Anti-Depressant Meds and Marijuana, Share Your Stories.

[darwinsbulldog]

hey all, i was recently put on anti-depressants and after chatting to my shrink he said that though he has no issues with my use of marijuana occasionally, that using it too often (ie. everyday) will disrupt the effects of the drugs. this isn't a big issue has i only smoke once or so a week at most, but i'm just wondering if people out there can shed some light on experiences they or people they know have had with marijuana while on anti-depressants, whether good or bad experiences. i'm also wondering if anyone recommends specific strains that are more appropriate for people on anti-depressants than others, i'm guessing ones with high levels of CBD? but yeah feel free to discuss anything here i'm just curious what people can share cheers

darwin

 

[ghostly]

tried paxcil, prozax and zoloft after leaving to college. it messed me up, i couldnt function properly.
after trying weed for the first time, i forgot what it was to be sad, been burning for 15 yrs with no side affects to speak of.

for me, it all works well.

 

[mSeTxOiNcEaRn]

My g/f was on effexor xr for over four years, that shit makes you a zombie. I used to get anxiety and they prescribed me the same drug, after a month and blacking out every time i had a few drinks i decided to sop using cold turkey**, and although i have never used H i had the worst withdrawls i might as well have been. Pain in my whole body, cold sweat, vomiting, every step felt like my head was shaking. Anyway smoking bud relieved most of the symtoms and we were able to get off this crap for good. I would never use that shit again. My g/f was on the highest dose possible and after a while it didnt do much. She is completely free of any type of pills. Research whatever you take, you will be surprised at how little went into the testing of these drugs.

** dont ever stop these cold turkey, i didnt know better at the time

 

[darwinsbulldog]

yeah i'm on a prozac drug, and a mild dose only 1 a day. it's been fine so far and i'm unsure if it's the placebo affect (as i just started) but i've been much more positive and happy than before on it lately. also it's suppressed my appetite a fair bit which is good as i wanted to thin down a little. also i've noticed that anxiety too has dropped back a fair bit which is good, part of the reason i was prescribed them. it's an SSRI drug used to increase serotonin levels, i've looked up a bit on it and it seems to be a pretty safe one, but yeah i had a friend who was on a similar drug for similar reasons, he wanted to medicate himself with pot instead of his drugs and dialed back his dose until he was on none and was doing pot each day, after about 3 weeks he broke down and lost the plot. NEVER SELF MEDICATE, i spoke to my shrink and he just said "well yeah that's what happens, he was on the drugs for a reason, though pot is used as a medicine for many things, it does affect these drugs and their purpose", so yeah i think there'll be a decent balance, i just hope to find it. thanks for the info guys big help

 

[Skyhigh420]

Im also on the highest dose of zoloft 200 mgs, without smoking it just makes me numb to everything, no good feelings no bad feelings. Marijuana greatly helps the side effects and makes me a lot happier, as long as I don't fall into the "i don't wanna leave the house, do anything, see anybody, just get high alone in the basement" trap.

When I am without ganj and my pills I get severely depressed, feeling like a worthless piece of shit.

Ganja has helped greatly, and now that I'm on probation I realized how these pills fuck me up so much.

 

[kannubis]

zuck foloft
the VA gave me that crap in 94, got the squirts til I quit it 6 months later
it is a great mood elevant to not have the squirts any more

 

[Phillthy]

healthy dose of lexapro and smoke 3-5 times a week. no issues. drinking is a different story. you cant get drunk so you find yourself drinking twice as much as you normally do. thats why they say no alcohol while on ssri's.

 

[darwinsbulldog]

healthy dose of lexapro and smoke 3-5 times a week. no issues. drinking is a different story. you cant get drunk so you find yourself drinking twice as much as you normally do. thats why they say no alcohol while on ssri's.

cheers for the info phillthy, yeah my shrink asked if i drank, which i don't simply because i don't like it and really prefer pot etc = much more natural feeling. but yeah he said that booze would've been a bigger issue than the pot with respect to the SSRI meds. cheers mate

darwin

 

[Phillthy]

cool. you will have to get through a week or so of some side effect but they should subside. these meds work based on the level in your blood so try to take it at the same time every day and try not to miss doses. i can say that they have helped me a lot.

 

[OjoRojo420]

zuck foloft
the VA gave me that crap in 94, got the squirts til I quit it 6 months later
it is a great mood elevant to not have the squirts any more

I was given that shit while in the Army and later prescribed Wellbutrin, Temazepan and Lithium by the VA... It fucked me up proper.

Today:

Give me homegrown or give me death!

The only medication that has helped me so far (when needed i.e. manic episodes or insomnia) is the minimal dose of Seroquel (25mg).

I even feel stoned with it, honestly, red eyes and muchies.

And you will fall asleep in 1 hour... guaranteed!

Benzos are shit compared with this head candy.

Seroquel is good and safe at small doses... take more and the whole shit hits the fan. Too much sedation, munchies, weight gain and all the so familiar shit.

 

[Phillthy]

btw, the meds have come a long way in the last 10 years. i wouldnt have touched this stuff back in the day.

 

[darwinsbulldog]

cool. you will have to get through a week or so of some side effect but they should subside. these meds work based on the level in your blood so try to take it at the same time every day and try not to miss doses. i can say that they have helped me a lot.

cheers mate, only side effects i've noticed so far are lack of appetite even when hungry, i mean i know that i'm hungry but i feel ill when thinking about eating a whole meal, it's weird but i'm guessing that's because of the drugs. so i've just been eating lots of small things here and there throughout the day. haha i'm not complaining though, if i lose a bit of weight it'll be a good side effect! haha

 

[rambone]

I was on zoloft for 9 months, gradually built up to 150mg once daily. It without a doubt helped me deal with my anxiety, I did experience the lack of appetite which cannabis helped greatly as well as feelings of restlessness caused by the zoloft. I was smoking about 4-5 bowls throughout the day( morning, midday, and 1-2 at night) and feeling better with every month that passed. Once I felt ready I asked my therapist whether or not she thought tapering off the drug would be a good idea, she did and felt that I was in a good mental state to bring my therapy to an end. Its now been a year since I've been off of the zoloft and I still feel good, my anxiety is still there but I have since learned to cope with it through weight lifting and other hobbies, still smoke like a forest fire...life is good

 

[Phillthy]

well done rambone. thats the key.. you learn how to deal with your anxiety/depression while on the meds. they give you the ability to see what it is like to be 'normal' and the ability to identify things you can do day to day to help keep you that way after the meds. glad you are on track!

 

[darwinsbulldog]

I was on zoloft for 9 months, gradually built up to 150mg once daily. It without a doubt helped me deal with my anxiety, I did experience the lack of appetite which cannabis helped greatly as well as feelings of restlessness caused by the zoloft. I was smoking about 4-5 bowls throughout the day( morning, midday, and 1-2 at night) and feeling better with every month that passed. Once I felt ready I asked my therapist whether or not she thought tapering off the drug would be a good idea, she did and felt that I was in a good mental state to bring my therapy to an end. Its now been a year since I've been off of the zoloft and I still feel good, my anxiety is still there but I have since learned to cope with it through weight lifting and other hobbies, still smoke like a forest fire...life is good

that's great to hear mate, hope others out there who're in a similar situation to what you were in can make it to the same place soon enough thanks for sharing mate

 

[OjoRojo420]

yeah i'm on a prozac drug, and a mild dose only 1 a day.

Prozac is a very well tested SSRI, it even helps some folks with IBS, OCD and GAD. It has the longest half life of all the SSRIs, one to three days. This is good in case you skip a dose... no crashing as with Effexor. Also means less intense withdrawal if needed to be.

Best of wishes my brother!

 

[darwinsbulldog]

Prozac is a very well tested SSRI, it even helps some folks with IBS, OCD and GAD. It has the longest half life of all the SSRIs, one to three days. This is good in case you skip a dose... no crashing as with Effexor. Also means less intense withdrawal if needed to be.

Best of wishes my brother!

ahhh yeah i believe you're very correct there, haha also makes you last for ever in the sack i'm told by friends, sometimes too long if you're on a huge dose lol. yeah also great to know about the half life and less intense withdrawals, thanks for that ojorojo

 

[OjoRojo420]

"Its [Prozac's] truly astonishing effects on deep-seated and prolonged depressions have revolutionized our ideas about emotions and thought.

If a person can begin to feel better about himself or herself as a result of a chemical that modifies the action of a brain neurotransmitter, even in situations when no outward changed has taken place in that person's day-to-day existence, what does that mean about the biological foundation for our inner life?

At the very least it supports what neuroscientists have been suggesting over the past theree decades: All things mental are embedded within the chemistry and neuronal circuitry of the brain."

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~caitlin/papers/Prozac/

It also supports why I like to spark a big'ol fat "J" !!!!

 

[darwinsbulldog]

hehe cheers ojorojo, everything in the right moderation i guess.

 

[N. Accumbens]

If a person can begin to feel better about himself or herself as a result of a chemical that modifies the action of a brain neurotransmitter, even in situations when no outward changed has taken place in that person's day-to-day existence, what does that mean about the biological foundation for our inner life?

I think such chemicals can be found in plants and there use can lead to greater long term efficacy. As anyone whom has moved to a foreighn country can easily find out when they try to acquire their medicine and find out is in considered a hayerdous substance by lets say in my case the EU. Oooops, my government sent me to a specialist to help rid me of my "self medicating tendencies". This fine addiction specialist chose a chemical cocktail for me according to standards in his field and possibly dependent on ummm.... a donation from thus said chemical producing companies. The cocktail made me sick... made me want to die. A "rare" side effect I am told. Possibly I should have been warned about this.
So we try a new cocktail... yay, huh!
Nope!
I got a concussion - swollen meninges from the next choice after taking one dose.
After a few more switches we found medication that works without making me want to die after trial and error on my human self and brain - yes i am tainted in deed, eh... LOL
Now I may add cannabis always worked fine, problem is it was illegal - a hazardous substance one could say... well in the country-state i formerly lived in.
So as a psychologist one does what they find most reasonable.
They use that good old DSM IV- the book- to find a solution.
Now since the only "problem" I had was legislative. I found I can escape a title and possibly a dire future by travelling to a land of the "free". This meant I had to say goodbye to certain things. For example a few extremely addictive prescriptions.

Instead, now I try and grow or collect my medicine in natural ways, i feel inexpressably better. My quality of life has increased manifold and though i am in many ways crazier than i have ever been /by standard views/ - I also am free from reliance on another. Since i can procure my medicine anywhere i can find earth, air, sun, water, and freedom of mind. This is a great feeling.

I believe anything that heals has already been made by nature and as i found poppies helped with my opiate addiction, and i seem not to have a poppy addiction. I also found ephedra cured my adderall addiction, I seem not to be addicted to ephedra. Theres a whole list of pharmaceuticals I was told would make me feel "better", they didnt in the long term and though I do agree sometimes one finds themselves begging for lithium in the wee hours of the morn - I also find a nice edible such as brownies or a cookie seems to make that all go away.

Point is we each find what works best for us dependent on where we are and what we have been shown.

Prozac has a very low half life and this is part of the reason it must be taken for such a long time to have an effect- six to eight weeks. I may add to this that a method such as light therapy can be effective long before this. This is why they use light therapy before the drugs do their magic. I would also add that this means when one decides to stop medicating or has to travel to a country where this medication is outlawed they will feel a rush off effects called the rebound. Dependent on this half life and the efficacy of the medication in helping the patient make long term and positive changes in mental schemas a person can decide if a certain medication is good for them.

I must say after what i have been through in life. I prefer my homegrown and i sure as heck hope its at least mildly SEEDED.

Good Luck
oh and...

Jimmy Carter - “When the legal side effects of a substance cause more harm to a person than the side effects of the substance itself, we have an injustice!”

On that note I should warn if you have any teens around whom might be into experimenting either keep your meds in a safe place or please warn them about SSRIs and inhibitors as such meds can cause reactions with such things as cough syrups and other over the counter meds which are life threatening. I am assuming you have been warned, of course... but I do recall the speech I got when one of my family members got prescribed Prozac and how grateful i was for it.

May I please add that Germany now officially sells rufees again after a two year EU ban.
Cheers to us because many of us find our seniors have not slept for two years. Serious insomnia in our hood, and I am sure there is nothing quite like long term withdrawal effects from a medication you have been given by your doctor for tens of years and then someone decided it should be illegal because the yung uns are using it for naughty things.
Cheers to quiet nights and the germans, I assume they had the same problem there. Nothing like a whole community of squeeky knees hitting the streets all at once in the middle of the night.
I know its not very funny but one makes best of the cards they are dealt.

Grateful for Cannabis
KA