Medical Marijuana for Migraine

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Can cannabis be used for migraines?

How are migraines currently treated?

Migraines are a fairly common condition, affecting 5-15% of the population and more commonly in females.  Common symptoms include throbbing headaches, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to lights and sounds.  This can last a few hours to days, and can be debilitating for patients.

Treatments usually involve medications  that reduce the effects during attacks, or try and prevent them from happening in the first place.  Standard treatments are moderately effective, but may cause various side effects.

Why does cannabis effect migraines?

A system in the body called the endocannabinoid system (or ECS for short) has been found to be involved with helping the body keep nerves and chemicals in the body in check.  It’s suspected that some conditions may be due to an imbalance in this system, or that for some conditions this ECS may play an important role in how the condition or symptoms play out.

For example in migraine, there is some evidence that the ECS may play a role in controlling the blood vessel function in the brain, and this may play an important role in how migraine work. 

Plant-based cannabinoids (the active ingredients in cannabis) affect how this ECS works, and can therefore affect symptoms of migraine.

What is the evidence for cannabis in migraines?

There is some promising evidence that cannabis can be useful for treatment of migraines.

A recent study* looking at patients with migraine headaches as their main issue, found that there was significant improvement for many of them.  Patients at this specialty medicinal cannabis clinic found both a reduction in the number of migraines per month, as well as medicinal cannabis being effective as both a preventative medicine as well as one that stopped migraines during attacks.

What benefits might I expect for my migraines with cannabis?

Medicinal cannabis is still considered an experimental medication, and its effects vary from person to person.

However, the evidence for migraine sufferers suggests that medicinal cannabis may help reduce how often they occur, as well as how bad they are when they happen.

From experience though, it is unlikely to  get rid of migraines entirely.

has been mapped out.  Whilst there are still many details that we don’t know, we have found that this system helps the body keep in check how different nerves and chemicals in the body work.  There is some suggestion that this system can be

*Rhyne et al, 2016