Dexeamphetamine + THC (Weed) = 500% increase in chance of Psychosis??

[somuchflippy]

I went and saw my Psychiatrist the other day and according to the doctor, smoking cannabis increases the chance of psychosis by 500%... I'm not sure what to make of this, as some quick Google-ing didn't reveal anything onto how he came into possession of this "fact". Now i realize cannabis alone increases the risk of psychosis, as I've read about it and have unfortunately seen one of my close friends go to a psychiatric ward for several weeks as a direct result of smoking weed.

Dexeamphetamine, when taken as prescribed doesn't increase risk of psychosis... I've smoked weed for 2 years, and after a 7-8 month break (drug tests, tolerance issues, balance & motivation issues) I've started again, but sparingly and use it as a 'carrot motivation'. I don't see why a doctor would blatantly lie to me as an adult, or how i could still be leading a healthy life with friends, family, a girlfriend, a job and receive high marks in university if I was 500% at risk of psychosis for 2 years, and have been 500% at risk again for the last month or so...

100% chance would mean it defiantly would occur, yeah? So how the fuck did he work that out?
I'm kinda pissed that he'd feed me such bullshit, after he gets me to piss in a cup and take blood samples to test for illicit drugs.

So what I'm asking is, Doctor full of shit: Yay or Nay?

 

[Divine Moments]

500% = 5x the risk

i.e. he's saying it makes you 5x more likely to develop psychosis than someone who doesn't smoke weed

 

[DeathDomokun]

You're saying amphetamine doesn't cause psychosis but Cannabis does, and your doctor is saying Cannabis increases the chances of psychosis by %500? I think this thread is full of shit. I'm no scientist, but I've seen one on TV.

 

[somuchflippy]

500% = 5x the risk

i.e. he's saying it makes you 5x more likely to develop psychosis than someone who doesn't smoke weed

Ahhh that makes a bit more sense now. I have only found articles and such on how cannabis studies have shown it can double the risk of psychosis, but nothing on how prescription d-amp use can increase that risk to 5x. If anyone can shed further light on this (ie a link to a credible source) I'd highly appreciate it.

 

[somuchflippy]

You're saying amphetamine doesn't cause psychosis but Cannabis does, and your doctor is saying Cannabis increases the chances of psychosis by %500? I think this thread is full of shit. I'm no scientist, but I've seen one on TV.

I didn't say amphetamine does not cause psychosis... Taking DEXamphetamine as prescribed by a doctor, the risk of psychosis is very minute. But my point was how does combining it with cannabis increase the risk by 500%, when cannabis alone is shown to only double this risk.

 

[DeathDomokun]

Dexeamphetamine, when taken as prescribed doesn't increase risk of psychosis

The risk of psychosis from Dextroamphetamine are greater than those from Cannabis, but if you want to look at this logically, based on your doctor saying it's 500%, and you saying Cannabis is 200%, then dextroamphetamine must be 300%. Once again I don't believe this bullshit, but from going on what's been said in this thread there's your logical answer.

 

[footscrazy]

People throw around these terms which sound impressive but don't really mean much. Saying you have 5x the likelihood of developing psychosis sounds important but if the risk is only .01 to begin with, you still have less than a .1% chance of becoming psychotic, even if you do increase your chances by 500% (just pulling numbers out of my arse). And yeah percentages over 100 always bother me, since per cent literally means per hundred.

 

[drug_mentor]

In my experience doctors are pretty prone to lying when it comes to illicit, controlled or abusable substances, whether it be the negative effects caused by such drugs or the legality of their prescription from a particular doctor. I do not think that there is any conclusive studies that conclusively state on average there is a 500% increase (5 times) the likelihood of psychosis among those who are prescribed dexamphetamine and use cannabis recreationally compared to those who take neither, but even if there was one there would really have to be a few before it started to become a particularly credible theory.

I will say that using amphetamines and cannabis on a regular basis is more likely to result in psychosis than using either drug on its own, regardless of small the likelihood of that is. Quite a few years ago now there was a period in which I was a non prescribed and virtually daily user of methylphenidate where I had probably my worst delusion or psychotic episode at one point. I can definately say that using ADHD medication (admittedly considerably higher than most prescribed doses) for a while habitually whilst smoking cannabis on a daily basis made me a pretty fucking paranoid teenager a good period of the time.

I would go out on a limb and say that your doctor is exaggerating the risks, whether they are wrong or right I would wager that there really isn't enough scientific evidence either way to make a definitive call. Regardless though from my own personal experience using cannabis and stimulants on a regular basis (especially at the same time) is more often than not going to lead to anxiety, paranoia and by extension I think an obvious increase in the odds of psychosis.

 

[Christ!]

He's full of shit regarding the 500% thing AFAIK, but his concerns are probably somewhat justified.

If you're using dexamphetamine for ADD cannabis has to be one of the worst things to use...it's completely counter productive for me anyway. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if taking cannabis + dex would increase the risk of psychosis significantly, making it several times more likely perhaps.

A 500% increase in the chance of getting psychosis doesn't mean you'll definitely get it, you'd have to look at the normal prevalence and then x that by 5.

If you've got your life under control and it's not causing any issues I guess there's no problem. Just be careful you don't start making it a regular thing, so it doesn't become a problem.

 

[Jakeperson]

I have given myself psychosis this way several times. I'm a daily weed smoker and no other drug that I have mixed with it has given me psychosis besides amphetamines

 

[puckboy]

Yeah, this combo will make you go loopy IME. I was taking dexies everyday last year. Was prescribed 40mg/day although I often abused the shit out of it which probably contributed to what eventually happened. I was smoking weed pretty much daily too (had been for the 5 years prior also).

I remember telling the bloke who sold me buds that I'd just been prescribed dexies and he highly recommended I stopped smoking because he'd seen mates go 'schitzo' to use his words when they smoked weed ontop of a dexie prescription. I found that odd, a weed dealer suggesting I stop smoking. Stupidly I ignored the warning, as well as that of my psychiatrist who scripted me them. I didn't smoke for the first couple months due to being drug tested but once that stopped I was toking daily for the last ~8 months of being on the dexies.

By the end of the year I believed certain types of cars were following me, my behaviour became erratic and bizarre at times, I would have ridiculous mood swings everyday, paranoia and anxiety were through the roof, countless fucked up things started happening in my life basically. I did have a benzo habit at the time also which no doubt worsened things, but the insane paranoia was definitely a result of the dexies/weed. I was never truly psychotic I don't think but it destroyed my mental health for sure. Funnily enough I did not want to stop taking the dexies either. I got addicted to them quite badly and despite the terrible things they were doing to me I could not stop popping them. It took me beginning to abuse them badly and my doc finding out and cutting me off for me to stop. It wasn't until being off them for a couple weeks that I regained some sanity and realised fully what they were doing to me.

It took about 4-6 months for the paranoia to fade and go away. During that time I tapered and got off a shitty benzo addiction also which was the hardest thing of all. It's only recently that I've started to feel myself again. I still hold some resentment towards the psychiatrist who scripted me all of it, even when he knew I used illicit drugs. The guy didn't have a fucking clue. I feel a million times better now that I don't take any pharmacuiticals at all.

Be really careful man, I thought I was fine and nothing would happen, and it might not for a while to you... but IMO it's not a matter of if, but when. You may not enter psychosis but your mental health will suffer dearly.

 

[Christ!]

That sounds like a really scary experience puckboy. Good advice. My greatest fear (even above the dentist) is losing my mind, schizophrenia or psychosis from drugs.

I still hold some resentment towards the psychiatrist who scripted me all of it, even when he knew I used illicit drugs. The guy didn't have a fucking clue. I feel a million times better now that I don't take any pharmacuiticals at all.

Hrm, maybe the doctor should have kept drug testing you regularly. Did he know you were still using other drugs while scripting you more dex? That's pretty messed up if so. I feel lucky my psychiatrist scripted me dexies even after I was honest about my past drug use, it's made a positive difference to my life (so far) I'm on a lower dose than you were, 40mg a day is lots.

 

[puckboy]

^
Yeah, he did know I was still smoking weed. He kept saying over and over "I'm not allowed to prescribe dexies if you're using marijuana" but he never actually did anything about it, he knew I drank alcohol regularly too. He intervened far too late.

Obviously I take responsibility for what happened because at the end of the day it was my choice to do what I did. But I hold resentment because as I see it, at the time I was "sick" and in a cycle of addiction, so I was never making rational decisions in regard to what I put in my body. In hindsight I expected him to have known this (which he did) and not have prescribed me highly abusable meds nor continued to when I told him I still used drugs. He had no real concept of drug users and addiction. Doctors like this are really dangerous. When I told my GP the story she was shocked and disgusted. I'm just glad it's over, I'm so much healthier and happier now.

Anyway, I don't want to hijack the thread, my point is if you have tendancies to use drugs maybe more than you should - be very careful when it comes to a dexie prescription and honestly ask yourself if you truly need them. Also avoid smoking pot, or atleast only smoke it very occasionally if you're scripted stims.

 

[TangerinO]

People throw around these terms which sound impressive but don't really mean much. Saying you have 5x the likelihood of developing psychosis sounds important but if the risk is only .01 to begin with, you still have less than a .1% chance of becoming psychotic, even if you do increase your chances by 500% (just pulling numbers out of my arse). And yeah percentages over 100 always bother me, since per cent literally means per hundred.

Yeah I read a highly entertaining article the other day that said if you don't do this or that, you increase your chance of dying by 2.4 percent...
Correct me if I'm wrong but we all have 100% chance of dying.

The only thing I can say is that a friend of mine combined high doses of prescribed concerta with weed and it gave him a heart inflammation problem which is now fixed but it caused some worry for a while since it was such a high dose and prescribed stims wreak havoc on the heart.
I smoked insane amounts of weed mixed with concerta in college and I'm more level headed now than ever. I also watched a friend slowly go insane, honestly I think the chances of psychosis thing is all bullshit, from what I've seen you are either prone to slowly losing your marbles, or you are not. Sure some things may effect it, but I wouldn't believe you if you said they'd done nearly enough credible, reliable scientific evidence to back up this doctors claim.

PS: Even though I've done it myself, and plenty of people I know have to and been completely fine, this is a HR forum so I should say it's a gamble if you're combining any drug. Just don't over do either of them is my best advice, but I don't think you should let dexies stop you from smoking weed or vice versa, just follow your body it will know when something is wrong.

 

[spacejunk]

I didn't say amphetamine does not cause psychosis... Taking DEXamphetamine as prescribed by a doctor, the risk of psychosis is very minute. But my point was how does combining it with cannabis increase the risk by 500%, when cannabis alone is shown to only double this risk.

just because it is prescribed by a doctor doesn't mean it is any less dangerous than any other amphetamine.
morphine is prescribed by doctors, as are benzodiazepines and a whole range of far more dangerous medications. don't fall into the trap of thinking that because it is medically sanctioned, it is necessarily safe - the potential side-effects still apply.
as the above posts have clearly illustrated, a lot of people encounter adverse side-effects from prescription drugs.
it's your (mental) health - and it's the risk you run. be careful - and respect your mind!

 

[Mr Blonde]

I think the doctor made that statistic up on the spot, but of course using marijuana and dexamphetamine together increases your risk of psychosis. And as has been pointed out, a 500% increase simply means five times the normal risk; the normal risk for a psychotic episode is fairly low to begin with.

I agree, even therapeutic levels of dexamphetamine can have effects on mental health, especially for chronic users. Taking larger amounts is more risky, but the therapeutic levels can still have a risk.

 

[Vader]

The risk of psychosis from Dextroamphetamine are greater than those from Cannabis, but if you want to look at this logically, based on your doctor saying it's 500%, and you saying Cannabis is 200%, then dextroamphetamine must be 300%. Once again I don't believe this bullshit, but from going on what's been said in this thread there's your logical answer.

Deary me. The combination of the two, it is alleged, increases the chance of psychosis 5x. That does not mean that the individual risks must add to that total; the risk of the combination may be greater than the sum of the individual risks (in the same way that ketamine and swimming are quite safe on their own but not a good mix). Leaving that aside, and assuming that your logic was correct for the sake of argument, if the risk from cannabis alone is 200%, and that from the combination is 500%, then that is an increase of 2.5x, or 250%, not 300.

And yeah percentages over 100 always bother me, since per cent literally means per hundred.

In some cases it's nonsensical ("I'm going to give it 110% of my effort"), but in many cases (such as this one) percentages greater than 100% are both meaningful and useful. You'll notice that the APR rates for payday loans are often over 1000%.

 

[experiments]

I have given myself psychosis this way several times. I'm a daily weed smoker and no other drug that I have mixed with it has given me psychosis besides amphetamines

happening to me too.
mixing dexamphetamine and THC causes psychosis, i have been a pot smoker for almost a year now and have just started taking dextroamphetamine recently and i have been experiencing psychosis everytime i have smoked

its effects can be addicting

 

[laugh]

he trolled the shit out of you moite.

invite this dr to the bluelight.