Strange marijuana induced psychosis...

[latentdelusion]

About this time last year, my fiance and I took a trip to Myrtle Beach. She had only done salvia and smoked pot once up to that point. She gets the occasional panic attack and sometimes has strange hallucinations without drugs. These episodes are very rare, however; they occur maybe a few times a years.

Well, mom brought about 50 or so pre-rolled joints down with us for the week (why, I have no idea). On the third night there, we went outside and each smoked a j to ourselves. She wasn't feeling it, and then proceeded to smoke another half. We went inside and had sex for about an hour or so. Then things started to get weird....

She had nonstop orgasms for the next three hours. I was terrified of what was happening, but she was loving it. I went to sleep shortly after she was done. When we woke up in the morning, she had a strong sense of depersonalization. She felt trapped in her body, sort of like she was dissociated. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for her. She was really miserable and had trouble communicating with people. Any sound above a whisper was painful to her. This lasted for another 5 or 6 days. Then it was a gradual decline over the next month or so until she reached baseline. I gave her LSD for the first time shortly after that; she had read up on it and thought it would help her straighten things out (which, thankfully, it did- I told her that in the past I have only had positive experiences with it). Anyway, this hasn't occurred since vacation. She's smoked pot about once a week or so since then and has been okay. I'm almost certain that the pot wasn't adulterated; I feel like I'd be able to recognize PCP, at any rate. Never tried it, but had experience with other dissociatives.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar to this. It seems she had some buried emotional/mental problems and the marijuana may have triggered this.

Oh yeah, and she also took MDMA about two months after the incident. She saw trails for a month until she took acid again. Very strange. However, I'm thankful for LSD's medicinal properties from my own experience :].

 

[amber_dawn]

what?? please stop giving your obviously schizophrenic girlfriend drugs.

I'm not saying that to be cruel--she is clearly exhibiting the symptoms of schizophrenia. what you described in no way a normal reaction to any drug. Please do not allow her to take any more drugs, especially LSD. To have hallucinations a few times a year, with no drugs involved, is not "very rare"--most people NEVER experience something like that, unless they have not slept in a few days. It is a clear sign that she could potentially develop a full blown psychotic mental illness. Psychedelic drugs will only contribute to her mental decline.

Please encourage her to see a psychologist. At the very least, do some research on mental illness (especially mental illness & drug use) and discuss it with her. Smoking a bit of pot every once in a while probably won't do anything detrimental to her, but she should at least understand the risks.

 

[das_feuer]

Why are you giving this woman more drugs if she is having these types of reactions to them? It sounds like she should absolutely not be taking any drugs at all and it seems as though she may have an underlying mental health issue. The more she uses drugs the worse off she may be. Marijuana tends to make symptoms of mental health issues much worse and tends to trigger acute episodes of psychosis in people who have such issues. MDMA and LSD don't help much, either in cases like this. LSD has no medicinal properties that can be used to treat what your girlfriend is going through. If more studies are done on LSD and its abilities to treat mental health issues in the future, and it is found that it can be used for this, there would be no way for you, being unqualified to treat her, to use LSD to help her anyway.

Perhaps it would be a good idea for her to get screened by a psychologist. The reactions she's had to marijuana deviate from the norm and the fact that she experiences hallucinations without drugs is a big red flag.

 

[popeyes mate]

Yep please get her to see someone for help asap

I still dont understand how someone who has only smoked pot once can smoke a joint to themselves and not be "feeling it" ????

I was actually searching for info on Salvia. I tried it for the first time recently and as soon as I exhaled I just thought "what the f*ck is that?"..

Really didnt like how it made me feel at all.. yep had some trippiness to it.. but not my thing at all.

I cant help but wonder how old your girlfriend is.. conscidering YOUR mum is sorting you out with J's.. but hell yeah, please tell her nothing else and get her some help. Best of luck to her.

 

[burn out]

i have had psychotic symptoms from extensive cannabis abuse, but they were different from what your wife experiecned.

 

[latentdelusion]

Calm down everyone. She hasn't really done much the past few months. At any rate, it's her choice. I haven't been cramming these drugs down her throat, nor have I really encouraged it. She claims LSD has helped her sort through a lot of stuff. It doesn't seem to have made her worse; in fact, she seems like she's doing better.

She has seen several psychologists/psychiatrists. None of them were able to help her, really. There hasn't been a clear diagnosis because her symptoms don't really fit in with any one mental disease pathology. There's no family history of mental disorders. Her mom did smoke/drink some while she was pregnant, I think. So that could have possibly had some effect. Idk.

I wasn't really looking for advice. I just wondered if anyone else experienced this.

 

[Georgie25]

So your girlfriend had psychotic effects from weed so you thought it was smart to give her LSD?

Dumb.

 

[latentdelusion]

I think the fact that she was so far from home may have played a role.

Her condition isn't really serious atm; her hallucinations only last a few minutes. They're just hellish/scary/etc.

I told her it wouldn't be a great idea to take the cid, but she wanted to anyway. She's not really worried about her condition. She just assumes she'll become psychotic one day, and she'd like to experience things in the meantime. Otherwise, she's pretty normal.

 

[amber_dawn]

Her condition isn't really serious atm; her hallucinations only last a few minutes. They're just hellish/scary/etc.

This is VERY serious, no mater how long the hallucinations last. Even a few minutes is too long. Hallucinations that are not the direct result of recent drug consumption are a clear indicator that there is something wrong.

I find it extremely hard to believe that she's seen "several psychologists/psychiatrists" and been 100% honest about her symptoms and received no help at all. She is either lying to the doctors about her symptoms or she is lying to you about what the doctors have said. If you told any doctor that someone has suffered from hallucinations at any point, not brought about by drugs, it would send off HUGE warning bells to the doctor. They would not send her home and say "we can't find what's wrong, you must be okay."

Your casual attitude towards this is disconcerting. This is not a result of something her mother did while pregnant with her. This is happening because your girlfriend is suffering from an underlying mental illness that is causing her to go into a psychotic state. It is common for people with mental illness to try and self medicate, and that is most likely what your girlfriend is doing with the LSD. It may make her feel good for a short time, but is probably wrecking havoc on her mental condition in the long run.

What you and her are doing is incredibly stupid. If you care for her at all, you will encourage her to treat her mental illness so she doesn't become fully psychotic one day. That day will probably be very soon if she continues to not seek treatment and take drugs with psychoactive properties.

 

[HigherAwareness]

Schizophrenia or other similar psychosis can get better with time. In my opinion I would seriously limit the drugs. I have 3 close friends who are schizophrenic (for lack of a better label) and they have all pulled through. However they did drugs for years without any psychotic symptoms before they became ill. Good luck to you. Yes certain strains of weed will induce a paranoid or unpleasent reaction. This occurs even in the most level headed individuals. Take care

 

[latentdelusion]

Thanks for the encouragement higherawareness.

amber, she would not lie to me. her parents and doctors are very aware of her state. she's been on a bunch of antidepressents, but the condition has definitely NOT been serious or frequent enough for antipsychotics.

The antidepressents made things worse, she thinks. She was started when she was 8 or so until about 14. That's way too young for those types of drugs imo. They probably did more damage. But she's been getting better. It's apparent to her, her parents, me, her friends, etc. Perhaps it is only short term; only time will tell. I told her we'll limit psychedelic exposure to twice a year. She's fine with that.

 

[rollingstoned!]

Hehehe I can take loads of acid no problem. I can smoke about 1/128 -1/64 of a gram of marijuana (high grade) at once too. Any more marijuana leads to severe schizophrenic, depersonalization, and "slowing down" symptoms, which dissolves after about...a week or two (coincidentally around the length of THC's half-life) .

I found out I could smoke more marijuana if I upped my tolerance... so I smoked A LOT of marijuana to purposely up my tolerance for the sake of being "cool" and being able to smoke "normal" amounts with other people. But in the end I decided this was fucking stupid, stopped smoking for a month, and returned to my original tolerance.

I think this is because I simply don't "need" my cannabinoid receptors activated. Your girlfriend might have a perfect cannbinoid system that needs no interfering with. Over activating an already perfect system will always lead to negative symptoms, because that system is already perfect.

 

[deez_nuggs]

Her mom did smoke/drink some while she was pregnant, I think. So that could have possibly had some effect.

..Yes, that sounds like a very good possibility. She does indeed sound schizophrenic. As someone close to her, you should probably advise her against psychedelics while taking or having taken SSRIs, these combinations are destroying her brain/mental health. She needs to stop doing any sort of drug, IMO.

 

[Wise420]

Hehehe I can take loads of acid no problem. I can smoke about 1/128 -1/64 of a gram of marijuana (high grade) at once too. Any more marijuana leads to severe schizophrenic, depersonalization, and "slowing down" symptoms, which dissolves after about...a week or two (coincidentally around the length of THC's half-life) .

I found out I could smoke more marijuana if I upped my tolerance... so I smoked A LOT of marijuana to purposely up my tolerance for the sake of being "cool" and being able to smoke "normal" amounts with other people. But in the end I decided this was fucking stupid, stopped smoking for a month, and returned to my original tolerance.

I think this is because I simply don't "need" my cannabinoid receptors activated. Your girlfriend might have a perfect cannbinoid system that needs no interfering with. Over activating an already perfect system will always lead to negative symptoms, because that system is already perfect.

Im no expert on the subject, but did you make this up yourself?

You need THC to activate those receptors. If we didnt have these receptors we could not feel Cannabis.

 

[User Name Here]

I know you're not looking for advice but I'm going to say this anyway: I would avoid being the enabler when it comes to her doing drugs. Maybe both of you should chill out for a while and see how that goes. Generally people who are depressed or have mental issues do not benefit from drug use. They can believe they do all day long but just about anyone in their 100% right mind can tell this couldn't be further from the truth.

Good luck...

 

[Memeito]

You shouldn't give drugs to crazy people!
Also, your mom brought marijuana? Jesus!! What is this world coming to?
If my mom would catch me doing drugs she would beat me and lock me in the basement for a week without food to pray and repent for my sins...
No wonder America is so fucked up when parents give drugs to their children.

 

[User Name Here]

You shouldn't give drugs to crazy people!
Also, your mom brought marijuana? Jesus!! What is this world coming to?
If my mom would catch me doing drugs she would beat me and lock me in the basement for a week without food to pray and repent for my sins...
No wonder America is so fucked up when parents give drugs to their children.

I think it's equally--if not more--fucked up to lock your kid in a basement, beat them, and then repent to an invisible man for their sins but hey, to each their own (unless this involves hurting another human being of course). I know plenty of parents who use marijuana quite responsibly--lawyers, doctors, etc. I'm not bullshitting anyone either; I'm talking about very successful families. Eventually their kids--like many--dabbled in drugs and ended up smoking as well. Said children are now graduating from colleges and entering graduate schools, and doing very well overall. I don't see how a parent smoking weed is such an abomination but like I said before, to each their own. I mean I wouldn't hand my teenager weed but an adult who already smokes? How is this any different from sharing a glass of wine with your child once they are an adult?

 

[latentdelusion]

My mom doesn't like me doing drugs, but she says it's cool as long as I keep my 4.0.

And also, she's hasn't been on antidepressant meds for years. She's been doing much better. May just be something she's growing out of. I talked to her parents, and they said that the doctors said that seems to be the case.

 

[paranoid android]

It wouldnt be laced weed no way. Laced weed makes no economic sense as PCP costs a hell of alot more then weed does and could be easily sold by itself for alot more. Ive only had it once and although i was fucked up so bad for awile that i was basically paraylsed and felt like i was dying (this on top of the weird dissociative hallucinations did not make for a great time) i was alright the next morning sure enough.

It sounds like she has some kind of underlying mental problem possibly brought out by the drugs. Neither of the drugs you described are conducive to mental health that is for sure and MDMA or LSD for that matter would be the last thing id give to anyone suffering from any psychotic symptoms. So she really should stay away from the drugs as it will most likely make her condition worse and at the least make getting a proper diagnoses alot harder.

Her condition is most certainly serious enough to warrant seing a mental health professional and maybe also taking medications. Not many people except those suffering from the most severe forms of schizophrenia hallucinate all the time. I have bipolar disorder with some psychotic features and my hallucinations don't last that long either. But it is truely scary sometimes when it does happen. I am on a few meds to control this and thankfully they tend to help alot for the most part.

So i would strongely urge her to get some proffesional help before things get worse. It's much easier to treat any mental illness before things get worse as the longer you let it go the more out of control it get's.

 

[dragonslayer428]

I have to agree with Amber on this one. I find it very hard to believe that her psychiatrists are not able to help her with the hallucinations and psychosis.

It doesn't sound like she needs an anti-depressant...it sounds more like she needs an anti-psychotic and a mood stabilizer. People with her 'condition' don't mesh well with SSRI/SNRI's.

Do her a favor and not give her drugs. Even if she begs for it. It will only exacerbate the problem. LSD is probably the WORST thing you could give someone with that condition. If it's true that these 'doctors' are being lax about her condition, then find another DR that knows what he/she is doing. These conditions are treatable with therapy and medication.

Sorry if I am coming off as harsh but it disturbs me when people don't get the help they need, for whatever reason.

All the best,

dragon