antidepressants + weed???

[Nodnorb]

i have been dignosed with severe depression and and just started taking zoloft will that conflict with my smoking?are there any problems with smoking and being on anti depressants? thanks in advance everyone get back to me

[TheSmokingMonkey]

Shouldn't be.

Side note: when I got off my SSRI (Celexa) smoking helped me with the side effects. I'd gotten off it previously without smoking and it sucked. But the smoking really helped.

Not to talk you out of the zoloft - antidepressants can be very effective - but I prefer the depression to the side effects of the drugs.

[Jay Matix]

Once you get on antidepressants its hard to get off and they usually end up making you more depressed.

I'd just stick to weed and fight it.

[dejayou30]

i read something somewhere that said every depression med has been found to increase suicidal thoughts even in people who didn't have them to begin with. and there are all kinds of side effects to anti depressants. be careful.

[billos]

Screw the Zoloft....been on it for 16 years and I hate it. They put me on it for OCD.....the only reason I still take it is because it screws with my head when I don't take it. Tell your Doc to shove it. I smoke when I can and it is much better. :)

[friendowl]

dont take this the wrong way im one of you "depressed" people
but taking medicine is going to fuck you up bad
just because your not comfortable in your own skin dont mean
other people like doctors should fuck with your head even more
using them manmade chemicals
once you start taking them meds and you stop
the chancers are greater that youll be even worse

my life was and is very difficult
but with th eright exercise and books and good food
and dont forget the bomb ass indo
depresseion is drug companies idea of marketing
do you think our ancestors were depressed like we claim to be
hell no they were busy fucking and working and getting drunk

fuck a depression
its all in your head

[MacWQ33]

Try a natural anti-depressant like 5-HTP, no side effects, non-addictive, and it works in like a day...not weeks like that bullshit. I think anything you can get from a doctor is a bad idea, its all synthetic crap that will make it worse in the long haul.

[Nodnorb]

thanks guys i cant really come off because of my parents they think i need it
but ill try and talk them out of it anyway i dont really even want it

[Mean Green Charlene]

If you really don't want to take them,and parents are forcing you; Just throw it and say you took it.

[Nochowderforyou]

There's nothing wrong with going on anti-depressants. If it helps you get through your day then take it. This doesn't mean you have to take it for the rest of your life, it just means right now you need to keep going. There should be no shame in taking prescription drugs.

And yes, in some people, those pills can make on even more depressed. Just monitor closely your behaviour and don't do anything rash. Not everyone is the same though, and the depressed ones who take the pills and end up more depressed, is a very, very small number.

I have been on Effexor for several years, and a couple of months ago I decided to try and get off of it. Things didn't go well and suicide was in my thoughts daily. Depression doesn't hurt just mentally, it hurts physically as well. I decided I needed it so I am now back on it and things are stable again.

Some depression is only a temporary thing, until you figure out why you're depressed, but in some cases, like me, no matter what kind of life you live, that lack of seretonin is in my brain, so I need those meds. to get the flow of seretonin flowing again. The less flow, the more depressed you get.

I would be more than happy to use cannabis and cannabis alone to treat my sickness, but it is illegal in my case, and I can't go out every break at work and smoke to cheer my mood up again. I was smoking 10-15 times a day just to keep my going, and like I said, I'm at work 9hrs a day, so I can't just go out and smoke. I'd rather take a small pill once a day to keep me going.

Just keep a close eye on your mood and don't listen to everyone when they say you don't need it. If it helps, then take it.

[narrowswallaces]

I agree with nochowderforyou. I am on meds too, and it helps me a lot. Some people do need them daily to maintain an even keel. Do what you think is right...

[birdgirl73]

So sorry to hear about the severe depression. I know that's the worst, Nodnorb.

Antidepressants work well for many hundreds of thousands of people. For others, they don't. They can certainly have tricky implications with teenagers, which means caution and very gradual upward and downward dosing is important.

I think it's important to respect Nodnorb's choice to try the Zoloft and not to strongly recommend against or denounce antidepressants. He's the one with severe depression. He's got his own unique body and neurochemistry. He needs to see how the drug works for himself. Ideally he needs to do that without any pre-existing projected opinions so he can honestly assess its effectiveness.

It's for that same reason--the fact that you need to see how the Zoloft affects you and assess how you feel on it--that'd I'd probably suggest a break from weed-smoking for about six weeks or maybe a bit longer until you get up to the suggested dose of your meds. Then, if you're clearly feeling better on those meds, you can add some weed back into the mix and see how it interacts. If you combine both substances early on, you're not going to truly know what the effects are of your prescribed meds. Mosts of the medical establishment, of course, would strongly advise against using weed at any time on those meds, but I think it's worth seeing how they work togther, considering how good a natural antidepressant weed is for many. (Be aware that for plenty of others, the opposite is true.) I just believe it'd be wise to wait until you first know how you're reacting to the antidepressant alone.

Good luck to you, Nodnorb. Hope you feel better soon!

[UKdruglover]

antidepressants + weed = FUN, NICE. :stoned:

:thumbsup: :D :) ;)

[suhl]

i have never seen how there is a big difference in taking anti depressants to be happy or just taking heoine to be happy it is splitting hairs to me, and you can become dependent on both. though more so heroine and that will only be about a happy year before the bad things start happening. the point is that is all they are, taking drugs to be happy. i dont like the idea of people especially in kids taking that shit i think you should at least let someone grow a few years before you decide they are severely depressed. i had a friend who started taking zoloft, then within a few month his mom found him passed out on his bedroom floor next to an empty bottle of painkillers. he got his stomach pumped and was fine, but still id be careful with that shit. and i really dont see a difference in taking anti depressants to escape reality or weed or booze to escape reality. you have to face problems head on. god knows i have felt like shit at times, but it hasnt lasted more than a week ever. but then again my mom is taking some anti depressant i dont know if it is zoloft, but either way this could be a situation where i dont know what its like until im severely depressed, but i still dont see how they can be diagnosing teenagers with it, and i guarentee it is frequently misdiagnosed, they say it is a chemical imbalance that causes it yet the only test they do for it is a psychiatrist evaluation. and if you dont want to go on it you shouldnt have to.

[suhl]

until they can definitively prove if a kid is depressed i dont think they should go around handing out prescriptions to that shit which is exactly what you do. if i walked into a psychiatrists office telling him how bad i felt hed give it to me it isnt like they can read your mind. and even with all these anti depressants drugs more and more people, particularly teenagers, are killing themselves every year. sad world. but i guess these miracle drugs can prevent all that...

[Immolation]

If you really don't want to take them,and parents are forcing you; Just throw it and say you took it.

Your parents aren't stupid.Eventually they would notice changes if there are any.Just be honest with yourself and be prepared to go back on the meds if people notice drastic changes in your behavior. :smokin:

[Immolation]

I'm on Lexapro.10mg/day.I get really agititated when I stop.I don't know what it would be like just taking pot and beer.I have noticed my hangovers are not nearly as bad being on Lexapro.On a typical day I would drink 4-5 Icehouse and smoke a few bongloads through a ice bong.:stoned:

[suhl]

Your parents aren't stupid.Eventually they would notice changes if there are any.Just be honest with yourself and be prepared to go back on the meds if people notice drastic changes in your behavior. :smokin:

yes namely the the change, my kid is a robot. like robots need oil to function, he needs drugs to be happy. so thats all they are for you, they are like your fuel

[Dutch Masta]

Yeah i'd advise against that shit. Your only medication should be weed. This way, you not only get to deal with it on your own.. but your getting high while your doing it :thumbsup:

[GrowinGranny]

After a lifetime of depression and a lot of meds that didn't work and useless therapy, I finally found the right antidepressant when I was in my 40s and felt for the first time like I had a life. It saddens me to think of the wasted years of my life that could have been so much more productive and more pleasurable if I hadn't been suffering from depression. It's wrong to tell someone they don't need antidepressants, that they only need weed. Some people need antidepressants like diabetics need insulin...it's just the way their body chemistry works. The tendency toward depression and other mental illnesses is often hereditary. Not all antidepressants work for all people the same way that pot affects different people in different ways. So it's sometimes it's necessary to try more than one to find one that works with the minimum amount of unwanted effects (side effects). I believe they're overprescribed, often by doctors and NPs and PAs that I don't believe are adequately schooled in in psychopharmaceuticals. There's too many advertisements on TV and in magazines that say just ask your doctor and make people think treating depression is as easy as just popping a pill, unfortunately for most people it's more complicated. Often the dosage needs to be started slowly and built up, and conversely, if one drug isn't working, you often must taper off before starting another to avoid serious health risks and drug interactions. Sometimes it takes a combination of medications to work. When you're depressed it's not easy making decisions and getting things done, but you must find the most skilled psychopharmacologist that you can trust and be honest with him or her about how you're feeling and what other drugs you're using or they can't help you. If you go to one you don't like, try someone else. If you're having trouble getting motivated to get help, maybe a friend can make the phone calls for you to make appointments and help you get there. Do whatever it takes, but don't suffer needlessly from depression--take it from Granny, life's too freakin' short.

[birdgirl73]

Three cheers for GrowinGranny. I liked what you said--and how you said it!

[TheSmokingMonkey]

If you really don't want to take them,and parents are forcing you; Just throw it and say you took it.

I agree. Don't rock the boat. Just pitch 'em down the drain each morning or shove it into your pocket till you can toss it out later. Then a month later you can be like "I don't think those things are working. I don't think I feel or act any different on them."

:thumbsup:

[dutch.lover]

weed is a natural antidepressant. it should work for you without u having to take Rx drugs. i know people who have been on antidepressants and i always hear them say that they feel so much happier once they go off the drugs. but you have just gotta do whatever works best for you.

[Dutch Masta]

Weed is a natural anti-depressant. Who feels worse every time they smoke? If you felt anything but amazing after you smoked pot, people wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars per ounce of dried flower off a natural growing plant.. and there wouldn't be anyone on these forums. Obviously, it works.

Anti-depressants do not always do what they are supposed to, mostly because there is no sure way of "curing" depression. Along with the fact that they are so heavily over prescribed, and have the potential to cause a lot more harm than good, expecially when it comes to addictions. You naturally will get over whatever depression you experienced, and sooner or later, not even remember how you were able to feel like that. So yes, people use drugs and alcohol to cope with that time it takes to get over things.. everyone does it. People incorperate it into their lives to deal with the hardships of life.

And the thought of having to use an anti-depressant in order to go on with my life, would completely diminish my self esteem right off the bat. So unless you *really* need an anti-depressant, I dont see how anyone could ever recommend one.

[biker6403]

i have been dignosed with severe depression and and just started taking zoloft will that conflict with my smoking?are there any problems with smoking and being on anti depressants? thanks in advance everyone get back to me

I'm taking Paxil I still smoke on a daily basis.I like my beer also and I don't notice any side effects.:smokin:

[beachguy in thongs]

The Paxil and the marijuana will counteract each other, and, neither drug will be as efficacious.

The beer will compound the side-effects of the Paxil, but, at least the marijuana will ease your brain from killing off it's cells.

[biker6403]

Thanks,beachguy until my doctor can write me a scrpt for pot I guess I'm in trouble.:D