Concerns Surrounding Regular Marijuana Use?

[bright_morning]

I don't smoke constantly, but I have found no better remedy than getting stoned when I've hit a serious case of the suicides/really bad trigger day. Call it self-medication, but I've found nothing else that can stop my head in it's tracks and get me to look at the lighter side of things or realize that I'm freaking out due to being triggered.

+1

For me it's the same with but panic attacks & insomnia. There is just nothing better for me, nor is there anything else that wears off as cleanly. I can vaporize a little bit and it will interrupt the pattern of freaking out, then a couple of hours later I am stone cold sober and ready to take on the tasks ahead of me or sleep.

I have had a very complex case of PTSD for 30 years with many instances of compounding trauma in the interim. Medical marijuana has been a gift from God to me to help the next 30 look like they are actually possible. I went med free for 14 of those years and all that got me was conditioned and habituated to my symptoms. I forgot what it was like not to have adrenalin and tension driving me all the time. I ground my teeth to where they go sideways now. I got used to waking up every hour all night long. Anger and suspicion became a way of life and wisdom was diluted by a paranoia-permissive world view.

I became used to hell.

I was so deep in denial I considered my wife lazy because she could relax and sleep. All the while I was in therapy but progressing very slowly because I couldn't remember the meanings of words that were key for contrasting my symptoms to my recovery. Needless to say the health problems and physical pain from years of pushing myself so hard are now myriad. But hey I was sober, self-reliant, judgemental, and proud.

God had a different plan. I had to eat crow and due to a past terrible addiction to benzodiazepines (and bad reactions to most pills, have tried most of them and am over it) and life-threatening withdrawals was left with only medical marijuana as an option to try. Pills are a trigger in themselves. Anyway, I digress. The point is medical marijuana was a surprise for me, and it was a very difficult decision to embrace it as medication and a tool.

I want to encourage anyone that finds themselves having to try something that is a bit odd and challenging to their own notions in order to move forward. Your body is yours. You know it better than anyone else and you know what is helpful. If needed, take the hand of a good friend you can talk with along the way, and then take the road less traveled: health and happiness is what we seek and the path there is full of surprises.

 

[AzureMind]

The insomnia is horrible....the anxiety and just plain being fully "conscious" is enough to make you want to smoke...I can understand...but in the end you presented with an ultimatum; destroy your body in the name of siding with your abuser and abusive past, or claim yourself, and search for new things to fill your life with...I understand that for most of us, it's the first time that we've actually been given a chance to feel, do, and think, freely of our abusive/anxiety-ridden pasts. It's a chance to be free, and enjoy yourself...I've learned that the world although at times indifferent, has a person in it here and there that actually cares about more than their own welfare...that's good enough for me.

 

[dbacs]

I haven't done pot in a long time, but have been trying to find some recently because current meds for my health problems are no longer effective and nothing else to try. One of the things I liked most about it is that it works when you need it. Unlike meds like SSRI's which take for frickin ever to work (but not as well), and have a thousand side effects.

I live in MA and hoping it gets legalized soon because its been proven to help my kind of health problems way more effectively than the current meds I take, and with a shit load less of side effects. If it takes care of my health problems my PTSD will reduce. Win... Win... !!

One thing I noticed is that people saying that those who used pot withdrew socially, but this is pretty normal for someone with PTSD anyways, regardless of whether or not they use pot.

 

[Taven Carlsen]

Having watched a lot of pot abuse my only advice is: It can become a problem, make sure it's really a medicine for you. Your first warning is when everybody around you gets tired of how you're acting.