Cannabis And Breast Cancer Effects
There is anecdotal evidence suggests that marijuana may ease pain, nausea, vomiting, hot flashes, loss of appetite, anxiety, or insomnia that is caused by a breast cancer treatment plan.
Virginia F. Borges, M.D., MMSc., professor of medicine and director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, has a number of breast cancer patients who use or have used medical marijuana to ease treatment side effects.
“I’ve mainly seen it used in conjunction with prescription drugs to control pain and other side effects in patients living with metastatic disease,” she said. “It’s rare that a person living with metastatic breast cancer would have only one side effect to manage. So, by adding in medical marijuana, it often allows me to cut back on the number of drugs I prescribe. With a high-quality source for medical marijuana and knowing how it affects an individual, using medical marijuana can put more control back in the hands of my patient. If someone is feeling good, she may only need to take one or two drops per day. If she’s not feeling good, she may need three or four drops per day. Many of the prescription drugs don’t have this flexibility. Any time you can give control back to a person when their living with cancer, it’s a good thing.”
Cannabis And Breast Cancer Important Notes
First of all, there have not been enough clinical studies to show that prove cannabis has an effect on breast cancer. There have been plenty of stories posted online for people us successfully have used cannabis as a breast cancer treatment and it worked, but doctors haven’t done enough human trials to state this as a fact. Still, the evidence people bring forth about using cannabis for breast cancer can’t be ignored.
CBD in an oil form may slow or stop the spread of cancer. There’s a California woman who was diagnosed with one of the more aggressive forms of breast cancer. It was already in its late stages and she was told she only had 18 months to live. Instead of taking that as fact, she instead decided to use three different homemade herbal remedies all containing high amounts of CBD. She applied a salve topically to her breast, drank a tincture as a tea, then used a high-potency oil as a suppository. After 5 weeks of this treatment, scans showed that her lymph nodes were cleared and the tumors were basically all gone. The CBD treatment she used halted the spread of the cancer cells, and although this story is anecdotal, it shows the potential that cannabis has on breast cancer.
Cannabis not only has been shown in stories to eliminate cancer, it also helps to ease the side effects that other cancer treatments may cause. This can be crucial for breast cancer patients to help them continue to get through treatment.
Medical cannabis is not covered by insurance. So if you’re planning to use cannabis as a treatment plan, expect that you’re going to pay out of pocket for these products. Some dispensaries may offer a discount to cancer patients, so ask next time you’re there to see if there are discounts available.
Just because you have a medical marijuana card, doesn’t mean you’re automatically safe from work-place drug tests. Employers still have the right to drug test you depending on your contract with them, and unfortunately using cannabis as a medicine doesn’t mean your employer doesn’t have the right to let you go.
Before you buy from a dispensary, ask basic questions so you know what you’re putting into your body is safe. Some questions we recommend asking are:
- Is your cannabis grown using pesticides?
- Do you properly store and handle your products to avoid contamination?
- Do you test your products for fungi and bacteria? What are the results?
- How much training or experience do you have recommending medical cannabis?
- Have you ever worked with cancer patients before?
If you don’t like the answers they give, don’t be afraid to be picky and go to another dispensary. It’s your health and you have to be protective.
Expect to do a lot of research on your own when looking at cannabis and breast cancer treatment plans. There isn’t a lot of concrete or doctor approved studies out there, so you’re probably going to need to do a ton of research to get a good plan that you’re comfortable with.
Types Of Cannabis And Breast Cancer Treatment Options
There are a few ways people have used cannabis as a breast cancer treatment. The most common form is using a cannabis oil and ingesting it. As we saw in our example above you can ingest the cannabis oil as a suppository, however, some people prefer to consume it orally. Either way, putting the cannabis oil into your body so it’s absorbed into the bloodstream seems to be one of the most popular ways people use cannabis and breast cancer together.
Another popular method is by inhaling cannabis. You can inhale cannabis by smoking it or vaping it. Either way, the cannabis is heated up and forms a smoke or vapor that you then inhale. This puts the cannabis into your lungs where it is then absorbed into the bloodstream.
Another consumption method is by eating the cannabis in the form of an edible or drink. This way takes longer to take effect, and we typically see people using edibles or drinks as a way to relieve some of the symptoms that come from cancer treatment. That’s not to say that some people don’t use edibles and drinks as a way to cure cancer.
Whichever way you decide to pair cannabis and breast cancer together, always make sure you’re comfortable with the process. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask your friends. People are more open to talking about cannabis these days, and there might be someone you know personally who has experience with cannabis and breast cancer.
What do you think about the connection between cannabis and breast cancer? Have any questions you’d like answered by a professional? Contact one of our cannasultants today for a free 30 minute cannabis therapy consultation today!
