Cannabis helped me manage the chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders after my unnecessary mesh implant surgery.
Editor’s Note: Any testimonials or endorsements found on this site are for anecdotal purposes only. The information in Rxleaf testimonials is not intended as direct medical advice, nor should it be relied upon as a substitute for consultations with qualified healthcare professionals who are intimately knowledgeable about your individual medical needs.
My medical journey has been hell, and cannabis has been the thing to manage my pain from a botched mesh surgery.
In 1999, I underwent back surgery to take out L3/L4 discs. That didn’t solve the problem, I was still in pain, so went back for an X-ray months after recovery to find that my spine had moved forward. Surgeon said he could fix. This was 2002 and he used screws, rods, connection plates, and a piece of my hip. I was put on morphine. My right hip still hurts from the nerve they cut in surgery.
“Turns out I didn’t even need the surgery”
Then I had an aortic bifemoral bypass in my legs. My thighs burned, it was basically the muscles eating themselves. Turns out I didn’t even need back surgery, it was a problem with my aorta to begin with! So, blood flow was fixed, but my back hurt again.
In 2010 I went in for a hernia repair using mesh due to a 2.5cm tear over the bypass. They didn’t say the mesh would eventually kill me, or come really close. I had to have emergency surgery to remove it. It was bad.
They removed my abdominal muscles, nerves, and belly button. Then surgery again to remove the bump that was left by my muscles growing back together. It feels like a belt tightened under my ribs, three or four holes too tight. I call it my steel corset.
They didn’t give me any pain meds because Medicaid wanted me off pain management. I use cannabis instead…anything with a high THC percentage. I smoke bud from a one hitter and I’m good for a while.
The chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders caused by the physiomesh are well managed by cannabis. Don’t know why the government tries to keep it from us! If I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t be here.
From RxLeaf: What the Science Says about Pain of Mesh Surgery
Search the internet for the term “physiomesh” and one of the first topics to appear on your screen is their rate of failure. There are many class action lawsuits already underway addressing the excruciating issues stemming from mesh implant surgery failure.
According to one law firm, the most common complaints associated with physiomesh failure include:
- Inflammation and redness
- Recurring hernias
- Blockages or obstructions of the intestinal tract
- Sharp abdominal pain
- Vomiting and nausea
As this story highlights, there are many uncomfortable and debilitating effects even after surgeons remove a failed physiomesh from a botched mesh surgery. What can patients do to cope with the symptoms? Not everyone can handle the hardcore pain medications required to reduce the pain, swelling, and discomfort, especially over the long term. So why not try cannabis instead of pain meds?
Enter Medical Cannabis
THC
If there is one application THC targets well, it’s chronic pain. It’s one of the most common reasons for cannabis use and often one preferred by patients. Further, in a study out of Arizona, a state with medical cannabis laws, the vast majority of patients with fibromyalgia (71 percent), arthritis (63 percent), and neuropathic pain (51 percent) found “almost complete overall relief or “a lot” of relief through cannabis. All of these conditions are characterized by difficult to treat pain, and yet in each case, cannabis worked.
CBD
Other animal studies have shown the effectiveness of CBD (a compound which doesn’t trigger a high) for the reduction of neuropathic and inflammatory pain. Although a preliminary study, through an analysis of an animal model of pain, the study saw the researchers conclude that CBD also has exceptional pain-relieving qualities.
How do I take It?
But how do you take your CBD or THC for chronic pain? Basically, lots of people achieve benefits from smoking. But, if smoke bothers you, you can just as easily vape your medicine. Aside from those methods, you could take it as an edible (though this can be difficult to exactly measure the amount you’re taking) or, one of the most reliable methods, take it as oil, sublingually (under the tongue). Basically, for the latter two, you will need isolated cannabis, or oil. For the former, you just need cannabis bud (the flower of the plant) ground up and put into your desired method of inhalation.
Cannabis plays a unique role in the human body. Each compound, like THC and CBD, shapes the way our body regulates pain. For chronic pain, including the pain induced by a failed mesh surgery, opioids are not always a long term solution. Instead, medical cannabis may offer the same level of relief (or better), without the adverse side effects, the risk of addiction, or tolerance development.
Cannabis is an all natural, and safe, alternative.
