Not all of us have suffered a serious headache and even fewer have experienced the power of a severe migraine. That faint sense of disorientated nausea begins to emanate from an uncomfortable pressure throughout the forehead. This familiar warning of the impending threat brings forward a panic of defenses. Once the episode has been realized by an aura or wave of discomfort past experience will force the mind to run through recent activities trying to discover the beast’s origins.
How has my daily routine, diet, hydration, or anything led to this inflammatory assault? What does my body need?
Its creator is often too vague to understand and stop it is typically a battle only won with time and sleep. If it is soon enough though, perhaps the exact doses of cannabis can help when hydration and diet tricks alone have failed. It is not so easy to find a precise aromatic blend of Phyto-compounds, and each time is slightly different, but it may be out there uniquely just for you. That migraine could very well be caused by a deficiency in your natural, internal cannabinoid system.
Alternative absorption
Pills and capsules of regular medicine may not help, not for all migraines. Some flavors of these events do not come with a nauseating snarl in the gut. Other migraines, however, can indeed bring on sensitivity to anything ingested. For these types, even water wretches the stomach once the migraine onsets. You can forget about edible cannabis and pharmaceutical drugs. Thankfully, with canna-therapy, you can inhale its vapor, put it under your tongue, spread it on your skin, or take a suppository. There is no need for an IV even if your body is rejecting literally everything else any other way. The trick is finding the perfect strains or extracts for your own variety of misery.
An undefined entity of cellular strangulation
Migraines are complicated beasts that science has only managed to identify with a small detail so far. A few fangs and claws perhaps, but we don’t know what the creatures actually are. They shapeshift and take on many forms and personalities. There is a reason for their existence though, otherwise our evolution would have eliminated such sinister things. Largely, we know they suffocate your cells of oxygen as well as trigger heavy sensitivity – fire cannabis can quell. Some strains of cannabis feed the monsters, while others calm and suppress them.
Finding relief at the edge of migraine hell
One can find different flavors of relief through the many cellular doorways that cannabinoids and terpenes pass through. A warning though, cannabis that was grown incorrectly, too rich in nitrogen, for example, can worsen a migraine. Chemovars that don’t reflect with your specific needs can also promote negative outcomes, especially if they weren’t consuming optimally. An individual needs to generally be careful with anything and everything when they feel the glare of a dim incandescent bulb as the inescapable desert sun, or the hum of a laptop like the thunder of a sawmill.
The lack of help for migraines
CBD can raise inner ocular pressure and may not be right for certain people. Although, if you mix it with terpenes and create an entourage effect, perhaps it can be utilized. THC in a heavy rapid dose, such as a dab, may smack your system a bit. Alternatively, in lower, slower titrations it can certainly remove a great amount of pressure throughout the mind and body, leading to proper therapy. Self-medicating is one of the only options for migraineurs. Some good doctors appear more satisfied knowing their patients have a proper cannabis regime rather than provide them with beta-blockers for their attacks. Given those doctors themselves cannot provide adequate advice, this latest series on CLN will not provide a concrete guide for you to find relief from your own migraines. However, it will provide an expansive template that has worked for other migraineurs while explaining the intricacies of why – from CBD and limonene to strawberries and caffeine.
Photo Courtesy of Cannabis Wiki
Sources
Russo EB (2016) Clinical endocannabinoid deficiency reconsidered: current research supports the theory in migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel and other treatment-resistant syndromes, Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research 1:1, 154–165, DOI:
Sarfaraz S, Adhami VM, Syed DN, Afaq F, Mukhtar H. Cannabinoids for cancer treatment: progress and promise. Cancer Res. 2008;68(2):339-42.