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I would be very interested to know if anyone has had success with marijuana for migraines. I’m surprised that no one has visted this forum in 11 years!

I know some people who swear by marijuana for migraine prevention. Whether it’s placebo effect remains to be seen. I’ve tried it in the past and didn’t find it influenced my migraines one way or the other.

If your state has medical marijuana it might be worth a try.

I visited my hometown by train for my uncle’s funeral. I asked my cousin if he could fix me up with some weed because I wanted to try it for my migraines. You have to realize that I have intractable migraine, I have tried every preventative, am currently on 600mg topamax and still have daily headaches. I had been taking Nucynta everyday but was asked to stop (by a pain clinic doctor who was going to trial an occipital nerve stimulator….that’s a whole other story). I had to take my Nucynta, my dhe45, my toradol with me just so I could make it thru my uncle’s wake and funeral. Back to the subject: Marijuana
When I got home I told my husband that I had gotten some from my cousin and was anxious to try it for my next migraine. I didn’t have papers to roll it or a pipe to smoke it; lo and behold my daughter comes up with the stuff that I needed. I am no youngster!! The last time I smoked pot was a good 25 years ago! So I tried it and it relaxed every single muscle in my head my face (temple area) as if I had taken a handful of muscle relaxers without the cognitive effect. Yes, I was a little high and that felt a little like an occipital nerve block. I felt great. I went back into our living room and watched the program we had been watching and enjoyed the rest of the evening. Problem: you run out, its not legal, I don’t know where to get more. Plus: after the high is gone, the relaxation was still there and the migraine was still gone. I found it truly remarkable.

My friend has told me to try this, as soon as I get my life back in order and my daily migraines under control, I will eventually get back in school and get my nursing degree. So then he (my friend) mentioned something called K2 for it? It’s like a legal form of weed, but without the THC that doesn’t show up in drug tests? Does anyone know anything about that? I think I would still be kind of apprehensive, just wondering if anyone knows anything about that?

I think I read something about a legalized cannabanoid (I might have nutzed the spelling there) as I was desperate to find something legal to mimic the effect I felt…..but I’ve surfed so many internet pages I couldn’t tell you where I read it. Why don’t you just google K2?

I just had a short conversation with a headache specialist wherein I asked him about medical marijuana and if he had seen patients who had luck with it helping their chronic Migraines. His answer was that yes, some people do find that it is helpful. I also spoke with a girl who used it for her Migraines successfully. Both commented that in their opinion, much more studying needs to be done on its effects. It could potentially be a godsend, but without research it will likely remain out of our hands. Even with research, drug companies may not be clamoring to provide it, causing issues that way. That said, in our state it is not yet looked at as a medication, but still as an illicit drug. Until it is looked at seriously, I fear that its potential as a very helpful drug with few side effects will be ignored.

I really want to try marijuana to see if it will stop the pain from my migraines. The problem is, I’m only 16 and don’t know how to bring it up with my parents. I live in Michigan so we do have medical marijuana, and I have smoked before, but never when I had a migraine. But if I want to try it to use as something for my migraines, I would want my parents to know about it. I’ve been on many things like topamax and used maxalt, toradol, and fioricet but nothing has worked. In my last visit my neurologist bascally said “there’s nothing I can do for you”. I’m just curious to see if it has worked with anyone and if it will work for me.

Hello! I keep a small stash for myself at all times just in case. I don’t find that it makes my migraine go away, and I don’t find that it lasts for as long as I wish.

I find myself using it for the times when my migraine is too terrible to wait 45 minutes for my imitrex to kick in, or if I’m feeling very nauseous from the headache.

I also use it sometimes if I’m in a rebound cycle, can’t take medication and just want to fall asleep. It numbs the pain just long enough for me to get comfortable and fall asleep.

I wish so badly that the government would recognize its medicinal purposes.

To summarize – it’s not going to cure your migraines and it’s definitely not something that you want to use as a substitute for legal medications. But it definitely helps with temporary pain relief.

MEGANMARIEARTHUR – Are you seeing a headache specialist? That is probably the best thing to do to start with. Neurologists are not the best equipped doctors to help you with Migraine and other headache disorders.

Hearing that yet another doctor has told a patient “there’s nothing more I can do” makes me angry. I would much rather a physician tell the patient that they don’t know what else to try, then offer to refer to a doctor who might be able to help.

There are hundreds of things that can be done. I have never yet met a single patient who has literally tried every test, drug or treatment.

Then there is a different viewpoint – what might be exacerbating or triggering your Migraines that might be dealt with? Most patients find very little in the way of help for this, yet most chronics I find seem to have some health condition that was being mis-diagnosed or ignored.

I can’t say whether medical marijuana will be helpful to you – each person is different. I do wish that its potential for medicinal purposes was explored by researchers with open minds.

I will tell you as a parent I have always believed that being truthful is the best policy for my family. Truth builds trust, and if there is one thing a parent wants to have in a child who is taking medicines that could be abused… its trust. Knowing that there might be something “out there” in prescription form (legal) to help my child have a normal life would be a relief. I am not always in the majority however, because I have experienced pain at a level most people can’t begin to comprehend, and understand the need for treatment. Maybe beginning the discussion with your doctor would be the place to start. Only you can decide that though.

Ellen- My dads boss keeps decreasing the insurance so a headache specialist is no longer an option. Neither is a neurologist. And as for triggers ive been keeping a diary to see but mostly they’re brought on by not enough sleep/stress. But in my junior year of high school that means a lot of sleepless nights and stressful days. So they’ve been amped up a lot. I just wish there was some way to stop the pain. And if my parents are on bored with it. Then maybe marijuana will be an option.

Firstly, Carolyn, if imitrex is taking 45 min to work, you could try nasal or subcutaneous forms which work much quicker.

Second, the current concensus on marijuana for migraine is that if it is used frequently like with all other pain medicines in migraine, there is a chance that this can cause medication overuse headache. It is not proven and I’m sure that one could get thousands of people for a study but that most likely won’t happen. Also there are other issues regarding long term marijuana use, especially its effects on the brain.