Ptsd Worsened. Doctors Are Putting Me On Nabilone

[Astrid_Shadow]

So with the good comes the bad, my eating disorder may be gone but my ptsd has worsened. My nightmares and flashbacks have gotten so intense one of my doctors is prescribing me Nabilone. Does anyone know the drug Nabilone? If so does it really help with nightmares?

 

[SeanCharles]

Hi! :) Unfortunately I have not heard of that drug. I would have to do some research...

 

[joeylittle]

Does anyone know the drug Nabilone? If so does it really help with nightmares?

It's a synthetic cannabinoid - essentially, an attempt to capture certain benefits of marijuana in a synthetic, and therefore dose-exact and repeatable, form. It's been used in much the same way medical marijuana is, and as far as PTSD goes, the studies done were on how well it helped specifically with nightmares and overall hypervigilence. I'd think that your doc is going for nabilone possibly because it's also used to help nausea symptoms in chemotherapy patients. This would be relevant in that there's a very good likelihood that nabilone won't have a negative effect on your gastro system. Some of the other drugs used to combat nightmares for PTSD have nausea as a side effect, and you need to be able to keep eating on a regular schedule.

From what I recall of the studies I've read, there's very little downside to Nabilone. Whether or not it works, is another thing. It didn't have consistent results in the few trials that were done with it; so, it never really caught on. Whether it was working for some people because of placebo effect, or whether it was a question of how each subject's endocannabinoid receptors were functioning...either way, they don't know why it worked for some and not for others.

It can be habit-forming, as many drugs can. So you want to be aware that it's a temporary help, not a long-term fix.