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Aspergers and Marijuana

C

camdengolf

Well-Known Member
I am a 21 year old male who has aspergers. I take a lot of medications and they seem to work and then stop working for me completely in about 3-4 weeks. So I am trying medical marijuana since i live in ca and have been through a lot these past 2 years, and i have to say it really helps. I had two appointments with my counselor this week and she even noticed a difference. She said "the apserger's traits seem to disappear almost completely," which gives me much hope and i have to also say that it is working also as an anti-depressant, i am replacing one of my anti-depressants with this and i feel as though it works better! It just helps me enjoy life substantially better. I am re-taking interest in Golf, that i used to love and play everyday, now i only play once a week but i feel like getting out more now.
I wanted to post this because of how well i feel the medical marijuana is working and helping me deal with my symptoms. And my symptoms have been getting the best of me for the last 2 years. Until now i feel better, like i can participate in life more fully and enjoyably.
I want to hear some responses, what people think and if people are going to try this out!
 
My husband is undiagnosed Aspergers and now retired. He is now addicted to pot. He smokes it every night. It does make him talk. But also makes him want to argue when he is finally talking. I've wondered if the AS like the pot better than the NT?

His white blood cell count was up. The doctors did further testing and said "you have spots on you lungs - not good" the beginnning of the end. They said quit smoking or you will get cancer fast. The doctors told him pot is worse for your lungs than ciggarettes. He smokes a pack or more a day.

My conclusion - pot causes cancer to the lungs.
 
It does, it has a lot more carcinogens than regular tobacco. I would say the anti-depressant point is a side effect (not caring) from it. Who the heck is giving this to you as medical marijuana? A doctor suggested it for AS?
 
Pot worked extremely well for me as an antidepressant--certainly much better than any SSRI I've ever been prescribed! It got me out of my own head and helped me organize my thoughts and look at things more objectively--basically, like a re-boot of my thoughts and emotions. Having had that time to think, it helped my outlook on things and thus the effects carried over to well after the high had subsided. I miss it.
 
It scares me too, guys. The thought of lung cancer (not to mention being stones all the time) sounds worse that whatever condition the person is smoking it for. Is there a way he can continue taking it but without smoking it? What aspect of Asperger's (which is not a debilitating & painful medical condition) is he taking it for: anxiety? It can be calming- but you said he becomes more verbal but also more argumentative (might just be his own personality too...). The weed people smoke today is not the same mild herb enjoyed by hippies back in the 60's. It too is grown with GMO seeds to yield harvests with much higher concentrations of THC than the hippies ever dreamed of.

The thing with so many drugs (not just 'medical' weed) that they can become addictive after very little exposure, they can lose potency after a while meaning that the person has to take more & more to gain the same levels of relief & they can have devastating effects on other parts of the body. Also, NONE has been tested on a significant sample of Aspies to gauge the effects on our Neuro-atypical brains! So many people here seem to be struggling from Klonopin & have gone through hell to get off of it & survive the withdrawal process. With many of us having obsessive tendencies to begin with & a tendency to zone out or be clumsy, how wise is it to take drugs with these very side effects?
 
Only did it during the 4yrs of high school but quite a bit. I quit by graduation though. I learned to relax and be uninhibited without it.
That free spirit was always inside me I just needed to unlock it!
 
Soup said:
It scares me too, guys. The thought of lung cancer (not to mention being stones all the time) sounds worse that whatever condition the person is smoking it for. Is there a way he can continue taking it but without smoking it? What aspect of Asperger's (which is not a debilitating & painful medical condition) is he taking it for: anxiety? It can be calming- but you said he becomes more verbal but also more argumentative (might just be his own personality too...). The weed people smoke today is not the same mild herb enjoyed by hippies back in the 60's. It too is grown with GMO seeds to yield harvests with much higher concentrations of THC than the hippies ever dreamed of.

The thing with so many drugs (not just 'medical' weed) that they can become addictive after very little exposure, they can lose potency after a while meaning that the person has to take more & more to gain the same levels of relief & they can have devastating effects on other parts of the body. Also, NONE has been tested on a significant sample of Aspies to gauge the effects on our Neuro-atypical brains! So many people here seem to be struggling from Klonopin & have gone through hell to get off of it & survive the withdrawal process. With many of us having obsessive tendencies to begin with & a tendency to zone out or be clumsy, how wise is it to take drugs with these very side effects?
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I can say from my own anecdotal experience that weed did indeed intensify my Aspie tendencies--mainly poor social functioning and "zoning out," as you say, which is the reason I usually did it alone. Also from my anecdotal experience, I've been addicted to Klonopin and am still addicted to nicotine, but I had no problem whatsoever quitting marijuana. The main danger as far as that is concerned is plain old psychological addiction--which is dangerous enough in itself. But it's like I said--I smoked it not so much for the high as for the aftereffects of that high.
 
camdengolf said:
i have experienced the opposite, it decreases my aspergers symptoms/tendencies and gets me to relax and be ok with change.
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I understand. I see this in my AS husband. He loves the pot. But he has more than AS. He had a really bad child hood and is now in denial about it. When he was in his thirties he admitted to the abuse, but now that he is close to 60,,, his abusive parents have become saints in his mind. I believe that his addiction is more related to his abuse as a child ,,,,than to his aspergers. It's a choice we make, some choose to deal with the pain of the past, some choose to medicate it. My husbands pot addiction is his choice, I feel sad that it is killing him, causing lung cancer. But it is his life and this is what he chooses. I will miss him when he goes.
 
You may not need as much to get the medicinal effect. My boyfriend's son does pot for bipolar, and he never actually seemed high to me. Whereas my roommate turned into a complete idiot when she did pot and ate everything in sight. There are other ways to do pot other smoking it, I guess that may just be the easiest way. I know some people will bake it into brownies. If you bake it you could bake a batch then eat one and freeze the rest. On some of the medical marijana sites will explain the effects of different methods of consumption. For example they said baking it will take longer for it to take effect but the effects will last longer. There is also a liquid form that can be added topically to the skin, put under the tongue or put into tea. I will say that for the feeling of being high from pot was very uncomfortable, it felt the same as when i I dissociate which happens alot when I am very stressed. There was no positive in it for me.
 
I repeat very importantly, Marijuana does not cause lung cancer by itself. However, if you smoke Tobacco already, and you decide to smoke Marijuana too...your risk for lung cancer goes UP by 300%!
So Marijuana is safe if smoked by itself! Stop worrying about the health risks because there practically are NONE. But there are soooo many benefits, and not only to Asperger's patients but to many other illness inflicted people as well!
Comments welcomed.
 
camdengolf said:
So Marijuana is safe if smoked by itself! Stop worrying about the health risks because there practically are NONE. But there are soooo many benefits, and not only to Asperger's patients but to many other illness inflicted people as well!
Comments welcomed.
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It is not safe to smoke anything. The smoking paper and inhalation can cause harm, whatever you are smoking.

There are other ways to take or inhale cannabis that are safer.
 
Soup said:
The weed people smoke today is not the same mild herb enjoyed by hippies back in the 60's. It too is grown with GMO seeds to yield harvests with much higher concentrations of THC than the hippies ever dreamed of
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I think that's a really important point. In my opinion, they've ruined weed. It's not the relaxant it was when I first used it.
 
My dad smokes pot to self medicate. It is slowly tearing my family apart. He has lost his business, has literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and treats everyone in the family like crap. He upset my mum when at my wedding (as my wedding wasn't in my home country and he had to leave he couldn't bring his pot with him) which left a black mark on my wedding. My dad doesn't care about his family and how his pot smoking affects everyone. Kind of like my father in law and cigarettes. I would not advise pot as a solution to your problems.

My family on both sides has issues with what people would call "soft drugs". Marijuana can tear everything apart. I am also surprised that you can get it for AS. Mostly because of the addictive qualities that go with it. We have addictive natures ... when you look at how we obsess over things. And this is something I can just see as leading to destruction for any aspie.
 
Dragon's Tooth said:
My dad smokes pot to self medicate. It is slowly tearing my family apart. He has lost his business, has literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and treats everyone in the family like crap. He upset my mum when at my wedding (as my wedding wasn't in my home country and he had to leave he couldn't bring his pot with him) which left a black mark on my wedding. My dad doesn't care about his family and how his pot smoking affects everyone. Kind of like my father in law and cigarettes. I would not advise pot as a solution to your problems.

My family on both sides has issues with what people would call "soft drugs". Marijuana can tear everything apart. I am also surprised that you can get it for AS. Mostly because of the addictive qualities that go with it. We have addictive natures ... when you look at how we obsess over things. And this is something I can just see as leading to destruction for any aspie.
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Your dad's problems from what i can discern are not from smoking pot...they are from overspending and the economy probably didnt help his business too much either. Marijuana i doubt is the problem.
 
As a suggestion I am wondering if it is not the Aspie tendencies you are experiencing reprieve from but more the depressive and anxious behavior that you were experiencing that may or may not be Aspie related. We do have tendencies with having co-morbid disorders (often chicken or the egg syndrome but still). First I would wanna know why you want to control your tendencies so much? I mean I understand that we are all at a different functional level but is pot really the answer? I would suggest that there my be other herbal remedies that cause the same effect that you might want to look into. But I do not think drugging your self out with pot or anything else is not the answer to the problem. Coping skills and self care are very important.
 
camdengolf said:
YOU ARE ALL MISINFORMED AND UNEDUCATED ABOUT MARIJUANA. OMG jeese go do some research!! you keep making the same arguments and you're all wrong!!!
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It is a 'steryotype' thing Camden. Pot is not socially acceptable and so peoples minds are generaly closed to the imformation. Yet the drugs we take everyday are KNOWN to kill and seriousley damage people. When we get the prescription the list of harmfull effects is Huge. But that is socialy accepted so it's ok. Even though pot has never killed anyone, The sterytype says 'pot is for stoners' so people arnt going to accept it in this time and society. It's not about the facts, it's about whats 'acceptable' in peoples minds. At one time to own a black slave was the norm. It was the social acceptable thing and so it was ok. Now it would be apoaling . At one time it was an acceptable idea that a man would spank is wife for misbehaveing or to keep her 'in line' (if you don't beleive that watch I Love Lucy, or some old John Wayne movies), that was just normal. The ideas peole have and the ways ppeople and society think about things change over time. The particular concepts themselves don't change, but hte way people think about them do. One day pot may (and I beleive it will) be accepted for it's medical benifits. The change is starting already but still not spread enough to be overall acceptable.
 
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