of course the choice is yours. here's my spin on it though you might not agree. i am a recovering alcoholic of 18 years. i am also bipolar on the depressive side. i didn't have much mania just an agitated state of mind. i used alcohol to self medicate. many drugs that are in the family of alcohol and weed are depressants. they actually feed into the depression. i tried to take anti-depressants and mood stablilizers while drinking. i only got worse. much worse and almost died. my doctors told me that it was useless to do both. they treated me for both conditions at the same time. my life is incredibly wonderful...there is no way to describe the difference in words.
you stated you had not taken paxil long enough to see if it helped you. why not give it a try without the weed? you've got nothing to lose but perhaps a greater joy than you get from the weed. if you need help to put down the weed for an "experiment" let your docs help you do that.
as for your disability...you will definitely find a difficult road based on what your docs are suggesting you do. i know...i am disabled too. they will research your medical records before rewarding disability.
in my case because i got sober and took medications for the bipolar i had a return to my corporate management career and many profitable years working.
thanks for responding to my posting. at least you are searching for solutions.
oh, and yeah we are all a bit difiant about our drug of choice. so it's understandable. just keep asking questions and you'll come to your own answers.
keep us posted on how you're doing, k?