Posted by mtdew on January 9, 2004, at 21:36:13
In reply to Re: Marijuana dependance treatment using SSRIs/SNRIs, posted by crazychickuk on January 9, 2004, at 10:36:41
I feel like throwing in my opinion even though I've never been a marijuana addict. In my gut I agree with crazychickuk about pursuing sustained abstinence, for at least a year. Marijuana doesn't act directly on dopamine, serotonin, or norepinephrine; it has its own receptors and acts on a totally different brain system. So don't worry about trying to duplicate the effects of marijuana on your brain. It sounds like having marijuana in your brain for such a long time has upset the natural equilibrium, and so ideally, your long-term goal is to allow this equilibrium to come back on its own, which may take a long period of abstinence. If you feel you are depressed, you may experiment with different psychiatric drugs (or even therapy) to alleviate this separate problem. I would recommend caution in this area, however, as some psychiatric drugs are in many ways "harder" drugs than pot, and you may wind up digging yourself a bigger hole. The experience of many suggests that SSRIs are relatively safe and benign, so I would suggest trying out more than one of these (e.g. prozac, celexa, zoloft, luvox, etc.) before moving on to something positively frightening like Effexor. I am not sure where Wellbutrin fits into this spectrum, but I think it's probably more dangerous than SSRIs and perhaps somewhat less than Effexor.
People who have been addicted to heroin often find that they can't function well after coming off it, even after getting through the acute withdrawals, and that's why there are methadone maintenance programs. It sounds like this is the sort of thing you need, if it existed, for pot.
Perhaps look into an actual drug treatment counselor, or a support group, as you will benefit from their experience. The theories about neurotransmitters that your psychiatrist has cooked up are probably nonsense.
poster:mtdew
thread:298502
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040109/msgs/298855.html