Is it harmful to vape every day for anxiety?

[pngwyn]

True enough. I honestly believe the "costs" are exaggerated because it's illegal, and mostly by people who haven't even tried it, but that is just my opinion. I know many MJ users share the same belief, though.

The fact that weed isn't legalized and cigarettes have been for many years now still baffles me

 

[Nosferatu]

A good way to look at is like this. Does MJ really solve most problems, or just temporarily fix them? So unless the problem your addressing with MJ is physical pain, arent you just covering it up. Which in the end will make it worse when you have to confront it. I see now though your problem may be a physical disorder, I at first thought it was just extreme anxiety, so I dont know what this means to you.

 

[salamanderfish]

Sometimes "covering it up" is the best that you can do tho. If there's no cure, there can still be treatment.

 

[djonkoman]

I see weed as a spice of life
just asvwith a dish, life already has a great taste, but you can bring out these flavors even better with the right dose of spice added to it, but too much and you'll ruin the entire dish(and what is to much changes from person to person so you should judge that yourself, I myself notice that for me weed doesn't become much quick, it's a gentle mild spice that can't take over the taste of life completely, altough if the taste of life is weak weed can overcome it more easily, and if your life is crappy to begin with, weed can't fix it, just cover the taste up a bit maybe, but the right combination of a good happy life and the right dosage of spice gives a great result better then both on their own)
this philosophy aplies to recreational use tough, medical would be a different story
I myself also use it slightly medicinal, but that's only a small part of my usage(it wakes me up/energizes me way better as coffee, I can get out of bed easier in the morning if I vaped the night before, and if I'm high I gain depth perception, I'm crosseyed but without a lazy eye, I just never look with both at the same time, except if I really concentrate on it or when I'm high on sativa, the sleepiness of indica counteracts it, and I also noticed that since I'm a daily vaporist it's a lot easier to look with both eyes even if I'm sober, and now there are even moment when I'm completely sober but do look with both eyes without concentrating on it, so in this instance weed is a cure, altough I don't know what would happen if I would stop for a longer time)
vaping is what got me into daily usage btw, smoking I would enjoy on ocassions(once a week, right before my switch to vaping maybe a few times a week but not daily), but I didn't like the burnout of smoking, I could never watch a movie to the end while high because I would asleep halfway trough
but with vaping this burnout is absent, with the right weed at least(enough sativa, with indica the burnout is there right from the start, even vaping, that's why I don't like strains with too much indica and I like it more the more sativa there's in it)
so with vaping daily usage is much more enjoyable, and since I can function just as well or even better if I'm high, it doesn't bring any harm to me
but I know this is very personal, and you have to know yourself and adjust your usage according to your knowledge of yourself(for example I have a friend who chooses to only get high in the weekends, since ke knows of himself that if he gets high trough the week it will affect his functioning in a negative way)

 

[crawdad]

I see weed as a spice of life
just asvwith a dish, life already has a great taste, but you can bring out these flavors even better with the right dose of spice added to it, but too much and you'll ruin the entire dish(and what is to much changes from person to person so you should judge that yourself, I myself notice that for me weed doesn't become much quick, it's a gentle mild spice that can't take over the taste of life completely, altough if the taste of life is weak weed can overcome it more easily, and if your life is crappy to begin with, weed can't fix it, just cover the taste up a bit maybe, but the right combination of a good happy life and the right dosage of spice gives a great result better then both on their own)

vape on.

 

[salamanderfish]

Agreed. I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[GreenLeaf]

If you have anxiety issues or panic attacks vaporizing or smoking herb may make it worse.

In the short term you may feel better at the time when you're high, but in the long run it won't get rid of the anxiety/panic and you'll be worse off.

If you go on a medication don't go on benzos unless you have to. Unlike SSRIs benzos are addictive and don't always help get rid of the anxiety/panic in the long run like an SSRI can.

Seeing a therapist may help as well.

Good luck.

 

[TwztedVaper]

Why does everyone think smoking/vaping weed will HIDE the problem? I don't really see weed as an
"escape", because for me at least the way I have been using it for the past year or so, it has helped bring to the forefront and help me tackle my problems from another perspective, which can be very very beneficial. It will let you explore your mind with much more ease, if you let it

 

[lwien]

Why does everyone think smoking/vaping weed will HIDE the problem? I don't really see weed as an
"escape", because for me at least the way I have been using it for the past year or so, it has helped bring to the forefront and help me tackle my problems from another perspective, which can be very very beneficial. It will let you explore your mind with much more ease, if you let it

Because weed can do both. It's not an either/or situation. Depends on the circumstances as well as the mental and emotional makeup of the person using it.

 

[darkrom]

I've used it successfully daily. Many days multiple times a day for anxiety (not in a medical state). It helps me more than any SSRI ever did and I have tried at least 20+ SSRIs, SNRIs, stimulants (yeah seriously they thought it would help) etc.


I find no real side effects at all unlike the eye twitches and what is known as "brain zaps" that people feel after using SSRI's for a while. Scary shit! I lost feeling in my right side of my body when on a SNRI. It would happen on days I took it and go away every day I would avoid taking it. Not a good sign IMO. Definitely not worth the side effects/ possible long term health issues for the mild relief, IF ANY, that these medications provide.

Also the only substance that I have ever felt truly addicted to in my life were benzos. They work for short term anxiety and they work well. In the long term they build tolerance so rapidly and are fiercely addicting.

Cannabis works well for preventative measures as well as that "instant relief" feeling that you can get from xanax. Just much safer in every way.

 

[stuartambient]

I find no real side effects at all unlike the eye twitches and what is known as "brain zaps" that people feel after using SSRI's for a while. Scary shit!

Darkrom - it is scary or weird at least. I was on Celexa for a year or two and then one day decided I was going to just stop taking them with no transition . Had those brain zaps, weird , hard thing to describe. They went away though after a few weeks. I kind of enjoyed them and read that it was a side effect and didn't seem to pose any great danger. Maybe a few fried synapses but hey.

Stuart

 

[stuartambient]

sure weed can mask problems, but the matrix can mask reality and I hear little warnings on that one.

 

[Pickzilla]

To the OP

I have suffered from anxiety attacks and debilitating depression for the majority of my life.

I have been on all sorts of SSRIs, keep a stock of benzo's on hand, and have been through tons of counseling. Seen many head shinkers.

I am also a very high (no pun) functioning individual. But at times I have almost lost everything because of my underlying disorder.

SSRIs help, sure, but they are no fix. I have learned through my 40 years of life that there is no fix, and we all have a cross to bear, in one shape or form. They are a band aid, just like any other medication is. There is no cure for my afflictions, I am sure of that now. I have just learned better how to deal with them.

MJ has helped my issues immensely. Just as effective as any SSRI I have taken, and no addiction, no withdrawl, no awful side effects. But like anything, everthing must be in moderation. So I vape 2-3x a week, and it really helps me with depression as well as anxiety.

Been smoking the good herb on and off all my life, and I can say, with much confidence, it has done me far more good than harm.

 

[rabblerouser]

a lot of my vaporizing is to help with my anxiety and stress. I still find it helpful after years of regular smoking and now just about 1 year of vaping. I'm getting older and have a decently high tolerance, but still find it very helpful.

Still, Ignoring other options for dealing with anxiety is probably a bad idea. Not saying you are, or that anything in particular will work. But you don't necessarily want / need to go with just cannabis.
I think cannabis helped me some, but I've been doing more than for my anxiety and think it definitely works better than cannabis alone.

Counseling, psych meds, hell just exercising, anything is also decent idea to check out.

I think Anxiety is a valid medical condition for a card in cali? So certainly far from alone doing it.

Some strains can definitely be more helpful, some I'd say can be anxiogenic, at least for some people. The more racing thoughts sativa types. I would not necessarily recommend those in general if you have anxiety, certainly if you're more keyed up than usual.

 

[pngwyn]

I just wanted to update this thread a little.. well I decided to ween off of it a little bit. Regardless of how beneficial it is for me, I am still young and I don't think developing a heavy reliance on it for the rest of my life is necessarily a good thing (though I've already been high the majority of 2-3 years).

This would be the first day I am taking off of MJ in a long long while.. slightly irritable, feel uncomfortable, random sweating, and when I tried to sleep I just sweat a bunch and then gave up.

The great feeling of anxiety. How miserable. I really need to figure out another way to cope, but I feel like the only other solution for me at this point are drugs that are worse than MJ...

Also any tips on how to go about weening off of it? I am considering taking this entire month off, but I don't want to just start vaping a ton again once the time is over.. binge vaping, or what not...and I am also not sure if going cold turkey is the best method to go about it..

 

[Nycdeisel]

I was in the same situation. started a break cold turkey a couple of weeks before 4/20, it was kind of tough the first week, but was actually refreshing and had somewhat less anxiety! and I usually have a lot of it, but KNOWING that I was only using herb to cope with that was making me even MORE on edge, so I knew what i had to do, and that was take a good break.
I literally binged for about 2 weeks straight, then started another break again, Im approaching one week right now! and you know what, I feel pretty good. I realized I really needed to find other ways of coping with stress and anxiety, without always just running over to my vape, which was extremely easy with the 'system' I had in place regarding my herb and paraphernalia.

However, I found it SO SO SO easy to fall back into my old binge type of routine, that was bad, I need to learn how to not get into that pattern when I resume my usage. I dont have many cravings now, though I have dank herb here, I watch videos that are basically weed porn AND I am always lurking AND posting on here and on GC, which actually helps me to kind of satisfy sudden cravings.

I found it most important to take it each day at a time. I also went with a friend of mine(who was having a couple of other problems that I wont discuss here) to an MA meeting, somewhere I never pictured myself in a million years! but I learned something from the crazy, freak, and what seemed like exaggerated(but were not) stories that people shared there.

Im not going to tell YOU how to go about this or what to do, because this was basically an experiment on myself, and these are my observations, take from them what you will.
good luck on your journey! remember, take each day at a time, Im still doing this, and probably have a long way to go still, until I feel my habits are stable and I can maintain a fairly healthy regimen.