Medical Marijuana Can Help Patients With Vertigo
Anyone who has had vertigo can attest to how destabilizing it can be when your surroundings appear to be shifting or spinning around you. It has several causes, though it can be challenging to identify the above symptom.
Patients may find it challenging to wait for a diagnosis because many of them suffer from short-term or long-term nausea, vomiting, and balance problems. Vertigo can also be a persistent problem, but it needs to be treated right away to rule out any potentially serious underlying conditions.
However, Cannabis presents itself as a possible treatment option for those attempting to manage vertigo-related nausea and vomiting due to its potent antiemetic properties.
The definition and explanation of vertigo are covered in this article, along with some recommendations for patients looking for the best nausea-reducing effects. But first, let's look at what it means below for those of us who don't fully understand what it is.
What is Vertigo?
The best way to describe it is as dizziness that makes you feel as though the world is spinning. Vertigo can simply refer to any ongoing or passing dizzy spell in a more general sense.
Getting up too quickly from a seated or lying down position or a sudden drop in blood pressure are two common causes of dizziness. Vertigo could be caused by issues with the inner ear as well.
However, several symptoms can be used to determine whether or not someone has vertigo. Let's examine the following:
- Problems with balance
- Perspiration
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ear)
- Headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and nystagmus (eye movement disorder characterized by rapid, involuntary movement of the eye)
- Queasy feeling and motion sickness
What are the Causes of Vertigo?
It can have a variety of causes. Let's examine each of them individually:
Meniere’s Disease: A noncancerous skin growth in the middle ear is called a cholesteatoma. It develops behind the eardrum and could harm the middle ear's bony structures.
Vestibular neuritis is an infection-related inflammation of the vestibular nerve. It causes vertigo and has side effects like severe nausea and vision problems.
Labyrinthitis: This condition develops when an infection results in an inflamed labyrinth in the inner ear. This area contains the vestibulocochlear nerve, which communicates sound, position, and head motion information to the brain.
Our inner ears have otolith organs, which contain calcium carbonate crystals in the fluid. These organs are the cause of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Crystals become loose in BPPV patients and lodge in the semicircular canals of the ears.
The brain sends false information about position and orientation when a crystal touches sensory hair cells in the canals' cupula, making victims feel disoriented.
In addition, vertigo may be brought on by migraines, MS, ataxia, an acoustic neuroma, ear surgery, and other conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, strokes, or transient ischemic attacks.
Treating Vertigo Symptoms with Marijuana (Can Medical Marijuana Treat Vertigo?)
Vertigo should not be treated with cannabis some say. Always keep in mind that the illness is merely a symptom of something else. Patients must therefore control their expectations and realize that MMJ may only help to lessen the problem, not completely solve it. Of course, a decrease in symptoms is more than sufficient for those who frequently feel like the room is spinning.
Research has shown how cannabis may help with vertigo symptoms like nausea, headache, and dizziness over the years. It appears that certain endocannabinoid receptors in the body are activated by marijuana.
The two main receptors are CB1 and CB2, with CB1 receptors predominating in the central nervous system. Immune cells typically have CB2 receptors. Both might have additional downstream effects on the brain.
Regrettably, little is known about the therapeutic benefits of marijuana in the pathophysiology of vertigo.
However, several studies focus on how cannabis affects people who experience nausea, vomiting, and vertigo-related symptoms like dizziness. The effects of CBD on nausea and vomiting were examined in a study by Parker et al., which was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology in August 2011. Researchers discovered that CBD reduced these symptoms in chemotherapy patients.
Interesting results were also found in a study published by Pamplona in Frontiers in Neurology in September 2018. The researchers found that long-term dizziness was reduced by consistent and continuous doses of CBD oil.
Medical Cannabis Research (Can CBD help Treat Vertigo?)
In some circumstances, cannabis/CBD is probably helpful for vertigo. However, it might be beneficial for associated symptoms like nausea.
In 2016, studies on rats revealed that CBD reduces nausea, and studies on chemotherapy patients revealed that a combination of CBD and THC may help with treatment-induced nausea.
However, the available research on CBD and nausea focuses mostly on nausea brought on by chemotherapy rather than vertigo-related nausea.
But can Cannabis Treatment make Vertigo Worse?
If you experience vertigo, CBD might exacerbate your symptoms. Dizziness is listed as a side effect of cannabis (which includes both THC and CBD) in some studies.
While THC and CBD together reduced nausea and vomiting in another 2020 study of patients receiving chemotherapy, participants reported moderate to severe dizziness, disorientation, or sedation in 31% of cases.
Additionally, studies suggest that CBD may lower blood pressure, which might make vertigo worse.
In most cases, there is a common source that connects dizziness, vertigo, and disequilibrium. These three, however, are not the same thing. You must be able to tell which is which and accurately describe your feelings to your medical marijuana doctor to receive the appropriate care. How do these three compares then?
Dizziness: feeling lightheaded, unsteady, or faint.
Disequilibrium: A state of imbalance or loss of equilibrium that is frequently accompanied by a loss of spatial orientation.
Vertigo: The sensation of spinning or rotating; the perception of movement when there is none.
Most people have probably felt a little disoriented at some point or another. A 3D movie, for instance, might make you feel as though you are falling or moving while the images fly by.
However, you most likely have a vestibular disorder if your vertigo only occurs when you turn your head in a specific direction. The sensation may last for a short while or several days.
Final Thoughts
We'll say it again: there aren't any direct studies on the effectiveness of particular cannabis strains for vertigo. There is evidence, though, that vertigo-related symptoms like nausea, headaches, and dizziness may be lessened by medical marijuana.
We advise concentrating on strains that offer more CBD than THC because high-THC strains may exacerbate negative effects. Additionally, it is important to look for strains that contain lots of limonene and linalool terpenes.
Moreover, many people who suffer from vertigo find relief from cannabis or CBD tinctures or edibles as they choose to consume edibles or a few drops of cannabis oil instead of a joint.
If you suffer from vertigo or any other chronic illnesses, make an appointment with All Natural MD medical marijuana doctors near you, or call us today at (800) 250-6737.