Marijuana induced psychosis

6 weeks ago i experienced weed psychosis how long does it take to recover from marijuana induced psychosis? I got medicated with in 5 days of the episode I didn't hear voices just got really paranoid detached some speach impairment, memory impairment also it felt I had trouble hearing what people were saying I had to really concentrate to make sense of it especially if there was a nearby TV on at the time

I'm currently being medicated with remeron 12 days in I'm just starting to notice a difference in myself how long will it take for the impaired feeling to go away? it feels like I'm not as intelligent as I used to be for example someone might have a nice pair clothing on let's say Jean shorts, I might say them Jeans look nice.. Forgetting to say Jean shorts it's kind of a memory thought organisation thing i might of thought Jean shorts in my head but as I go to talk it doesn't quite come out properly..

Also my previous anxiety has increased especially around meeting new people I guess its because I'm thinking I'm gonna get asked something that I won't make sense answering..

Any input would be greatly appreciated

Unfortunately, what you're asking is basically for us to predict the future. I wish I could tell you that you'll be completely fine in X amount of time, but the brain really doesn't work that way. It depends upon how susceptible you are to marijuana, how much was built up in your system over how long, how long it takes your body to metabolise etc etc etc.

The worst case scenario is that you never get back to exactly how you were before. Unfortunately that is the reality for some. The good news is that they are in the minority and you should keep improving with time, hopefully.

I wish this went without saying, but IME it doesn't, you really should stay away from marijuana and all other drugs in the future in case you get worse. Unfortunately there's no way to know who will be the ones who can take drugs recreationally and be fine, and who will develop lifelong MH problems, and who will be in between those two extremes. Best not to gamble, IMO.

Also, as an FYI, remeron/mirtazapine is a tetracyclic antidepressant, not an antipsychotic, which seems an odd choice if you were diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis, unless they thought your issues were more depressive driven, idk?? Anyway, the important thing is that it is helping you.

I hope that you are able to get back to how you were before this experience

*Willow*

Last Saturday I had 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil infused with THC and suffered a psychotic episode that landed me in the psych unit until I was discharged yesterday. Luckily, the psychiatrist at the hospital prescribed 3 mg of Risperdal after I didn't sleep at all on Saturday night. I have bipolar with psychotic features and I was told that I shouldn't use cannabis anymore. I still would like to smoke sometimes, but after last weekend, I am afraid to even think about it. She also stopped my Wellbutrin and I can't remember why. Anyway...I agree with WeepingWillow23 that cannabis and mental illness usually don't mix, especially when there is a history of psychosis. I learned my lesson!

Wellbutrin/bupropion increases dopamine levels in the brain, which would work against the risperdal/risperidone trying to lower dopamine levels to treat the psychosis. That's the theory anyway.

HTH

*Willow*

To be more clear here, I was actually on seroquel for the sedative properties at the time of the episode 6 weeks ago , I recovered fairly quickly from the main symptoms (same as I described in original post just not as bad it was more just over analysing some paranoia) I didn't actually tell the doctor specifically at this stage that I had marijuana a few days before the episode he only new that I quit more then 30 days ago I had actually also had a previous episode of psychosis years before that was misdiagnosed as bipolar the antidepressant I was given at that time made me 10x worse gave the impression that I was manic years later this was dismissed by a different psychiatrist as drug induced psychosis (weed).. so I was taken of epilim but stayed on Seroquel

At the time the doctor seen me 6 weeks ago he said that he was not certain that it was psychosis but he just said it's possible as you said that you've had psychosis years ago and I agreed I stayed on the seroquel made a full recovery with in 2 weeks of the episode starting.. anyway a week or so later I decided myself to stop the seroquel 100mg cold turkey due to i could not keep an erection (new gf) this where things slowly started to become worse an worse for me this is where the symptoms in the first post slowly started to creep in to it got really bad so I we tried back to the doctor explained that I had stopped the seroquel cold turkey he was kind of frustrated no surprise there, at that point he gave me the option to either go back on seroquel or go on remeron I choose remeron as I had already gone through the hard yards of seroquel withdrawal...

I said to him again do you think it's psychosis he said possibly as you've had it before he then answered a further question of mine is avanza an anti psychotic he said it sort of is or something I don't really remember his answer

Obviously next visit on the 26th I need to be fully honest now that the recent psychosis was marijuana that I vaped that caused the episode after having a tolerance break

Also I have no plans on using marijuana again I have not used it since the time of the recent episode which was 6 weeks ago in some ways I wish I never had that tolerance break but oh well hopefully I will get through all of this just being the second psychotic episode is kind of a worry that I won't recover even tho I can say for sure the episode that was misdiagnosed as bipolar was many times worse so I do have some hope I think you have to..

Do you think I should start taking seroquel again? I've been on seroquel remeron combination once before about 5 months ago, also the doc did give me a choice of remeron or seroquel

I'm worrying because of xmas coming up fast I want to be in a pretty good state for xmas day, meeting the girl friends family

Yep as you said especially when there's a history of psychosis I won't ever be touching the stuff again it's a shame cause I enjoyed it for over 8 years in some ways I wish I never took a tolerance break! 1 month break purchased a cloud evo vape used it once and it gave me psychosis... I found out later this particular vape is kind of like a dab, a dab is something I've never experienced before btw...

You were correct! there's no antipsychotic properties to remeron it said it's primarily used as and antidepressant or add on to and anti psychotic, so I've decided to self medicate I'm taking the seroquel as well as the remeron

I'm kind of pissed off cause from what I read it's best to get medicated as quick as possible an stay on the medication for a good 12months or so, also xmas is around the corner and I'm still feeling like **** obviously it's my fault for all of this but yo be honest it didn't become apparent to me that I had psychosis untill I stopped taking the seroquel weeks ago.. I just suspected I had derealisation or something wasn't untill I came off the seroquel because of sexual reasons that was when my symptoms became worse no surprises there... It's all very confusing cause I know going fold turkey from seroquel in it self can cause psychosis but it's hard to know because I've had one or two other episodes years ago this seroquel might of been tge last layer of support, but in saying all that since my psychosis i made a pretty good recovery an actually came of all psych meds ohh I need a psychiatrist ASAP

Hopefully that all made sense

"Do you think I should start taking seroquel again? I've been on seroquel remeron combination once before about 5 months ago, also the doc did give me a choice of remeron or seroquel"

Obviously that is your decision, but I think that, if you are doing well on mirtazapine/remeron and seroquel/quetiapine was giving intolerable sexual side effects, it's probably worth staying as you are and see what happens.

Psychosis is a spectrum, and paranoia, even bad paranoia, in the absence of hallucinations and delusions is towards the milder end of the scale. Personally I don't worry much about hallucinations and delusions either until it gets debilitating, but maybe that's just me.

All that to say that you don't necessarily 'need' an antipsychotic (AP). If remeron/mirtazapine is helping, stick with that. Besides, seroquel/quetiapine is quite a weak AP in terms of its actions on dopamine receptors compared to other APs. It is very sedating though, but so is remeron/mirtazapine, if that suits you.

With the mirtazapine/remeron though, watch for any signs of mania if you've had AD-induced mania in the past. Though, as I said, it's quite a sedating AD (antidepressant) so there should be less of a risk.

Also, I don't know if Avalon is another brand name for mirtazapine, like Remeron is?? If so, no mirtazapine isn't an AP, but that doesn't mean that it can't help you.

One last thing, as you are concerned about Christmas coming up, watch your stress levels. Stress can induce paranoia and dissociative experiences, and even full blown psychosis, so it's important to work on self-care strategies to manage your stress levels, especially until you've fully recovered. We can offer suggestions if you are struggling to think of things to do to help.

And I'm glad to hear that you are going to stay away from drugs. All the best

*Willow*

Thanks for replying willow it's very helpful at the moment..

I actually decided against taking the seroquel regularly until I see the doctor again (even tho I did take a quarter of a tablet yesterday)

As you said the mirtazapine is kind of working at the moment it's been about 13 days since i started a 15mg dose the doc said after 3 weeks which will be the 22nd I will be feeling better that will be just in time for Xmas so really hoping his right.

It got me thinking about this spectrum that you mentioned, I'm not a actually suspicious of people or have delusions, little to no paranoia as well, it's more some impairment which was quite bad after stopping the seroquel it might be worth mentioning that for the first week off seroquel things weren't that bad maybe I felt a bit depressed but that's expected when you stop a heavy duty psych med cold turkey, after a week the impaired feeling slowly started creeping in with a pressure around the back of my head it used to happen after lunch lunch time morning I would feel fine! There were some days I would think oh I'm starting to feel better now feeling mentally sharp then later that day I the impairment would kick back in

Questions, with psychosis if that's what i I have? Normal to feel better in the morning? Normal when I don't get much sleep i feel worse? (this next one more applied after stopping the seroquel) Also some moments I would have great mental clarity? Also you said about stress, ive noticed when I'm stressed or someone says something to upset my thoughts get irrational..

You don't have to respond to any of my questions, you've already helped enough i know none of this is proper medical advice, but it's really helpful.

I've made a doc appointment next wendesday (was when you said mirtazapine no AP action) I might cancel this appointment an wait for my one scheduled on the 27th

Also making appointment, next week to get in with a psychiatrist next year..

Thank you hopefully xmas will be alright, I might have a beer before I arrive to meet an greet, (suffer from anxiety)

btw, that's another thing alcohol seems to help with what I'm going through as long as I don't have to much of it? That normal for psychosis or not? I know years ago I read schizophrenics are worse with alcohol.

I wish I had stopped smoking cannabis for good when I had my first break with reality at the age of 19 or 20. I stopped for over 20 years and never had another break. Then I started toking again to treat chronic pain and for energy and sure enough I had a series of breaks with reality for about a decade...

Now I'm done for good. I won't lie and say I don't miss it.

I hope you learn your lesson in a way I never did.

Also there are other antipsychotics besides seroquel so if that is causing side effects you can't tolerate tell your psychiatrist and they can prescribe a different one.

As far as the brain fog you are describing that could be a lingering effect of seroquel or of your episode or both or it could be a new issue unrelated. It could also be a side effect of mirtazapine. The best thing is to discuss this with a pdoc.

Thanks for sharing that, hopefully that will help drive me to never touch it again, like you there are parts that i miss that's for sure! I'm very confident I won't be touching it at the moment, hopefully when or if i return to my old self that I don't get a thought that it will be alright to have a smoke..

seroquel fog, yep that's a possibility, could even be severe depression?

I did go cold turkey with the seroquel so who knows the more I think about it, could be both of them things it's positive that I'm starting to feel better with the mirtazapine which is not a AP That could support that it's actually depression as that's what mirtazapine is designed to help with both depression & anxiety

Not saying that I didn't have some sort of episode from vaporising the weed, I didn't really wake up psychotic the next morning just felt really depressed an slow...

I'll be sure to post back with updates to how the mirtazapine is going, will also definitely post back once I see a psychiatrist it might be of help to someone

It sounds like it could be less of a psychotic episode ,than just switching around your meds.

It doesn't even have to be the Marijuana.

Hi winter, could you clarify I'm having a bit of trouble, are you saying it's sounding less likely it's related tto being psychotic, that it's more likely it's related to going cold turkey from the seroquel?

Kind of. I am asking if the psychosis happened after you were tapering off seroquel. Cold turkey can definitely make you psychotic.

The last time I was psychotic, I had quit my meds cold turkey. I was sober and not smoking at the time.

I didn't taper off the seroquel sorry I'll try to explain ***

Yeh, well I did have a detached paranoid self analysing/criticising feeling with the weed but pretty well recovered once the high wore off, well apart from feeling depressed the next day this happened after a 1 month tolerance break through a newly purchased vape that I had not used before.... I was currently taking 100mg seroquel at the time

There was a second time I tried the vape again a few days late the same thing happened only i didn't recover as good the self analysing/criticising, detached, impaired, feeling actually kept happening for about 7 days or so then I recovered or so I thought then a few weeks later I went cold turkey from the seroquel due to a sexual side effect...

So I guess it's hard to say what happened? Cause seroquel cold turkey can cause psychosis but even 100mg?

Hopefully the current impairment is depression? that sounds better then psychosis, from what I've read depression can be more then just feeling down if it's severe enough

What do you think?

Really so you went psychotic from going off meds? What were you prescribed the medication for if you don't mind me asking?

Also do you sort of get what I'm saying when I had the weed episode I was currently on seroquel that might been a layer of support that I took away an that it might of actually been a psychotic episode I had, if so from what I've read you need to be medicated for months with some sort of AP

BTW the reason I originally was on seroquel was only to help me sleep i had been on an off it for 8 years had been on zyprexa as well at different times, before I went cold turkey with the seroquel I had been on it for 12months at 100mg before then was zyprexa (always changing)

**** hopefully this all makes sense you may have to read some of my previous posts I'm not being very clear ****

Also some of the details I've given in the later posts contradict what I originally said I'm my original post like how in the original post I said I was medicated with in 5 days... I don't know why I said that, I was actually on seroquel at the time of the episode

Also the original post, how I said I was having trouble hearing people that was after about 2 weeks in to going cold turkey then at about the 3 week mark I was put on remeron mirtazapine which I've currently been taking for about 14 or 15 days I think

Sorry about all the confusion it's pretty obvious that I'm not feeling mentally to do good at the moment

I've realised there's not much point to the thread really, just going to try to relax an take each day as it comes, there's no point in myself looking in to things to much it's not good for recovery, whether it's psychosis or depression it's early days I just worked out that its the start of day 13 since starting the mirtazapine I'll post back when I see the doc

One last final thing I suffer from bad anxiety to the point where I'll shake I usually tend to over analyse things an situations any coping strategies to help get me through xmas?

I am bipolar 1. I went off all my meds cold turkey and within a week or 2 became psychotic.