Is it safe if you have AVM? I used to be an extremly heavy smoker of it until a while ago I herd that smoking was bad if you have an AVM and that it can cause a stroke...(maybe that explains why I have passed out once from having a huge amount before?)Anyways...I make it in food from now on...but stopped because Im not sure of that...before I ask my doctor (I don't really want to ask) I want to know what other people on here think...should I keep not smoking it because smoking in general can cause a stroke or is weed smoke different? and is it safe to eat it? And please no answers that say things like "you should avoid it because its a drug and drugs are bad...etc" because I highly dissagree on that. I have herd it enlarges veins and arteries in the brain...(i dont know if thats true but ive just herd that somewhere)...and I cant tell if it affects my avm or not...
Chelsea, I've heard that it increases brain function as well, but I'm not sure that's true because I've also heard it kills brain cells. I would definitly recommend talking to your doctor about it. They are not there to judge (at least I hope not!) just to tell you the facts. I would think that smoking would be far worse than injesting it other ways (food) just because. like you said, smoking in general is bad. However, I've never been more than a very occasional user (and it's been years since I've done it). So, check with your doctor before you continue. You don't want to put yourself at unneccesary risk of a bleed.
Probably really best to ask the DR face to face.
When my wife had surgery at Stanford, they asked us the day before to list all the recreational drugs she took and how much she drank.
Stunned, we asked why; the anesthesia they use reacts one way if you use cocaine and another if you use heroin. They didn't specify on weed.
My suggestion is its better not to guess about the effects.
Before my surgery when I was in a lot of pain, I asked my primary if there was any non habit forming pain killers that also did not require taking any other drugs to compensate for the negatives of the first. His exact words were "Not unless you move to California". I didnt get it at first. Later my wife updated me on what he really meant by his statement. lol
I personally have no issues with pot but chose not to consume for several reasons. The biggest was because I did not want my insurance to have an excuse to drop me. Its strange how there are no issues covering alcohol and tobacco which kills lots of people every day.
Since I am interested in the topic, I did a quick google search - effects of marijuana on the body
One of the affects is a higher heart rate but with lower blood pressure. My personal pre surgery experience was that when my blood pressure was high, I had more focal seizure activity. When my heart rate was high, my headaches were very severe and I could "feel" my heartbeat in my head. Either way, my AVM was not happy.
Search the forum here for "avm and marijuana" Someone started a similar strand a while back.
We are all different and so are the AVMs. Asking the doc who is familiar with your AVM will be the best option. Letting your doc know may also help him/her have enough insight to be prepared enough to avoid extra complications in the future. Good luck.
u should talk to ur dr. i smoked pot all the way up until the day of my stroke(i was 27 and am now 28). sometimes tho, i wouldnt b able to smoke because of sudden headaches that would turn into migraines after a while. i had my craniotomy and started smoking pot again like 3 or 4 months after the surgery. idk if this is related but a week after i started smoking pot again, i had a seizure. i stil smoke, no seizures. smoking has helped with my anger issues and some of the depression. but i def do not smoke if i have a headache, it seems to make it worse. thats just my personal situation, urs could b diff especially since u still have ur avm, which is y i recommend u talk to ur dr. ask for facts and statistics not opinions or suggestions.
Hi.Personally I have no problem with pot use.It's a great pain reliever,mood stabilizer,appetite stimulant,etc.However it can cause complications in people with different medical problems. It is the same as ANY other drug, six one way,half a dozen another way.Talk OPENLY AND HONESTLY with your doc.However there is one other thing that you need to think about. How does pot affect your eggs? I smoked a lot when I was younger(pot and cigs).Did it 'damage' my eggs and that is why my son had an AVM? I'm sure if it did that it wasn't the only factor.I'm sure pain meds,bc,and everything I ate, breathed and did factored in there too.But who knows.It is one of the things I wish I could change now to lessen the odds.
erin, i would not try to find a way to put the blame or the cause of ur sons avm on urself. my mom had a completely normal pregnancy and i had an avm. with my first preg i smoked pot, cigs and drank too much coffee, my son came out normal, hes extra hyper and did have what is called pyloric stenosis, stomach muscle was too tight, a little nick in that muscle (an hour long surgery) and he was fine. any way, no one knows the cause of an avm or even if its hereditary or not. but, i can pretty much guarantee that smoking pot has nothing to do with messing up ur eggs or causing an avm.
ive heard of heavy smokers that have had strokes at very young ages due to the excessive smokin of weed. I know it kills brain cells so i think the last thing you wanna do is smoke weed but i would ask a DR to be safe.
A lot of ppl use weed when depressed etc but dont realize that weed infact will only cause depression and anxiety after long term use.
Good luck and God bless....
And this is exactly the reason why marijuana should, at the very least, be legalized to perform research on. We have far too many opinions and speculation and not enough facts for people to responsibly ingest something that may or may not help them.
I am a card carrying member of the California branch of the MJ tokers society, I have a card in case I need it, I haven't used it in many months but I like having the option. Now that it was mostly legal, my use of it went down (as is proven in studies). I get really bad headaches sometimes that Tylenol or Advil just don't help, but marijuana does.
I have heard that MJ can immediately raise your heart rate after 1st smoking it and I have experienced that on some occasions where it increases my heart rate and I think it's going to beat right out of my chest and kill me, this is why I have cut down my own personal use, hoping that this goes away because it does help with stress and anger issues. I told my doctors in the hospital when I was admitted with my AVM, that I used it and they never said to me to stop or lectured me about it, they seemed to discretely agree that if it helped me then it was okay to use it.
Maybe you should try using a vaporizer? That is not "smoke" (it's vapor) and you don't use as much as you would smoking or eating it. Good luck!
Hi,
I don't smoke any more these days,not because I think it is bad (and not because of my AVM) I just dont need it and I liked natural grown, To much HYDRO these days I know our family DR thinks it has medicinal remides as He recomonds my Husband who is a smoker to keep it up for his condition of high blood pressure and cronic back pain and knee condition(so he can walk) so be up and honest with your Drs as some say yes and some say no. So take care hope all goes well with for you. Toodles Gay
I've read that drugs increasses brain function in a book about brains, so it's probably true. I smoked weed a couple of times, and always got a bad trip. Maybe just because I can't handle it, maybe it's because of my AVM and the reaction drugs have on the arteries and veins. I also had medication for my 'migraines' that narrowed the bloodvessels, and I always had this stong reaction (not feeling good) after I took them. When you eat it (I guess you mean processing weed into a spacecake) the drugs still goes into your body, so it still has the same effects.
However, smoking is worse. When you inhale > your brain gets little spasms, so that's not very good for your AVM or CM as well.
It's actually funny for me to read some of the comments here. In the USA and a lot of other countries drugs are a big deal. Here in Holland you can walk into a coffeshop (when your 18 or older) and buy or smoke whatever you want. Sometimes doctors describe weed to people who are in a lot of pain.
I just want to add that weed enhanced the mood that you're in. When you feel sad, and use weed it's normal to get into a bad trip. When your feeling good and have fun you'll probably feel very happy after using weed.
I don't know from a medical stand point neither do I know how it would affect an AVM in the brain. However my husband did use this medication in replacement of pain pills for a little over a year. For him it helped the pain and nausea. And as a bystander it helped his moods. He wasn't nearly as aggitated as he was on pain pills. He discontinued this medication in fear that it would cause additional problems to his lungs. So unfortunately I don't have an answer for you and this was probably a useless post but good luck with whichever route you take.
Hi Slith - I think that your approach to asking doctors about anything really is a good one - "ask for facts and statistics not opinions or suggestions."
Hi Chelsea - Here's my two-cent opinion: I would check with your doctor using Slith's approach.
In the end, it doesn't matter what my opinion is of it - but it can be a natural pain reliever which I'm all for - the smoking of it is a totally different story.
The main concern that I have with it (besides smoking it and lack of concentration on the basics-not comparing it to the legalness of alcohol =)) is that it might be mentally addictive (not physically addictive. Although it has many beneficial properties, it might hinder your progress rather than help it.
It is soooo different, isn't it? I was in Amsterdam (I am a US citizen) prior to the AVM nonsense. We walked into a coffee shop, and they had a menu of marijuana - I was drunk and hungry, asked for something to eat, so they served me what they had - space cake with rasta colors.
The US has very different concerns regarding MJ.
The consumption of cannabis (whether inhaled or ingested) causes an increase in cerebral blood flow -- which is often visually apparent in the accompanying "red-eye" symptom . . . Although I haven't studied the implications, I imagine that increased cerebral blood flow (especially if the cerebral pressures are affected) could have a negative consequence.
Talk to you doc ;)
Chelsea, I would like to share a thought about the non-medical side to this:
Retrospective here's what I did after being diagnosed with AVM:
* less sports because I was freaking out about something could go wrong with the AVM like bleeding, CNS ischemia, etc...
* hiding the formation (mine is easily visible by swelling on my neck/shoulder) which automatically led to me
* hiding socially
* developing existential fears due to risks in treatment, diagnosis and formation itself.
All of these changes are not so nice.
That's why I recommend: Try to think about how the diagnosis is changing your life.
If you are happy about smoking five grams of weed every day and enjoy it then why should you change that?
Regarding the medical side: I doubt you will find any studies discussing the effects of smoking cannabis on AVMs, since you hardly find any publications on AVMs...
But if you will read up on the effects of tobacco smoke on vasculature, you will find a lot. Smoking is bad for your bllod vessels. It promotes cardiovascular diseases. Nicotine causes vasconstriction etc. Question is if these things are relevant to AVM.
If in doubt buy a vaporiser or keep cooking space cookies :) yum
Oh and why don't you get medicinal marijuana ? Say you want it for pain relieve. Maybe you can even get it in pill form then you don't need to bake every time you wish to get high :)
Cannabis generally results in lower blood pressure, due to relaxed arteries - that's why people can pass out on large doses of it. It also increases your heart rate, to make up for the reduced blood pressure. All this should result in increased blood flow to the brain (and everywhere else) without a pressure increase.
I am a daily user. I was before my stroke and, aside from a brief stay in the hospital, was after my stroke (it's been over 5 years).
I definitely notice a reduction in my spasticity when I'm high. I also notice a reduced ability to move my affected side when I'm high (the effects are fairly dose-dependant, and seem to be the same with all drugs). So it can be a good thing (no shaking) but also a bad thing.