Ann Arbor, MI: An estimated one-third of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) report using cannabidiol for symptom management, according to survey data published in The Journal of Pain.
Investigators with the University of Michigan Medical School surveyed over 2,700 patients with FM regarding their use of CBD. Survey participants were primarily from the United States.
Thirty-two percent of respondents acknowledged being current consumers of CBD. Consumers generally reported turning to CBD because they experienced inadequate symptom relief from conventional medications. Respondents were most likely to report using CBD for mitigating feelings of pain and anxiety, and also for improving sleep. The majority of consumers reported some degree of efficacy associated with CBD, with nearly half reporting “much or very much relief across symptom domains.”
Authors concluded: “This article indicates that CBD use is common among people with fibromyalgia, and the results suggest that many derive benefit from using CBD across multiple symptoms domains. Clinicians should discuss CBD use with fibromyalgia patients, and future studies are needed to rigorously assess CBD’s therapeutic value for fibromyalgia symptoms.”
According to the findings of a systematic review of the literature published last month in The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, the use of either plant-derived cannabis or synthetic cannabinoids is typically safe and effective in patients with fibromyalgia.
Full text of the study, “Cannabidiol use for fibromyalgia: Prevalence of use and perceptions of effectiveness in a large online survey,” appears in The Journal of Pain. Additional information regarding cannabis and fibromyalgia is available from NORML.