New outlook on weed...

Hey guys, I am not sure which forum to post this in. I usually hang out over in the politics forum but this doesn't really fit there. It does fit with legalization and activism to a decent degree though.

Up until about three months ago I had never smoked weed. Not once. It happened while I was looking at a house in northern Cali (where I just moved to) and a buddy I am renting it from was smoking. Just a brief background is that I never wanted to smoke pot because watching my brother as a teenager constantly high and acting like a dumbass pushed me from it. Later it became a helpful bonus for a few jobs I had in the past. But now, life has shifted greatly and that is no longer a concern. I am a grown ass man and am no longer influenced by those around me as we all were as teenagers. This of course wrapped MJ into every other drug and thus, I was completely anti-drug from then on.

I also served in the Marine Corps for 8 years and did my fun time in the sand box. Needless to say, I was one of the very lucky to bring back PTSD from my last deployment. I have been out for almost 6 years now and every night, like tonight, I have horrible nightmares. Most often I get night terrors within 15 minutes of falling asleep. Tonight was a bad one.

So, now I am up two hours after originally going to sleep and will stay up the rest of the night because of this wonderful experience. I also just loaded a nice fatty and lit up a few minutes ago. And here is the very interesting thing. I do not know how many of you may suffer from moderate-severe PTSD. I have moderate, so I still function reasonably (for the most part). Since I have been smoking, which is maybe 8-9 times per week, on the days I smoke before bed I have no problems. In fact, I get the best sleep in years...many years. I wake up completely refreshed and ready for a full day. I also do not fall asleep wondering if it is going to be a really night or just a bad send off. Before I smoked, I can count on one hand where I have actually had a full 6-8 hours of sleep in over 6 years.

I am not one who feels kids should have it similarly to alcohol, but I have turned a 180 degree from my previously view on pot. You all pretty much have the arguments for supporting it down pat so I need not list them. Whether it be relegated to a medical MJ program only, I would still be fine with that. But I find myself taking less pain killers and have the best sleep sans nightmares. I feel physically and mentally stronger after smoking before bed. During the day when my pains get intense, I may end up taking 1 pain killer for the day versus the normal 5-6 if I take a few hits. I do not get completely blazed, but 3-5 hits and I am still pretty functional.

I would not want to work a crane or some other dangerous and very important work...but working around the yard or otherwise being constructive with my time.

I guess I just wanted to share my little experience and the change I have made, along with the clear medical benefits that I am living proof of.

Any comments or arguments are welcome.

 

Hey guys, I appreciate all your kind words along with encouragement. Regarding the comments of opposition to the war, personally I would like to avoid the political discussion in my responses as there are many different views on the war along with more appropriate topics within this and other forums. I am not trying to cut anyone else' comments, simply my own in that regard.

I have been astonished at the benefits compared to negatives of weed though. I was even more surprised when I learned that the government already has like 13 different patents on medical implementations on MJ. Buuuuut...it is illegal. Riddle me that one, uh?

As for the tolerance levels, I do not foresee myself having problems with that. Even with my other medication I spread out the doses and even take medicine holidays to bring the balance back. Before doing that I ended up getting hooked and went through withdrawals when I ran out early. Learned a hard lesson there...self-discipline.

The whole sleep thing really amazes me. I have tried numerous different meds from over the counter sleep aids all the way to anti-psychotics for the dreams. With the OTC drugs I fall asleep but still have horrible dreams. With the anti-psychotics I end up sleeping with no dreams but am like a zombie for 12 hrs after waking...completely worthless. After 2 weeks, the dreams start coming back even in the heavier drugs.

All that bullshit...smoke half a joint and nighty night, sleep tight.

I have truly reached the point where I firmly believe that pharmaceuticals are the main driving force behind keeping MJ illegal. I mean, think of how many drugs will become unnecessary and how fewer dosages of addicting medications will be needed! That is a lot of lost revenue. Let alone fewer addicts to prescription narcotics. Just following that logic alone and the evidence is pretty heavy.

Then add the fact that weed only became illegal in the late 70's? Why, that is also the same time period where funding became massively injected into pharmaceuticals. But, maybe I am just a tin-hat wearer.

 

I have tried this method and it often works for waking up, however, it has not reduced or prevented my dreams. I have tried numerous different tactics including assistance from a few different professionals. No luck so far.

Here is the very awkward part about my dreams. They happen in two different ways, night terrors and nightmares. The nightmares are really not so bad...I mean, they are bad but they do not really cause me problems. Basically, I know that when I have woken from a nightmare, it was just that, a nightmare. They usually occur after I have been asleep for a while, maybe 3-5 hours? They suck and are extremely violent and very frightening, but once I wake up the problem is over.

The night terrors are a completely different animal. They generally occur within 10-15 minutes of falling asleep. They have occurred as quickly as within 5 minutes! Insane. I didn't know that could even happen. So, the theme is generally the same with someone or something trying to get into my house and kill me or my wife. The dreams spin differently but the theme is pretty much the same each time.

What is so problematic is that I cannot move in any way shape or form, literally being paralyzed. At first it seems like reality and eventually I realize I am dreaming so I try to wake myself up...actually, I try to wake up my wife by making noise since I cannot move my lips or mouth at all. It gets a bit more complex in that I generally wake up 3 times before my wife is shaking me in reality. That means, I am actually having three dreams within each other. The most deep dream is the most realistic and violent where I am sometimes stabbed, throat cut or choked to death. Sometimes I wake before it happens but I can feel the pain in my dreams. I rarely realize I am dreaming at this point.

When I wake up from the most deep dream I feel much better since "I just woke up." But then there is some new threat, whether it is just a fear or concern of a threat or a real threat (in the dream). This is the point where I realize I am dreaming and begin screaming for my wife to wake me up. Once in a while she tells me she can hear me asking for help very clearly...at least as clearly as you can understand mumbling. At this point of the dream I cannot move in any way shape or form which is probably the most fear-inducing event of the process. I am lying there completely helpless to any threat.

I open my eyes and think I am awake and can hear my wife talking to me or shaking me but the gears are still turning in my subconscious. It is very awkward as it is like my subconscious and conscious brain are openly communicating...that is the best way to describe it. I know it sounds wacked out. When I finally wake up for real, my fight or flight process is still very very active and I generally get up and walk around the house and go outside to walk around the house with my surefire light and pistol.

I am not crazy or psychotic and looking for something to shoot, it is just the remnant fear that a threat "may be there" and I need to see with my own eyes that everything is fine. I generally take about 30 minutes to clear my head and fully calm down to a point where I can go back to sleep.

This occurs about 5 out of 7 days a week. On average, I would say I end up staying awake for the night about 2 days a week due to the night terrors. The night terrors very rarely occur twice in a night. Unless it is very bad (where I stay up all night) I am able to go back to sleep with confidence it will not occur again.

This has been my life for around 7 years now. Very rough. So, after having smoked for a month and seeing the results, it is truly amazing. I think I said this earlier, not sure, but I have not smoked on a few nights just to make sure I am not "finding a reason to smoke" and sure as shit, I had the bad dreams and night terrors.

With the nightmares, they still happen if I smoke but they are far less fear inducing compared to non-smoke nights.

On another topic, my wife takes muscle relaxers and anxiety meds. Since we moved she no longer has access to her old doctor. On top of that, we are financially unable to afford regular doctor visits since neither of us have insurance. Since she has run out of her meds, once in a while she will smoke with me before going to sleep. And! Imagine that, she is far better off than when she has her meds.

And please, remember, this is not coming from a guy who is a complete pothead. I have never smoked pot before in my life. I still am not a pothead and yet I now fully 100% support medical marijuana. Where, just 5 months ago I did not in any way. I always had a "to each his own" outlook on weed, not ardently against or for it. I state this to give credence to the facts that MJ has some SERIOUS medical benefits. I do not speak for other medical problems it helps as I have no experience there. But, for moderate-severe PTSD, pain and other effects of neurological disorders (the wife), MJ is highly beneficial.

I hope that one day soon the opportunity presents itself for me to be more active in supporting MMJ processes. It has changed my life that much.

 

My problem just turned 7 years old...happy new year...lmao. Did it just go away for you or did you try something else?

 

Well, the good thing is that you get medical coverage and support in the military so there are alternatives that can be used. I had chronic migraines while I was in but different meds and treatment plans helped that.

But, you also did make a commitment that you knew the requirements of, let alone the criminal aspect under the rules. Of course, your choice is yours my friend.