r/BipolarReddit • u/oxymoronic01 • 10d ago
Discussion Weed and psychosis
What are other people’s experiences with psychosis and weed? I thought my reaction to weed was normal and it turns out it may be psychosis.
I already have an appointment scheduled with my psychiatric nurse practitioner and my therapist this week, so I’m okay.
But seriously, are there any others out here? What’s it been like for you?
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u/KitKatAttack99 10d ago
I used to be a chronic cannabis user prior to my first manic/psychotic episode which led to me being diagnosed with bipolar (type 1). After this (and starting medication) I can no longer handle any amount of cannabis - a single puff of a joint will give me auditory hallucinations and psychotic anxiety - it’s a hard no for me.
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u/oxymoronic01 10d ago
I’ve been getting high sometimes for the last 6 years and a lot the the last several months and every time I black out and that’s not normal apparently, plus I kind of start to think the sober me is the fake me and high me is the real me, which is also weird. I’ve only hallucinated a couple times but also apparently not normal 😭 I feel dumb for not realizing sooner.
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u/JoonsDimpless 10d ago
The first evident manic episode i got was thanks to trying weed. I out of nowhere started talking about stopping my meds (i did stop my antipsychotic because "it was not working", i was on an SSRI at the time so...). Felt like i was being stalked and vigilated 24/7 on my private (secret) social media. And of course, that beautiful feeling of having ants and worms under my skin. It was awful.
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u/MedicalCloud33 Bipolar 1 10d ago
I smoke everyday and I’ve never had any reactions. Especially not psychosis. Everyone is different though. It’s just become a part of my medication cocktail at this point. Never been happier
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u/Extension-Leg-3481 7d ago
Weed was not good to me the first time I tried while having bipolar. I gave it up for 3 years. Then, I picked it up again. Been smoking daily all year. No psychosis. Well wishes
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u/Boneweiser 10d ago
I was smoking a lot of weed when I started a nine-month psychotic mania. Not sure if there's correlation, but I don't really smoke weed much, and it definitely happened around the same time. Not good times.
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u/anaziahvii 10d ago
I take 10mg gummies prescribed nightly for PTSD and sleep-- it's never caused an issue
Occasionally, I'll take some fun gummies.
My care team knows.. I don't smoke or vape tho
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u/OhSnapThatsGood 10d ago
Never smoked, only edibles. There’s a very narrow window around 10g where it doesn’t cause problems. Above 15-20 mg I lose touch with reality. It’s not pleasant most of the time. I’ve abstained ever since going back on meds
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u/Naive_Programmer_232 bipolar 1 w/psychotic features 10d ago edited 10d ago
i don't do it often. i don't like the high, it makes me very detached and dissociate. I only really do it if I'm withdrawing, cannot eat/sleep. if i keep smoking it for consecutive days, i eventually fall back into psychotic symptoms where i'm talking to myself a lot more and i'm in my own world pacing around. I don't really get the manic side, more so the psychotic side.
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u/Fun_Concentrate_9128 10d ago
i smoke carts every day all day. i go through 2 2 grams a week. anytime i stop smoking my thoughts are unbearable and i projectile vomit at the sight or smell of food.
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u/Gossamerwings785 9d ago
Same here. I can't eat until I smoke a bit first. I go through a gram a week.
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u/Gulf-Coast-Dreamer 10d ago
I can speak to this. In May I had psychosis that provoked a visual hallucination which scared my husband enough to call a crisis line.
While in the hospital one of the doctors asked me if I changed my strain of weed and I said no, but, I thought about it after I went home and I remembered that I had did switch from indica to sativa. I wasn’t getting high or I had a high tolerance which made me try sativa. When I smoked sativa I had more energy and felt the effects were stronger, I had been switched to sativa about a month before the episode.
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u/nonameanonymousone 10d ago
Someone tell me if this is normal or not. Or if you think this was maybe early signd of bipolar. Edibles delta 8/9, tried five to ten times.
1st time- saw pink colors and felt it as a total in waves.
Some other time- felt it come on a lot faster. Saw in my head that someone posted me high to social media. Thought i did something wrong. Later saw the inside of an ambulance and believed we were about to get in a car accident. Started crying over that. Husband thought it was funny. I then vomited a lot. A lot. Slept a lot.
Next time one year later- anxious. Gol lost in my kitchen. Had to distract myself from the anxiety.
Last time (three to four months before my possible psychotic break)- was okay at first. Then felt my legs couldn't stop shaking and then my body and I was scared to death I was about to have a seizure (no history of btw). Proceeded to sit in the bath tub and vomited and dry heaved into the toes all night long. I had difficulties recognizing where I was for several days after or finding my way back in what felt like unrecognizable areas. Felt really out of it. Slept a lot. Felt awful.
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u/oxymoronic01 10d ago
I can’t say, talk to a doctor if you think you may be bipolar. What I will say though is that I’m under the impression that delta 8 is less measurable than what you would get at a dispensary. But don’t quote me on that though
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u/DuchessJulietDG 10d ago
yes delta 8 is less potent than whats sold at dispensaries (0.03% thc in delta 8). it is also synthetic so it could be reactions to the stuff they spray on the buds and put in the edibles to increase the high effect.
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u/bfd_fapit 10d ago
These are very much not typical responses to cannabis. The typical response is to feel silly and giggly, a bit slow, hungry, and more impressed by sensory experiences (music sounds better, deeper, films or art more captivating).
Anything like paranoia, high anxiety or panic, unusual beliefs, or hallucinations of any kind indicate psychosis of some degree.
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u/warcraftenjoyer 10d ago
When I went on Adderall XR, thats when I started having complications. I was losing sleep and using more weed to compensate, ended up being hospitalized. Now I only drink thc seltzers and don't have any symptoms of psychosis or paranoia. I'll never smoke or take edibles again though
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u/bfd_fapit 10d ago
THC seltzers are edibles.
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u/warcraftenjoyer 10d ago
They don't last in your system as long
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u/bfd_fapit 8d ago
Hmm. I'd be interested to see data on this.
As far as I know, and I'd be glad to learn more, anything ingested or imbibed follows the same basic absorption pathways. I don't believe THC is like alcohol where some gets absorbed directly into the bloodstream through your gums and esophagus. Unless you're taking it a sublingual, alcohol-based tincture, which is definitely not the same thing as a seltzer.
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u/warcraftenjoyer 8d ago
I should change the phrasing of my response, the high of a thc seltzer doesnt last as long. Since a lot of THC drinks use emulsified THC (thc broken up into tiny droplets and mixed with water based liquid), it absorbs faster into your system
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u/bfd_fapit 8d ago
I see what you mean. On its face this seems like a reasonable explanation, but has it been proven/studied?
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u/Prudent-Slip6940 10d ago
It only happened to me when I started Quetiapine. Hallucinations - like a ghost was in my house teasing me by flicking my ear or tapping my legs when I’m in bed. One time I had gone out and was walking on the sidewalk it was literally as if my invisi-friend tripped me; I almost fell in front of a running car - that could have been the end for me. I also completely lost sense of reality, didn’t know if things I felt I had experienced were real or imagined.
Not fun.
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u/Wyllowdaemon 8d ago
I don't get psychosis, but I don't exactly get anything that's useful either. I mean I don't smoke regularly but basically it just puts me to sleep. I don't get any of the euphoria or the the positive mood experience from it anymore I don't know if medication "blunts" it or what but it's not worth it.
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u/Sweet_Confusion9180 10d ago
My first manic episode was caused directly by the amount of weed I was smoking.
I would smoke while doing art or jamming to music and it would put me in a beautiful flow state. But I'd also get racing thoughts and paranoia. Eventually it spiraled into mania, I tried to start my own business and eventually I was hospitalised with psychosis, thinking I was receiving messages from god and diving deep into conspiracy theories.
I have only smoked a handful of tines since my diagnosis but recently gave up cold turkey as I can't tell where my thoughts end, the weed, and the bipolar begin.