[HelplessHope]

I've been told by several people that because I am bipolar I can get medical marijuana,I also have other various mental issues anxiety,depression,insomnia,etc.I'm 21 and since I was 13 doctors have been trying to help me with meds and different types of treatment but nothing works.I used drugs in the past,so I'm wondering could I get marijuana?Should I since nothin else works,and how do I approach the situation and how do I do it?I'm in fresno,ca by the way.

[bebop]

medical marijuana is used primarily for cancer patients and glaucoma patients. it is a depressant. it would only make matters worse for depression. maybe do a google search on it to make sure though.

[splitimage]

Marijuana is not a benign drug, although it is prescribed in carefully controlled circumstances. One of the reasons people with MI should avoid marijuana is that it can induce paranoia, and psychotic episodes. I've known people who have wound up in psych wards as a result of smoking weed.

--splitimage

[Gus1234U]

as with every other chemical, med or drug, each individual has a unique response to the treatment, frequency and dose. as i understand it, in CA a primary care physician can prescribe for many different conditions, including anxiety, and a psychiatrist can also prescribe for many conditions. no one knows if there will be contraindications until the chemical is tried, as with all drugs. if you have some previous experience with marijuana, you still do not know how it will mix with any other meds you are now taking,,, all that being said, marijuana has one of the lowest incidences of harsh side effects of any prescribed chemical. if it helps you, i say ask for it, and if you have to see two or more doctors to get support for your self directed health care, remember, it's your life, your body, and your recovery that you are caring for. best wishes~ Gus

[kashmir0]

Just tell them you need it for insomnia, no one needs to know it's for bipolar.

[Elysium]

I think this is a great question for your MD and/or Mental Health Practitioner.

As someone stated earlier, it can be beneficial for some with Cancer and/or Glaucoma, and I've heard of it being used for a few other physical health related issues, but it can be damaging to use it with mental health issues and I would advise ONLY using it when followed closely by an MD who knows about the positive and negatives.

It can definitely exacerbate MI and if you utilize it without a prescription and you get caught, it could be damaging in other areas of your life.

[venusss]

For me it helps as sleep aid very well (bipolar, insomniac... no meds). Legal sleep meds make me drowsy as hell the whole following day and I am still tired.

And MJ does not have too much side effects for most people (beside attacking the fridge).

[sanityseeker]

There are many different varieties of cannabis. Like any medicine it is important to find someone who knows which strain will give you the desired effect. I have used some mj that triggers episodes and other strains that don't.

There is anacdotal evidence that mj effectively treats bi polar symptoms but more research is needed. There also seems to be effidence that it is counter effective with young people. It has been known to trigger episodes among teenagers but lack of research means we can't know why. Is it the drug itself or the quantity of drug consumed? No one knows.

I do know people who use it for bi polar and depression and they swear by it after unsuccessfully getting any relief from pharma drugs. It doesn't need to be smoked. It can be made into a tea or put through a vaporizer or put in your food. Using mj as a medicine is not the same as using it for recreational purposes. I think people fail to make the distinction and unfairly brush mj with a single stroke.

Here are some links to information about how to get a medical mj card in California.

http://www.medicalmarijuanalifestyle.com/
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/mmp/...20program.aspx

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I am very interested.

[Skully]

It wouldn't hurt to ask your doctor about it. Not every state allows it, and if you live in a state that does, boy are you lucky! I am stuck in Pennsylvania which does not allow for medicinal marjuana

[sugahorse1]

Lol@Skully - are you really wanting medical MJ or just MJ?
I'm glad there are other options to just smoking it. If it is a depressant however, how can it assist with depression? And if people say they get high on recreational MJ, then can MJ not induce a manic episode in bipolar patients?

I don't know if medical mj is even available in South Africa...

[venusss]

Originally Posted by sugahorse

Lol@Skully - are you really wanting medical MJ or just MJ?
I'm glad there are other options to just smoking it. If it is a depressant however, how can it assist with depression? And if people say they get high on recreational MJ, then can MJ not induce a manic episode in bipolar patients?

I don't know if medical mj is even available in South Africa...

In my experience (and experience of my fellow potheads... not hard science here) it enhances the current state of mind...

[salukigirl]

enhances? I don't know about you but when I smoke weed I just sit on the couch and giggle. Then I get really hungry. That doesn't sound like enhancing to me.

Like everyone else has said, it effects everyone differently. Until you try it you won't know how it will affect you.

The thing with depression is that weed causes changes in social behavior and causes people to be more solitary. If you are depressed and lonely, it won't necessarily make you FEEL more depressed, but might change your behavior to cause you to be more depressed....if that makes sense.

I have learned that I just can't do it anymore. My Lamictal was increased for temporal lobe epilepsy and the combo of that plus pot just makes me feel terrible. So I have had to stop completely.

Plus I kept running out of Oreos......lol

[sanityseeker]

"While many drugs clearly fall into the category of either stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogen, cannabis exhibits a mix of all properties, perhaps leaning the most towards hallucinogenic or psychedelic properties, though with other effects quite pronounced as well. Though THC is typically considered the primary active component of the cannabis plant, various scientific studies have suggested that certain other cannabinoids like CBD may also play a significant role in its psychoactive effects." Wiki

Marijuana is considered mildly hallucinogenic due to it's affects on short term memory. Depending on the strain, marijuana can be either a stimulant or depressant. Sativa strains are stimulants, while Indica strains, because of having CB, another psychoactive cannabinoid which has a sedative effect, are depressants.

Using marijuana for medical purposes means controlled dosages. Likely less then a recreational user might expect. It will vary but dosages usally average 2 grams a day depending on how it is taken. Use will also be determined based on effect. It varies from person to person. I know people who just fall asleep immediately while others actually get energized. I cam experience either. Sometimes it seems to heighten my creativity and sensory responses and other times it just relaxes me so I can sleep. Depends on the strain, how much I use and for how long I use it.

Controlling use for medical purposes is generally not intended to "over dose" a patient no more then any other medication. The proper dosage to minimize a symptom is the intention. At the proper dosage it would likely be considered a pretty mild 'stone' if any real noticable stone at all to a regular recreational user.

People can misuse marijuana just like they can any medication but the system is pretty controlled and high dosages would need to be justified.

[sanityseeker]

Originally Posted by salukigirl

The thing with depression is that weed causes changes in social behavior and causes people to be more solitary. If you are depressed and lonely, it won't necessarily make you FEEL more depressed, but might change your behavior to cause you to be more depressed....if that makes sense.

I hear what you are saying salukigirl but I think it depends on the user and the quantities of use. Used in small dosages shouldn't cause people to disengage socially. If it does actually alter a person's behaviour in that way the dosage would likely need adjustment.

I think to understand the benefits of medical marijuana a paridym shift is required. The aim isn't to 'get stoned' but to get relief of symptoms without any significant over dosing or stoned effect. We are so familiar with pot as a recreational drug where the over dose effect is the desired outcome. It is hard to imagine it being used to achieve any other effect.

I thought one of the side-effects of marijuana is insomnia. Medical marijuana is really an oxymoron. It is not safe for your lungs or your mind. And, since it results in a high, it creates an unsafe situation if you operate any type of vehicle.

[salukigirl]

Unhappy guy - That's why a lot of people use a vaporizer. So you're not smoking the actual plant, you're getting the vapors. And a wide variety of meds tell you not to operate machinery. I would never take my epilepsy med and then get in my car. That's just common sense.

Sanity - I don't really understand using it unless I end up feeling like a 10 yr old lol. To me it's like having a couple beers.

[sanityseeker]

In addition to vaporizers, putting it in food, infusing it in oil, brewing it in tea are other alternatives to smoking it to avoid damaging the lungs.

In my case I don't like beer or the effect any alcoholic substance has on me. I might have a half a glass of wine with dinner on a special occassion but any more then that and the effect can trigger a mood swing. Usually depression. Go figure.

Using mj therapeutically vs recreationally is the key I think. I haven't opted (yet) to consider trying mj therapeutically because I think I like being stoned too much and I am not sure I would be able to limit my use to what would be considered a therapeutic level. I have the sense that the line between therapeutic and harmful is pretty thin. If someone has a history of abusing it... using too much for too long... then it would be hard to use it differently.

My history with mj goes like this. I score maybe 5 to 10 grams of pot every few months or so. Using after a few months it will have an immediate super relaxing, happy, creative, gabby, enlightening effect. It eliminates any feeling of anxiety, tension, worry, pain and sadness. I can literally feel the stress and heaviness leave my body. I feel every muscle in my body unwind and relax. It soothes pain away. Quick and easy. No amount of meditation, hot showers, yoga, walks in the woods, soothing music compares.

Relaxed and pain free I will enjoy the creative energy the new high gives me. I seldom just veg out unless my intention is to go to sleep. Otherwise I usually will buzz around in my studio or write, engage in some other sort of creative activity or even clean the house. If I am with other people I will enjoy stimulating conversations. When it is time for sleep I am out like a light and will sleep without interruption. I will awake refreshed with no hangover effect. Had I consumed enough alcohol to get anything close to a similar effect I would feel nausiated and have a blinding headache the next day.

Nothing compares to those first few euphoric highs after a long break from use. Because it stays in your system its anti anxiety and pain killing benefits continue to a lesser but still effective degree even after the stoned effects (heightened creativity, giddy, gabby, hungry lol... etc) have passed.

This is where I face the challenge of using it medicinally to release anxiety, relieve pain and promote sleep or to even stave off depression. I always want more. I go chasing the euphoric high. As I becomes accustomed to the high it is no longer much of a high but rather it becomes my new normal. I no longer feel any significant hieghtened awareness. Nevertheless I have historically just increased my consumption to stay as high as I can for as long as I can. I go way way past what might be considered a medicinal level.

This is when it can become problematic for me. I will over use to maintain some glimmer of a high and by the time my stash is completed I will have upped my use to a joint every couple of hours. I will have set aside sleeping and I will have cut myself off from the rest of the world because it is still so socially unexceptable and less and less do I feel like socializing. I will be on track towards a depressive state.

To stop the downward spiral I don't restock. I suffer no withdrawal effects but within a week the symptoms of anxiety, the pain, the insomnia return.

I admire those who can manage their use of mj to a level that is strictly medicinal and no more. I have a friend who like me will abuse if given the freedom so her husband administers it to her to prevent that from happening. Even if I were getting it prescribed I would have to keep it secret from my family so that couldn't work for me.

Researching this I was surprised to learn that the average amount people are taking for medicial use is 1 - 3 grams per day. The high end sounds like an aweful lot to me. My binging level is usually about 7 grams a week. A medicinal level for me would be closer to a half a gram a day at most I suspect. So clearly the dosage is very individual and very specific to symptoms. I would suspect the high users are those with very severe symptoms. I also suspect if not smoked but vapourized, put in food etc the effects are much less then when smoked. If I were to use it medicinally I would definately look for alternative ways of consumption to avoid the effects on my lungs.

I doubt that my long winded history is of much interest to anyone but I thought maybe it would show how, like with any medicine, it can be abused and thusly it can add to someone's problems. It can cause depression but in my opinion only if misused. Perhaps for some highly sensitive bi polar's the high triggers off a mania and the loss of the euphoric high trigger a depression. I think with my binging that could arguably be claimed.

[ECHOES]

@ the OP: I'm wondering who the 'several people' are who are advising this for you? And curious why this would be considered over other treatment options.

[venusss]

Originally Posted by unhappyguy

I thought one of the side-effects of marijuana is insomnia. Medical marijuana is really an oxymoron. It is not safe for your lungs or your mind. And, since it results in a high, it creates an unsafe situation if you operate any type of vehicle.

Oh, really. You don't have to smoke it. Many of pharma meds are much more damaging to your body and mind, far more addictive. You cannot operate car on some cold medicines... and yet people don't go running around about how evil those are.

Medical marijuana helped many.

[eskielover]

When I was in the medical hospital 6 years ago being treated for anorexia at the same time my mother was dying of cancer, one of the Dr's who had also treated her came into my room & suggested they give prescribe MJ in order to force my appetite to function again since none of the meds that were keeping me from feeling sick (from all the stress I was going through) were working & none of the tests they were putting me through showed anything physical going on.

Needless to say, it really wasn't an option because of the high dose of pain medication I was already on.....but I wouldn't have been open to the option anyway. Good thing it wasn't something that would have needed to be inhaled......as I had been in the hospital 6 months prior to that due to a horrible asthma attack caused by the smoke from a forest fire that had covered the valley I was living it.....can't handle smoke of any kind.

I am not 100% sure that the dr's really have a good knowledge of using MJ for medical uses.....unless they have done a thorough study & understand all the effects......don't think I would trust it any more than all the other meds I am not able to take because of the horrible side effects I end up with.