiety and lunestra for sleep. In both cases the side effects were too much to handle. READ ON….

If you are wondering what types of patients come in to see me for a medical marijuana recommendation, here is a list of all the complaints for the patients I had in Irvine today. Most patients are coming in because of pain. They are typically tired of using opiates such as vicodin and oxycontin and want an alternative. Many of my patients are women in their 50′s and 60′s who are willing to try anything to get relief.

Today at my Irvine office I evaluated a 51 year old women who wanted an evaluation to see if medical marijuana could provide relief for some of the symptoms she has been experience as a result of menopause. Specifically she had been suffering from severe hot flashes which caused secondary insomnia. As a result of not being able to sleep well she was “always tired” during the day. Her ob/gyn had tried prescribing paxil and ambien to help relieve her symptoms but the side effects were worse than what she was trying to relieve. A few weeks back a friend of hers that had a medical marijuana card for chronic pain gave her some marijuana to try to improve her sleep. The results “were amazing” she told me.

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I frequently evaluate women who suffer from the symptoms of perimenopause. Fortunately cannabis can be a great alternative treatment for many of the symptoms women experience during this time.