What is the best strain for IBS? Admittedly a wide field!

[Thirstymuppet]

Hi everyone. I see a few other threads here on the subject of IBS but none specifically on what strains are best. In the interest of helping others in the future who might search here for the same thing I thought i should start a new thread that addresses it specifically and will be easily searchable by the thread name. So feel free to make this thread your own, because it is. Unfortunatly IBS is a huge beast. If a doctor can't identify an gastro ailment specifically, they give the diagnosis of IBS. And off you go with an overview of a broad topic and a leaflet.
Ill kick things off with my own reason to post here. My wife has IBS or has at least has been diagnosed as such! She has had severe depression in the past. Something I have read that can be associated with IBS, although there could be an element of the chicken and the egg (which came first) for people with both those problems. For her the IBS has come later by about 10 years. We are both still in our mid 30's by the way. She gets savage bloating in her stomach and is, and always has been constipated. She doesn't eat much and there certainly doesn't seem to be a relationship with food and the bloating. It could be caused by a lot of things as is the case with IBS but until we find the cause we shall try to treat the symptoms.
Different strains help with different conditions so I was wondering, before I try growing strains to treat her with, whether anyone had tried treating a similar condition with any strains with success or negative results.
All the best folks.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

It seems different strains do or help different things

Search for @SweetSue she is a pro here on 420mag and dedicates her time to helping and informing people, like you, how to help withits of ailments

Hopefully she will see this and chime in

If not just ask her on any of her threads, she is fantastic, and 100000% will want to help u

 

[Thirstymuppet]

Yep. @SweetSue is fairly prominent here alright. Thanks for the advise. I'll take another look at her threads and maybe send a message. Thanks for the advise. I will update back here.

 

[SweetSue]

You rang?

Hello Thirstymuppet, good to meet you. This is an excellent idea. There have to be great chemovars for IBS, and I hope members step out with their experiences. Cannafan grew primarily to treat her own IBS. You might take a gander at her journals and see what she was growing.

From my studies IBS responds well to a balanced ratio, so it comes down to whether you want something with sativa terpene profiles or one with indica. Depression most often responds to sativas, and if she's been using indicas that could be aggravating the depression.

Unless you grow your own or live in a state with decent dispensaries you've probably been using indicas.

Wait....... does she use cannabis at the moment, and if you can, what types and administration pathway? I just assumed you and she are cannabis consumers. Forgive me.

My daughter had a raging case of what we now assume was IBS that was influenced by what she ate, but never diagnosed, since she managed to keep it pretty much under wraps. Although the common approach is a 1:1, not being aware of her IBS condition, I started her on CBD Critical Cure from Barney's Farm to control her anxiety.

Anxiety responds best in most cases to an indica terpene profile, and Barney's Farm worked with CBD Crew to develop this marvelous chemovar with a lean towards indica genetics.

Almost immediately her gut settled down. Her trips to the bathroom are no longer a panic and are down to a couple a day. Bloating is down, mood is up. Way up.

For your wife I'd suggest you look for something close to an even ratio, or a 2:1 CBD dominance. Something sativa-influenced to counter that depression, at least for daytime. I'll keep my eyes open for profiles and drop any I think might work. Critical Mass is a good 1:1 hybrid with decent THC values. Might be good for night meds. With depression you need to avoid the heavy indica profiles.

Terpenes....... be alert for beta-caryophyllene. Get as high a concentration as possible in a sativa. This terpene may actually be a cannabinoid, and it's an aggressive worker to tamp down inflammation. When the gut is pissed off and inflammed it broadcasts that displeasure to all parts of the body through pathways no other organ has. It's a good idea to keep the gut happy.

THCa is great for the gut. I'd consider an undecarbed oil, for a part of the regimen, not all of it. Juicing is always an option and may be a good path to healing the angry system.

Dark Devil Auto.....we haven't had any tested, but with its dark purples I'd be surprised if it wasn't high in b-caryophyllene. If you were going to do a mix of chemovars to get the balance - not a bad idea for a more well-rounded cannabinoid profile - any of the purples would be an option. DDA has a 3-month turnaround, as an auto. Indica lovers have a low tolerance for the chemovar, but those of us drawn to sativas have a more positive reaction. It's a very motivating buzz, and can be a little racy at times, depending on harvest timing.

Sativa terpenes to look for would be limonene and pinene, to help with mood. Night meds go for something heavy in myrcene and limonene. Finding them in a 1:1 or 2:1 CBD:THC may be a challenge, but they're getting better and better at the breeding.

Hope that helps. I'll be keeping the baby blues alert for any other ideas.

 

[Thirstymuppet]

Wow. Just wow. Thank you for that. I'm working nights in the grand old state of Ireland but when I can I will address your response properly. I look forward to exploring your suggestions and reading that journal. Thank you sweetsue. I appreciate your help.

 

[TheMadDabber]

I'm working on my diagnosis. But let's just say I have the polar opposite problem as your wife... @newty has some GI thing too. @DobeWan j think may have mentioned it also.

For me anything that promotes muscle relaxation works well for me. But really just smoking in general helps me. There's something about it that helps me go. But equally important it makes it less painful.

Sorry shitty topic. BUTT its no joke. Ok made my poo jokes.

 

[newty]

Hi all,

So I have depression which is separate from my stomach issues cannabis helps both I’ve found out this past year.

I was diagnosed with IBS until I got my real diagnosis of Ulceritive Colitis. I think your right in saying that IBS is the diagnosis they give people when they can’t figure it out. I feel all your pain! I had to wait 6 months with painful ulcers before they even did a scope to see what the problem was. I had reconstructive surgery to repair and remove part of my damaged colon, intestine and stomach. Now I tell ya the desperation I felt to get better was terrible. My ulcers will never go away but I can manage them now.

I’m also 6.5 years in recovery from drugs and alcohol and so using cannabis was not an easy decision but guess what, it’s helped my recovery more than words. To say I’m passionate about this medicine is an understatement

Now the meds that work best for my pain are anything heavy Indica or high CBD, I infuse and use both types of oil for my pain and chronic nausea. White widow has been my go to for day time meds, it’s heavy enough to kill the pain (mostly) and light enough to not get you couch locked. I almost always have a heavy Indica for night, critical Kush is what I use right now or anything purple works well for me. Cheese strain works well for nausea and I can eat pretty well.

Also another thing I’ve done to improve my symptoms is to eat mostly following a ketogenic style diet. It’s basically high protein high fat (good fat) and low carb low sugar. Or follow a diabetic diet and that will help.

Sativa’s are my go to for depression and anxiety.

Good luck!

 

[webeblzr]

I'll give my one IBS encounter.
AFOAF, came to me telling me her friend from out of state, has been fighting IBS for years. She knows I love to read, and try to help if I can. I dug into the IBS thing and found a paper from Italy, how a doctor used low heat and olive oil, and whtever cannabis he could get hids hands on.
He found a low heat simmer, about a 100 F, about a half ounce of cannabis, to 2 liters of olive oil, simmer it for a few hours.
Strain it off, place into a glass bottle, and store in refrigerator.
The lady came from a couple of states away, and we talked for a long time, about what she can eat, and what see can not.
We started her off with a simple teaspoon spread on a small chunk of bread. She ate it, and it stayed down for her.
I told her to increase it whenever her bowel would let her.
I also gave her a simple Vegetable Glycerin tincture, that she can use in her morning drink.
Then I gave her the recipe for the olive oil and the VG tincture.
I would love to say it helped her over night, however it took about a month, before she started to branch out into foods she could not eat before we started.
Around the 3 month mark, she made her first batch, and maybe just shy of a year, she emailed me and told me, she going out to eat with people, and still needs to mind what she eats, her options however have exploded for her.
I found Hammer Of Dawn from Nerds At Work to be the strain that help with seizures, MS, and IBS.

 

[Thirstymuppet]

Ugh nights. What day is it?!! Thanks everyone for the input. Hopefully it will be helpful to others searching for specific strains to treat their IBS or at least guide them in the right direction. I only thought after that even though I didn't find much on the efficacy of different strains you might have. So link those threads in here and maybe vice versa.

As suggested by @SweetSue, @Cannafan had some stuff alright. I haven't got to go through the journals yet but she had this interesting article. Thanks again sweetsue, that was some response. No, my wife isn't actually using cannabis to treat herself for anything. Its still illegal in Ireland so supply would be unreliable. She also says she doen't get anything from it recreationally! I do. Love it!

She takes a cocktail of bigpharma meds for what ails her. That won't change in a hurry but if I can improve on things with the help of mother nature then maybe we can think about substituting. I don't really want to replace the antidepressants as yet, just improve the IBS. Saying that, I'll be keeping away from heavy Indica as per your suggestion. Mood enhancing is always going to be a priority for us. Unfortunately she suffers panic attacks too so I'm not sure where that leaves me as you mentioned Indica's being suited to treating anxiety. Maybe I could try an Indica and a Sativa both high in CBD and see which has a better response. Then there's the terpenes to consider and my new word for the day/week 'chemovar'.
@TheMadDabber Ye can't beat a good pun. Kudos. Glad you are on the right track. @newty , jesus you have been through the wars! Fair play to ye. I'd say you are the type of person that could tell a tale. My wife has the same problem in regards ulcers for life. Not sure if its the same type. I might suggest the ketogenic diet. It sounds interesting. @webeblzr, that email must have taken you to a place cannabis can take no man or woman!!
This proposed grow for my wife will have to wait a few months but that will give me ample time to research and decide on what might work best for her. I think I am off to a flying start though thanks to all your help. Critical mass looks good, thanks @SweetSue.
For anyone else stumbling upon this with experience in the area, please do weigh in. Your contribution might just help someone even if they don't publicly thank you. Maybe give your symptoms, how IBS effects you and what strains you have tried and if they improved (or not) your symptoms. ...Or just shoot the breeze with sound bastards!! In case that doesn't translate thats 'decent people'.

Good luck folks.

 

[Thirstymuppet]

It seems different strains do or help different things

Search for @SweetSue she is a pro here on 420mag and dedicates her time to helping and informing people, like you, how to help withits of ailments

Hopefully she will see this and chime in

If not just ask her on any of her threads, she is fantastic, and 100000% will want to help u

Thanks for giving Sweetsue the shout out!

 

[Advocate420]

For me a drastic strict plan without gluten, soy, sugar, organic and non gmo, lactose/dairy free. Had couple failed surgeries. Medical marijuana helped with some inflammation but did not treat the problem just he symptoms. They were trying to diagnose me with chrones. CBD is a know potent anti inflammatory with anxiety treatment properties in the correct doses.

 

[Thirstymuppet]

Did you come about that diet plan yourself using an elimination diet?

 

[Advocate420]

I went with a smart company that made it really easy to just stick to the plan. Never hungry. No calorie or carb counting. Whole Foods. It was a huge decision to try for 30 days. After the 30 days I have changed what I call food. It has improved sooo many symptoms. I have decreased and stopped medications. Diet unfortunately is a great place to start. But again I’m the odd ball out.

 

[Thirstymuppet]

At least you got it sorted. Thanks man. I will look into that cause elimination diets are impossible. You stop eating nearly everything and slowly re-introduce them one by one to see what if any offends you. Can take a long long time. I tried doing it for a facial rash that wouldn't respond to anything else but i gave up. It cleared up but every now and then flairs up. I digress!

 

[Advocate420]

Message me if you want specifics and might be helpful.

 

[TokinJ]

I have been suffering from IBS, general anxiety disorder, and depression for years now. I have come across a few strains that really worked well for everything but first I’ll mention the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). The official website for it is Breaking the Vicious Cycle - The Specific Carbohydrate Diet
It has helped me with my anxiety, and IBS tremendously. Now onto the strains I have found useful:

• Green crack (depression)
• Purple kush (anxiety and ibs)
• Cannatonic (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Og kush (depression, ibs)
• Bubba kush (anxiety, ibs)
• Grape god (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Magic Jordan (anxiety, ibs)
• Lemon kush (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Cbd medihaze (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Palm tree cbd (anxiety, ibs)
• Super lemon og (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Lemon skunk (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Hitman og (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Blue cheese (anxiety, depression, ibs)
• Cbd shark (anxiety, ibs)
• Northern lights (anxiety, ibs, insomnia)
• Chocolope (depression, ibs)
• Arjans Strawberry Haze (anxiety, ibs)
• Gods green crack (anxiety, depression, ibs)

I also found that the strains I’ve tried that helped with depression were also really good for insomnia. CBD Medihaze has been my favourite for daytime smoke/vape so far. I’m a huge fan of the lemon strains as well for the evenings and northern lights for right before bed. I hope this helps everyone looking for relief.