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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by MaTurtle on January 30, 2004, at 16:37:41
It started when I was 18 (now i'm 21), I tried cannabis when I was 18, and it was great. For the first time I wasn't depressed and could sleep well. The only down sides were that cannabis is illegal, screwed with my memory, and messed up my motivation. I smoked everyday before bed for 2 years, after a while I started to get a little manic, and didn't know it! I disliked things and doing things for completley illiogical reasons. I knew I had to stop becasue, now when I smoked pot, it made me even more depressed. So I decided I needed to go see a pdoc, after quitting smoking for about 2 months. I had a very hard time sleeping after I stopped smoking, and felt depressed, unmotivated, and irritable. So my doc helped me out more so than I could have imagined. He put me on Remeron(30mg) and zyprexa(2.5mg) at night. This worked well for insomnia for a bout 3 months, then it stopped making me tired at all. I tired ambien but had bad nightmares and woke up feel unrested. I had also been diagnosed with ADD, the first thing I tried was concerta(ritalin) and that didn't work to well. Then I tried adderall(xr), which made me breathe to fast and hyper ventalate(I'm guess becasue of the l-isomer). Then I switched to dexedrine(generic spansules), and my god it worked much better than adderall or ritalin for me, I could sit still though my most boring class and actually pay attention! I was given generic klonopin to sleep, becasue my insomnia was casued by the anxiety of thinking I'm not going to be able to sleep, which made me not able to sleep.
Now I feel better and more productive than I have in my entire life. The zyprexa took a while to start working, but I noticed I didn't dislike things for completley irrational reasons anymore. About a month after taking 30mg remeron I noticed it was alot harder for me to be down and out about life. I was still struggling in school to pay attention but my 60mg generic dexedrine spansules actually made it a treat to goto class. The 1mg of klonopin I take to sleep works great, because I think my insomnia was casued by the anxiety of thinking I was not going to be able to sleep.
All in all it took a while for me and my pdoc to find the right meds, and now they are finally working great. I have absolutley no desire to smoke pot, or even drink alcohol. I've even changed my diet to a very healthy one with plenty of vegetables (like baby carrots for a snack instead of chips). I also try to avoid beef alltogether and only eat fish and chicken.
In conclusion I'm glad to have my memory back. I am glad I found the right meds finally. Lastly I believe my healthy diet played a huge role in me feeling better, I cannot express how important a healthy diet with all the vitamins, minerals, and amino acids is for your body and mind to function properly. Actually I find most people that I know who are depressed have horrible diets, and don't exercise. If you really want to become more functional then I suggest if you have chemical imbalance or hardwiring problem with you brain to not self medicate, and see a doctor. and also try to maintain a balanced and healthy diet with nutrient-rich food, and probobly some exercise and I think after a while you will notice that life doesn't have to be dull, boring, depressing, or meaningless. All you need is a little effort, and to ask for help if you know your having problems. That's the beauty of communication, we can learn from each other, and also learn how to help one another.
Sorry if I babbled, but I feel strongly about these issues, and I don't want anyone to feel helpless or like nobody can help them. becasue people are willing to help, as long as you ask them. Then maybe someday when you feel better, you can give the gift of compassionate help to somone else.
On another note: I have no problem at all with people who smoke cannabis, many of my friends do. It's just that some people can function and smoke cannabis just fine, but not me. It casued me alot of problems, and some of my frieds still smoke everyday and don't really have any problems at all. If your the type of person that pot screws with your motivation or brain chemistry, you will know it, you can tell if it's casuing you problems. If you notice that pot is affecting you adversly, I suggest you go see a psychiatrist as soon as possible, there are actually some really good pdoc's who know what your going through and really want to help. I send my compassion to those who are suffering becasue of substance abuse, I know it's hell, but you don't have to live that way. There are many people willing to help, I think if you let them help, you will find yourself actually enjoying life again.
and again, all of my compassion goes out to you, I know how frustrating and depressing it can be to be hooked on cannabis, in fact it made me the most depressed I have ever been. I send all my love to you people and hope you will find the strength to take the first step of getting help. Love ya all...
P.S. again I still have no problem with people smoking cannabis, some people fucntion fine on it, and I'm glad they do. I think it should be legalized because it has so many medicinal uses, but bear in mind there are some people who cannot handle it.
Peace and Tranquility -Robert
Posted by Dr. Bob on January 31, 2004, at 18:00:37
In reply to MEDS that helped me... get off POT (cannabis), posted by MaTurtle on January 30, 2004, at 16:37:41
Posted by Chairman_MAO on January 30, 2004, at 22:12:37
As someone who also holds the belief of "cannabis should be legal but I shouldn't smoke it all the time", I'd like to say three things:
1) It's quite possibly one of the WORST drugs for poeple with ADD to use habitually
2) Pot is pro-manic
2) Marijuana causes ludicrously high amounts of melatonin, a hormone intimately involved in sleep, to be secreted (somwhere on the order of up to 1300% of normal, I think). Stop smoking it habitually before bedtime, and your sleep cycle is "screwed, glued, and tatooed", so to speak. If we had the FDA regulating the stuff and it came with a monograph, we'd all know this and it wouldn't be a problem.
"The war on drugs is the social equivalent of an autoimmune disorder."
--Thomas Meacham, M.D.
Posted by Sebastian on February 1, 2004, at 9:59:04
In reply to MEDS that helped me... get off POT (cannabis), posted by MaTurtle on January 30, 2004, at 16:37:41
I agree zyprexa makes a great substitute for pot. I think it may have even helped me stop smoking. Taking 10 mg zyprexa a day. Use to smoke 20 joints a day. I also take 60 mg celexa, and 200 mg wellbutrin.
This is the end of the thread.
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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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