Posted by guttersnipe on June 15, 2004, at 1:19:30
In reply to Re: Meds and Marijuana- Am I OK?, posted by starlight on June 6, 2004, at 10:52:57
There is anecdotal evidence that marijuana use helps some bipolars as a mood-stabilizer and mood lifter -- if curious, google a Harvard doc named Grinspoon for his article about anecdotal reports of successful marijuana use by bipolars. There is no methodologically rigorous study on the issue, though, for the obvious reasons that the big pharma corporations that pay for the meds studies can't make any money selling the herb ... and that it's very difficult, if not impossible, to design a double-blind placebo study about smoking weed ;-)
I am bipolar (or multi-polar, or whatever is the term in vogue now) and I use medical marijuana, with my physician's written approval, in moderation as part of a regimen of alternatives to pharma meds. When I used to smoke like a dragon, I had some dysphoric/anxious reactions to it -- but I find that in moderation (I now use only about an eighth of an ounce per month, if that much, of California kind bud), medical marijuana is useful to me. I usually smoke just one small toke or two, usually alone, to reduce the possibility of anxious or paranoid reactions. Instead of getting completely stoned silly several times a day like I used to when I abused the herb, now I use just a little bit (just enough to get me a little bit high) in the evening or at night, maybe every other or every third day ... I find that it is helpful: in addition to the other alternative treatments I'm using, the medical marijuana keeps me sailing with an even keel.
Like any drug, though, it certainly is not for everyone. From what I've read and from what I've observed, it can exacerbate schizophrenia; it can cause anxiety/paranoia in some people, at certain dosages and/or in certain settings; and in many states it is either wholly illegal because the state lacks a medical marijuana law, or is not available for bipolars under the state's medical marijuana law (I believe that Oregon's law, for example, does not legalize the use of the herb by bipolars, even though Oregonians with certain other conditions can use it).
poster:guttersnipe
thread:342332
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20040604/msgs/356782.html