Fluoxetine (Prozac)

I can't ask for more information? I'm bipolar and I suffer with med resistant depression. If weed helps then I would be interested to know more about it. Research is very important and if the poster and yourself have already done that then why wouldn't you share?

I lived in California for 5 years and I am well aware of many of the reasons weed is prescribed. Quite frankly, some of them are bogus. Ask anyone who has a scrip and they will tell you that.

So, care to share or do I forget doing research and rely on a post on a forum? That would contradict what you are saying somewhat.

 

My experience, over a 4 or 5 year period of moderate daily use, that I just didn't let things get to me. A kind of laissez faire attitude. It helped with my anxiety and seemed to replace my depression with a laid back feeling.

Is that how it works for you or does it actually lift your spirits?

 

I apologize...I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't ask for more info. It's just that weed actually does help with depression, as it seems you sort of say in the post to Shiv just above this post.

You say that some of the reasons weed is prescribed "are bogus"...but being prescribed it for depression is not one of the bogus ones from my personal experience.

I'd say read a LOT of studies...and I'm quite sure you will find that for each one that says it does not help, there will be 1 (or most likely 2) that says it does.

I speak of it helping with depression from personal experience (myself) as well as a few others I know in r/l. I can't say they had med-resistant depression, but I do know they were on meds for depression, and that only weed helped to get them out of the darkest pit, not the pills.

I truly hope you find something that works, and I do encourage you to do your research...and not to rely only on forums. BUT when you read over and over that ppl are helped with their depression by weed, as well as it seems you were, please don't disregard it. That is all I meant.

 

Thanks. That's cool. I wasn't trying to make enemies :2thumbsup:

I suppose it's immaterial since I no longer live in a state where we have medical marijuana laws. But I just can't seem to stop being extremely interested. In yourthe experiencs does it actually lift your mood?

I wasn't actively self medicating with it at the time although looking back I was subconsciously. I did feel crappy when I didn't smoke it. I put that down to addiction, physical or psychological, I'm not sure.

For me it just replaced my depression with a couldn't careless feeling. I wasn't in the abyss of depression but rather I was just flatlined. It didn't lift me up to what I would expect a non depressed person would feel. Does it lift you up or just keep you out of the depressive hole?

 

A bit of both. If I'm feeling really bad and I smoke it can go one way or another, however, in my case I've never had an actual diagnosis of anything. I cant say major depression because I only get depressed for a few days at a time, unless my life is in shambles and something is happening. What I can tell you however, is that I think the issue is that when I have a bit of a low/downer period - like we all do - like if I cant take stress at work and it's been raining for weeks, I sometimes fall into this shitty state of mind that is like a vicious cycle. ''Theres something wrong with my brain, I'll always feel like this, I'll never amount to anything because of this (even though I've already amounted to alot), I'm afraid ill end up killing myself (even though it's the last thing I want to do)''.

Negative thoughts breed more negative thoughts, which breed more negative emotions, which breed more negative thoughts, and so on.

So on days where I feel myself slipping and obsessing about this, alot of the time, it's the weed that breaks that cycle. Getting home and smoking a nice joint just kinda shifts my perspective, helps me focus on something else, makes me laugh a bit, helps me sleep... It's kind of like hitting the reset button sometimes.

I don't know whether you are bipolar I or II or cyclothymic, but my doctor believed I was cyclothimic at one point, and reading up on it, it seems ALOT of people benefit a great deal from weed for controlling their manic/hypomanic episodes.

Weed is a tool. It's not the be all end all to everything, but it can be a great tool. What I do know for a fact, is that regarding my own personal choice, I'm never sticking an SSRI/SNRI in my body again. Avoid at all costs if you can. I dont know that I believe in the whole permanent chemical imbalance thing, and I do know that diet, exercise, sleep, meditation, and a healthy lifestyle in general and a positive attitude can pretty much rewire a brain in crisis to a nice healthy happy brain. It just takes discipline, and sometimes years, which is not always ideal in our fast-food nation.

 

It will take anywhere from two weeks to a month to begin feeling the full effects of it. It should just help you from getting depressed, they might try a benzo alongside with that for your anxiety if the prozac doesn't help. A lot of people find that prozac will sometimes give them a bit of hypo-mania. Another thing, which is a perk for some, it will make it harder for you to have an orgasm. Good luck, I hope it works for you. Try to keep up on your refills, going without it is hell and can send you into a deep depression quick.