[Christopher1990]

https://psychedelictimes.com/cannabi...bd-may-be-key/

Research is extremely sparse for the treatment of cannabis in bipolar disorder.

THC; The component in marijuana known to get you high can increase the risk
mania/psychosis in bp/sz patients.

CBD is non-psychoactive and can act as an anti-psychotic, anti-convulsant, mood stabilizer, along side with all of its health benefits.

_________________________________________________________________

As much as I believe marijuana has helped me in the past, it has very well ruined my life time and time again.
I would be crazy to start up again.

Yet, I love this plant so much and believe it can help me immensely as long as I don't over indulge and chose the right strains. Hopefully, find a qualified doctor to help asset me.

Problem is it is not legal in my state and I won't ever get it off the street again.

I am considering a move out west so I can experiment with treating my condition (along side a low dose medication) with cannabis.

Maybe my head is in the wrong place..?
Doctors have warned me time and time again..

I don't like drinking or any other drugs, but maybe I am an addict (to pot)..
it's selfish in a way, but it's my life, right?

It is just that these medications do nothing for my depression, my energy, my sense of well being, confidence and self-esteem, along with the horrible side effects. I've tried everything. It seems like a double edged sword.

I know this is a worn out thread, I just want to know if Any of you have experience with medicinal cannabis??

Advice?

[*Laurie*]

I'm in California, so mj is mostly legal now. I have not spoken with anyone who is HIV+, is in treatment for cancer, or who has glaucoma - or any other life-threatening physical illnesses - who is using medical mj. So for all I know it might be very helpful for those populations.

As for people with mental illness who have mj prescriptions, frankly, to me they don't seem any different than the stoners of old. In addition, their mental health does not seem at all improved by medical mj. Unfortunately, I'm not impressed so far.

[Wild Coyote]

I have had many misgivings about mmj/mj improving mental health.
I have seen many cases where it was not helping people and was making life more unmanageable. I have tended to have a viewpoint similar to *Laurie's* viewpoint.

I do think there are people who benefit from mmj/mj use.

All of my doctors, which includes pdoc, primary care and all consulting specialists, esp. neurology and rheumatology, strongly urge me to give mmj/mj a trial. Mmj is legal in this state. Mj is legal (within some parameters) as of July 1st. My doctors have been pushing for this trial for several years now.

They each believe mj is a "safer" and a healthier choice than combining al of the meds needed for physical ailments/disabilities and psych drugs. They also wonder if mj might be more helpful with depression and with anxiety and C-PTSD. I have not had a good response to meds. Most meds seriously inflict more suffering via decreased quality of life.

I have started a trial several times and have quit right away. This has gone on for years.

I have recently started a trial of vaping 4 times a day. I have just completed 3 full weeks. (I had decided to finally give it a trial just like the trials of meds -- giving this weeks before giving up (this time).

What do I notice?

I am in less pain (which has been neuropathic and excruciating), I am much less anxious, my nervous system is more calm, spasms are under control, my mood is much better, I can accomplish more (yet still not enough), I am much more comfortable overall. I sleep better and awaken more refreshed. I am not in excruciating pain 24/7. C-PTSD symptoms are significantly less.

The down side?

I really like to have full control of my faculties. I have been very reticent to try mmj/mj. I have no prior history of mj use. I then realized the C-PTSD and other conditions were denying me full use of my faculties and was seriously negatively impacting my life, so thought it worth a trial. My doctors have all remained steadfast in their mmj/mj trial recommendations... for years now.

I spend time educating myself as I have no prior experience with using mmj/mj prior to these (previously aborted) trials and this current longer trial.

I cannot drive using mj on this type of a schedule.

I have some airway irritation from vaping. If I decide to continue this trial, I will be looking into edibles.

As with any approach, there are some concerns about health. How healthy is vaping for one's airway, etc.

My mood is much improved, by the way. Bipolar 2 -- have been stuck in severe paralyzing depression for far too long.

I can see how someone might be concerned about more instability. My mood has been more stable, less suicidal. I have been feeling more "normal" and more like my old self.

I don't want this to come back and hit me from behind. I am very sensitive to those writing about addictions. I don't want to become "addicted," yet it seems to be a choice as to upon which substances I become dependent. I have been able to cut my opioid meds doses in half already.

As you may be able to tell, the jury is still out on this trial.

This is a very different 3 week trial report than I had thought I'd be giving. I had anticipated having a very negative experience and thought I'd be writing a negative review.

This has reminded me to keep an open mind and to remember everyone is different. Some doctors are seeing positive results with mmj/mj, so there's some evidence it is helping some people.

I need to work on a paradigm shift. I need to accept mmj/mj if it continues this helpful to me.

I hope this helps somehow.


WC

[AspiringAuthor]

Originally Posted by Christopher1990

https://psychedelictimes.com/cannabi...bd-may-be-key/

Research is extremely sparse for the treatment of cannabis in bipolar disorder.

THC; The component in marijuana known to get you high can increase the risk
mania/psychosis in bp/sz patients.

CBD is non-psychoactive and can act as an anti-psychotic, anti-convulsant, mood stabilizer, along side with all of its health benefits.

___________________________________________________

I can see how CBD can be soporific - it was not in me, but many people report that it is. As to other claims, they appear wildly exaggerated, for one, and illiterate, for another. With the exception of Lithium, mood stabilizers ARE anticonvulsants - why would someone list them using a comma? And antipsychotics in bipolar illness act primarily as mood stabilizers, whereas in schizophrenia and other other psychotic illness they are primarily used to prevent and combat psychosis. It is not clear what the statement means.

For yourself, if there is any likelihood however small that you might get drugs off the street, then yes, living in the West and not facing potential imprisonment would be far better.

[tecomsin]

As many of you know I have a love/hate relationship with mj. WC I am glad to see you on this thread and look forward to hearing more about how your trial progresses.

Christopher, I could also write that mj has ruined my life time and time again. I have had episodes where I lost contact with reality for extended periods of time and ended up being committed against my will, spending lots of money, and once even getting in legal trouble. I have lost friends and scared people away. But I have gone back to using it as it seems to be the only thing that makes life tolerable on the short term. Maybe it is just that I am addicted...

The best advise I can give is that if someone has a history of bad experiences on mj either stay away from it entirely or make sure you are on an antipsychotic that prevents psychosis and mania. I have thought in the past that my home was being spied upon and I was part of a secret conspiracy to take over the world.

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by tecomsin

As many of you know I have a love/hate relationship with mj. WC I am glad to see you on this thread and look forward to hearing more about how your trial progresses.

Christopher, I could also write that mj has ruined my life time and time again. I have had episodes where I lost contact with reality for extended periods of time and ended up being committed against my will, spending lots of money, and once even getting in legal trouble. I have lost friends and scared people away. But I have gone back to using it as it seems to be the only thing that makes life tolerable on the short term. Maybe it is just that I am addicted...

The best advise I can give is that if someone has a history of bad experiences on mj either stay away from it entirely or make sure you are on an antipsychotic that prevents psychosis and mania. I have thought in the past that my home was being spied upon and I was part of a secret conspiracy to take over the world.

I am sorry about your love/hate relationship with mj.
I have no judgement. I listen to you and your own experience. I want to support you in whatever you need to do for yourself in any given moment.

Great advice.


WC

[Tucson]

I do not mean the following to negative towards you or those who smoke mj. Why use mj which makes you high when CBD can help too? The CBD component can help possibly more than THC. You essentially supported this thought by your original post. I hear CBD can come in tablets.

Persons with BP are known for their self-medication. I think those who focus on the THC component raises a cautionary yellow flag to me. Perhaps the person is trying to self medicate? I do not believe mj would be helpful to a person. However, there are those who claim that smoking mj, which includes the THC component, has helped them.

So why don’t you try CBD first? IMO this is a more reasonable way to approach this. Here is an example of an online store that sell the tablet form, and even soft gels. I cannot speak of the integrity of this seller. I have not reasearched and done business with them.

PS A yellow flag to me is a situation that I am circumspect about. A red flag is where what I think that is negative about a situation is likely true. Just another idiosyncracy of me.

[Christopher1990]

Originally Posted by tecomsin

As many of you know I have a love/hate relationship with mj. WC I am glad to see you on this thread and look forward to hearing more about how your trial progresses.

Christopher, I could also write that mj has ruined my life time and time again. I have had episodes where I lost contact with reality for extended periods of time and ended up being committed against my will, spending lots of money, and once even getting in legal trouble. I have lost friends and scared people away. But I have gone back to using it as it seems to be the only thing that makes life tolerable on the short term. Maybe it is just that I am addicted...

The best advise I can give is that if someone has a history of bad experiences on mj either stay away from it entirely or make sure you are on an antipsychotic that prevents psychosis and mania. I have thought in the past that my home was being spied upon and I was part of a secret conspiracy to take over the world.

It seems like the drug of choice for most of us.

I feel the same way.. in the beginning of 2017 I started again vaping. It was great for the time being,, couple months. Great sleep, energy, pain relief, meeting new people, friends, social life.. then I got offered wax and bought a large amount. At this point I was off my meds, I lost my canabis oil connection, then on edge lost it at work. Led to two hospitalizations, and then jail time being psychotic for a long time..
,
scared people away, ruined relationships, lost my car, and you know how it goes.

marijuana is not the sole purpose of what happened, as I went off my meds..
but it was a big part of it. It opens up doors that would normally be closed.

other forums, and various research studies finds the same results, that bipolar/sz patients need to stay away from Thc.

I miss those good times when I was younger with friends and seemed like no harm was being done. We have to realize we can't do what normal people do.

At this point marijuana seems like a part of me and i miss it.

[Christopher1990]

Originally Posted by Tucson

I do not mean the following to negative towards you or those who smoke mj. Why use mj which makes you high when CBD can help too? The CBD component can help possibly more than THC. You essentially supported this thought by your original post. I hear CBD can come in tablets.

Persons with BP are known for their self-medication. I think those who focus on the THC component raises a cautionary yellow flag to me. Perhaps the person is trying to self medicate? I do not believe mj would be helpful to a person. However, many claim that smoking mj, which includes the THC component, has helped them. So why don’t you try CBD first? IMO this is a more reasonable way to approach this.

PS A yellow flag to me is a situation that I am circumspect about.

Agree. If I go back I plan on sticking to cbd.
However, the cbd from hemp that is legal in the U.S. is not the same as getting cbd derived from the cannabis plant.

Or smoking high cbd/low thc strain like charlottes web.

But theres always that temptation of getting high.. which is another issue.

thanks

[Tucson]

I am glad you are not put off by my post. You said “However, the cbd from hemp that is legal in the U.S. is not the same as getting cbd derived from the cannabis plant”. I find this interesting. I am thankful for this information. I have been thinking of using CBD tablets. I will research this for confirmation. Maybe hemp CBD oil can be further processed to make it much more useful? However, this form of CBD may be much more expensive due to the extra processing.

I tell you what, let’s research this to find an online seller who sells CBD derived from the plant, and who operates with integrity. I would prefer those who had their product lab tested. If we find one such seller, I will also purchase CBD from them. From what little that I have read so far, CBD absolutely without any THC is legal since it has no psychoactive component. It will be very nice if this is true. The federal government has determined CBD that that has any THC at all with the CBD is illegal. This implies the CBD itself is legal. There apparently is such a THC free CBD product online.

Here is one such place that may or may not be genuine: https://koicbd.com/#8168

Here is an interesting quote from that webpage. The highlighted part is my own emphasis. If this statement is correct, then technically speaking it should be legal wrt federal law. Of course this needs to be validated by further research.

“CBD is naturally found in its highest concentrations in hemp plants. While it’s often associated with its psychoactive counterpart, THC, CBD can be separated from THC and is completely non-psychoactive. That means that people who use CBD for various ailments can safely do so without incurring the “high” correlated with marijuana.”

Here is a consumers report style of article that I found in a quick search of the Internet on the topic:

https://www.marijuanabreak.com/cbd-oil-for-sale

[Christopher1990]

Originally Posted by Tucson

I am glad you are not put off by my post. You said “However, the cbd from hemp that is legal in the U.S. is not the same as getting cbd derived from the cannabis plant”. I find this interesting. I am thankful for this information. I have been thinking of using CBD tablets. Perhaps there is a form of a CBD tablet that has been extracted from an actual mj plant? One that does not contain any THC?

I tell you what, let’s research this to find an online seller who sells CBD derived from the plant, and who operates with integrity. I would prefer those who had their product lab tested. If we find one such seller, I will also purchase CBD from them. From what little that I have read so far, CBD absolutely without any THC is legal since it has no psychoactive component. It will be very nice if this is true. There apparently is such a product online.

Yes, but since cannabis is still illegal you would have to have a medicinal card or be in a legal state to get what I am looking for.

Some claim it works, but from the people I have spoken with on the subject cbd from hemp is not nearly as effective as from a dispensary.

It is also extremely expensive, but it's worth a try.

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by Christopher1990

Agree. If I go back I plan on sticking to cbd.
However, the cbd from hemp that is legal in the U.S. is not the same as getting cbd derived from the cannabis plant.

Or smoking high cbd/low thc strain like charlottes web.

But theres always that temptation of getting high.. which is another issue.

thanks

I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe that CBD oil from the cannabis plant is available and legal in California. This is from the Los Angeles Times:


Concentrates A concentrate is any product created through an extraction process, in which cannabinoids are separated from the marijuana plant, leaving behind a substance that’s usually much more potent than the dried flower.

Some concentrates are very high in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Others contain high amounts of cannabidiol, or CBD, which is prized for its therapeutic, rather than intoxicating, effects.

And of course, there are tinctures.

Vaping concerns me as much as smoking a joint or hitting a bong does. Whichever method is used, there's smoke involved and smoke is dangerous for our lungs, mouth, esophagus, etc.

[Tucson]

There is industrial hemp that is legal, and many online articles say due to this the CBD extracted from it is legal. I understand that the DEA may disagree. Also technically CBD is illegal in Arizona. Still, from what I understand, CBD extracts from hemp are found all over the country as over-the-counter health supplements. What supports this claim to me is that there are two stores in Scottsdale, Arizona that are selling CBD products over-the-counter. They are fully aware of the legalities involved. They are the ones that are taking most of the risk. There is a grocery store Luckys Market in Naples, Florida that has it on their shelves. The only remaining questions are how the CBD was extracted, and how much CBD is found in their specific product. Here is an important fact. The DEA specifically ruled that if the CDA is extracted from the non-psychoactive parts of the hemp plant is legal. This is the stalk. However, in order to make the extraction process practical, I heard unhealthy chemicals are used.

I do not know why people are thinking that the CBD from hemp is not the same as CBD extracted from the plant. CBD is a specific chemical with a specific molecular structure. CBD is CBD no matter where you get it from. The only difference is the percentage of CBD found in a specific product. I am sure there are additional chemicals that come with the CDB product, for instance that which came from the extraction process itself.

Look at this informative article: https://www.thecbdistillery.com/hemp...marijuana-cbd/ I am sure other articles that come from more neutral sources will say the same thing.

Here is a quote from the article:

“A molecule is a molecule is a molecule. This theory is consistent when it comes to all cannabis products, including CBD products derived from hemp and marijuana plants.“

Here is another very informative article discussing legality and the DEA: https://arizonamedicalmarijuanaclini...d-who-you-ask/