Medical Marijuana Doctor Issuing Recommendations for Patients Near Tampa, St. Petersburg and All of Florida

The inflammatory bowel disease known as Crohn’s causes symptoms that are painful and inconvenient. Crohn’s disease involves inflammation of the digestive tract. It can be unbearable to live with. Medical cannabis can help to relieve some of the symptoms related to this bowel disease. In Florida, Crohn’s disease is one of the health conditions qualifying for marijuana. First you must find out if you are eligible in an assessment with one of our experienced physicians. To learn more, please call Access Marijuana RX in St. Petersburg at (727) 209-5470.

Living with Crohn’s

From person to person, Crohn’s affects different parts of the digestive tract. It may affect the colon or the last segment of the small intestine, or both. Some people’s symptoms are severe, while others’ are mild or somewhere in the middle. You may experience weeks of time when you have no symptoms, which is known as temporary remission of Crohn’s.

Some of the symptoms of this disease include:

  • Abdominal pain
  • Severe diarrhea
  • Blood in the stool
  • Cramping
  • Poor appetite
  • Inadequate nutrition
  • Unhealthy weight loss
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Severe fatigue

There is no known cure for Crohn’s. Your general practitioner may be working with you to try to reduce the intestinal inflammation that causes the symptoms. You may be experiencing variable levels of success with the treatment plan. When it works, this type of treatment can reduce the symptoms or, hopefully, lead to long-term remission of Crohn’s.

Eligibility for Cannabis in Florida

You may benefit from medical marijuana if you are living with Crohn’s. It is possible that cannabis will:

  • Increase appetite
  • Relieve pain
  • Reduce nausea
  • Help you sleep
  • Improve mood

The only way to know for sure is to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced physicians. At Access Marijuana RX, we are personally committed to helping Crohn’s sufferers like you decide whether marijuana can be used in conjunction with other treatments to alleviate your symptoms. Crohn’s can be truly debilitating. It affects your daily life, and may even be interfering with your sleep. Patients have reported that cannabis helps with many aspects of the disease.

At our practice, our doctors make sure you know how to get the marijuana strains and devices that will benefit you the most. If you are eligible for marijuana, we’ll discuss all aspects of use with you:

  • Locating and getting to a dispensary
  • Arranging home delivery if getting to the dispensary is not possible
  • Asking for the right strain and the right marijuana product
  • Deciding which form of use will be right for you (i.e. vaporization, creams, tinctures, pills, etc.)

Recommending a strain will depend largely on which symptoms are the worst for you and which ones you would most like to address. Once we learn that information, our doctors will let you know which strains are best-suited to appetite stimulation, pain relief, mood improvement, abdominal pain, inflammation, etc. We continue our relationship with you to make sure everything is working and to make adjustments to your treatment if needed.

Is Medical Marijuana the Same as Cannabis?

Marijuana and cannabis are often referred to interchangeably. However, there are differences, and it’s important to know them. Cannabis is a closely related group of plant species, whereas marijuana is a specific type of plant within the cannabis genus. There are several cannabis plants. Some, like cannabis indica and cannabis sativa, contain THC. Some, like hemp, do not.

So, is medical marijuana the same as cannabis? In some ways, yes, but not all. If you obtain medical marijuana, you’re getting a product with a concentration of THC and also CBD. This is why medical marijuana can have such promising therapeutic effects.

Will Medical Cannabis Make Me Feel

In terms of chemical makeup, medical marijuana is no different than recreational marijuana. What’s different is the intent of use. That said, because marijuana is a plant that contains THC, you might feel high after consuming it. It comes down to your dosing. If you can achieve the best physical benefits from smaller doses used a few times a day, you may notice much more subtle psychoactive effects than someone who uses a higher dose less often.

In many cases, the dosing that’s needed to help manage medical conditions like Crohn’s disease is low enough to avoid the obvious psychoactive effects of this drug. Also, due to the prevalence of medical marijuana use today, we now have a much wider variety of options about which strains of cannabis one uses. We’re no longer limited to strains that are only high in sedative effects nor those that are only high in the primary intoxicant.

Can I Use Medical Marijuana if I Don’t Want to Smoke?

You don’t have to be willing to smoke to benefit from medical marijuana. There are a variety of products available today that can work just as effectively. As a general guideline, some of the primary methods of consumption include:

  • Smoking. The most commonly known way to consume marijuana is to smoke a joint.
  • Vaping. Vaping is done using a special “pen” with a mouthpiece. The vape pen heats up the marijuana into vapor form, which you then inhale through the mouthpiece.
  • Edibles. As marijuana has become more popular and has been legalized in many states, new products have been developed. Some people use cannabis oil to bake their own products. Some purchase products like tea, gummies, and even beverages like soda. The potential downside of marijuana edibles is that it takes longer to see the effects and it also takes longer for the THC to leave the body.

Arrange Your Assessment in St. Petersburg

If you are living with Crohn’s disease or a similar inflammatory bowel disease, you may be eligible for medical marijuana in Florida. To arrange a consultation with one of our experienced, qualified physicians, please call Access Marijuana RX at (727) 209-5470. Your no-risk evaluation determines whether you meet the state’s requirements for a cannabis card. If you do not meet those requirements, the cost of the evaluation with our physicians is waived. We proudly serve the areas of St. Petersburg, Tampa and all of the surrounding cities. Please call today for answers to your questions.