Ulcerative Colitis
Living with ulcerative colitis (UC) can make your day to day life a balancing act.
From struggling to avoid the things that could trigger a flare up to getting your friends and family to understand what is going on, ulcerative colitis can make you feel exhausted and misunderstood. Modern medicine can not offer a cure for ulcerative colitis, therefore treatment options are mainly focused on trying to keep the symptoms of the disease manageable.
Unfortunately, for many sufferers the medications that are available are not effective.
The ineffectiveness of western medicine treatments has led many people to use medical cannabis as an “alternative medicine” to help treat the symptoms of ulcerative colitis.
There have been impressive results using medical cannabis for ulcerative colitis, allowing many patients to significantly reduce their symptoms. Some patients have even achieved full remission from the symptoms of ulcerative colitis by using medical cannabis.
Our goal is to provide you with the information that you will need to make an educated decision regarding medical cannabis and if cannabis therapy can be a beneficial part of your life. After reading this article, you should be able to decide if medical cannabis is an option that you would like to pursue. You will also have a solid foundation of knowledge so that you can easily and effectively discuss cannabis therapy options with your healthcare provider.
Please do not hesitate to leave a comment or question below. A member of the Kanteeva team will get back in touch with you as soon as possible.
What is Ulcerative Colitis?
The Mayo Clinic defines ulcerative colitis (UC) as:
an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers (sores) in your digestive tract.
For those suffering from the disease, you know that this only briefly explains what it is like living with this illness.
The pain caused by ulcerative colitis can be agonizing on its own, while the need to always be close to a restroom can cause many people who have UC to become isolated and withdrawn. Over time, feelings of anxiety and depression are very common when you are struggling to keep your symptoms in remission.
Since there are many different types of UC including Ulcerative Proctitis, Proctosigmoiditis, Left-sided Colitis, Pancolitis and Acute Severe ulcerative colitis, two people with the exact same illness may have very different symptoms. This depends on the frequency and severity of flare ups.
The worst part is that many people suffering from UC will find themselves in a never-ending loop of flare ups. This is because a UC flare up will often cause you to miss work and other obligations. This creates a significant amount of stress that will then cause more UC flare ups.
Before long, you are left in what feels like a never-ending cycle of flare ups.
How is Ulcerative Colitis Currently Treated?
Many people suffering from ulcerative colitis find little to no relief from modern medications. For many, the side effects of these medications are often as bad or worse than the symptoms of UC. For others, while they find relief from medications in the beginning, the efficacy of the medications decrease over time.
For example, one medication that is traditionally used for UC flare ups is a commonly prescribed steroid known as Prednisone.
Many UC sufferers have stated that while Prednisone helps significantly with their UC symptoms early on, it often fails to continue working for flare ups down the road. Also, for many people the side effects of Prednisone can create unneeded stress which causes flare ups to often recur.
Some of the side effects that UC sufferers have stated having with Prednisone include things like weight gain, puffy faces, feelings of aggression, anxiety and hair loss. Sadly, as many UC sufferers have stated, these side effects become more common as time goes on while the benefits of the medication become significantly less noticeable.
For people with severe or frequently recurring UC who are not responsive to medications, often surgery will be recommended by their healthcare provider.
Surgical options can range from polyp removal to complete removal of the large intestine. Unfortunately, many of these surgical options come with significant issues that could impact you for the rest of your life.
Can Medical Cannabis Help with Ulcerative Colitis Symptoms?
As with most ailments, a significant amount of scientific research must be completed before we can completely understand how effective medical cannabis is at treating the symptoms of ulcerative colitis. While many UC patients still continue to wait for health authorities to backup successful anecdotal results with scientific research before they begin their own medical cannabis program, many patients are reporting that they have had success treating many of their UC symptoms with medical cannabis.
One such story about the effectiveness of medical cannabis for the symptoms of UC is from Rebecca Ellis and she has graciously decided to share her story with the world on YouTube.
We have included Rebecca's YouTube video below for you to watch:
Rebecca’s Story
Rebecca first discovered that she was suffering from UC after losing a significant amount of weight and having severe abdominal pain. She stated that she went from 115 pounds to 93 pounds and was just trying to “figure out what’s going on here?”
She said that when she was first diagnosed with the disease that it “took them over a month, and that’s a long time for them to figure out what you have wrong with you. Especially when you’re not feeling well. You feel like you’re just losing weight and blood. You’re not eating, you’re not sleeping, you feel like you’re just kind of withering away and it’s a really scary feeling to have.”
Rebecca said that like many others suffering from UC, she was initially treated with Prednisone. While she did have some initial success using the medication, she did also have several side effects.
She stated that “I had some very terrible side effects from that medication. My hair was thinning, I just looked like there was no blood in my face. I looked brittle.” She went on to say that while it did help her by increasing her hunger, it also made her very aggressive. She stated, “For me it increased aggression, for sure. I was just constantly on edge, angry, hungry, and I would get really bad joint pain in my legs and arms. Sometimes I couldn’t fall asleep because I was wired on Prednisone, even though I took it right in the morning with some food.”
It is important to note that even with all the side effects Rebecca dealt with she continued to say that for a long time Prednisone did help her handle flare-ups.
It was only after her body developed a tolerance to Prednisone that she sought out her medical marijuana license after being advised by a friend.
Regarding her journey with medical cannabis, she stated, “I know that a lot of people have different views on medical marijuana, but it has dramatically changed my life in the past year that I’ve had this illness. It’s helped me maintain my weight properly. It has helped me to sleep better.”
She went on to say, “I am by no means a stoner. People have to realize that there is medical marijuana now. Like It’s medical now. We don’t think of it as a drug, personally I do not, because I can’t, because it’s been helping me. It’s medical to me.”
She did go on to say that she uses medical cannabis at night so that she is not under the influence of THC during the day at work and by taking this approach it also helps her to sleep at night. Overall, her results using medical cannabis have been very impressive.
She stated that “It’s helped me internally. I no longer have had a flare-up in the past year that I have had this (medical marijuana card). It has helped me so much mentally and physically. It is amazing.”
While Rebecca has had some very impressive results using medical cannabis, one thing that is very important to note is that in her home state (USA), UC was not on the list of approved ailments for medical marijuana. However, Crohn’s disease was. Rebecca went ahead and applied for her medical marijuana card and was able to successfully do so.
This is important to note because many areas will not list some disease processes but will still approve patients for medical marijuana therapy if you have an ailment that is like one that is approved.
What Does Science Say About Medical Cannabis and Ulcerative Colitis?
It’s a fantastic thing for a patient like that, at a young age, that finds relief from a plant medicine. Maybe they will not have to go on to develop a need for surgery or develop all the other problems that come with worsening ulcerative colitis.
– Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, M.D., Ph.D. Physician-Scientist, Medical Geographer
Checkout this amazing video by Dr. Aggarwal that outlines ulcerative colitis and cannabis:
As with many other ailments, there is still a significant amount of clinical research that needs to be done to show how effective medical cannabis is at treating the symptoms of ulcerative colitis. Currently, there are no long-term medical studies that have been performed on the effects of medical cannabis and UC. However, there have been some studies completed that show the effects of medical cannabis on treating the symptoms of Crohn’s disease. It is important to note that the main difference between Crohn’s disease and UC is that while UC only affects part of the digestive tract, Crohn’s disease can affect any portion of the digestive tract from mouth to anus.
One such study that looked at the effects of medical cannabis on the symptoms of Crohn’s disease was completed in 2012 at the Meir Hospital in Israel.
The study showed very promising results using THC-rich cannabis for the treatment of active Crohn’s disease. 10 out of 11 patients reported a reduction in symptoms, and more impressively, 5 out of 11 reported a complete remission of symptoms over an 8-week time frame.
It is important to note a couple of things about this study. First, there was a placebo group that was given cannabis that had little to no THC. This type of high CBD cannabis product is starting to become more popular due to the fact it does not have psychoactive effects and that it is effective at treating some ailments. However, CBD on its own was shown not to be very effective at treating active Crohn’s disease in this study.
Second, the study used whole flower cannabis that was smoked. Many people who have had success using medical cannabis for their Crohn’s symptoms have stated that smoking cannabis is not as effective as consuming it orally via edibles or with cannabis oil. This begs the question, how many more of the remaining 6 patients would have achieved remission using oral administration instead of smoking cannabis?
The results of this study are impressive. 91% of patients who received a THC-rich strain of cannabis reported improved symptoms, while an impressive 45% achieved total remission.
Although this study looked at people who were suffering from Crohn’s disease instead of ulcerative colitis, the two diseases are so similar in nature that it gives us insight into how effective medical cannabis could be used to treat the symptoms of UC as well.
What are the Best Marijuana Strains for Ulcerative Colitis?
Finding the best cannabis strains for your individual UC symptoms will most likely take time, so please be patient with the process and learn as much as you can about the disease and cannabis therapy so you can achieve optimal results.
We have created many tools that will help you navigate through the complex and relatively undiscovered world of medical cannabis. We invite you to explore our Strain Management Article to learn more about how you can build a medical cannabis program that is customized and designed for you.
Most people who find relief from UC symptoms through medical cannabis say that it takes them several weeks of trying different strains to find the strains that work best for their own unique symptoms.
Through our research here at Kanteeva, we have identified several strains that are popular among people suffering from UC. A big thank you to everyone who has posted their experiences online for being open and for sharing your results. Sharing is caring :)
It is important to note that since UC is so similar in nature to Crohn’s disease, many people who have used medical cannabis for Crohn’s disease have stated that consuming oils or edibles works much better than smoking the cannabis flower.
Below are some of our top picks for the best medical cannabis strains for treating the symptoms of ulcerative colitis.
What are the Top Strains for Ulcerative Colitis?
We conduct our due diligence in order to provide the community with the best information we possibly can. We thoroughly research cannabis strains before we make any recommendations.
We base these recommendations on testimonials from medical cannabis community members, anecdotal research, scientific research and other factors like accessibility.
Willie Nelson
This Sativa Dominant Hybrid strain has very high THC content that averages 21% and low CBD content that ranges from 0.3% to 1%. It is often referred to as one of the best strains available for pain management by members of the medical cannabis community. One thing to consider with this strain is that many people report that it has very potent sedative effects when overconsumed. This strain is typically used during the daytime by medical cannabis community members.
Northern Lights
This Indica strain has high THC content and very low CBD content. While it does still have a significant sedative effect for many people, most report that it does not produce total couch lock. Northern Lights is also one of the top strains out there for boosting your appetite, which can often be an issue during UC flare ups.
Lavender
This Indica Dominant Hybrid strain has high THC content that averages 20% and low CBD content that averages around 0.6%. It is a popular choice among the medical cannabis community for managing pain, muscle spasms, nausea and lack of appetite. These benefits make the Lavender strain a great option for alleviating symptoms associated with UC. It is best suited for consumption during evening hours as it produces a relaxing and sedated effect that can promote sleep.
Harlequin
This Sativa Dominant Hybrid is very popular among the medical cannabis community for alleviating the symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis. Harlequin has very high levels of CBD and low levels of THC, making it ideal for helping reduce the inflammation behind ailments like UC and Crohn’s disease. Harlequin can be used both during the day or evening, as it is known to create feelings of full body relaxation, while its Sativa Dominant characteristics deliver an energetic and mood boosting cerebral experience without overwhelming the senses.
Final Thoughts
Ulcerative Colitis is a disease that can be difficult to diagnose, let alone treat. Like many other gastrointestinal disorders, UC can affect every aspect of your life and ultimately lead to isolation and depression if left untreated. While no cure currently exists for UC, many people have found incredible results by using medical cannabis. Now, they are able to better manage their pain, keep their UC symptoms in remission and enjoy a higher quality of life.
If you are interested in beginning a medical cannabis program for your UC symptoms, we suggest you speak with your healthcare practitioner and join the community for helpful information from other patients and practitioners.
We Want to Hear from You!
Have you found relief from the symptoms of ulcerative colitis by using medical cannabis? If you have, we would love to hear from you!
Please help us spread the word about the amazing benefits that medical cannabis patients are finding all over the world by becoming part of our community.
With your help, thousands of others could finally find relief too.
Please share your stories, comments, and questions below. If you are a medical cannabis patient please also mention what strain has been effective at helping you find relief.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, we look forward to hearing your story soon!
Learn. Share. Connect.