Marijuana after transplant

[JayVee718]

I want to know if it's ok to smoke weed after a transplant to combat the negative effects of chemotherapy and atg. Medical marijuana is not legal in my state so my doctor would not recommend it, but I heard it helps if you have nausea and if you lost your appetite

[Chirley]

Hi, I don't know the answer to your question but it raises some questions for me too.

One of my docs recommended it to help soothe the nerve pain and spasms I get from my myelopathy. I need to point out that it is illegal here, there is no such thing as medical use. I have not knowingly broken a law in my life and I also have never even smoked so I found this bit of advice a bit confronting.

Despite this I have been wondering lately if it would be of benefit.

Regards

[cathybee1]

I found some information here http://pfrc.med.nyu.edu/handouts/pdf...c07-000004.pdf that seems to address your specific question -- smoking can lead to respiratory infections.

But that doesn't address whether it would be helpful to use marijuana in another form. Can't address the legality issues but as I live in a state where medical marijuana is ok, I know it is sold here in many comestible forms.

[Neil Cuadra]

Given the inconsistent legal status from state to state it's going to be hard to get good information. Research is spotty at best. Medline covers only a few studies on the positive uses, such as a recent report showing appetite benefits from THC. According to the Mayo Clinic, marijuana's use to reduce chronic pain has been demonstrated but there's been scant research on its use for nausea. The Mayo Clinic is one of the rare centers that does real research on alternative treatments, but they advise caution about the known side effects of marijuana, including an increased risk of bleeding and lowered blood pressure. Those may be relevant to recovering AA patients. They also say "Use with caution in patients with immune disorders", perhaps for the same reasons as the NYU document cathybee1 linked to.

Most of the major treatment centers have nothing to say about medical marijuana. They tend to discuss marijuana only in their "Substance Abuse" sections.