Mayo Clin Proc

How effective is cannabis for treating fibromyalgia?

April 23, 2024

Nearly half of patients with fibromyalgia use medical cannabis for their symptoms and 82% report pain relief from it, according to results from a cross-sectional survey involving patients treated in Integrative Medicine & Health at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

Study results:

• The survey was constructed with the Symptom Management Theory tool and was sent anonymously via web-based software to patients with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
• Of 5,234 survey recipients, 1,336 (25.5%) responded and met inclusion criteria. Median age was 48 years and most identified as female.
• 49.5% (n=661) reported cannabis use since their fibromyalgia diagnosis.
• The most common symptoms for which respondents reported using cannabis were pain (98.9%); fatigue (96.2%); stress, anxiety, or depression (93.9%); and insomnia (93.6%).
• Improvement in pain symptoms with cannabis use was reported by 82.0%.
• Most cannabis users also reported improvement in symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

Source:

Singla A, et al. (2024, April). Mayo Clin Pro. A Cross-Sectional Survey Study of Cannabis use for Fibromyalgia Symptom Management. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38569809/