Need help. Has anyone successfully switched to medical marijuana from opiates?

I have multiple legitimate reasons for being prescribed opiates and I don't know how I'll function without, but I need to stop. I want to switch to medical marijuana and it is legal in my state. I'm scared. I feel like if I keep going down the opiate path I'm on, I'll die. Has anyone had any luck switching over? I have read that it's supposed to help get through withdrawals and help manage pain afterwards, but I don't know anyone who has done it. Anyone? Or, if anyone has any advice on how to get through withdrawal that is appreciated too.

Post Edited (Melissa78) : 5/4/2016 6:03:39 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Melissa & welcome to Healing Well. Like Vickie said be sure your dr is on board with the MM. Something else you will need to consider is the cost, its very expensive & most cannot afford it. I have not seen anyone come through here that successfully got off of opiates & was on MM only either. Most said it helped some but thats about it. Good luck.

I dont know how people even get their Dr's to prescribe pain meds..ive been dealing with and complaining to every dr, at EVERY visit how the pain and fatigue has ruined my life, but donI get any pain meds? Nope!!!

Now w/that said since 2014 Ive been seeing ND and their aim is to reduce the inflammation that causes the pain-treat the root cause vs covering it over with pain meds. I take a product called 'Flex Now' for the arthritis pain. I take high magnesium twice daily for the muscle pain, and I also take curcumin by 'Meriva'-its a great natural antii flammatory.

I found out my migraines were caused by severe vitamind D deficiency, and after 3 months of HIGH vitamin D in a sesame oil, my headaches(for the most part) went away.

As far my severe stomach pain. I had THREE different causes. 1 was gall stones caused sudden attack. Gall bladder removed, but STILL stomach pain. Then found out I was gluten AND dairy intolerent. However after fixing my diet I still had a 3rd type of stomach pain=a sqeezing like someones fist is wrapped around my stomach and is trying to shove it up my esophagus!!! That stomach pain went away by taking a very strong chinese antimicrobial herbal med. For 2 months. I had a bacterial infection.

The only thing is with natural supplements you have to be patient as they begin to work over time.

I still get an occasional tension/neck headache from viral, so whe I feel the virus rearing its nasty head I start back up on the antivirals...

Ive been chronically ill for hmmmm, over ten years and havnt ever taken opiates or prescribed pain meds, so therez IS HOPE that you can take another approach to pai management!!!

Thank you, I actually did go to counseling every week for over 6 months. I do have multiple medical problems so I figured using MMJ would at least not cause the type of problems that opiates can cause for people. No one has died from MMJ. I just don't know if it will work for pain as well as prescription medication does, or how I'll function on it during the day, or even completely make the switch over from opiates for that matter.

I'm on mm for depression and chronic pain; it's going so well I'm down to half my regular narcotic prescription already. It's been almost 1 month since I got the prescription and ordered from a medically licensed facility and everyone says I look better. I feel good. there are lots of adjustments but a local veterans group of medical marijuana users motto is start slow and go low... I got a 3 strain combo order the doctor recommended and I'll order that again I find I like some strains better then others....I got a cookbook and a grinder with the first shipment and I ordered a digital scale right away. ( I was a med lab tech when I could work outside the home) So far I only eat/smoke/ingest about 0.5 g a day but due to my size and narcotic load I am prescribed more and I'd like to get up to about 1g a day. Is it more expensive? Yes I have insurance paying for remicade 6649$ but absolutely they will not cover this so far. How many drugs do I hope to get off totally?? at least the morphine and clonazepam...and right now I feel pretty confident. I saw my family Dr. today she is super strict about her narcotic contact! UGGHHHhhh it was awful during flares or the really bad pre-menopause periods that were ripping me up inside?!?!She was Happy to see me, congratulated me on starting a new journey on the road to healing with medical cannabis. It was so nice and She wants to start slow in the narcotic reduction;which matches the pace I'm going with the weed...we had a great talk. My psychiatrist was totally on-board but he's moving back to Australia so whatever. So far so good. An acquaintance with a degenerative connective tissue disorder who was on a Fentanyl patch; is off narcotics and on 4 grams a day from the same dispensary I order from, and she seems so much happier now. The place I order from called me the other day to talk about how its going and what my experience has been like so far we talked about cooking with cannabis and the new oil they have....They recommend keeping a journal (which I do anyway)of strains and dosage and symptoms; smart during any drug transitions. I recently read an article in Chatelaine about marijuana culture in Toronto for woman, especially moms who toke. I have been open with family about my medical marijuana and smoked a small pipe around them. I carry the customer card, my prescription and the receipt from the dispensary with pride in my wallet. I bought a locking medicine cabinet awhile ago because I have pre-teen children and I toke several narcotics at times to control pain...now it also has chemical grade bottles of marijuana flowers and some oil too. I tried to explain it to the kids but its entirely possible they'll be at a party someday and when someone hands them a joint they'll say "that smells like my moms medicine?!?!?!?!" I take major precautions in the kitchen cooking with cannabis and labeling everything I make with warning labels I print off so no unsuspecting person who broke in or stumbled across it will know its not "just' a brownie. I'm a nerd. Sorry about the long post but the only con: so far: is price point and lack or insurance coverage.So far I feel better, it's a learning process but a good one.

I have been on and off Oxycontin and take a long acting morphine tablet. I take safety seriously and have my meds in a locked cabinet.

So far I have not seen anyone get completely off of narcotics & transition to MM only.

You are very fortunate that your family dr rx's pain meds. Most stopped a few years ago because of the DEA breathing down their necks & along with the CDC guidelines they recommend they follow.