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Beware the perils of cannabis

  • Thread starter Deleted member 34561
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Deleted member 34561

Hi folks I've just got 7 weeks clean time under my belt after smoking cannabis very heavily for 34 years. I turned to the stuff as a teenager to cope with and survive being incested by my older brother and his friends at the time. It made me psychotic while on it and also from coming off it. It's now completely out of my system and I'm now firmly back in touch with reality. Far be it for me to tell anyone what to do or not to do as the case may be but after the hell my choice to smoke it has put me and my family through I just want to warn people that it's a dangerous drug especially to us folks with PTSD who may already have a vulnerability to false beliefs and cognitive distortions because of early trauma and maternal loss and/or deprivation due to abuse in the family such as I suffered as a young child. You might think like I used to that it is helping you deal with the stress these early extremely negative experiences bring on but actually it's the bloody worst thing you can indulge in. It's an halluinogen like acid or shrooms you see. It makes the real seem unreal and the unreal seem real. Like one very long bad trip. And the worst of it is you're not even aware that you're delusional or hallucinating when it's in your brain and body. At least that's how it was for me strictly personally speaking. Others may have different experiences and if so then that's great each to their own. But it was a f*cking nightmare for me and my family. I'm so glad I'm over my psychosis now but it was a close run thing I almost ended up in the nuthouse because of it. And what I've lost through my atrocious behaviour in it doesn't bloody bear thinking about. My grown kids will probably never speak to me ever again because of it. Just a friendly warning to anyone thinking of trying it or who is still on it themselves. It's a slippery road to be on and may well end in disaster for you. Like it did for me. I would hate anyone here to land up as loony as I did through smoking this shit. It's not a medicine it's a bloody poison. Ok will shut up now. This is just a friendly warning and information about it won through bitter first hand experience. Don't land up like me please. It's just not bloody worth it folks trust me.

Cheers all

Crazydiamond47
 
I'm not arguing that you've had a bad experience with marijuana. There are marijuana strands that eliminate the psychological effects found from THC. Many PTSD sufferers including myself have found success in high CBD very low THC strands. Depending on the tolerance of the user greatly helps with anxiety. What's available and known today is very different from the marijuana of 30 years ago.

My CBD usage has allowed me to stop using Ativan altogether which has been a huge milestone for me.

I do wish you all the best on your recovery! You should be proud!
 
I’m sorry you had such a bad experience with it and that it became dangerous for you. I also congratulate you on 7 weeks clean-I know how difficult that must have been for you.
It’s been the opposite for me. I got approved for medical marijuana for ptsd and It’s helped me get off klonipin and prasosin (for nightmares) and I take less Ativan. I don’t walk around stoned or high ever. I take it as the medication that it was approved for and have not had any issue since I started in January of this year. It’s not for everybody and luckily it works for me.
 
I agree with the earlier post saying to use a high CBD strain, there is no cerebral affect whatsoever, just relief.

My first time trying a strain called ACDC actually completely freaked me out, no buzz, no nothing, it knocked the stress and anxiety back so quickly that I felt wrong for not being stressed for about the first 20 minutes.

No buzz, no nothing, other than relief so intense that it bothered me to not be stressed.

I developed some sort of weird under the skin callous in my foot that is under the skin and made it very painful to walk, CBD instantly took away the pain, with about as much high as I'd get from taking an aspirin.

I have some extreme trouble sleeping at times, I have an indica strain called Sugar Black Rose that on a bad night allows me at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I'm not a stoner, pretty much exactly the opposite, but it is working for me. The last two prescription medications I have taken have landed me in the ER with anaphylactic shock from side effects, medical marijuana has not, it has just provided relief with no side effects other than some dry mouth.

I hope you find what works for you.
 
I also smoked pot for over 20 years before I decided to quit. After PTSD I noticed right away that smoking pot was quite jarring and always lead to a panic attack. Although if I wanted to I could get used to it still I would have a heightened level of anxiety and breathing issues.

I did have some success with the high CBD low THC strains. But quite honestly my reasons for smoking pot in the past were just for trying to get by and it seemed more like addict behavior to me and so I decided to just quit altogether.

Because I am dealing with alcoholism right now and am actively participating in my own recovery, smoking pot seems like it is not an option for me.
 
This is a subject of great interest to me as I have used cannabis medicinally for several years to treat anxiety and depression - I in no way wish to contradict or devalue the experience of the OP by saying this or by outlining my own experience and research.

I've read a great many articles and studies which indicate the benefits, the many physical and mental health issues that are alleviated by medicinal cannabis use, and have come across several - almost all performed within the UK - which purport a correlation between cannabis use and psychosis/schizophrenia, though none have demonstrated causation. It can be argued from these that cannabis use is the cause of m/h issues, and just as easily that m/h issues lead to cannabis use to alleviate symptoms.
In fact, this is the UK governments official stance on the subject, and the only reason for its continued illegality here.

Later, similar studies performed abroad, modified to alleviate variables the British studies didn't allow for, have found a higher correlation with the use of a tobacco/cannabis mix which is the standard method used by 90% of British consumers, than by using cannabis alone, as 90% of Europeans and Americans do.

Factor in the recent widespread legality of cannabis worldwide, with the subsequent decrease in demand for prescription drugs and cases of m/h issues, plus the growing number of conditions it can be officially prescribed by a Doctor to treat, and there is a strong argument that, used correctly and in moderation, it is actually beneficial.

Curiously, while British black market cannabis is bred for high levels of THC and subsequent low levels of CBT, there are Dutch and American strains which, in my experience, are far more potent, yet still don't cause m/h issues, even among experienced stoners - certainly, such issues would have been remarked upon by the Dutch medical system, where it has been legal forever.
Most informed authorities and reports from the British medical system usually cite the use of other substances, such as tobacco, alcohol and cocain, and adverse life circumstances, as the primary cause of addiction and m/h problems in the UK.
 
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