New research published in The Journal of Pain assessed the results of a large online survey and found that many fibromyalgia patients are replacing pain medications with CBD, a non-psychoactive constituent of the cannabis plant.
The opioid epidemic continues to fuel addiction and claim lives. Pharmaceutical companies stated back in the 1990s that patients would not become addicted to opioid painkillers. A few decades later, millions are addicted, and over 70,000 are dead.
Patients experiencing fibromyalgia have also fallen victim to this wave of drug abuse. The chronic pain condition remains difficult to treat. Conventional routes involve the prescription of opioids, and many patients end up abusing these medications. But what are the alternatives? Where can patients experiencing relentless pain and fatigue turn?
Cannabis, once again, might hold the answer.
Over 850 people answered the survey, and 72% of them recorded opting for CBD over prescribed pharmaceuticals. Approximately 53% of the participants replaced opioids with CBD, and just over 23% opted for CBD over benzodiazepines.
Most of these patients stated that they wanted to use CBD instead because it produces fewer side effects. The researchers found that up to 94% of the substitutions resulted in patients either stopping or reducing their original medications.
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