Weed for anxiety

[Quickfixgrrl]

I've never been a big smoker of weed until very recently.
I'm currently going through a very rough patch in life involving crippling anxiety and major depression.
My mood has been way off as I've kinda lost the will to care anymore; so I saw a bunch of early 20 somethings smoking joints at a skate park recently and ended up buying a gram.
I'm so fed up with being on medication for my mental illness, medication that does fuck all.
I've been enjoying a toke every night lately and I LOVE it!! My anxiety and depression settle down and I feel great the next day.
Do you think it's possible to manage my issues with weed?
My doctor is about to try me on ANOTHER antidepressant, Zoloft. I also take Mirtazapine, Pregabalin and Lexapro. Ativan or Valium when needed

 

[curtamagurtTHC]

Personally this is exactly how i deal with my anxiety and depressive episodes. Ive tried about 6 different anti depressants and have used 4 different benzodiazepines with Alprazolam being the only one that can stop my panic attacks. i told my doctor i wanted to be off all my medications because they didnt help and only made me numb emotionally and mentally, he said it was a "terrible idea" blah blah blah.. i started treating weed more like a medication instead of smoking bong hits randomly during the week as i had done since 17 (im now 28).
I weigh and portion my joints and smoke/take edibles at regular intervals, after doing this for a few days my anxiety was gone.. like, i havent been anxious since and have felt amazing compared to how depressed i was before and its not even like i smoke much at all to keep this feeling of relief going, If the benefits from using marijuana far out way any "negatives" that it can have on your life/health (which are next to jone unless you have a preexisting ailment that woukd be irritated or exacerbated by smoking such as a lung problem. i cant see it being a bad idea. you know yourself best tho, do you feel you can use this in conjunction with other medications while still keeping life on track? Do you feel maybe for you smoking daily will cause issues at work or anything? If not it sounds to me that you like so many others get big benefits from cannabis, not everyone does so hey, if it works it works do what you gotta do to put and keep yourself in the safest & healthiest situation possible medication wise. Cause we all know at the end of the day those prescription meds are not good for you for a number of reasons, i feel 95% of people prescribed them dint need them and should be using other mwthods if treatment.. If i could go back i would have gotten off them sooner, they wasted years of my life that i barely remember because i didnt feel anything for so long. Thats not living, i wish you the best and im happy that bud works for your symptoms

 

[Quickfixgrrl]

I would probably come off the Mitazapine and pregabalin but keep the Zoloft there as a safety net.
I've only recently started, I go outside once everyone's in bed, smoke my joint, go inside and make a cup of coffee and watch documentaries on my phone in bed ? Bliss!
I wouldn't use during work hours.

 

[Coffeeshroom]

I have been on plenty of uppers and downers and mellowers of any pharm grade stuff and still have found certain strains cannabis to do the trick and relieve my stress and depression at times

 

[RxSCRIPTION]

This is an intersting thread . I was on Rittalin for a few years and diazepam too come down every now and then eventualy started messing with opiates like oxy. I came down the Opiate ladder to tramadol, but went up again. Had to withdrawl but not the first time. Smoking and being on somthing like oxy is great but only smoking is totaly different. I cant quite say but i think it helped just dont over do it. I think benzos cause Depression and anxiety, thats all I take now. I tried amitriptylin for 2 weeks but it was kinda mehh... so i stopped taking it. I stopped smoking weed too because I actualy never had anxiety issues before coming off Everything. but most recently i noticed when i take diazepam i might wake up the next day and feel realy anxious.. the less i took the better it got. Its all messed up.. getting clean isnt fun, but worth it. Some days i see my stash and think "man i could inhale a good joint in one go" but the other part thinks" what if thats where the anxiety comes from". Tricyclics are more or less antpsychotics than antidepressants alone.. plus they make my feet tingle ugh. So yeah I would say it really depends even on the strain of weed, what triggers the anxiety and so on. Personly opiates just make me feel good and thats all that I need but its not always easy to get what you want.

 

[KS78]

It's really hard to find an antidepressant that works well and they all have a lot of nasty side effects. I also think that most doctors prescribe them very easily and without giving too much thought because they haven't become such big news because of their addictive properties or potential to kill a person if misused accidentally or intentionally like benzodiazepines and opiates. I think that they should be more careful with prescribing medications which changes the brain chemistry.

I find that Indicas work great for anxiety but Sativas work better for depression. As long as you don't smoke as much as a college kid, I don't see a reason to not help your depression. Once I consume too much for long term, it starts becoming depressing for me but everyone is different.

I don't advise it because of many possible risks but opiates work the best for my depression but once the addiction comes into the play, they become the main depressive thing in your life.

If you don't have a very serious depression and not on the verge of self harm, I don't think using antidepressants is a very good idea. You say that it helps your depression and on the to of this, it doesn't have nasty side effects like antidepressants so it sounds like a great choice for you.

 

[ageingpartyfiend]

Cannabis can seriously help some people with anxiety issues, just as it can exacerbate other people's anxiety levels. Works for some, and not for others.

Some people get relief from Indica or Indica-dominant hybrid strains primarily, while others (albeit lesser in number with regards to anxiety in particular) find Sativas more helpful.

One thing we can say with some level of certainty however is that if Cannabis helps your anxiety it's a MUCH better drug in terms of harm reduction (and also often in efficacy) than benzos or antidepressants.

Definitely not Opiates for anxiety - far more problem causing than solving