Pot & PCOS

[GothicCyster]

A while back there was some kinda show on about the history of pot. i just saw the commercial and they said some queen (i forget which one) used it for cramps.

I hate having to take pills all the time and a lot of times they dont work anyway and sometimes herbal tea works for me and sometimes i just go WITHOUT any kind of medication because im afraid im gonna ruin my liver by taking too much of it bcuz i have to take it every day.

i think the problem w/ pot is that you cant get it legally for medical purposes or anything else, yet you can be prescribed all these meds that cause problems like:
acne meds that cause depression/suicide
arthritis meds that cause heart attacks
oxycontin for pain (which can be just as addicting & dangerous as heroin)
meds that cause stroke, heart attack, birth defects, etc
even herbs can cause health problems and alcohol which is supposedly regulated. anyway my point is...
they wont allow you to smoke pot and if youre in pain, especially as much pain as im in and i know others have as well, you dont get high from it.

anyone can abuse any drug...look at these allergy meds these kids are taking to get hi!!!! allergy meds!!! but in my opinion i would MUCH rather go on marijuana than oxycontin. oxycontin causes tooth decay, i think hair loss & other problems and i dont need anymore physical problems than i got right now w/ my pcos!!!!!

i myself dont smoke pot, i barely even drink all that much. the only reason i am against pot smoking is because ive seen a lot of people who have kids and dont want to give up that part of their lifestyle and i think thats wrong because you can get your kids taken away because of it! and i think its wrong because its illegal and if youre living w/ someone else or driving around w/ them and YOU have it, then you could get everyone in trouble even if no one knows but you. its too risky.

and altho legalizing it for medicinal use isnt likely to happen, i was just wondering if anyone knows about how it affects the pain of pcos. our medicinal options are limited as the insurance companies get out of paying for any of our meds that are an "off-label" use, such as hair-growth products that are only studied on men but work in women, or meds that work in women w/ pcos but are not studied on them. thats how they get out of the "off-label" use. plus the birth control (which i think should be covered by insurance anyway) is not covered, and so women with pcos often get the shaft bcuz no one knows about pcos and our meds arent covered bcuz they havent been studied in us.

so...i was thinking if in fact medicinal marijuana works, we should try to have it legalized to treat pcos, maybe in a pill form if thats possible or whatever will work best w/ least side effects (i think smoking it is kinda werid cos if you have kids around then it might affect them or make everything smell like pot...id b so embarrassed!)

anyway just wanted other opinions and help to see if anyone knows if it helps or not.

thanks

[evenstar]

Don't get me started in lealizing marijuana... I am NOT pro!

Anyhow, yes, it does have a medical effect. Cancer (leukemia etc) will use it to calm down and relax during the last phases. Other chronically ill persons also find that it does soothe some of the symptoms they have.
I cannot speak for anyone else, as we all have different symptoms, but I sincerely doubt pot would make my life easier. Would it take the acne away? Would it take the excess hair away? Make my periods more regular? And, for those TTC cysters, would it make them more fertile?

Of course, it is said that those who smokes, or does drugs, loose weight easily, but...

I don't really know enough about this to make an educated input here, but unless someone comes with some pretty good reasons as to why pot would help, I'm going to be stubborn and think that it won't.
If anyone does have any good arguments, then, that it all good and fine. But I shall not be smoking pot. Medical reasons or not.

[melissa6]

I would think that for pcos it would not be a good idea. My neighbor has scleroderma and was smoking it to help with pain, but mostly to gain extra weight. It really gives her an appetite.

[GothicCyster]

hey evenstar i totally respect that opinion! honestly ive tried pot 3 times in my life, once when i was 14, when i was 18 and at 21 (that one was at a concert...w/ my dad...that time was parental pressure lol. lemme just say it was one weird xperience....) but it NEVER did anything for me. who knows, maybe i didnt smoke it right.
but im wondering about the pain. i typed in marijuana pcos to find info on it and some people said it helped their pain. one said she had such bad cramps she'd throw up when she was younger. and that she doesnt smoke enough to get high, just to ease the pain so she can go about her day. bcuz when ure in pain u really dont get high from a drug (depending on the drug...). like morphine. morphine in my opinion is stronger than pot. but u can get it for pain. but if u need it for pain u dont really get "high" from it. u get weird but its not enjoyable.

but my whole point is that if they can legalize it for certain reasons then we should at least try to have it legalized for pcos so that there is SOME drug option available so we dont have to fight 20 years from now, if and when pot is legalized for glaucoma or whatever, to have it legal for pcos patients. as much of certain meds i take im probably going to have problems some time later from the ibuprofin. right now im takin percogesic and thats strong. it helps a bit but it makes me very dazed (low tolerance to meds) and i get so confused if i cant have uninterrupted sleep after taking it.

i just think pot is milder than many synthetic meds theyre using to treat problems with and i think it should be legalized for that purpose but as far as just smoking it for fun, im kinda torn between that. im more anti-drug i think. i dont care what people do as long as they dont have children!!!!!!!!! if they wanna ruin their lives, dont bring kids into it.

[guineapig]

IMO pot would make you less fertile...it certainly did someone I know with very low sperm morphology...

I think, personally, that it binds to estrogen & in some measure, to testosterone. This "same person" I know actually grew manly hair on his chest & face for the FIRST time at age 26 after quitting pot (user since teenhood).

Now binding to testosterone might help women's PCOS hair issues, certainly, and binding to our excess PCOS estrogen we tend to have might help those same issues, but *sigh* I'd prefer to see more research with letrozole, etc too. And I do NOT think the FDA is our "guardian" by any means. More like "who's the highest bidder this month?" I will not even go into that here, but I lost all faith in them after they keep depo on the market year after year...not to mention approving drugs after a few months that later cause blindness.

[KatCarney]

I wouldn't want all of that 'char' in my lungs.

Have you ever seen the lungs of a smoker - gross.

[VickiP]

I don't know how they will get pot into a pill form. Half the fun is smoking it anyways . I think using pot for medicinal purposes applies to those in sever pain with cancer or some type of deadly disease. Yeah, my cramps suck, but I wouldn't compare it to that... Ntm, pot will make you really hungry and I think that would be counter-productive in the case of PCOS.

[GothicCyster]

u guys got points. i dont want the munchies...but i dont think it would cause it for me and im sure some other people wouldnt have that problem either, just depending on how it works on each individual. but im assuming that pot is an herb...or hemp is an herb, i guess. they can make cloth & other things out of it. rope. cant they make paper or am i mistaken? jewellery, hamster homes etc...
well most herbs & vitamins, u can get in a tea form, pill form, sometimes in topical creams, depending on what they are. so im just assuming u could make it in a pill or tea form or something. hell i wonder if u could get it as a topical cream if it would work. i swear by chamomile!!!!

but if it would stop the hair growth i would be VERY tempted. i always thought it would work the opposite and make it worse maybe. but not sure...

in the case of the guy that didnt grow any hair until he stopped, well my brother was like that but didnt smoke pot. he had NO hair on his chest xcept a small patch between his man-boobs. id tease him. then i think when he was thirty he sprouted hair. maybe he was younger but i know it was a shock to me that suddenly he was sprouting hair all over!

[Loreo123]

They already have it in pill form. The name of the drug is Marinol, It's actually the THC from the marijuana extracted and put into pill form.
A friend of mne is HIV positive and she take Marinol to help reduce nausea.

http://www.thebody.com/apla/aug99/marinol.html

[polly-pcos]

IME pot is linked to depression/mental illness, not saying it causes it maybe, encourages it in those who are naturally prone

[GothicCyster]

oh im naturally prone...lol. i think that would be a bad thing for me but the pain itself is hard to live with soooo...its like choosing the worst of the two evils which just happens to be whichever one is affecting me less at the moment lol.

[ajhyer]

I don't think I would ever consider taking it, legal or not! It has a stigma in my mind of being bad and always will. I think I would feel like I was doing something wrong.

Of course, this is just what I think now because I have never tried it nor have I ever wanted to try it. I just don't have the desire.

[hunnybee]

IME pot is linked to depression/mental illness, not saying it causes it maybe, encourages it in those who are naturally prone

I totally agree. I work in mental health and I see the effects of pot on a daily basis. It is well documented that it can induce psychosis in those who are prone.... I don't really have a firm opinion on the use of pot for medicinal purposes, for example, a person with MS who uses it can experience far more benefit when compared to the negative effects.... I personally wouldn't use it for pcos for many reasons including the dreaded munchies!!

[GothicCyster]

well what about if you had immense pain and they suggested pot or oxycontin?
i mean id wanna mix it up a bit! u know...just so i dont mess up my liver.
bcuz motrin & tylenol dont work too well on me but i dont wanna take nothin illegal or nothin so i stick to some home remedies right now

[KatCarney]

but if it would stop the hair growth i would be VERY tempted. i always thought it would work the opposite and make it worse maybe. but not sure...

What mechanism of pot do you believe will stop the hair growth? (ie Does it stop androgen production? Does it block androgens from binding to cells?)

Also, have you talked to your doctor about your ongoing pain. Are they sure it's due to pcos 'in general' and not something specifically wrong that needs to be treated?