Among the herbal methods people use to support migraine management, cannabis crops up often. In a survey of U.S. and Canadian adults, as many as 35 percent reported using cannabis to treat their headaches and migraine.
In a different survey involving people from Canada, 34 percent of 200 Canadian headache clinic attendees reported using cannabis both for prevention and acute migraine and headache treatment, often at the same time. Sixty percent reported that cannabis reduced the severity of their headaches, while about 25 percent said it reduced how often their headaches happened.
A Real-Life Example of Cannabis Use for Migraine
Nancy Thompson, a 55-year-old Canadian citizen, is among those seeking alternatives. Thompson has had migraine attacks since she was a teenager, and once they became frequent (occurring six to seven times weekly), her general practitioner sent her to a neurologist, who prescribed a variety of treatment strategies.
“We tried a bunch of different things, including an anti-seizure medication and Botox, and for me, they just weren’t doing much of anything. The Botox we considered a success because I would go one day a week without a migraine,” she says.
Desperate for a solution, she and her husband decided, albeit reluctantly, that she should try cannabis.
“I was very apprehensive of it. I had absolutely no idea what would happen,” Thompson says.
Thompson had a positive experience. With her neurologist’s blessing, a doctor’s prescription, and guidance from a licensed medical cannabis producer, she started vaping cannabis flower. Within three weeks, she went one day without any migraine symptoms, followed by two, and then by three, and then an entire week.
When her migraine symptoms do manage to break through, she says, their duration is slightly shorter. More importantly, “the pain is nowhere near as bad, that’s for sure, and I can usually get away with just some Tylenol or Advil, go lie down, and within a few hours, I’ll be better,” she says. Thompson also has prescription rescue medication (including a triptan and a buffered aspirin with caffeine) just in case she fails to find relief with cannabis alone.
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