If you have been diagnosed with cancer, then chemotherapy may be a recommended treatment component of your cancer care plan. While chemotherapeutic agents help kill cancer cells, they can also damage the healthy cells in your body, leaving you with suppressed immunity and debilitating side effects.
Your oncologist can prescribe medications to help relieve your side effects, however, they may be ineffective in certain people and may even contribute to the worsening of your chemo side effects. Because of this, many physicians prescribe medical cannabis to help their patients who are suffering from the effects of chemotherapy. Here are some side effects of chemotherapy that may respond to therapeutic doses of cannabis.
Nausea and Vomiting
Some of the most common side effects of chemotherapy include nausea and vomiting. While nausea and vomiting can be mild in some patients undergoing cancer treatment, it can be debilitating in others.
Anti-nausea medications can help relieve nausea and vomiting, however, they can cause profound drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, blurred vision, and dry mouth. They can even cause digestive and gastrointestinal side effects which can further exacerbate nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. Medical cannabis not only helps ease nausea and vomiting brought on by chemotherapy, but it can also help relieve gastrointestinal upset caused by anxiety, which is not uncommon in those diagnosed with cancer.
Muscle and Nerve Pain
Both cancer and chemotherapy can cause severe muscle and nerve pain. If a cancerous tumor grows big enough, it can put pressure on the nerves, causing excruciating pain in your spine and extremities. Chemotherapy can also cause nerve damage, which not only leads to pain, but it can also cause unpleasant sensations such as numbness, tingling, and prickling sensations. Medical cannabis can help relieve muscle spasms and nerve pain brought on by cancer and its treatments.
Therapeutic cannabis can also help induce sleep. Cancer patients who experience severe pain often complain of poor sleep quality. Getting a refreshing night's sleep is important because it helps enhance the healing process and it helps prevents daytime sleepiness and sluggishness in those undergoing treatment for cancer. Achieving optional pain relief through cannabis intervention can also prevent depression and restore hope in those diagnosed with cancer.
If you are suffering from the side effects of chemotherapy, ask your physician if medical cannabis might be an appropriate treatment option for you. Your doctor will prescribe a small dose to see if you respond well, and if you do, the dosage can be increased so that you achieve fast relief from nausea and vomiting, as well as from muscle and nerve pain.
To learn more, reach out to a company like Rocky Road Remedies.
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