Posted by octopusprime on May 12, 2004, at 21:15:29
In reply to Re: Meds and Marijuana- Am I OK?, posted by Dauphine on May 12, 2004, at 15:19:38
ladies:
before and during my worst depressive episode, i was a chronic stoner. on the advice of my doctor, i did stop smoking weed (and gave it up cold turkey for almost two years before taking another toke)
in my opinion i needed the time away from the drugs, and it was extremely beneficial to me. the first three months were the hardest.
like dauphine, i think, i thought i was highly functional as a stoner. during that time i graduated from university with an 80% average in my classes.
since that time though i realize my mental acuity was sub-par - my short term and long term memory has really improved. better concentration too - i can read novels again.
two other major improvements happened: i no longer have to associate with somewhat less than desirable people to get drugs (had some scary buying experiences with weird people) and i had to come up with constructive ways to spend the time i used stoned before.
it took the full two years to rebuild my life to the point where smoking every day wouldn't fit. and some of the activities i took up to fill the time (playing music, riding my bike, hiking on the weekends, etc) are more likely to ward off the depression than the previous activities.
somebody asked about anti-psychotics - i couldn't sleep without smoking up before, and my doc wouldn't provide benzos because of my history of substance use. so i took 25 mg seroquel nightly, which helped to calm down the jittery swirly thoughts that prevented me from sleeping. i did feel a little lethargic (and required 9-10 hours of sleep a night), but it did help a lot.
i don't want to go all polyanna on you people, but i did think quitting helped to straighten my head out a lot. i have been smoking a few joints here and there now, and i think i need to stop because i'm sort of on the verge of breaking again.
just something to consider.
poster:octopusprime
thread:342332
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20040409/msgs/346297.html