Q&A

Why would the doctor recommend that you take a break from cannabis every few days?

"My husband suffers from Parkinson’s and has a lot of pain and eating edibles daily makes him feel better. The doctor advised that he take a break every 3-4 days from his cannabis edibles. He eats 1/4 of a 1:1 THC:CBD macaroon cookie (3.75mgs) 2x day for 3 out of 7 days. He is still tired but feels less pain on cookie days. His doctor said he can only eat the cookies 3 days during the week. But if he feels better why can’t he just eat 1/4 cookie 2x day everyday? I don’t care if he gets addicted, it’s better than pain. Do he really need to take a break? I don’t understand why."


The doctor may recommend to take a break because he is not completely informed on cannabis. If the current dosage and method is making your husband feel better, I would continue that regimen.

Cannabis is individualized to each persons endocannabinoid system; each person can achieve different results with the same dose. It has been found that ECS receptors can become desensitized to the THC molecule after heavy usage. If this happens, the patient will not receive the same medical benefits from the same amount of THC. I would suggest taking a THC-A pain reliever for that day, which can be found at evaonline.org, "Better Relief" Plant-Based Pain Relief. This is a non-psychoactive form of the medical cannabis and will not make your husband tired or desensitize his THC receptors. It will take away pain, oxidation, and inflammation. The ginger will also decrease muscle spasticity.

Contact your cannabis doctor today to speak more about raw dietary cannabis and how THC-A can be a great cannabis medicine.

nixie


I don’t think you’re MD specfically said to eat med cann edibles ONLY 3 days/ wk;
I’m almost positive they were suggesting a break off weekly, a practice that in this case I completely agree with. There are several issues going on here. First, the MD probably has your husband’s best interests at heart and wants to prevent physiologic tolerance from building up, especially since it is difficult to find medications as effective as cannabis at treating the movement related issues and the MSK pain. However, if it were my loved one, I wouldn’t want them to develop an addiction to cannabis or even risk it especially if neuro-degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s Dz where involved. Parkinson’s in my experience doesn’t have the mood changes of Alzheimer’s Disease but the mental status changes alone would have me try to avoid impairment-levels of cannabinoids if I had a loved one w/ Parkinson’s Dz, especially given the increased fall/ accident risk. Lastly, in the literature and my own practice I am seeing pts developing syndrome such as CHS (Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome) where pts with super-high levels of CBD &/ or THC develop this awful cyclical throwing-up syndrome. However this is your husband and I understand you’re frustation. So I do not get clumped in the same category as your past MD, I would just RECOMMEND you give a day or two off cannabis. I just want to try to help you avoid some of the previously described issues but the decision is yours. if he develops physiologic tolerance signs from daily use, there are some maneuvers that can be done. We wish you and your husband well.

drpark

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