medical marijuana?

[Theasylumsystem]

Tomorrow is my first appointment with a psychiatrist in Illinois where weed has become completely legal and I was wondering if I should bring up getting a medical card? My therapist has recommended it along with my other medications and I was wondering if anyone else has one and if it helps? Any information would be awesome! Thank you in advance!! Have a great day!

 

[Freddyt]

I just wanted to mention that I agree with what @somerandomguy has said. There is a lot of fine-tuning involved in finding the right strain, dosage, and delivery system.

I am not supposed to know this but I personally respond well to a strain called, "golden goat". It lifts my mood, I am more upbeat and relaxed, get the giggles with it, and found that it slows my thoughts so that I can choose more carefully.

CBD can have some nice mood effects as well. There is a high CBD strain called Cannatonic here in Canada that really lifts my mood and feeling of well being.

Like @NoWhereKnowWhere is doing, microdosing is also a great way to go. Small doses in balance (same THC and CBD) can help mood and get you more functional. In balance CBD mitigates a lot of the psychoactive effects of THC and can make you more functional.

My big thing is staying as functional as I can and I have settled into a three prong approach. 1ml 20:0 (20mg CBD : 0mg THC) CBD oil when I get up and every 8 hours after that. 2 sprays THC oil after dinner, then flower/hashish as needed usually 2 to 3 inhilations at a time. For me it's like drinking at a party. I can get a nice buzz or get totally smashed, whatever works that day.

One thing no one has mentioned is when things go wrong. Paranoia and PTSD don't go well together. Have a list of paranoia mitigation strategies handy and be aware it can happen with products you have used before without a problem. Its a good reason to start with flower and vaping/smoking because the effects don't last as long as oil until you settle into a regime.

 

[joeylittle]

Its a good reason to start with flower and vaping/smoking because the effects don't last as long as oil until you settle into a regime.

Also important to generally stay on the lower end of the preferred dosage, for the same reason. There are some longitudinal studies showing potential tolerance issues with long-term use for psychiatric purposes. (Might be the same with people who use it for pain, I've just not gotten that far in my reading).

 

[Freddyt]

Also important to generally stay on the lower end of the preferred dosage, for the same reason.

That should be a manta for all medications.....the least not the most.

Just be transparent on this the THC was first used because of my headaches, which turned out not to be headaches but recalled pain. Now its for sleep, or at least trying to sleep....
T
he problems with long term use are usually that dosages creep up over time and as is known, tolerance to a particular strain starts in about 10 days.

I use both a journal to record strains, effects, and duration, and an app called Strainprint to track every time I use cannabis. It tracks up to three symptoms you are treating, for instance anxiety, visual sensitivity, and intrusive thoughts, and assign each a before value and 20 minutes later after value. Over time it assigns an efficacy database for you. It will give you an efficacy value for each product and symptom. You also track how much you used by weight or puffs. I am diligent in recording use.

I know my T asks about it every session. She was very impressed with my level of tracking. I really think my behaviour there is due to previous opioid addictions. The last time I was addicted was truly hell on earth, the effects reversed ie: rather than make you dopey and tired it was like drinking a 6 pack of Red Bull. I don't ever ever ever want to go back there. It was truly hell. For the rest of my life I am three doses away from addiction again.

The only time my usage went up significantly was two years ago. I got really stressed at work and the nightmare came back really, really bad, like average less than 4 hours a night hours sleep a night bad. That and I had horrifying headaches for weeks at a time. At that point I had a huge swing in my thyroid levels as well and I thought it was all from that but hey guess what, its was a ticking 45 year old time bomb.....

 

[Freddyt]

I just got an mail from one of my medical suppliers to a radio/youtube series called Aging Better with Cannabis hosted by Gord Martineau. There are two episodes available now an two more to come. I found them very interesting and informative.
Canadian research over the last few years since legalization has been free and unencumbered and because they are not forced to use 20 year old G13 cannabis like a recent study published in the NEJM they are gaining real insight into how cannabis works.

 

[user27357]

Thanks for this thread and all of the posts. Now I will Hi jack it unless a mod moves me elsewhere

Decision time for me. MJ has been legal here for several years, but still considered reason for termination where I work. Now, due to increased business and decreasing willing workers, they have lifted the screening for it. I have to decide on my own if I will use it or not and I am scared to death of it.

It was always the drug of choice, @Friday mentioned "choose your mood" and that is a resounding yep for me. trouble is, when I used it I never fell out of the mood, and would still be watching episodes of Mr. Ed and laughing at the talking horse if I hadn't decided to at least give real life a try. Then I went to work for a company that tested and that was the end of me having a choice.

There are a lot of times that I miss it. There are a lot of times I am grateful for having a life without it.

You know what? I am talking about the negative side of what I shouldn't even be looking at if I know it has ANY negative sides. The very question "should I use again" carries it's own answer.

Arthritic pain, a lifetime of trauma, bowel disorders from so many emergency surgeries i think in terms of suture scar lengths instead of events, I can convince myself I am lucky to have lived long enough to legally cure my ails.

the memories of lost energy, complacency in the face of danger, poor decision making skills and a vast history with the drug and all of it's associates both human and pharmaceutical just make me feel lucky I didn't have the option for the past 35 years.

Thanks again for all of the info. I cannot stay with a decision for more than a day at a time- i am spinning here. I do KNOW one thing for sure- I am proud of my "sobriety" and would miss it. It was hard to hang onto but just look at all the neat stuff that came with it! Maybe just a few more years..........

 

[Freddyt]

Arthritic pain, a lifetime of trauma, bowel disorders from so many emergency surgeries i think in terms of suture scar lengths instead of events, I can convince myself I am lucky to have lived long enough to legally cure my ails.

Most of what you mention can be treated with CBD rather than THC. No worries about getting intoxicated, and lots of relief. CBD is a start low and slow and build up until you are at full dose. I am now taking 1 ml of 0% thc and 20% CBD orally as an oil three times a day. So is my 80 year old mom.

She was gulping Tylenol Arthritis before I took her to my Cannabis doctor and now you would have to fight her to get her CBD away from her. Her arthritis is way better and even better her borderline type 2 diabetes is under better control than it has been in years, and she's not medicating for it. With the improvment in arthritis came better sleep, not laying in bed for an hour dreading getting out of bed. She is even reccomending CBD to all her friends now.

 

[Jafo]

My experience with Medical MJ is that it is similar to alcohol. It gives you a buzz, but the problems still exist after the buzz is gone and in my case I began to use more and more of it and became a couch potato and didn't want to do anything and if I did, I had to smoke up beforehand just to enjoy what I was doing.

I have come to the conclusion that for me, MMJ is not the answer and as much as it sucks at times, I feel much better not using MMJ. This is just how I have come to feel about it but everyone needs to make their own mind up.

 

[Charbella]

I had a card for 6 months but it increases my heart rate which means my anxiety is off the charts. I already have an increase in heart rate at night and since I was using it for sleep it was completely ineffective.

 

[MrMoonlight]

I used mmj for the last four years or so. It helped me get through but my tolerance slowly increased until I was using it all day and night. I quit about a month ago and feel more connected. I think In time it made me recoil into myself...a little cocoon. That isn't good for a person like me who already wants to keep to himself.

I'm not against it and reserve the right to start using again but for now I'm riding this wave.

 

[Friday]

Certain strains have been helpful for me. Certain strains have made everything infinitely worse. Certain strains are somewhat middling.

IME? Chemical distance & better living through chemistry always comes with a cost. Sometimes an easy one, sometimes an impossible one.

 

[Freddyt]

I used mmj for the last four years or so. It helped me get through but my tolerance slowly increased until I was using it all day and night.

Increased use due to tolerance is the biggest cause of abuse but it happens over time, and we tend to forget how little it used to take.

So I:
- journal and track.
- take tolerance breaks. Not organized but when PTSD symptoms are in a lessened state I will cut it out for a week or so, maybe more.
- always have more than one strain on hand and change once a week on average.

IME? Chemical distance & better living through chemistry always comes with a cost.

Hell yes. Everything affects something other than what was intended. The least you can use is the best plan for any meds except maintenance meds........

 

[MrMoonlight]

Good points @Freddyt .

In the years I used mmj I used those strategies though I never took a real tolerance break. I'm still not using but am tempted to use something at night because I'm having trouble with sleep. RSO works really well and lasts a long time in the system. Maybe I will grab a couple joints to see if it helps with getting to sleep.

Thanks for the tips F!