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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Q
I
am a 22-year old businessman in Buffalo, New York (500
kilometers west of New York City). I smoke marijuana
on a regular basis. I was diagnosed today with irritable
bowel syndrome, with my symptoms being that, when I
smoke marijuana, almost immediately I get a very uncomfortable
bloating sensation on my lower left side. It does not
seem to be linked with any other input/output than marijuana
(i.e., no other food brings on this sensation, and no
changes in bowel movements are noticed).
An
article on your page suggests the use of marijuana to
COMBAT this syndrome, wheras in my case it actually
TRIGGERS it. I have found no other cases of this on
the internet or with casual conversations with doctors
and other people. Can you offer any insight, or have
you heard anything about this?
A
Thanks
for your input.
The
paper was based on published research abstracts from
Medline, and drew on findings from cannabinoid receptor
research. Cannabinoid receptors are particularly concentrated
in the gut, and it is believed that they may be involved
in the control of gut motility.
No
clinical trials have, to my knowledge, taken place into
using cannabis to treat IBS, although some patients
in California and elsewhere have claimed benefit.
Obviously,
everyone is different, and different drugs affect different
people in different ways. If you find cannabis makes
your condition worse, the simple answer is to stop using
it.
