“I’ve suffered from migraines for more than 20 years. I have eight to 12 episodes per month.”
Hello! CBD has helped migraine sufferers decrease the severity and frequency of headaches and associated symptoms. I would recommend using high CBD in a vaporised form at the onset of symptoms. Whether it is an aura or neck pain or pain in the head, it’s important to treat the symptoms right at the onset. Start with one to two puffs every five minutes. CBD can help prevent migraines as well. I recommend using CBD in the tincture form 2.5mg (20:1 CBD:THC ratio) nightly. Hope this helps!
drjacquelynlew
Hello,
There was a recent study which showed promising results; the most significant finding was that cannabis drastically reduced the number of migraine headaches from 10.4/month to 4.6/month
Further, a very recently performed clinical trial showed that those who received a 200mg dose each day for three months, experienced significantly less pain when they had a migraine, (independent of using cannabis at the time of the headache).
I also receive positive input from patients regarding CBD’s efficacy when treating migraine headaches. However, rather than CBD, the relevant research centers around THC’s role in migraine headache relief.
The understanding of migraine pathophysiology has evolved from the belief that migraine headaches are a vascular disorder, to evidence that better defines migraines as a neurogenic disorder associated with secondary changes in brain perfusion.
THC and CBD have been shown to, independent of vasocontsriction (blood vessel narrowing), reduce neuropathic pain. THC also increases cerebral serotonin levels which leads to vasoconstriction (blood vessel narrowing) – the same mechanism of action as the triptan medications, such as sumitriptan (Imitrex).
drkim
Hello,
Because of the extremely high frequency of your migraines, I would recommend that you use a tincture with a higher concentration of THC.
For example:
4:1 tincture which contains 8mg of CBD and 2mg of THC per dropper full. For most people, 2mg of THC would only promote relaxation and a slight boost in mood. If that is acceptable, I might recommend that you take one or two droppers, 2 to 4 times/day.
If you want to avoid any psychoactive effects, I’d recommend between a 15:1 to 25:1 tincture. If, for example, a 20:1 tincture contained 20mg of CBD and 1mg of THC per dropper full, I’d recommend that you take 1 dropper full 2 to 4 times per day.
Because migraines become much more difficult to treat as time passes by, I think that you’ve made a great choice for treating an ongoing or imminent migraine with a vape pen.
However, I would recommend that you consider using a pen with some THC. THC would be even more vital in this setting because you need effective pain relief immediately. And since repeatable dosing is a high priority for you, I’d recommend vaporizer pens from dosist which buzz after each dose is delivered.
For those not averse to psychoactive effects I’d recommend
https://dosist.com/pen-relief/ which is a 1CBD:8THC formula specifically designed to alleviate pain.
For something more mild, you might consider https://dosist.com/pen-calm/, which is a 8CBD:1THC formula.
drkim
Dosist doesn’t offer anything will a higher CBD content. However, Care By Design carries a 18CBD:1THC cartridge, which should not produce psychoactive effects, so I would recommend this cartridge over any pure CBD cartridge.
https://www.cbd.org/products/cartridges/18-1-cartridge
And since the vaporizer pen should be used for active or imminent headaches, I would recommend, like Dr. Lew mentioned, that you take one to two puffs every 5 minutes until you find adequate relief. If you are using a formula with more THC than a 15CBD:1THC cartridge, you should experiment with dosages at home, so that you can gauge your tolerance to THC.
I hope this helps!
drkim
