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Originally Posted by gulas
I have mostly questions, not answers. Wrestling with addiction myself, I know that it's not at all a good feeling to be addicted to anything, even something like pot. Have you ever been at all concerned about the long-term effects of pot? I guess it can have radically different effects on people but a friend of mine who has smoked since high school has now a very fuzzy memory of things-not good; but you are obviously high-performing and your work apparently unaffected by the habit.
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I honestly haven't given much thought to consequences of long-term use. Hey, it's only been 13 years or so... I have friends who have been using longer than I've been alive - mostly sharp as ever, easily comparable to the average non-user of the same age, moderately successful and fairly smart people. So I haven't really seen any negative examples, but also haven't gone looking to see what scientific research has to say on the topic.
Work is indeed largely unaffected, and sometimes benefits substantially. When I'm too anxious to write or work, it's one of the things that helps. I cannot use the anti-anxiety meds the same way because they make me nonfunctional, and the next-day meds hangover is worse (by a long shot) than any brain fuzz from pot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gulas
You have detailed your good relationship with your husband; does he have anything negative to say about your pot habit?
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Nope. He feels sorry for me, but he's not quitting himself. That's OK with me - he doesn't rub it in. He's typically much more concerned about the way I drink.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gulas
I had thought you were still on the ADHD meds but that's not the case, eh? It's not entirely clear why quitting pot is a prerequisite for those meds; is the effect blunted by pot or what is the rationale behind it? Does your doc simply believe that continued pot use is affecting your concentration? Have you felt that to be the case ever, or the reverse? Sounds like it's not helping you at the moment. In which case, is it not wise to take the doc's suggestion-and possibly also get some anti-craving meds for what you suspect will be an increased desire to resort to alcohol? Sorry I'm not much help but I"m hoping a pragmatic solution will suggest itself.
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I am on the ADHD meds - I didn't even consider quitting pot until I had the right prescription in hand. But they will be testing to make sure that I do clean up my act. They already gave me a little extra time, but I know I won't pee clean on the first shot because of the length of the habit and fairly high body fat percentage.
They didn't give me a reason why I should quit pot, which is the worst way to get me to comply. I will doubtless agitate on this point next time I go in. My suspicion is that it's just the pdoc's policy (I actually only see his PA) but I don't really know.
My T tells me that street drugs are better at using up your brain's receptors that would otherwise slurp up the meds, so it probably dampens the effectiveness of everything to some degree. Much of the time, a little pot actually seems to go a long way toward
supporting concentration; my unfounded hypothesis is that it somehow lets me ignore some of the stimuli that otherwise overwhelm my poor silly cranium.
Mostly I just want to shut my brain off long enough to get some respite. Alcohol's pretty good for that but I have a lot less control under that influence. I'll probably be having a drink every evening until I get past the irritability, but hopefully can leave it at that.
The last time I followed a pdoc's instructions for teetotalling, most of my mood-related symptoms got a lot worse. But things have changed since then and maybe it will be different this time.
I'm sure a lot of this stupid angst is just feeling rebellious at being told what to do. The rest is just plain irritability from withdrawal or mood swings or PMS or who knows what.