Epilepsy
Living with the symptoms of epilepsy as an adult can often feel as though you’re always at battle with an invisible opponent.
From constantly fearing the onset of a seizure to trying to explain the illness to others, epilepsy can affect every aspect of your life.
Science still can not explain exactly what causes epilepsy and many people find themselves still suffering from symptoms after trying numerous medications. However, in recent years many people have found great success using medical cannabis to treat epilepsy.
Could medical cannabis be an option for you or your loved ones?
Our goal is to help you gain the knowledge you need to determine if medical cannabis is something that you should consider as a treatment option for yourself or for a loved one.
After reading this article you should have the information you need so you can comfortably and confidently speak with your healthcare provider about medical cannabis. If you still have questions after you finish this article, please ask them in the comments area below. A member of the Kanteeva team will respond as soon as they can.
What is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is still not fully understood by modern medicine and the definition of the disease is broad to say the least. According to the Epilepsy Foundation:
a diagnosis of epilepsy is given when a person has two unprovoked seizures that were not caused by another known and reversible medical condition.
According to the Mayo Clinic symptoms associated with epilepsy include:
- Temporary confusion
- A staring spell
- Uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs
- Loss of consciousness or awareness
- Psychic symptoms such as fear, anxiety or deja vu
- Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)
- Status epilepticus
These symptoms often leave you feeling like no one else understands the prison that you live in daily. Common conveniences like having the ability to go for a drive or taking an extended walk alone can be scary and can feel impossible.
There is also still a stigma associated with epilepsy that can leave you feeling as though you are facing this terrifying disease alone. This is especially true for adults who develop epilepsy symptoms during young adulthood, as many people believe the disease is associated with children and the elderly.
According to the Healthline, 40% to 50% of children who have symptoms of epilepsy as a child continue to experience symptoms as an adult. If you are an adult who has suffered from epilepsy since childhood you certainly are not alone.
How is Epilepsy Currently Treated?
There has been a substantial amount of research that has gone into the treatment of epilepsy in recent years, therefore there are more treatment options available than ever before. Typically, adult epilepsy is treated using one, or a combination of medications known as Anti-Epileptic Drugs or AEDs. In circumstances when AEDs are not fully effective they may be supplemented with Anti-Seizure devices like a neuromodulation device.
Recently, medical cannabis has begun to receive a considerable amount of attention in the epilepsy and medical community because many people are finding symptom relief from this "alternative treatment" option.
Current research is starting to finally catch up to what medical cannabis patients have been saying for years.
Can Medical Cannabis Help Treat Epilepsy?
Not only can cannabis work for a variety of conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and pain, sometimes, it is the only thing that works.
When it comes to medical cannabis, few ailments have been discussed as often as epilepsy. Typically, the conversation turns to pediatric epilepsy rather than adult epilepsy, although many of the symptoms associated with adult epilepsy are almost identical to those of pediatric epilepsy.
As far as pediatric epilepsy is concerned, the use of medical cannabis has been shown on numerous occasions to be very effective. If you would like to read more about the effectiveness of medical cannabis for children suffering from pediatric epilepsy you can check out our article on Pediatric Epilepsy.
Currently, there is little dialogue about how effective medical cannabis can be for adult epilepsy in the traditional medical community.
Thankfully, there are a lot of people out there who are very willing to share their stories about how much medical cannabis has changed their lives when it comes to dealing with the symptoms of epilepsy in adulthood.
One such story of how effective medical cannabis can be for treating the symptoms of adult epilepsy is from Steve Green, who has been gracious enough to share his story on YouTube with the hopes that other people suffering from epilepsy could benefit from his experiences.
Steve’s Story
Steve Green lived a normal and productive life. As a young man, he achieved the title of master mechanic and worked for many different automotive assembly factories in Michigan in the USA. In 2006, he found himself suddenly dealing with epilepsy.
In a YouTube interview with Cannabis Patient Net, Steve said that he was carrying groceries into his house from the car when he had his first epileptic seizure. He said that he was thankful his children were asleep at the time and did not witness it.
Sadly, things escalated very quickly for Steve after the first seizure. In the interview he stated that, “after my first seizure, it just began like an avalanche effect and I began having more and more seizures and I went from one hospital to another, one neurologist to another. I got several different diagnoses over the time. I spent two years with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis that they’ve later dis-confirmed.”
Imagine how terrified Steve must have felt during this time. This is exactly how many people feel when they are diagnosed with epilepsy and when they suffer from their first seizure during adulthood.
Steve went on to say in the interview that, “I followed all the doctor’s advice, my mother’s a nurse, retired now, and I really had a strong belief in the medical system and that they were going to do everything they could to help me. I believe some of them did but I believe other ones may not have had all of my best interests at heart.”
The therapy that Steve underwent is very similar to what most people who suffer from epilepsy go through. He said that, “I went through a series of between eight and 12 different anti-epileptic medications. Those medications, some worked a little bit better than others. All of them had horrible side effects for me and none of them completely stopped or completely controlled my seizures.”
Unfortunately, this can be very common for people suffering from epilepsy. According to The Epilepsy Foundation, at least 3 out of 10 people find that anti-epileptic medications do not control seizures or they cause bothersome side effects.
Like many others who suffer from epilepsy, Steve went on to say throughout his interview that there were numerous other issues that he developed due to suffering from seizures.
He said that he was placed on narcotic pain relief including Morphine, Fentanyl, and Dilantin after suffering several falls on stairs due to having a seizure while going up and down the steps. He also stated that he sustained back trauma and several compression fractures in his spine due to numerous falls. All of these are very potent narcotics, with Fentanyl considered to be one of the 9 most addictive prescription medications, according to Healthline.
Steve’s Journey with Medical Cannabis
I wanted to tell you a little bit about my story, and how cannabis saved my life.
After some time, Steve discovered medical cannabis. He stated that, “my primary care doctor said that we ran out of options. We tried everything there is that I have to offer you out of this book. We tried different diets, we tried different alternative therapies. He said we’re just going to have to go try this cannabis.”
Steve continued to say that when he first got his medical marijuana card that he, “I did what I assume everyone does. Go out, get some cannabis and smoke it.”
He went on to say that he experienced increasing benefits and was able to stop using some of the medications that he was on, but it still was not stopping the seizure activity altogether.
He went on to say that he and his wife went out and talked to other people outside of his local area to learn what they were doing and having success with.
In the interview, he went on to say that “what we heard from everyone was what great success they were having, but it seemed like a lot of the success that they were having was based on them taking it in an edible form.”
He said that he went on to try cooking cannabis into foods and consuming it as an edible. He stated that he, “experienced again a little bit more benefit, but it didn’t completely stop the seizures. There was a reduction at that point, but it didn’t completely stop them.”
Finally Finding Relief
Ultimately, Steve decided to try extracting cannabis into a concentrated oil. To create the oil that he is consuming he used a method known as RSO.
After trying different dosages, and at different times of the day, he stated that, “We were able to, within a couple of months of starting the cannabis oil, find what was the right dose for me, and we were able to completely stop my seizures.”
Steve found the best combination of medical cannabis to use for relieving his epilepsy symptoms was to use a very high CBD with low THC strain in the morning and a high THC strain at night. While he did not mention what strains he is currently using for his therapy, we have included a list of some of the best strains for epilepsy symptoms below.
The Takeaway from Steve’s Story
Steve had a very long and tedious journey while trying to find relief from the symptoms of epilepsy. Thankfully, he was able to do so by using medical cannabis therapy.
The important thing to realize is that it took Steve both time, as well as trial and error, in order to find the right strain and dosage of cannabis that ultimately led to him living a seizure free life.
If you would like to hear the rest of Steve’s story, you can check out the original interview here:
What Does Science Say About Medical Cannabis and Epilepsy?
It is often challenging to find medical research to back up the claims that people are making about medical cannabis and how it has helped to treat their individual ailments.
This is not the case with epilepsy, although most of the research that has been conducted has been for children suffering from pediatric epilepsy. While many of the symptoms are often the same between pediatric and adult epilepsy, it is important to remember that most of the research mentioned below is from pediatric studies.
A Cannabis Derived Product Received FDA Approval
On June 25th, 2018, the US FDA approved a medication derived from cannabis. The medication known as Epidiolex is manufactured by the British-based pharmaceutical company GW Pharmaceuticals. This drug is designed to treat two rare forms of pediatric epilepsy.
After 3 months of therapy, 39% of patients had a >50% reduction in seizures; there was a 32% median reduction in seizures.
- Epidiolex study from the American Epilepsy Society
Even though this medication is only approved for use in two rare forms of pediatric epilepsy, it speaks volumes about the effectiveness of medical cannabis at treating the symptoms of epilepsy in general.
The scary part about a cannabis derived medication is that it is quite clear that pharmaceutical companies plan to make these cannabis based prescription drugs very expensive. In a recent earnings report, GW Pharmaceuticals revealed that the average cost for a year’s supply of Epidiolex will be $32,500 USD. That is a far stretch from what you would pay for making cannabis oil yourself.
Promising Results from an Israeli Medical Study
Another recent study completed in Israel shows promising evidence of the effectiveness of medical cannabis for the treatment of epilepsy.
The study was conducted on 74 patients. All patients were between the ages of 1 -18 and half were under the age of 10.
Every patient involved in the study suffered from intractable epilepsy and had shown resistance to more than 7 anti-epileptic medications. 49 of the patients had also tried a ketogenic diet or vagal nerve stimulation implant.
During the study, patients used a concentrated oil form of a cannabis strain that had a 20:1 CBD to THC ratio.
At the end of the study 66 patients (89%) reported at least some reduction in seizure frequency. One patient reported complete elimination of seizure occurrence. 13 patients (18%) reported at least a 75% reduction in seizure occurrence.
This study is very impressive as it shows that a full spectrum cannabis oil can be very effective in treating seizure frequency for many patients who suffer from pediatric epilepsy.
At the end of the study researchers had the following to say:
The results of this multicenter study on CBD enriched cannabis oil treatment for intractable epilepsy in a population of children and adolescents are highly promising. Further prospective, well-designed clinical trials using enriched CBD medical cannabis are warranted to validate our findings.
Unfortunately, the study does not state what strain of medical cannabis was used. All that we know is that it was a very high CBD to THC ratio strain like the ones that we list below.
What are the Best Cannabis Strains for Epilepsy?
Finding the best cannabis strains to treat epilepsy can be challenging. As mentioned in Steve’s story above, he had to try numerous different strains and consumption methods before finding the best one for the symptoms of his epilepsy. Most people who find relief from epilepsy symptoms through medical cannabis say that it takes them several weeks of trying different strains to find the ones that work best for their unique symptoms and needs.
It is important to note that most medical cannabis community members have stated that ingesting full-spectrum cannabis oil works best for their needs.
Many who have shared their success stories online have stated that they will often use a high CBD, low THC strain in the mornings to help manage their epilepsy symptoms throughout the day and then they will use a strain that contains higher levels of THC at night.
Through our research we have identified several strains that are popular among people suffering from epilepsy. A big thank you to everyone who has posted their experiences online and for sharing your results with the Kanteeva Community.
WARNING - We suggest to stay away from CBD isolate products because these products do not involve any other cannabinoids and you will not benefit from “The Entourage Effect.“ To learn more about this subject, please explore our Whole Plant Extracts vs Single-molecule Compounds article.
What are the Top Strains for Epilepsy?
We base these strain recommendations on testimonials from medical cannabis community members, anecdotal research, scientific research and a variety of other factors like accessibility.
Charlotte’s Web
This is the strain that was used to treat Charlotte Figi and subsequently named after her. This strain is very popular for children who suffer from epilepsy. This Sativa Dominant Hybrid has very low THC levels and very high levels of CBD.
Pennywise
This Indica Dominant Hybrid has a 1:1 THC to CBD ratio and averages around 13% for both. It is a very popular strain among members of the medical cannabis community for a variety of neurologic ailments, including epilepsy. Users state that it produces feelings that are uplifting and euphoric while also helping with focus. One word of caution to beginners is that Pennywise may cause feelings of anxiety when over consumed, so it is important to start dosing slowly and increase as needed.
ACDC
This 50/50 Hybrid is one of the most popular medical cannabis strains on the market. As a result of this, it is widely available in most areas. It typically contains THC concentrations of 6% or less while also having very high CBD concentrations of 15% or more. Many members of the medical cannabis community report that this strain is their favourite strain for managing epilepsy during the day and it leaves them with little to no feelings of fatigue when consumed.
Critical Mass
This Indica Dominant Hybrid has high levels of THC that average 18% - 21% and high levels of CBD that average around 5%. This is one of the more popular strains for evening use as many medical cannabis consumers report that Critical Mass is calming and sedating, but it does not leave you feeling groggy in the morning.
Final Thoughts
Epilepsy is a terrible disease that can rob you of your independence and make even the simplest tasks feel impossible. While there is no cure that currently exists for epilepsy, many people have found relief from its symptoms through medical cannabis.
If you are interested in beginning a medical cannabis program for epilepsy we suggest you speak with your healthcare practitioner and join our Kanteeva community for helpful information from other patients and medical cannabis experts.
We Want to Hear from You!
Have you found relief from the symptoms of epilepsy by using medical cannabis? If so, 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.
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 and we look forward to hearing your story soon!
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