Cannabis has been used to treat pre-menstrual syndrome for centuries
Nobody knows when medicine realized that cannabis was a very efficient substance to treat the different problems and disorders related to pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). We know now that it has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for centuries if not thousands of years.
During the 9th century, Persians used cannabis to calm uterine pains. According to a Chinese text of 1596, ancient remedies used cannabis for menstrual disorders.
During the British Raj, doctors learned the efficiency of cannabis to ease the problems related to woman menstruation. Therefore, doctors used to always have at hand some weed for these disorders. Queen Elizabeth used it for her painful menstrual cramps.
After the discovery of the endocannabinoid system science has begun to understand how weed works to heal menstrual pain. Cannabis, a plant that forms buds in its female form, has proven to be efficient to treat the discomforts related with women’s monthly period.
“Cannabis appears in this role across many cultures, Old World and New, classical and modern, among young and old, in a sort of herbal vanishing act. It is only recently that a physiological basis for these claims has been available with the discovery of the endocannabinoid system.” – wrote Dr. Ethan Russo, an eminence in cannabis research and the endocannabinoid system.
Cannabis for menstruation
Many women use cannabis to fight their menstrual pain and cramping. According to the Women’s Health Consumer Insight Survey, 39% of women who consume cannabis do it to relieve their PMS. These women have often complained about the medicines they are given for this purpose and they don’t want to suffer their ineffectiveness and side effects.
Human beings have always used cannabis to fight many diseases or, at least, the pains related to them. Unfortunately, with the prohibition came the darkness. For decades cannabis has been banned and, therefore, no research was done. Fortunately, the situation has changed (not as much as it should) and now there are many researchers dedicated tto discover the whole potential of this plant.
This subject is especially important because we cannot forget that 50% of the world population are women who will suffer once a month the pains and symptoms of pre-menstruation. It affects their mood. This alteration of their mood eventually can be tremendous. Of course it depends on each woman. But most women know it is a quite tough period. Headaches, mood changes, cramps are some of the 150 disorders related to menstruation. We are going to study how cannabis helps managing PMS.
According to a Forbes article published in 2017, nowadays women smoke more weed than men.
Although there are about 150 symptom related to PMS, in this article we will concentrate on the most common ones. These disorders are: cramps, bloating, headaches, changes of mood, swelling of breast and constipation or diarrhea.
Before going ahead, we must understand that menstruation is not a disease and, therefore, cannabis is used to ease the pains and problems related to this phase of women. Don’t forget cannabis is a very good painkiller. Its analgesic properties are well known.
Cannabis and cramps
Many cannabis users know cannabis is efficient to relief pain. Moreover, cannabis is the alternative choice of people who don’t want to use chemical products and their side-effects. Menstrual cramps have not been completely recognized yet as a solution for this problem. But if you ask women who use weed during the period, they will certainly tell you it is very effective.
Many women suffer from terrible cramps during the menstruation bur above all prior to it. These cramps can be very painful. Eventually the pain begins days before the menstruation and last all over the period. Research has proved that THC and CBD are quite efficient to treat these cramps. Why? It happens because these two cannabinoids are muscle relaxant. The reason why cramps hurt is because the muscles are very tense during the menstruation. Using a relaxant product always helps.
New Jersey is one of the states that more strictly has limited marijuana treatments. However, it is considering adding menstrual cramps to the list of approved conditions to be treated with weed during the woman menstruation. Assemblyman Tin Eustace has started a new law this past April, which has been inspired by the actress Whopi Goldberg cannabis products.
A woman who uses consumes cannabis knows this fact. But many women don’t even smoke cigarettes and they don’t want to smoke a joint. Sometimes they even hate the psychoactive effect of cannabis. In these cases, the best option is either using very small doses or simply using strains with very low quantity of THC. And of course, they always can use only CBD. But THC is a better painkiller.
If you are a woman who doesn’t smoke or vape, you always can use a topical cannabis solution and rubber your lower abdomen with it.
Cannabis and headache
Headaches are also very common symptom during the menstruation. And it is not useful for regular headaches; it is also effective with severe migraines. The British Pharmacotherapy Journal published a study in 2016. This research proved that cannabis dropped the number of migraines from 10 to 4.5. Cannabis reduced a 50% of the problem. It is recommended to use small doses or just consuming edibles if you live in a country where cannabis is legal and, therefore, affordable in dispensaries.
PMS produces a change of mood in many women. In fact, this change can occur before and during the whole period. This problem affects her and affects the people close to the woman who is suffering this tough effect. Even though the mood swing doesn’t affect all women, many experience it.
Cannabis and mood
We know cannabis affects our mood. Therefore, it affects woman mood during the period too. It is well known that cannabis helps to deal with anxiety and depression. These two disorders are very common during the period. This ability comes from CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabinoid. It seems that CBD helps blocking the absorption of serotonin and the boost of serotonin reduces anxiety and enhances the mood.
Unfortunately, the shortage of research of cannabis medical abilities during almost 50 years has lead to a lack of information. However, modern medicine knows that cannabis is efficient to fight pain, muscle tension, headaches and that it is useful to change our mood. All these symptoms are common in PMS. Nowadays, many women are self-medicating with cannabis during their periods. They are women who have been suffering the symptoms of menstruation for many years and know cannabis helps them.
Cannabis and Menopause
Although this article is about disorders related to menstruation, we must think that menopause is another type of problem related to it. To be precise it is related to the lack of menstruation, which is a situation that also causes many disorders among women. In fact many women who are going through menopause choose cannabis instead of chemical products in order to regulate their sleep. Only in the USA 32% of women who are going through menopause prefer weed to relieve their symptoms.
For example, one of the most common symptoms of menopause is insomnia. Many women who are going through this phase consume indica-dominant strains to help them to sleep. Moreover, it is known that CBD is also a good way to fight insomnia.
