Cannabis

[Calendula]

Hi,

I recently smoked pot for the first time and the following day was actually rejuvenating. I felt so relaxed and I had a great night of sleep. I know that it is not a long-term solution, but sometimes the triggers are too much and I can see how cannabis might help with the anxiety and panic attacks. I am so tired of panic attacks... They are exhausting. I am in therapy and taking anti-depressants/anxiety meds. Also, I am able to buy cannabis legally, so no worries there.

I was just wondering about your thoughts on using cannabis to help alleviate PTSD symptoms. Pros? Cons? What should I be looking into?

 

[shimmerz]

CBD has been my lifesaver during the day. THC, which I take at nighttime, allows me to sleep through the night and I swear it is helping me to integrate. Right now the two are absolute must haves in order to function properly.

 

[anonymous]

It works for me. My hypervigilance/attack mode/wrath just goes away when I'm stoned. I use it daily and have for about 3 years so I disagree with your assessment it's not a long term solution. When I have to skip days for whatever reason it no big. Try that when they get you addicted to pills.

 

[garden]

I use a tincture, whole plant cannabis extracted CBD oil, not from hemp. The hemp derived CBD does absolutely nothing for me. My tincture is 28 parts cbd to 1 part thc, so there isn't any 'psychoactive' element as the thc content is too low to do that, but it's enough for the cbd to do it's work (trace amounts of thc are needed for the cbd to work). The product that I use can and is used by children, it's called Jayden's Juice, and it was created for a boy named Jayden, whose father wanted to save his life.

I function so much better with CBD, it's more than just a soothing anxiety killer. I find my thoughts to be more cohesive, and I am able to focus and function at a higher level as well. I use a thc tincture at night if I can sense that my CNS is too aroused for me to fall asleep. Chronic dysregulation wasn't something that the psychiatrists were able to help me address in a satisfactory manner. The best they could do was drug me even more, which led to several other health concerns, so cannabis, for me, has been the most helpful thing.

One of the drugs that I took actually caused my heart to do somersaults within the hour of my taking them, it also caused my heart to beat irregularly and this scared me, and even after discontinuing use, my heart still does it sometimes, where it NEVER did it prior to the use of this drug (this side affect was listed by the way). I always had a healthy strong heart before the pharmaceutical roller coaster ride that I took. Definitely inform yourself of any risks associated with the drugs you try, even with cannabis.

 

[EveHarrington]

Just watch for drug interactions with your psych meds.

I used CBD balm and it interacted horribly with my psych meds. I was close to respiratory distress.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I used CBD balm and it interacted horribly with my psych meds. I was close to respiratory distress.

Good to know. A few service dog handler vloggers I follow are trying out CBD oil. One for anxiety and one for pain. I have both. But neither are medicated for those reasons so was unsure if there was a medication interaction. Good to know this before I try it myself.

 

[J Taverner]

I have been a heavy cannabis user for 20 years. I'd say if you think you can keep control of it it may help, but for me lsd is a better option as the addictive properties are lower and the therapeutic parts much longer lasting. Cannabis has a sneaky way of owning your life if not carefully taken. Some of the side affects, such as lazyness, anxiety and .... Well, spending all your money on it, can be quite unhelpfull with PTSD. In my opinion drugs don't really work that well, because I had a massive coke addiction, have a big problem with bud, yet still am riddled with cPTSD. I'd definitely say that lsd was the more beneficial of the lot. Especially compared to the horrendous mirtazepine and zopis etc. But I'm not a medical professional , I'd recommend asking some.