I did. I tried salves, eating it, smoking it. It didn't help any more than any other herbal. For me the salves were the best because I don't want to be high. Eating it at night gave me good sleep which helped. Smoking it was fun, but.....I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't seem to matter whether I use prescription, herbal, or homeopathic muscle relaxers. They only mask. MPS is curable, in that we can calm the trigger points and keep them calm. So, I'm just focusing on that now and using topical herbal balms, vit D, Mg, breathing, eating correctly, trigger point therapy, and appropriate exercises.
That said, I sure get why you want off the nasty stuff and can attest to it being possible. I only used prescription muscle relaxers, and those for only about 4 or 5 months. It wasn't easy. i didn't work so I could lie around and cry all day! But I got through that time and it's never gotten that bad since.

Just dropping in to say hi Dave - how have you been?

MJ never did the trick for me.

Asunda, But did you inhale?
Yes it's an old joke I coudn't help myself. Mad does make one mad.
Rubbish, Pumpkin would say as she drug me backwards through the hedgerows.

It is a powerful medicine that has been demonized for far too many years. Finally, with it being legal in some states and in other countries, the lies are being proven. It works wonders for many! I have a fiend that is paraplegic and has spasms that can actually make him fall out of his chair. The pot works better than any other med they have given him, MUCH better. He has finally been given Merinol (sp) the pill THC, it works well, but cost a frightening amount of $. FAR ore than pot!

But alas, for many with myofascial pain, it actually makes things worse. Giving the sensation of sand in the joints, more focused pain etc... as will all drugs, it works better for some people and some conditions than others. If you are in an area that it is legal, it might be worth trying, but as like many drugs, it is difficult to actually function, think clearly etc. Pot gets you high. The pill form has been altered, sot hat there is little if no, "high".

Getting rid of the trigger points is a far better treatment, because it can actually be the cure.

getting rid of trigger points -- through manual therapy -- is extremely important to relieve pain symptoms and may be essential in order to feel well and hopeful and positive and to help keep the overuse of meds at bay. In my opinion, however, trigger point therapy of any kind is NOT a long-term "cure".

If you do not address underlying perpetuating factors (which, granted, may take years to address) -- including postural problems, lack of core stabilization and strength, hypermobility, muscle imbalances, stress/tension from too much sitting, etc. -- you will continue in the pain cycle, maybe just a few days later, because you're staying in the same old movement patterns and problems you've had all of your life, which may have been exacerbated by an injury, accident, or long-term repetitive actions.

In my experience, the pain cycle is:
-- pain from trigger points
-- then, get relief from manual therapy
-- immediately go back to old patterns or overexercising or wrong exercises, get re-injured
-- more pain from trigger points, fear, frustratoin
-- get relief from manual therapy
-- old patterns, more pain, frustrations, re-injure
-- ending up with fear of movement, anxiety and loss of hope, and lack of movement leads to even more pain and frustration

You are right on target, Sharon. I am at the bottom of the pain cycle, but I am hoping that adding Egoscue Method form of rehab will address my structual and muscular imbalances. I have had years of manual therapy and it hasn't resolved my pain, but it keeps me moving and reduces the pain. As you mentioned, finding the perpetuating factors can take years, and I am still on the quest.

Since I can't take pain meds anymore, and I live in CA where medical marijuana is legal, I just purchased some along with a vaporizer. Haven't tried it yet, so can't report on the results. Reading the above comments doesn't make me hopeful that it will give relief on those bad days, but I will see.

Interesting information Naturegir. I can't really remember what I experienced in my muscles when I smoked. But the salves did help. Carole, you live in a really good state for getting expert advise on all the different cultivars and their particular uses. You also have at your disposal a variety of methods of delivery. My cousin sees a pain specialist physician who is doing tons of research and providing new products that target specific problems. And he's in your general area. So, you might find help that is not available elsewhere.

Damn straight pauli! :-)

All the evidence I've read and heard is that marijuana is a fairly rubbish pain killer. The info about joints is really interesting (thanks for adding that).

If your looking for herbal solutions I do know that oats avena sateva is a herbal muscle relaxant, and waleda massage balm with arnica helps calm everything down. Plus something from weleda called copper ointment is excellent at calming, reducing and helping with the trigger points. The point being to get some space to look at what's going on (everthing that sharon said) and making some changes.

HOWEVER - be real careful mixing herbs and drugs, as they don't always play nicely together. I've had to drop quite a few of my herbs as they interact with my meds. If I wasn't such a silly meerkat and doing too much therefore needed such high doses of meds I could manage with just those things i said before (plus gentle stretches).

Now then - I have a confession to make. Sultandave is a very important person to me (!). The first time i stumbled onto the site he was asking lots of questions and everyone was so nice in their responses that the two together were enough for me to join! The fact he'd been quiet I was hoping meant improvements.

Maybe it's time to do some sort of 'baseline' of where your at right now sultandave? Relist symptoms, pain levels, activities, emotional state, medication, sleep pattern, lifestyle stuff, etc. You might see a pattern that you can lock into to make changes.

Good to see you :-)

Pumpkin,
I didn't know about the copper ointment. Thanks for the tip.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply back as soon as I would have hoped too! It is good to see you all as well! As far as my pain goes, it comes and goes. but it is always there. the reason why i asked about MJ is because i had a bad trigger point flare up last week, mustered up the strength to go to a friends house, while i was there they were smoking marijuana, (i haven't smoked the stuff since high school btw) that being well over 7 years ago. lol and low and behold i guess i caught what would be called a contact, and my pain went from an 8 to a 2! and i went home and slept like a baby and woke up feeling like i didn't before i got all this MPS. it made me hop on the cpu and do some more research into it. (but of course the pain came back within a few days) i'd rather smoke pot than take these deadly pills. I just wanted to see if any of you have had any luck with the stuff along the lines of your MPS. Marijuana isn't legal in my state... which i doubt it ever will be lol. I'd risk my freedom to be pain free. to hell with the government. I bet if some of these politicians and legislatures had some of the chronic conditions most americans had they'd legalize the stuff!

What is salves? Is it like icy hot? Do topical treatments really help? Sorry about my questions, I'm new to the group and trying to find anything that will help me.

Salves/ointments, basically the same thing. I'm not sure of the technical descriptions, but I always think of salves as being lotion based; ointments as being oil based.
Sultandave, just like all meds and treatments, the effectiveness is personal. So, if it worked for you, and you're willing to risk it, I say go for it. But this really is a science too. One cultivar may work and another not. I also wonder if it's just that you were able to relax, laugh, sleep. All of those things help, and I know for me it is not often that happens. But when it does, I've noticed my pain diminish.

it works great for me. when i am holding the smoke in I get relief. then the effect tapers off, lasting maybe an hour. Lungs aren't happy about this therapy tho.

I am now in one of the homes of medical marijuana: Northern California. Some nice older folks gave me some marijuana ointment they make and use for their arthritis and I tried it last night. It didn't seem to work right away, but eventually after I had used up the whole little tin (I have a lot of trigger points right now) I seemed to feel some lessening of pain. I used some as lip balm so maybe some entered the digestive tract too. I did not feel really high. The marijuana here is usually so strong, so I would guess that means not much entered my bloodstream. But it was the kind of marijuana high in cannabinoids (?) that is not supposed to get you so high.

I think I might get a prescription and try to make my own ointment. It would be nice if I could cut down on the codeine a little. The pain is so bad some days I take a lot. I figure that salve like this could not hurt me, so why not. I am just waiting to see how expensive it is.

Hello, I am seeing alot of negative results here for medical marijuana. I have had fantastic results with it myself but it is dependent on individual strains. You really need to find the ones that work the best for you as an individual and at different times and symptoms as well. I suffer with Complex Regional Syndrome in my hands and arms as well as myofacial pain syndrome in both arms, shoulders, neck and back. I hope you have or will try it on your own to see if it helps you, again I suggest different strains as well. Good luck finding something that helps you no matter what it may be.