Migraines are a common ailment that can severely impact your quality of life. If you’ve ever experienced dizziness, severe headache, auras, light sensitivity, nausea, or vomiting, you might be suffering from migraine. It is a neurological condition that is frequently identified by the intense, debilitating headaches.
How Migraines Happen
Migraine headaches happen when your overactive nerve cells activate your trigeminal nerve by sending signals. This trigeminal nerve supplies sensation to your head and face and then releases serotonin and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) chemicals, which cause blood vessels in the brain’s lining to swell. This releases neurotransmitters that produce inflammation and pain.
After a while, these headaches can affect your health and lifestyle if not treated properly and effectively. So, you need to treat them as soon as possible.
Treating migraine attacks can be very tricky. While you can get them less often by avoiding their triggers (stress, unhealthy diet, weather changes, and caffeine), many over-the-counter and prescription drugs can treat or even prevent some of them.
However, not everyone’s migraines will respond to traditional treatment. Recently, scientists have been testing medical marijuana as a treatment for severe migraines. Marijuana is also known as cannabis, a bushy plant used to make rope, paper, and other products. It has been shown that this treatment helps ease migraine symptoms.
Does Medical Marijuana Help with Migraines?
In a nutshell, marijuana is effective in alleviating and preventing painful migraine headaches. According to a study, about 40% of 121 people (who used marijuana treatment daily to prevent migraine attacks) got relief from these severe conditions.
While there are different ways to use marijuana, migraine sufferers mostly smoke it to ease migraines in progress. Also, it has been found that inhaling helps stop the pain more effectively, with fewer adverse reactions than edible products such as gummies.
In addition, medical cannabis may help reduce the frequency of migraine episodes. A recent review published in The National Library of Medicine reported that patients who were using medical marijuana for chronic pain had lower rates of migraine compared to those who weren’t taking this drug.
How Marijuana Works to Prevent Migraines
Your body naturally makes cannabinoid, which connects to endocannabinoid receptors located inside your brain and other parts of your body. These tiny loops of protein affect how you feel pain. When you use marijuana, its cannabidiol (CBD) compound examines your body and looks for the receptors. It calms down pain signals by changing how the receptors work. Apart from that, it may also help you with nausea, anxiety and muscle spasms.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is another active ingredient in marijuana that plays a vital role in making you feel high or relaxed. Most marijuana for medical use has lower concentrations of THC.
All in all, using medical marijuana works best because it enters into your bloodstream quickly. You don’t have to worry about consuming too much THC since most strains contain low levels of it. However, edibles are better options for treating migraines. They provide slow release of cannabinoids so they reach your system gradually.
How Can You Get a Medical Marijuana Card for Migraines?
Marijuana is legal in many states for medical use. But each state has different laws about how you can get it. Apart from that, in several states, it is still illegal to have medical marijuana even if your medical problem could be treated with it. The reason is that this medical treatment has side effects including dizziness, hallucinations, low blood pressure, and bloodshot eyes. These side effects can lead to accidents and injuries and effect the IQ and mental function of teenagers.
So, having written recommendation from a licensed doctor in states where it is legal is necessary to get medical marijuana. You must meet the criteria for marijuana use. Remember, each state has its qualifying conditions list. Apart from that, you should have a medical marijuana ID card of your state to buy at a medical store.
Not every doctor is willing to recommend medical marijuana for their patients. So, if you are looking for a medical card, get in touch with Elite Alternative Medicine. We have certified physicians who can figure out if you meet the criteria for your medical marijuana card legally.