Radix

I had surgery (an apicoectomy which is an oral surgery). It was the first time I smoked out since I had the surgery (about a month later). I was pretty stoned so I started wrestling with a friend and punched him and I hurt my hand.

I went from being high to being in a lot of pain. Not only was my hand hurting, but it felt like someone was cutting a hole into my head exactly where I had the surgery a month before.

Now, several months later, every time I try to get high it feels like someone is taking an axe to my head. I've smoked out about 4 times since then and each time the same thing happens. I even barfed all over the floor. My friends smoke the same weed as me and dont have any problems so i doubt its bad weed. I don't have flashbacks (if you want to call it that) when I'm sober but I can't get high anymore without having bad experiences.

Anybody have any ideas?

Mamabudz

That is a fascinating example of what is often referred to as "Phantom Pain"; however since it requires a number of months for the base of the root that is removed with an apicoectomy (a secondary procedure used when root canal is either ineffective or inappropriate) to fully heal it is quite possible that you are indeed feeling the pain of the recovery or possibly there may be a remaining infection that needs to be seen by your oral surgeon.

My suggestion then is to see your surgeon for a follow up and have him investigate if an additional procedure may be warranted.

As marijuana can heighten our sensitivities it my conjecture that these heightened sensitivities may be giving you a warning sign that you would otherwise not recognize until a more serious condition has erupted. You therefore may have saved yourself from excessive pain and additional involved surgery because marijuana has allowed you to "hear" your body's pain signal early enough to get professional care.

Take care of yourself and let us know how you are doing.

Hugz,

Mama Budz

Radix

You know, you might be right. I notice when you eat you are a lot more aware of the stress it puts on you teeth. I had a very large cavity from the infection and he said that when he opened me up it was worse than the xray showed. He said it would take several months for the surrounding bone to heal because the infection ate away a lot of the surrounding bone tissue. Part of the problem was this occured around the holidays and I didn't get treated for a long time.

I got a checkup about three weeks after the surgery and he said it was healing nicely and I'm not in any any pain now. But all he really did was make sure there was no swelling. But what am I supposed to do? say "Doc, I think something might be wrong because I got high after surgery and getting high makes you more sensitive to these kinds of things." If I were a Doctor I would probably laugh or get angry because you are doing drugs after surgery. People in medical establishments are narrow minded like that.

Mamabudz

Well, don't paint the entire medical profession with such a huge brush -- we have many doctors on our side --

~ who are users themselves but would never tell their patients for fear of malpractice

~ are supportive of the Medical Marijuana initiatives

~ are aware of the benign nature of cannabis

On the other hand, you never know who you are speaking with so it's best to remain discrete.

I would suggest making an appointment and telling him that: "Sometimes, when you are especially relaxed, prior to bed or when listening to music through headphones, you have noticed a distinct increase of pain in the surgical area. It has not lessened over the past month and you are concerned that the infection may have returned or the area is healing improperly. When can you schedule an appointment to take a look?"

That should be just fine.