bipolar disorder and mmj

[ureapwhatusow]

intermittent smoking is not very good for bipolar, honestly, continual use is the only treatment for bipolar. after a little bit of regularly smoking throughout the day, you will stabilize and a lil bit later you will become running at full functionality again. stopping this medication or smoking only once a day will leave you going back and forth between bipolarness. ingesting the herb would also probably help quite a bit in not having you get too stoned at certain times. best of luck.

Big truth with the constant smoking and it has to be the right herb

i did my first inpatient at 13, spent a year in a psych ward and have 4 sucide victims in my family, and its only tip of iceberg really.

Life is good, its a struggle, but so is everyones life. The hardest thing you will face is learning to see when your not at "baseline" and reigning yourself in but its possible

I am pharmacutical free and it gets better

my old med list

Depakote
Zypreka
Xanax
Eskalith
Effexor

and I never felt as good as I do now

Good Luck

 

[Storm Crow]

Came across these....

The Use of Cannabis as a Mood Stabilizer in Bipolar Disorder: Anecdotal Evidence and the Need for Clinical Research
http://www.ukcia.org/research/TheUseofCannabisasaMoodStabilizerinBipolarDisorder.html

Cannabinoids in bipolar affective disorder: a review and discussion of their therapeutic potential.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15888515?dopt=Abstract&holding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn


Granny

 

[GorillaGreenz]

Has anyone got mmj from bipolar disorder? If I ever move to a new state it'd be nice to be a MMJ state. Vermont or Cali.

 

[StinkingRoger]

Everybody loves you when your bi.
Not!! Its almost like some of them plot against you while smiling or trying to push all your buttons to see you go off.

 

[JohnnyHolland]

I lost every single one of my friends from when i was either manic or depressed.

Even the ones i knew 12 years who i stood up for when we were younger.

They all decided umongst themselves i was too different to bother with i guess.

That was the hardest part for me. Living in a house by myself without a single friends in the world

I finally got diagnosed after losing almost everything. WD psych's and doctors from my youth who blamed it all on smoking weed, i wish i could find those bastards and stomp them into the ground.

JH

 

[cashmunny]

I have Bipolar II, which is a more mild form but still sucks!!!

Check out this website:
http://www.psycheducation.org

It's put together by a psychiatrist and has a lot of good information.

There are so many medications out there for it. I take Lamictal which is a mood stabilizer. Some would say it's the first, best thing to try in someone newly diagnosed. Many people take antipsychotics like Zyprexa and Seroquel. But those can cause diabetes.

The use of antidepressants in bipolar disorder is controversial. But IMO, antidepressants are the devil. Never felt so bad and so crazy as when I took Zoloft. There is some evidence that antidepressant use in bipolar disorder actually makes it worse.

MMJ may be helpful for you, but personally I really don't like being stoned ALL the time, so I could never really do that. Even a low dose edible regime of MMJ taken for several days leaves me feeling kind of out of it. And I think for me anyway Lamictal is more effective than even ...gasp...MMJ.

 

[JohnnyHolland]

I agree about anti depressants, ive only been truly messed up when on them. They also remove your decision making abilities i beleive when i was fully medicated i somehow ended up with the worst possible girlfriend.. I also tried pristiq which all these people are raving about how good it fixes stuff. My psych tried it on me and despite his lies to the contrary it turned me into someone who is chemically neutered. That and all anti-d's do. It also made me apathetic and lazy, i stopped cooking & cleaning for my girlfriend and i stopped excersizing.

Ive taken zyprexa and seroquel at different occasions the only thing anti psychotics seem to do is cut out half your brain. , the good half.

As far as being stoned all the time, goes due to the combination of bipolar + others ive got im generally hypomanic 100% of the time im not depressed.

When im not stoned i talk so fast people cant understand me and move from subject to subject at a ridiculous pace, infact the PRIME REASON i started smoking in school was so people would stop hating and bullying me for being so hypo.

So when im stoned all the time im actually fine... in fact im TOO active this i put down to my switch to mostly vaporizers for the last 4 years. aromazap -> vriptech -> volcano.

The funny thing is people say it increased your paranoia ect; but due to my anixety disorder i get panic attacks anywhere there are crowds including public transport, the only time ive ever avoided this is being stoned or drunk or on tranquilizers. the latter two being the terrible option of course leading to terrible physical dependancy.


JH

 

[WeldFlash420]

Johnny, you've got a note...but I'll reitterate what I said here. I've been on the whole gamet of meds through this walk of life, yet what I have found to be working most for my situation is a good hybrid, anything thats around a 60/40 -70/30%, even. Yes, I still take the Rx's BUT its suplemented with a good regiment of good herbals. Abilify and Lamictal just happen to be the Rx's that I've found have the very least of side effects, in fact I've found that this combo has NO side effects on me whatsoever.
Once in a great while I still get slightly manicy, but like I said, I can pretty much smoke my way out of it. Balance is one of the Keys to getting through this with minimal damage to the ones you love. Understanding from the ones you love is the is the other...Peace ot you and yours, and always shine on.

 

[otherwhitemeat]

My sister was diagnosed with BP years ago. No drugs help her at all. She's been on loads of prescriptions. When she was a teen she smoked weed, and years ago I advised she try MJ to relieve her symptons. She wound up in a hospital from a schizophrenic attack.

My wife is Bipolar and finds some relief from MJ. It supressed manic episodes, but she can get too high and get depressed.

IMO, one should be careful treating with MJ, some can find relief; others can go off the deep end. Everyone's brain chemistry is different.

 

[WeldFlash420]

My sister was diagnosed with BP years ago. No drugs help her at all. She's been on loads of prescriptions. When she was a teen she smoked weed, and years ago I advised she try MJ to relieve her symptons. She wound up in a hospital from a schizophrenic attack.

My wife is Bipolar and finds some relief from MJ. It supressed manic episodes, but she can get too high and get depressed.

IMO, one should be careful treating with MJ, some can find relief; others can go off the deep end. Everyone's brain chemistry is different.

Which is exactly why I stated this is what works for me in my situation, knowing that everyone is different. I was smoking pot for yrs before I was diagnosed, so I knew then it was the cure-all to my condition, yet it did seem to ease the mood swings. I'M NOT saying to quit taking your meds and go solely MMJ. But to supplement with your regular Rx's. Alot of the Rx's out there come with a very very high suicidal rate. Why you ask? Because everyone is different and its impossible to look at some one and say "hey you need to be on this and you'll be fine", when they know not exactly whats been going n with you. Its' all trial and error. With the error being anywhere from losing your loved ones to losing your life. Its a grim diagnoses to have but its not like your tryint ot beat cancer. IT IS manageable with the right combo of Rx's and MMJ. I'm living proof of it...Peace to all who are suffering from this, it can and will make ya crazy! LoL...

 

[JohnnyHolland]

Weldflash> Thanks for your feedback the more i know about options the more comfortable i feel about everything so cheers

Otherwhitemeat> Im really sorry to hear about your sister and i wish her all the best. Its unfortunate that MJ can exaserbate a predisposition to this illness .


"IMO, one should be careful treating with MJ, some can find relief; others can go off the deep end. Everyone's brain chemistry is different. "

This is absolutely correct and i think anyone reading this threat should consider it well, ive been through 10 different meds over the time so for me its reasonable to explore this option.


JH

 

[nursegirl]

Be careful with Bi polar. It can be dangerous with mixing anything with their meds. Off their meds can be bad!! the meds have bad side effects. Bi polar is complicated and very individualized, This disease effects everyone differently.

It is a very bizarre illness. Its a chemical imbalance. The person can cycle at will. Its a roller coaster ride for those around this person. If they do not take their meds RUN dont look back there is nothing you can do for them. They will pull you in to their sickness and they will totally exhaust you with their up and down and epizodes.

I know someone who has this and are in denial. They told me that when they were stalking someone at one point and time that they had planned to kill them. But they can be the nicest person then change at the drop of a hat.

I actually know two people. You never know when they are telling the truth or not what is real and what is not real.

the drugs for bi polar are bad drugs with bad side effects. But they are necessary. I hope they do find pot or something more natural that works so they will be a safer method of controlling this disease.

By all means beware of anyone who is bi polar and not taking their meds. They are not all dangerous but they will emotionally wear you out. No matter how you try you can not help them. They have to want it and go for it their selves.

 

[supervaca]

Speaking from my experience....JUST MJ does not work for me because I also have the psychosis component of Bi-polar....I THOUGHT that just MJ would work as it does for a few friends of mine that also have it, so I (with the permission from my doctor) went off the depakote ....well 1.5 yrs later the bitch was back and it wasn't pretty.....

So, I say IF you have NO psychosis &/or have never been hospitalized, you can try MJ on a regular basis and see if it helps...

Good luck & here's to better days!!

~HM

He is so right....
Hi mate, wish you the best... from another (wrongly diagnosed,seems in the end..?¿) bipolar ... don't let their tags change your life too much....
Sorry for my english...

In past I had schizofrenic periods, in those MJ was no help at all .. some moment relief, but even worse for the storm of my mind...
Now, strangely, MJ is my best medicine... years past; I am more steady, have better position, and I smoke like 12 joints a day and vaporise, etc... I could live without it, but it hepls me to relax and set my mood... some days, I don't smoke ...more nervous, nothing bad happens.... like any normal person, I think ...

No more crisis or hardcore periods here for a very very long time... Sun rises again , loud and clear

Not smoking it, GROWING IT have saved my life... gave me responsabilities (stupid ones, maybe; not "real life" ones), and from there I started reconstructing my mind.... was very painful.. but I am out of it completely...
Don't know why I write this here, just hope it helps you in any way. Wish you the best in your fight.

 

[grimweeder]

my partner was diagnosed with bipolar a couple years ago, she also has another medical condition which means shes had hip/knee replacements an spinal surgeries. which obviously contributes to the whole depression side of things.(plus shes only 4.5 ft tall)
we've been together 4 years an at it seems like for 2 years of those ive been in a relationship with someone that hates me an wishes i was dead, it really is like im with 2 different people. its fuckin hard to deal with but i know she doesnt really mean it an its not her fault an i love her to bits, i think the doc that diagnosed her gave her some valiums to calm her down but they didnt really work, and a benzo addiction is the last thing id want her to have.
without weed she goes crazy an the mood swings kick in, the annoying thing is she knows that canna helps sooo much but she still will leave it all day to smoke anything sometimes, then all that day i jus get shit for nothing an told how retarded i am an that i gotta leave etc untill she has a spliff an chills out an realises how nasty shes been for no reason, sometimes this will go on for days on end.(2-4 usually) i can understand/deal with being pissed off an arguing etc but theres that line that you dont generally cross when your supposed to be in love with someone an she crosses it every time.
if she wakes up an has a spliff first thing then shes fine an she will be that way sometimes for days/weeks on end as long as she keeps on tokin, but then when she hesitates to smoke it all starts again. theres a definite pattern that ive noticed over the years when it comes to her mood an canna.
its really hard to know where i stand with her as today she hates me an jus wants me out of her life but tommorrow who knows wot will happen. she has only smoked 1 spliff between yesterday an today tho. (gonna skin one up for her now tho see if it will get toked one)
as i said i cant really blame her as its not her fault but fuck me it can get to a point where you jus wanna put ya head thru a brick wall. defo not an easy thing to deal with but im sure she has a harder time dealing with it than i do.
canna is the only thing that seems to work but even that doesnt always give instant relief but i can be sure that as long as she has a good toke she will be back to her normal/loving self at some point in the not too distant future.

 

[NHMI]

I was really bipolar for a while and eventually was put on Abilify but I ended up with Parkinsons-like side effects , some of which didn't stop when I stopped the meds, now I just smoke a lot of expensive bud and am fine....regular bud doesn't do it for me though and I smoke all day long but still manage to run a 6 figure biz so it works for me...

 

[phan]

Be careful with Bi polar. It can be dangerous with mixing anything with their meds. Off their meds can be bad!! the meds have bad side effects. Bi polar is complicated and very individualized, This disease effects everyone differently.

It is a very bizarre illness. Its a chemical imbalance. The person can cycle at will. Its a roller coaster ride for those around this person. If they do not take their meds RUN dont look back there is nothing you can do for them. They will pull you in to their sickness and they will totally exhaust you with their up and down and epizodes.


the drugs for bi polar are bad drugs with bad side effects. But they are necessary. I hope they do find pot or something more natural that works so they will be a safer method of controlling this disease.
By all means beware of anyone who is bi polar and not taking their meds. "

Nurse girl this is some good advice. I had the same experience with a buddy of mine, he did find a balance between bi-polar meds and herbal meds, but it was a long, scary and exhausting ride for his family and friends not to mention himself. Be safe and take care everyone who is dealing with this disease.

 

[Presto_D]

I have an old friend who thinks he inherited bipolar from his mother. He says he's begun to experience a few episodes that in hindsight he thinks are manic phases.

If he's still working the same job I don't think he has health care, so I know he's not being treated. We're not as close as we were a few years ago, I should really take the time to catch up with him.

He smokes recreationally, says he is "medicating", but you can tell he is using this as an excuse and doesn't quite believe there is much beneficial effect.

Last I heard he had cut back to smoking every two to three days, which is pretty much the wrong thing to do, according to some posters in this thread.

He is also only able to obtain Trainwreck and Hassan Chop which is TW x BigBud. Both are sativa dominant, and so they are probably also exactly the wrong thing for him to smoke.

I need to talk to him and find out if he's still smoking these same strains and only every few days... I learn something new here every day.
I wonder if it will help him any to know stuff like this.

 

[HerbGlaze]

Depends honestly, i have a friend who has bi-polar disorder and now he completely uses medical marijuana as a crutch. As soon as sobriety happens hes back to reality and is overwhelmed cause all he does is smoke so he has really bad attacks.

 

[Presto_D]

I talked to my friend, and he had already noticed the Trainwreck really doesn't agree with him.

He says the best strain he's run across is Afpak. Two landrace strains crossed. What does "slightly dutched" mean?

He's pretty set that he should only smoke twice a week. Personally I think that is probably making him cycle. He's not really in a good way. I should keep in touch with him more often.

He also doesn't believe a strain's name really means anything, that people are probably mixing up clones and just calling them the latest trendy name. I tried to set him straight on that point. There really is a contingent of medical users who want to know what effects they can obtain from which strain. Here in WA we have no above ground medical network, so there's no way to really know what you're getting. Thing is, this friend of mine gets his supply through another friend of ours who through a chain of connections is getting it from Cali. So I'm pretty sure he's getting whatever strain he's being told he's got.
Especially since so far I've been able to look up every strain name in various strain guides.

 

[ratingsthe]

Be careful with Bi polar. It can be dangerous with mixing anything with their meds. Off their meds can be bad!! the meds have bad side effects. Bi polar is complicated and very individualized, This disease effects everyone differently.

It is a very bizarre illness. Its a chemical imbalance. The person can cycle at will. Its a roller coaster ride for those around this person. If they do not take their meds RUN dont look back there is nothing you can do for them. They will pull you in to their sickness and they will totally exhaust you with their up and down and epizodes.

I know someone who has this and are in denial. They told me that when they were stalking someone at one point and time that they had planned to kill them. But they can be the nicest person then change at the drop of a hat.

I actually know two people. You never know when they are telling the truth or not what is real and what is not real.

the drugs for bi polar are bad drugs with bad side effects. But they are necessary. I hope they do find pot or something more natural that works so they will be a safer method of controlling this disease.

By all means beware of anyone who is bi polar and not taking their meds. They are not all dangerous but they will emotionally wear you out. No matter how you try you can not help them. They have to want it and go for it their selves.

I agree with this. Using cannabis for medicinal purposes has it's applications, but you should be cautious when you're dealing with serious mental illness and talk with many specialists if you're able to and/or if you're not pleased with your doctor's treatment. I hate to see people who self medicate and end up worse off because of it, which often happens with people who have mental illnesses. Treating pain, etc. is one thing, but this could be very serious from person to person.