bipolar teen chemical free.

ive just found out, that in california, a minor can apply for and be accepted for medical marijuana prescriptions.

ive had a headache for ten months. when i wake up it's there. when i go to sleep it's their. noise, light, smells, and emotions amplify it. to accompany the steady relentless dull ache behind this headache that at times i feel like i can get used to, are twinges, or shocks of pain that hit anywhere from behind my eyes, to behind my ears, to my temple, to the dead center of my brain.

ive had sleeping, stress, and anger issues since early childhood.

lastly, i was recently diagnosed bipolar. [this does not shock me, seeing as how now that i look back i realize just how much sense it makes.. that, and my mother is severly bipolar herself]. they dosed me with a 'new' pill especially for bipolar teenagers w/the cutest tiny font on the pill itself reading "lily". cute right? turns out this medication was actually an anti-psychotic. since that dilema they've had me on two different mood stabilizers, combined with an anti-depressant, and ritalin. @*#^ING CHEMICALS!

my father is taking me soon to see a doctor local to me who supports medical marijuana use. do you have any idea whatsoever what will happen to me if he supports me in my request to be put on medical marijuana?! do you!?
it means finally i will be able to handle all my problems without unpronouncible medication names and shoeboxes full of ugly orange pill bottles.

wish me luck.

,asia

 

Personally, I wouldn't do that myself. I am also bipolar and when I'm not medicated, pot does weird things to my mind. Pot is a mood de-stabilizer, so it might trigger mood swings, and can even trigger pyschotic episodes in people who are prone to them. My bf had a pyschotic break hours after smoking weed, so I wonder if there might be a connection between the two in him. I can't say for sure, but I know for a fact that pot destabilizes my moods. I am prone to pyschotic episodes so I stay away from pot and stay on my medications. I am on Lithium, a mood stabilizer, and abilify, an atypical antipyschotic.

There's nothing to be ashamed of if you have to take anti-psychotics. It can be dangerous to self medicate, even medicate w/o a good doctor. I had a shitty psychiatrist who gave me adderall when I passed a piss test and I had a psychotic manic episode and ended up in jail b/c my judgement was impaired.

For people who are in constant pain or dying or have other serious medical ailments, I support medical marijuana. I just believe the patient must be mentally stable (from psychological disorders) before they should use it. What's the point of using it to make your body feel better if it fucks up your mind?

Peace and love

 

the initial "yayness" for me about finding out i can be put on this was because for the first time since my headaches have started, it will be legal for me to not hurt.


its just that i found out that its used to treat bipolar disorder too.

i smoke now, and it doesn't mess me up. i dont think id be so stoked about this if id never tried it for the same reason before.

but i completely understand what you're saying.
(oh, and the anti-psychotics were an 'accidental' prescription.)

 

Some things that work for some people don't work for others. Good luck,kid. I'm glad to hear that you're getting non-chemical help for Bipolar disorder.

 

personally i always found smoking weed to help me when my moods get 'edgy' (as i put it). if i'm going out of control it calms me down and if i'm feeling low it can make me feel better.

i will say though, i was in a really bad place and in a bad relationship for about six years (probably in part due to my bipolar disorder that was undiagnosed at the time) and during that time i would regularly self medicate (with weed). the doctor i was seeing at the time told me if he could prescribe it to me he would but being as we were in NY that would be impossible. the more anxious and panicky i got and the more out of control my moods felt the more i smoked. because of the situation i was in, this was really bad and i did become rather dependent on marijuana to the point where i was high more often in a day than i was sober, and that lasted for a few years. i was still on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pills at the time but no mood stabilizers.

saying that though, i was able to find strength to change my situation and now as i've gotten better i first came off the meds while keeping the weed (which i had already cut back DRASTICALLY - smoking only 1x a day sometimes missing days etc). now, i still no longer am on any medication AND i rarely smoke weed anymore. i can go months without having a puff and my moods are a lot more stable.

i also have no 'negative effects' from smoking either. my memory is fine and i haven't noticed any bad things it might have caused except for the dependance i had at my worst. however i'm still not 100% sure if i consider that 'dependance' i had developed to be totally bad as it was helping me to calm down and live a somewhat normal life instead of just laying in bed all day due to the depression.

as AutumnsMoon said everyone is different. so, the only thing i could suggest is if your doc is ok with it try it and see how it goes. i wouldn't just come totally off of the medication though, until you feel a bit more at ease (unless it is making you ill that is). maybe use it in conjunction with the medication you are already prescribed. and go from there.

if the doctor you are seeing is really cool with the concept of using medical marijuana then talk to him about all the questions you have about it and see what he says.

good luck getting treatment, whatever it may be.

 

I have never been diagnosed with a mental disorder, nor do I believe I have one. But I was depressed for about 6 weeks, and during that 6 weeks I wasn't happy at all. It was either numb, or depressed. Which as you can imagine would be pretty difficult for a person to handle. I thought about hurting myself, but I quickly said to myself that was crazy talk and decided against it. But during the last week I was depressed it was a Thursday night and a friend of mine brought a joint over to my house and wanted to smoke. He invited me to join and I said what the hell, smoking was the best choice I ever made.

When I was high I wasn't escaping, but I realized what was going on inside my brain that was causing me this stress, anxiety and depression. It was like I could picture the problems I was having written down on tiny piece of paper on a table, and I was able to organize them, what I could change, and what I couldn't. It helped me think very clearly and accept the things I couldn't change, and to change the things I could. The day after I also was able to think very clearly, and work out the problems, and the day after that I felt like my old self again.

I am not a pot head, I smoke usually once a week and it's only on the weekends. But it was definitely an enlightening experience. Certainly better then turning to alcohol I'm sure.

 

that's one of my biggest problems with everything going on right now.
i hate being sober, and if i dont happen to have pot around when i realize i am i turn to alcohol or other drugs.
im slowly learning that part of life is being sober. and that i cant always feel great..

 

Being bipolar puts you at an extremely high risk to turning to drugs and alcohol to numb the crazy mood swings. I would know - I'm bipolar too.

Unfortunately, I've been medicated for something like 5 years now, so I can't sympathize with anyone who refuses chemical treatment. I've accepted the fact that medicine helps me - a lot.

These headaches sound awful. Hopefully pot will help with those - legally. LOL. Anyway... I hope everything goes well for you. I know how bad manic depression can be.

 

the other problem with alcohol is that it is a depressant itself. so if you get drunk then the next day you will feel even more depressed than the day you drank.

 

which is where the cycle of alcoholism begins.

 

Right on Dances in pajamas!

Peace and love

 

I have had to drastically reduce the amount of pot that I smoke. I still do smoke, but it is by no means regular anymore. The reason I had to cut back is becuase I too am bi-polar. I was recently diagnosed and next week I am consulting some nurse practitioners about medication to help with the swings.

Being bi-polar you have drastic, uncrontrolable, mood swing either up into a manic episode or down into a deep depression. Without any medication my swings have been pretty severe, and sometimes scary. With marijuana involved it made them even worse. I had more swings and the swings that came were more violent and unpredictable.

This effect has been documented for bi-polar sufferers and I doubt a doctor will prescribe marijuana to someone who suffers from it. I would say you could have a chance if it was just the headaches, but mixed with the mental disorder it wouldn't be a good idea.

Sorry to burst your bubble, and I could be wrong.

 

Good advice!

Peace and love

 

jesus would let you smoke pot. just smoke it. smoking is good for your body, too. and it can give you erectile disfunction and sweaty palms but that's not that bad compared to the magic you recieve.

 

Just be careful. even tho it's not chemicals, it's still being used to affect how the brain works.
Pot can change your mood, and on top of being i-poler it can cause some unexpected mood swings.
Just be careful.

 

bipolar kid here too...
i take lamictal and effexor, but i really wouldnt mind prescription ganja either!! lol

 

sometimes its best to escape your thoughts with smoke because it gives you time to be somwhere different to think, rather than on the same plane all the time.

 

i have bipolar and i think pot helps me a lot. But it effects everyone differently

 

That alcohol is a "depressant" means it depresses activity in certain parts of the brain, not that it leaves you feeling sad and emo.

 

A little bit of pot can nicely swing a mood back into place but there are some folk, like me, where pot will amplify/trigger anxiety if tokin' too often.