[PurpleFlyingMonkeys]

So i first started using canabis 9 years ago. It gave me a lot of giggles of course but i would also have mini blackouts felt like i was floating, things got further away. But i only did it every now and then, not steady. I would go years without then do it then years without again. Then almost 3 years ago i became a HUGE cannabis user. All day every day for my appetite issues and stress.

I stopped smoking 6 weeks ago, much easier than i thought it would be. And when i look back, when i was smoking i would dissociate more frequently. I still do without it, and always have, but not quite as much. And its easier to ground when im not smoking. Last night was BAD, i spent like an hour fighting full force to stay out, even had to have my fiance come up to my work to sit with me incase i couldnt fight it off. But on cannabis, had that happened, i wouldnt be able to fight it off.

So i researched the connection online and came up empty handed. Does anyone have any experience with this? Im just curious why it happened more when i was smoking. It still happens without and ive had these problems long before i started smoking but it seems to intensify with it. Im not going back to smoking, not for a long long time atleast, im just trying to understand it

[LouR]

Try looking up THC chemical name for marijuana instead my friend,

I found this...

"THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the "high" that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentrating, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.1

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that, in chronic users, marijuana's adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

Research into the effects of long-term cannabis use on the structure of the brain has yielded inconsistent results. It may be that the effects are too subtle for reliable detection by current techniques. A similar challenge arises in studies of the effects of chronic marijuana use on brain function. Brain imaging studies in chronic users tend to show some consistent alterations, but their connection to impaired cognitive functioning is far from clear. This uncertainty may stem from confounding factors such as other drug use, residual drug effects, or withdrawal symptoms in long-term chronic users."

Here's the web link for that:

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publication...acts/marijuana

I then looked up the sites in the brain where the cannabinoid receptors, which are the basal ganglia, hippocampus and cerebellum. THC blocks or mimics neurotransmitters in your brain affecting short term memory, coordination, learning and problem solving as well as the side effects of panic attacks, anxiety and paranoia.

I looked up DID and the brain and found the following:

"When a person experiences extreme stress "endogenous, stress-responsive neurohormones, such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine (NE), vasopressin, oxytocin and endogenous opioids" are released (10). These substances induce glucose release and activate the immune system, enabling the organism to effectively deal with the stress. Chronic stress, however, decreases the effectiveness of this system. It has been hypothesized that when the system is bombarded with chronic stress, there is a malfunction in the negative feedback loop which goes from the neurohormones back to the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. As a result, the system begins operating in positive feedback mode; increased cortisol release, for example, leads to increased cortisol production. The desensitization of the system causes the person to have an intense stress reaction in the presence of even the smallest trigger. Abnormalities in the limbic system have also been implicated in this condition."

Here's the link

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1780

So my hypotheses is this.
If marijuana can put you into a panic situation and you have DID and smoking cannabis triggers it that could potentially be why your symptoms are worsened post smoking marijuana.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by PurpleFlyingMonkeys

So i first started using canabis 9 years ago. It gave me a lot of giggles of course but i would also have mini blackouts felt like i was floating, things got further away. But i only did it every now and then, not steady. I would go years without then do it then years without again. Then almost 3 years ago i became a HUGE cannabis user. All day every day for my appetite issues and stress.

I stopped smoking 6 weeks ago, much easier than i thought it would be. And when i look back, when i was smoking i would dissociate more frequently. I still do without it, and always have, but not quite as much. And its easier to ground when im not smoking. Last night was BAD, i spent like an hour fighting full force to stay out, even had to have my fiance come up to my work to sit with me incase i couldnt fight it off. But on cannabis, had that happened, i wouldnt be able to fight it off.

So i researched the connection online and came up empty handed. Does anyone have any experience with this? Im just curious why it happened more when i was smoking. It still happens without and ive had these problems long before i started smoking but it seems to intensify with it. Im not going back to smoking, not for a long long time atleast, im just trying to understand it

PufrpleFlyingMonkeys - I never looked into the weed/dissociation connections as in how the mechanics of it works, but what I know of it based on going to seminars is like you demonstrated in your post weed does carry some dissociative symptoms and cause dissociative symptoms to happen which is why in the diagnostic criteria treatment providers must separate the symptoms and problems...those that are caused/ happen during drug use and those that happen because the person has a dissociative disorder. if the problems are because of weed usage we have to refer the person to drug treatment options/ treat the person for a substance addiction, Im glad you have had positive results with using weed in relation to your dissociative disorder, for most people with DID is works the opposite, causes more dissociative symptoms and the user cant usually pull their self out of their dissociative symptoms. I found this out when I had more severe dissociative symptoms when I would be in the room with someone using weed, then discussed my reactions with my treatment providers..

it is true weed does help many people with mental and physical health problems but like any other drug/medication it doesnt work for all.

A thought here I wonder if your using weed is whats hindering your treatment providers from helping you...I dont mean that in a mean way but you have posted extensively about you having so much trouble with your treatment providers discovering what your problems are and how to help you. it could be that using weed is going counter productive from what they are trying to do to help you, kind of like someone with a toothache going to the dentist for help the dentist tries this, the client goes home and eats candy causing their self more tooth problems they go back to the dentist, the dentist tries something different the client goes home and eats more candy and goes tot he dentist with more tooth problems with the same tooth, the dentist tries yet another treatment and the client goes home and eats more candy on that tooth and .....well you see the cycle ... it may be all this problems you are having with finding the right treatment and figuring out what your problems are could be because the using weed is unintentionally going counter productive/ self sabotaging your getting the help you need...

your weed usage may also be affecting the meds you are on if you are on any meds..

my suggestion talk with your treatment providers. they will tell you why weed is working the way it is for you, why you are having the problems you are on vs off it..

[PurpleFlyingMonkeys]

I think im bad at explaining myself lol.

I stopped smoking 6 weeks ago per my pdocs request, once i did stop i saw it was easier to stop the switching, where as on marijuanna, it was extremely difficult to and it seems that the marijuanna increased my dissociation. I started smoking about a year after i was diagnosed DID, and would smoke occassionally but not always since it created many effects alcohol did with me. Blackouts, numbness, back burner feeling (that i felt as if i were in the back seat watching myself and listening but not controlling)

But when i started having eating issues due to celiacs, i got it perscribed and started using regularly. It wasnt as intense of a "high" after a while but i seemed to be dissociating regularly, i didnt even realize how much until i stopped. When i look back, with the knowledge of DID that ive recently started to learn, i see that i was dissociating a great deal more when smoking, now i can go a few days without dissociating, and when i do i can more easily ground myself. But while using marijuanna it was much much more difficult to ground.

I spent the last two years grounding numerous times a day every day it seemed, now i only have to when im triggered (for the most part, although yesterday was bad and i havent been able to determine a trigger)

My head feels more out of the fog without smoking, and i dont constantly feel like im being pulled away. Im just curious to know if it was the marijuanna causing the increase in my dissociation or the stress ive been under the last two years with the accident, moves, seizures, dog attack and a lot of triggers coming into my life. But it seems i can handle it more now that ive stopped smoking and while i cant control the switching completely, without the marijuanna my attempts at grounding have become much more effective.

Thank you amandalouise for your response, i was hoping you would respond as your responses are always very helpful

[PurpleFlyingMonkeys]

And louR, thank you for always sharing such wonderful insight and what great research! I didnt think to look them up seperately and put the pieces together, what you posted makes it promising that yes marijuanna effects DID (although not in necessarily a good way). My old t gave me a bunch of pills to have the same effect, to make me live in a state of dissociation to hurry my parts out, it was a mesd. My new t believes it should be up to the parts, and rushing them would be wrong. I like the new t's method.

I guess it makes perfect sense that marijuanna would increase my symptoms. I just should have seen it before now, while i see the great effects of marijuanna, its not for me any more, not now at least. I need to let the DID progress on its own and not have anything forcing it. Thats a big reason for me not wanting meds, and now that i see marijuanna does it too, i wont be near it for a long while. I think i will try to stabalize the system through therapy and healthy living

[LouR]

Your very welcome Purple Flying monkeys
I really like your posts and I really like you so I made an effort for you buddy. So I'm glad that my help was helpful and I'm glad that what I did make sense sometimes I fly off on tangents and it can confuse others that are not following my thought processes.
Here's another thing I'll share do you think that the way that we have dissociated ourselves is an act of higher intellect the fact that we can function by shutting down the bad feelings and memories and still function everyday in what ever form eventhough i know there is a biological reason why we are the way we are. Just a thought to mull over...

[LouR]

Oooh and another thing I found a website that discusses the right balance of foods for those of us living with DID and it shoulodn't effect your celiacs
Here's the link
http://multiplepersonalitydisordercu...order/#more-72
Another site I find useful for nutrition is this one and it also has recipes that are gluten free and stuff
http://ohsheglows.com/
Incidentally if you read Angela Lidon's bio you'll find the content quite interesting especially the reason for why she started it in the first place
Kind regards Lou