Marijuana Really Helps Me

[Philippa]

I just had a knock at the door, and ignored it for a few minutes, then decided to have a look. It turned out to be a friend of my housemate, who was just delivering some documents and also 6 special chocolate crackles

each containing ghee with weed infused into it. Should be an interesting day!

Even better was the fact that I woke up wanting a joint...and et voila. Delivery with a smile.

 

[Philippa]

Ooooh...it just kicked in. This is awesome.

 

[Springer80]

Hi Jadebear (Cheech ;) ),

I too smoked from my early teens until my late twenties. I really needed it, so I get ya!!! You know what I found out...that the behaviour that had taken me over due to ptsd had given me chronic vitamin d deficiency. Check out the symptoms and I think you'd find it's worth the blood test. I'd almost bet money you would come back positive. When I was treated I became a new person, like someone turned my pitch down by half.

I don't even smoke now and I've been doing that since 12! Saunas and massage helped too...but you cant get them prescribed!!!

 

[kal]

I've found that bach flowers "rescue night" remedy gives me a similar, but less intense feeling of calm and peace just like I got from smoking hash (which I only did once).

 

[Namaste]

There are legal alternatives in New Zealand ... you'd have to check in the US ....
A mixture of Lion's Tail, Wormwood and Chinese Mugwart. It does not contain THC, but it does contain other Cannabinoids ... and I fould it very helpful in small doses. It's feels like it resets the flight-or-flight response.

I love hearing there are alternatives out there for people to try! My only question is, being that Wormwood is a hallucinogenic herb, would that cause any problems/negative effects? I'm very interested in this! :)

Also, I've read through this forum and I'll have to say I'm definitely one of those who benefits from the properties of THC/marijuana.

I smoked recreationally as a teen, and I am the child of some 'hippy types' hehe. Now as an adult and PTSD (and other ailment) suffer, I find the benefits to smoking amazing, and not just for fun.

I agree it is not for everyone, but I feel that if I am going to use a substance, whether it be pill, plant, or otherwise to help my symptoms and allow me to live a more 'normal' life, I'd rather it be something natural than something synthesized in a lab and used to make millions for big pharma. I have never had any adverse reactions or side effects from marijuana, unlike other medications I have been on that have made me sick and then some, causing other problems that didn't exist before! The only side effects I get from marijuana are happiness, calmness, the giggles and munchies if I smoke too much... I'll take that over the laundry list of ailments caused by Rx meds any day...

Namaste!

 

[Springer80]

Hi Namaste,

I agree with your position but I am glad I don't have to do it at all any more. It did help me immensely and I did need something to 'recalibrate' but I worried about what it might do long term and I wanted to be able to experience 'normal' relationships without wondering how much of the experience was 'me' and how much was from the 'assistance'. I was naturally very wary of people for a long time and I didn't fancy becoming clinically paranoid as well. I also didn't like feeling like a criminal. I had enough shame, stigma and secrets to deal with without feeling like a sneak; worrying about work and who I could or couldn't tell.

However, I've got to say that there are some aspects that I miss but for the first time since I was a kid I'm completely clean. No cigarettes! So no smoking ever again for me. I'm even on decaff! :rolleyes: I'm starting to wonder if I've gone too far the other way!!

I can't deny that the thought of the occasional or celebratory 'alternative baking session' hasn't crossed my mind though!!!

HUGS NOT DRUGS!!!:tup::D;):p:inlove::laugh:

 

[LC23]

I find cannabis to be tremendously helpful in calming my PTSD issues, and clearing my mind so that I can be present and focus on the now instead of burdens from the past or fear of the future. I live in a medical state so the worry about prosecution is the lowest I've experienced in 20 years of enjoying it. I've had a few times where I've spent 'time off' and while it wasn't painful, I did enjoy resuming when I was done with the time off. I consume it like a vitamin and a vegetable, and am still capable of doing things that require skill (before, during, and after), and little things that used to set me off I feel more comfortable just shrugging off. I've actually made more progress in the last year than I did in the previous 19, so I don't think it's acting as a substitute for real therapy or progress. I've seen people have terrible outcomes from SSRIs, opioid painkillers, and all the various psychopharma cocktails and I've avoided a pharma-based treatment regimen for this reason.

It's not for everyone, but it's certainly nothing to be locking people up over. It boggles my mind that guns can be purchased freely but a harmless, non-toxic plant, a substance that is medically safer than anything you have in your medicine cabinet or anything you can buy at the bar, is grounds for imprisonment (depending on where you live).

 

[BaRtMaN]

Here where I live it is legal and I use mine to help me. I can tell you the today's marijuana in not the marijuana of the 70's the stuff today will make you stupid stoned, but there are so many strains that are more indica or setiva blends. The trick is to find the correct blend that works for you. You may find a blend that makes you drool all over yourself and gives you couch lock like Homer Simpson or you may find one that makes your anxiety much worse. Don't give up, I would start with a blend of 40% indica 60% setiva. This will give you a good base line and you can adjust it from there. This also helps my chronic back neck and shoulder pain. ;)

 

[BaRtMaN]

I have seen three cases just in the last few months in which it has caused harm not just for the person smoking it but for their passengers and others. First we have a group of friends getting high in a car that decide it would be hilarious to go the wrong way on the freeway.

Here is something to remember, I am a paramedic and used to be a Sheriff deputy and the bitch of this entire thing is where I am at, it is legal.

However, with me for instance I just don't smoke a ton and after I do smoke, I don't leave home unless someone else is driving, but on the other hand, I get script's for Lortab 10-350 QID (4 x day) so break it down one lortab is like two Vicodin.....so I can take 8 Vicodin a day and drive without getting in trouble. See where I am going here and what about the people that have script's for Oxycontin? That drug is a nasty one.

It was originally developed for people in the late stages of cancer to give them relief, now they give it to people for chronic pain......I call BS on that, but that is my 2cents. If you have ever seen anyone take an Oxy it really does live up to it's name "Hillbilly Heroin" as they just go limp and dumb....yet they are driving.

I would much rather have someone who just took a hit off a bowl driving than the examples above...just kind of playing devils advocate here, because I have seen it all at least twice....I am so used to the Lortab at this point that I can eat them like skittles and it doesn't effect me, but that Oxy isn't like that....even if you swallow it, not to mention if you shoot it or snort it.

I have kids myself and couldn't live with myself if I ever harmed anyone else's child. So I agree with you to a point, but it is much much worse out there than you can even imagine :)

 

[rightkindofme]

I'm in a medical state. I started smoking pot when my first child was around a year old. I was having more and more trouble controlling my panic attacks and startle reflex. I was afraid of hurting my daughter accidentally. I got a letter from my therapist stating that I had a long history of PTSD and I went to a doctor and voilá I got to go experiment. It's been a fun three years!

I have tried a variety of Western meds in the past and I have had problem after problem with side effects. Every drug made my life worse, not better.

Pot makes me functional. I don't smoke all day every day because I don't smoke on days I drive. As a result I like staying home. I'm a stay at home mom. We are pretty active with our homeschooling group so I get out many days a week whether I like it or not.

I view pot as a specific crutch for me. One of the things I am most bitter about is the degree to which I cannot handle being touched. Before I had kids I simply moderated the stress in my life to control my depression and anxiety. I was lonely but I coped. Now I don't get to moderate my stress. And I don't get adequate sleep (and haven't in years).

I'm smoking pot so that I can physically stand to do Attachment Parenting. It's kind of hilarious to me. Only it's really sad. I want to just love my children and naturally want to be close to them. The reality is that when they touch me (and I am sober) I flinch and cringe. They notice and it bothers them. I don't want to do that to them. So I stay stoned so I can be cuddly and cheerful and affectionate and loving.

I don't really give a shit if someone judges me for it. The only people whose judgment I care about are my kids. In the long run I think they will appreciate that I dealt with my problems in whatever way I had to so that they could get through childhood without being abused.

I've never hit my kids. It's been close a couple of times. I have that necessary half second of pause necessary for control because I am stoned. Without it the instinct to react with violence is so deeply ingrained that I am lashing out before I know what has happened.

I had to fight to stay alive. I had to be very violent. It is hard to not teach that. It is hard to not be that any more. When I'm stoned I smile a lot and I sit on the couch and read books. We garden together and spend a lot of time getting dirty and laughing.

I can't see how this is bad.

Sure it's not the best thing ever for my lungs. Neither is living in a major metropolitan area. I do that too. If it cuts a few years off my life but makes every other year better... I don't care. If it keeps me from killing myself WAY prematurely that's a win.

I actually can't smoke forever. I have about six years left where I can do it as I please. Then I have about a year to transition off. Then I have to be totally sober for a year at home so that I know I can handle it when we spend a year traveling abroad. I'm scared shitless but that makes it the Most Important Thing To Do.

I'm strongly motivated by fear. The more I fear something the more I have to do it. I've been some very cool places and done some very cool things. I'll be sober when I have to.

Until then I say God Bless Pot.

 

[all_akimbo]

I found this on I f*%#ing love science's Facebook page. Might explain why THC helps you cope. Enjoy.

 

[Philippa]

I had to fight to stay alive. I had to be very violent. It is hard to not teach that. It is hard to not be that any more. When I'm stoned I smile a lot and I sit on the couch and read books.

I know of people, friends of my brothers, who came from very violent homes, and after a few years of indulging in taking ecstacy, they no longer resort to violence as a first instinct. They have come to learn how to communicate rationally if there is a conflict and just do not turn to violence anymore.

I think if certain drugs can help people who have had this background, then they are a good thing.