People with Fibromyalgia Are Substituting CBD for Opioids to Manage Pain

Because the ravages of the opioid epidemic lead many to keep away from these highly effective painkillers, a major variety of folks with fibromyalgia are discovering an efficient alternative in CBD-containing merchandise, finds a brand new Michigan Medicine study. 

CBD, brief for cannabidiol, is the second most typical cannabinoid within the hashish plant, and has been marketed for all the things from temper stabilization to ache aid, with out the intoxicating results produced by the most typical cannabinoid, THC. THC, which stands for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the ingredient in marijuana that causes folks to really feel excessive.

The hashish trade has exploded, aided by the legalization of medical and leisure marijuana in states round the US and the elimination of hemp-derived CBD from Schedule 1 standing—reserved for medicine with no at the moment accepted medical use and a excessive potential for abuse—on the federal degree.

Earlier analysis reveals that some folks substitute medical hashish (usually with excessive concentrations of THC) for opioids and different ache drugs, reporting that hashish gives higher ache aid and fewer unwanted side effects. Nevertheless, there’s far much less information on CBD use.

“CBD is much less dangerous than THC, as it’s nonintoxicating and has much less potential for abuse,” stated Kevin Boehnke, PhD, a analysis investigator within the Division of Anesthesiology and the Persistent Ache and Fatigue Analysis Middle. “If folks can discover the identical aid with out THC’s unwanted side effects, CBD might signify a helpful hurt discount technique.”

Boehnke and his workforce surveyed folks with fibromyalgia about their use of CBD for therapy of power ache. 

“Fibromyalgia shouldn’t be straightforward to deal with, usually involving a number of drugs with important unwanted side effects and modest advantages,” Boehnke defined. “Additional, many different therapies, like acupuncture and therapeutic massage, aren’t lined by insurance coverage.”

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For this research, the workforce targeted on 878 folks with fibromyalgia who stated they used CBD to get extra perception into how they used CBD merchandise.

The College of Michigan (U-M) workforce discovered that greater than 70 p.c of individuals with fibromyalgia who used CBD substituted CBD for opioids or different ache drugs. Of those members, many reported that they both decreased use or stopped taking opioids and different ache drugs in consequence. 

“I used to be not anticipating that degree of substitution,” stated Boehnke, noting that the speed is kind of just like the substitution price reported within the medical hashish literature. Individuals who stated they used CBD merchandise that additionally contained THC had larger odds of substitution and reported better symptom aid.

But the discovering that merchandise containing solely CBD additionally offered ache aid and had been substituted for ache drugs is promising and deserves future research, famous Boehnke.

The workforce famous that a lot of the widespread use of CBD is happening with out doctor steerage and within the absence of related scientific trials. “Even with that lack of proof, individuals are utilizing CBD, substituting it for medicine, and doing so saying it is much less dangerous and more practical,” he stated.

Boehnke pressured the necessity for extra managed analysis into how CBD might present these advantages, in addition to whether or not these advantages could also be because of the placebo impact.

Clinically, opening up strains of debate round CBD use for power ache is crucial, stated Boehnke, for medicine security causes in addition to for “enhancing the therapeutic alliance and enhancing affected person care.”

– This press launch was initially printed on the Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan website