Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Saz RPSGT on August 13, 2009 at 12:29pm

I wonder if this reporter wrote the article while eating Funions after the munchies struck.

Next, it'll be found in "research" that marijuana can cure diabetes. The research being funded of course by the "Society for the Advancement of Sticky-Icky." (they'd be known as SASI....sassy!)

Sadly my lab has had people show up high. (Sadly because...really...you're going to smoke it before your sleep study?!?!?) Based on their results it doesn't do much for keeping the airway open.

Jason

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on August 17, 2009 at 7:32pm

The only medical benefit of marijuana (as far as I know) is for cancer patients with intractable pain. It's a miracle drug--I've seen it work with my own eyes when nothing else did.

Susan McCord

J. Sazama RPSGT said:

I wonder if this reporter wrote the article while eating Funions after the munchies struck.

Next, it'll be found in "research" that marijuana can cure diabetes. The research being funded of course by the "Society for the Advancement of Sticky-Icky." (they'd be known as SASI....sassy!)

Sadly my lab has had people show up high. (Sadly because...really...you're going to smoke it before your sleep study?!?!?) Based on their results it doesn't do much for keeping the airway open.

Jason

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Permalink Reply by hailey thomas on September 3, 2009 at 2:46pm

I thought this was interesting.

Here's a landmark paper on the role of Cannabinoids in sleep.

Sleep. 2002 Jun 15;25(4):391-8. Related Articles, Links
Return Back To Main Medical Page


Comment in:
Sleep. 2002 Jun 15;25(4):399-400.

Functional role for Cannabinoids in respiratory stability during sleep.

Carley DW, Paviovic S, Janelidze M, Radulovacki M.

Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, 60612, USA.
dwcarley@uic.edu

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Serotonin, acting in the peripheral nervous system,
can exacerbate sleep-related apnea, and systemically administered
serotonin antagonists reduce sleep-disordered respiration in rats and
bulldogs. Because Cannabinoid receptor agonists are known to inhibit
the excitatory effects of serotonin on nodose ganglion cells, we examined
the effects of endogenous (oleamide) and exogenous
(delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol; delta9THC) cannabimimetic agents on
sleep-related apnea.
DESIGN: Sleep architecture, respiratory pattern,
and apnea expression in rats were assessed by polysomnography. A
repeated measures, within-subjects, fully nested crossover design was
used in which each animal was recorded on exactly 12 occasions.

PARTICIPANTS: Eleven adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were instrumented
for chronic polysomnography.
INTERVENTIONS: Animals were recorded
following intraperitoneal injection of various doses of delta9THC,
oleamide, and serotonin, alone and in combination.
MEASUREMENTS AND
RESULTS: Our data show that delta9THC and oleamide each stabilized
respiration during all sleep stages. With delta9THC, apnea index
decreased by 42% (F=2.63; p=0.04) and 58% (F=2.68; p=0.04) in NREM and
REM sleep, respectively. Oleamide produced equivalent apnea
suppression.

This observation suggests an important role for endocannabinoids in
maintaining autonomic stability during sleep. Oleamide and delta9THC
blocked serotonin-induced exacerbation of sleep apnea (p<0.05 for
each), suggesting that inhibitory coupling between Cannabinoids and serotonin
receptors in the peripheral nervous system may act on apnea expression.



CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates potent suppression of
sleep-related apnea by both exogenous and endogenous Cannabinoids.
These findings are of relevance to the pathogenesis
and pharmacological treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders.

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on September 3, 2009 at 3:38pm

Thanks Hailey

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Permalink Reply by Marie Davis on September 8, 2009 at 12:24am

Marijuana can be helpful for some diseases also anexoria, Attention deficit, but the only problem I see in this is that your breathing is more consticted once you STOP smoking... we still have a ways to go before people will even look objectively at this issue and I think right now we are too focused on the negative aspects to even see any positives!

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on September 8, 2009 at 1:32am

I have two things to add to this discussion. There's apparently some degree of difference between marijuana as in smoking or swallowing "pot" as opposed to actual medical marijuana that comes only in pill form on a tightly controlled substance Rx. Nearly impossible to get without extreme need. I personally have no axe to grind with people smoking dope, for all the obvious reasons that people say they like it. I DO agree that, re: apnea patients, inhaling any kind of smoke can't be a good thing. Which is NOT to say I refuse to say it can't make an apnea pt. feel better. I personally wouldn't even THINK about being around any kind of smoke now. (I think that was #1.!!!) so, #2......what I know for a FACT is that Rx medical marijuana does help tremendously with intractable pain. The last 12 years or so of my career were spent doing therapy with cancer patients and with their families in group settings. The final 3 years I worked Hospice.

After I retired, two years ago, my brother-in-law was diagnosed with an absolutely multi-metastasized gut tumor and within weeks he was in unbelievable pain. Nothing Rx-wise helped AT ALL. Once he got into Hospice care at home, he was Rx'd medical marijuana and had nearly total pain relief, steadily, as long as it was administered as scheduled. I'm tellin' you guys, it was truly a miracle. I was with him before, during, and after all his treatments and that was the ONE thing we could count on to make him comfortable. Not HIGH, comfortable. He died fewer than 5 months later, but not in agony......

Now call me crazy, but there's a place for a substance like that for a patient who is terminal and has few to no other options for comfort care. When you think about it, most of the standard heavy-duty pain meds are illegal on the street. Doesn't mean they're not effective in medical care, by Rx only.

I can't see much reason why it would help an apnea patient, although there may be a risk/benefit ratio in there that we're not aware of. I would tend to believe the guy on here who swears by its being of help to him. What do we know, really, about any specific situation? But as a rule of thumb, it doesn't make a lot of sense with the smoke issue and the sedation issue, to say across the board that it would be good for general population apnea patients. It DOES have its place, however, in pain management and, used properly, is an absolute miracle drug for pain that just does not respond to standard treatment.

I'm just sayin'.........

Susan McCord

Mike said:

taking this seriously for a moment, i would think that it could complement some other treatment, like CPAP, as a measure to counter anxiety, especially associated with acclimating oneself to CPAP. But, certainly as a stand alone therapy, it would be disasterous. Wouldn't that relax the muscles in your body, making obstructions more likely to occur? Again, and just for the record, I think the suggestion that people smoke up to treat sleep apnea is preposterous.

Rock Hinkle said:

I did some research on the subject. I guess it does help with some anxiety, and insomnia issues. It is even mentioned in one of the online courses we have to take in order to prepare for the boards. I could not find any studies relating to sleep apnea,or the tratment of, in any of the educational sites though. I gess they could use hemp to make head gear. lol. I won't be telling any of my pts about this treatment any time soon.

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on September 8, 2009 at 3:55pm

Pot can also be used to help people with appetite problems due to Crohn's disease.

Susan I once had a doctor tell me that by eating it you reduced the carcinogen level by 95% over smoking. Not sure how true that is, but it sounds good.

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Permalink Reply by sleepsurfer on September 9, 2009 at 1:09pm

i think the way that marijuana could help sleep breathing disorders would be to help one sleep better with a cpap....i can't imagine that it would help by itself....it definitely helps you fall asleep and stay asleep.

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Permalink Reply by Fred on November 25, 2010 at 9:32pm

OK, I'll tell my story. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea about 10 years ago, and have been on CPAP therapy since. Despite being treated successfully, every day I woke up feeling tired, and was miserable during the day. I have been on Provigil and Nuvigil to keep me going during the day. It was definitely hindering my quality of life.

Recently, I moved to California, and started seeing a new sleep doctor. He was pretty dumbfounded on why I wasn't getting a restful night's sleep. At one appointment, he plugged my machine into a computer, and a line graph came up on the screen. It was showing how I was breathing over the past week. The line was jagged every night except one. That one night, the line was a slow gentle curve. The doctor said "you slept terribly all these nights but this one" and pointed at the gentle curvy line. He asked what I did that night, and I sheepishly admitted I had smoked a joint that evening. He immediately wrote a recommendation for medical marijuana.

I have been using it now for several months. The medical marijuana is a bit much for me, so I generally stick with the OTC version. My personal experience is that I now wake up feeling rested. I seem to have enough energy to get through the day. I no longer take the Nuvigil. Maybe one of those 5 hour energy shots early in the afternoon. I don't know why the marijuana helps, but I know I'm feeling 1000 times better since I've been using it.

I'm not crazy about it. Even though it's legal in California, I still associate mary jane as something you sneak a couple of puffs off of at a party every now and then. Certainly not something I would use on a regular basis. But I can't ignore the fact that, after 10 years of lousy sleep, I am finally sleeping fairly normally.

You guys can poo-poo it and joke all you want. I know for a fact it works for me.









susan mccord said:

I have two things to add to this discussion. There's apparently some degree of difference between marijuana as in smoking or swallowing "pot" as opposed to actual medical marijuana that comes only in pill form on a tightly controlled substance Rx. Nearly impossible to get without extreme need. I personally have no axe to grind with people smoking dope, for all the obvious reasons that people say they like it. I DO agree that, re: apnea patients, inhaling any kind of smoke can't be a good thing. Which is NOT to say I refuse to say it can't make an apnea pt. feel better. I personally wouldn't even THINK about being around any kind of smoke now. (I think that was #1.!!!) so, #2......what I know for a FACT is that Rx medical marijuana does help tremendously with intractable pain. The last 12 years or so of my career were spent doing therapy with cancer patients and with their families in group settings. The final 3 years I worked Hospice.

After I retired, two years ago, my brother-in-law was diagnosed with an absolutely multi-metastasized gut tumor and within weeks he was in unbelievable pain. Nothing Rx-wise helped AT ALL. Once he got into Hospice care at home, he was Rx'd medical marijuana and had nearly total pain relief, steadily, as long as it was administered as scheduled. I'm tellin' you guys, it was truly a miracle. I was with him before, during, and after all his treatments and that was the ONE thing we could count on to make him comfortable. Not HIGH, comfortable. He died fewer than 5 months later, but not in agony......

Now call me crazy, but there's a place for a substance like that for a patient who is terminal and has few to no other options for comfort care. When you think about it, most of the standard heavy-duty pain meds are illegal on the street. Doesn't mean they're not effective in medical care, by Rx only.

I can't see much reason why it would help an apnea patient, although there may be a risk/benefit ratio in there that we're not aware of. I would tend to believe the guy on here who swears by its being of help to him. What do we know, really, about any specific situation? But as a rule of thumb, it doesn't make a lot of sense with the smoke issue and the sedation issue, to say across the board that it would be good for general population apnea patients. It DOES have its place, however, in pain management and, used properly, is an absolute miracle drug for pain that just does not respond to standard treatment.

I'm just sayin'.........

Susan McCord

Mike said:

taking this seriously for a moment, i would think that it could complement some other treatment, like CPAP, as a measure to counter anxiety, especially associated with acclimating oneself to CPAP. But, certainly as a stand alone therapy, it would be disasterous. Wouldn't that relax the muscles in your body, making obstructions more likely to occur? Again, and just for the record, I think the suggestion that people smoke up to treat sleep apnea is preposterous.

Rock Hinkle said:

I did some research on the subject. I guess it does help with some anxiety, and insomnia issues. It is even mentioned in one of the online courses we have to take in order to prepare for the boards. I could not find any studies relating to sleep apnea,or the tratment of, in any of the educational sites though. I gess they could use hemp to make head gear. lol. I won't be telling any of my pts about this treatment any time soon.

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Permalink Reply by Rooster on November 26, 2010 at 11:12am

Nuny Bizness said, "You guys can poo-poo it and joke all you want. I know for a fact it works for me."

Would you be so kind as to tell us what type of sleep apnea you have been diagnosed with and how severe it is? Do you have any other medical conditions besides sleep apnea?

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