My PCP, without me actually asking, told me don't even think about it, because it would make me super-paranoid and probably worsen my anxiety and depression. He's known me since I was 14 and is a total genius, so I trust his judgment!

but every one has an op pion for a reason to see who els think it good or bad idea

i actually have self-medicated with pot for about 4 years now. i had a drug/alcohol evaluation and my counselor told me the pot was the least of my worries. i love being high because it enables me to think freely (sort of the way i think while manic) but it also calms me down and slows everything so it's not manic. i don't know, i feel like it's the best of both worlds. personally i think it's better than medication because it's natural and despite being (ludicrously) illegal i continue to blaze on the reg.

I think it depends on the person. For me i would probably get paranoid and more anxious using it but everyone reacts differently to it. i guess it would depend on the strength and kind of medical marijuana. I have often thought bout medical marijuana myself cause my anxiety is off the charts at times.

@ Carol I hate to tell ya this but your PCP is probably just another one of the many pill pushing Dr's I have met in my many years of dealing w/Bi-polar Disorder.

Anyone that tells you to, not try something that has helped others, has a secret agenda.

You may wanna do some research on the endocannabinoid system. (hint: it regulated almost every function of the body) The only reason cannabis affects humans is because we have cannabinoid receptors all through the body.

It (cannabis) is probably one of the most beneficial plants known to mankind. That's one of the reasons it was made illegal. It was competition for many growing businesses and they needed a way to keep people from using it.

If you can cure yourself by growing a plant....why would you need a Dr?

so I guess people will say this is because of a secret agenda?

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/marijuana-use-leads-earlier-psychosis-bipolar-disorder

Individuals who use marijuana may develop psychosis nearly 3 years earlier than people who do not indulge in cannabis use, according to a new study to appear in the June print issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Another new study notes that regular marijuana use may also trigger bipolar disorder in vulnerable individuals.

It's also undeniable that a significant number of people on this board found it unhelpful and made them worse. Some found it helpful to them personally.

It didn't work for me. It made me stupid. Maybe the quality was bad I don't know. But at this stage of my life, I would give it another try if it was good quality. I wouldn't know where to get it though!

niteowl, my PCP is like a second father to me. He respects me and my intelligence, he wants so badly for me to be well, and while he doesn't believe I can ever be 100% medication free (nor do I, for the record), he very much tries to help me manage my moods through things like diet, exercise, and meditation. He knows that he is not a psychiatrist and tries to avoid medicating me whenever there is another way.

He is genuinely a wonderful, intelligent, thorough man. He would write me a prescription for medical marijuana in an instant if he thought it would do me good and not harm. He genuinely has my best interests at heart always, and as I said, I trust his judgment completely. If he doesn't think it's right for me, someone whom he has known and treated for 16 years, I would say he is correct in his assessment.

Incidentally, when I used to smoke pot as a teenager, everyone around me would be stoned out of their minds and I would feel nothing. Sometimes I could catch a very brief high by smoking the resin, but that was it.

Furthermore, I will never be "cured" of my bipolar, by cannabis or by anything else. It will be with me for life, and I will manage it the best I can. And even if I could be, I would still need him as my doctor whenever I got ill somatically - the flu, ear infections, strep throat - so he certainly does not have a "secret agenda."

Caroline

Oh, and Fish, thanks for the info!

Reefer rules. I'm a daily smoker and I love it.Helps with symptoms of my bipolar. It's decriminalized in my state but still not legal. Hopefully soon they legalize it!!!XO

It has sied effects just like any other drug . Please use caution!

I don't know if medicinal usage is something that should be used(except in extreme cases) without much solid opinion established. That said I do support recreational use and legalization, but that's another discussion.

I can't help but wonder if people wouldn't get as paranoid if marijuana weren't illegal/looked down upon, not to mention the simple solution to the "Gateway" theory is to make it legal.

@ acuriousfish I would take anything that the 'National Institute on Drug Abuse' says with about a pound of salt. Its a government run program with a clear propaganda agenda. They (the US Government) has lied to the American public about cannabis for almost 100 years now. Why trust their information now?

@ Carolinel I could be wrong about your situation (and probably am) but I simply do not trust Psychiatric Dr's any more. I have been lied to by them (about the 'safety' of their pills), far too many times, for me to put much trust in them anymore.

I simply know that I got no relief from prescription pills, only grief. After getting pancreatitis from taking Depakote, my GI Dr told me to seriously look at how much actual help these pills were giving me, because they were tearing up my guts, and you can't live without your pancreas.

I will not take those synthetic poisons any longer!!

I will only take naturally occurring plants/herbs.

(I believe that my GI issues along with my reluctance to take prescription pills, were key in me getting on disability)

St Johns Wart, Valerian Root and Cannabis are the three that help me now.

I have used it on and off for many years, thinking that if I quit, I would feel better. I recently went 6 months without it and I was very miserable and depressed, with the looming thought that I was going to have a nervous breakdown but didn't know when or how. I also suffer from PMS, chronic pain, and migraines. All those things got worse especially with hormonal changed. Pretty soon I was taking more pain pills and dangerous migraine meds that didn't work sometimes.

One day I had had enough of a four day pre-menstrual migraned with severe pain from my jaw to my neck. I asked a friend to bring some cannabis over. Got rid of it and took me out of this awful unrelenting depression I had going on.

I think my prior problem was that I was drinking with it and now that I don't drink, I realize the therapeutic value of it more.

My own pdoc filled out the recommendation for it and he is not the only pdoc I've had who has recommended it for pain. While he understands it helps my mental condition and probably my PTSD symptoms I've had for years, he can't write out a recommendation for bipolar. It is generally not accepted here with the form that must be sent in to the state health department. Not sure if this everywhere, but I imagine so.

What I have finally come to is that cannabis is part of med cocktail. I don't use it instead of meds. I had the experience of going off of Cymbalta recently and getting a pretty bad rebound depression from that.

I can't say that using cannabis will keep me out of a depressive episode, but it helps me function in other ways.

I was reading about studies they did that disproves it makes depression worse, which I found out through my own period of not using it where it was me that just got worse.

If you look under wikipedia for treatment of bipolar, they have a sections that talk about studies where they are finding it helps some bipolar patients with neurocognitive functioning. I have totally experienced this myself as when I was not on it, my mental fatigue was just getting worse and my perception of how fatigued I was in general all the time and the worsening of such over time.

What I find is that when I just can't get my focus and I can't move, Sativa really helps me get going and I find myself getting things done.

However, it has also been studied and shown that some with BP get more manic symptoms and anxiety. I would say during mania maybe it would be best to give it a break or use Indica, a more calming strain that helps sleep.

I have also noticed that some types of Sativa do not work as well for me as others, so it's a process of experimentation to find the strain that works the best. This is why I like having a medical MJ card so I have access to plants that I know what they are and what they are likely to do.

Tinctures are supposedly less psychoactive so a person can go that route as well. Edibles last longer in the body and can have a very psychoactive effect that can cause paranoia and anxiety.

All I know is that I was more frightened and freaked out not using it.

When I look back on my life, the worst time I ever had was between the ages of 19-22 when I was not using it at all. I tried to kill myself twice and ended up in the revolving hospital door life.

I finally have given up on feeling bad that I am using cannabis. I already have a tendency to feel bad about using pharmaceuticals which are more dangerous to me than cannabis, which helps me to take less of them anyway.

I am grateful to have access to it after proving once again, that not using it really doesn't help me and causes me to feel worse off the longer I am away from it.

One thing to remember though, is that like anything else, it has side effects and you have to be careful what you use and how you ingest it. Sativa for more energy and focus. Indica for more calming down and sleeping. Hybrids are available as well. And of course you have to find the right Sativa that works best for you if one doesn't work as well or has certain side effects.

As for me, I have a vapor genie vaporizing pipe and a hot box vaporizer which tends to lessen the affects that may cause anxiety or paranoia. It's not as intense and it works for me.

Marijuana works differently on different people. Some people like Fish get nothing out of it. Some people get ultra paranoid or stoned out of there gourd---probably like #1's PCP when he smoked it in college. And then there are different strains of the weed itself, good years, bad years, indoor, outdoor, organic, etc....

For some weed can help a lot for what ails them without a lot of side effects other than laughter and temporary and slight stupidity. Part of the reason for these differences is that there are two main strains of pot--Sativa and Indica. Generally Sativa will get you high and energetic and Indica deals with pain and helps you sleep. Unless you have ADHD or bipolar--then they *might* effect you paradoxically.

I have had MS & cancer patients use medical marijuana with great success to treat pain, spasm and nausea. I always joked around with them but never partook. I had smoked it as a teen and quit when I was 20 and had become a Christian.

Last year I got rear-ended and got whiplash and chronic pain. I have had nausea off & on for about 5 years since getting radiation for thyroid cancer and also starting treatment for lupus.....So I had been thinking about it for a while. I use Indica. It gives me a tiny bit of energy, organizes my thoughts, relieves anxiety and pain. If given to a normie, according the the "bud tenders" where I shop, They would just get "couch lock" and not be able to get off the couch due to being so stoned---but not me----I will be able to see my mess and instead of bitching about it, actually be able to clean and smile while I do it.

I've been using daily for about 3 months...my therapist and PCP actually suggested it to me. I'm finally much more stable mentally and have less pain. Not to mention I've not had to munch on saltines all the time to control nausea.

There are over 400 active biochemical compounds in marijuana. In the UK there is a med--Sativex--directly taken from Cannabis. It is used for spasticity in MS patients. It is recognized to be helpful by many individual states in the US. Some doctors will prescribe it. You don't have to smoke it. It can be in candies, foods, inhaled vapor etc. It is known to help glaucoma also. There is Marinol, a prescription pill that is used to stimulate appetite. It works. And is is synthetic CBD from MJ.