Is there any risk in smoking weed while on medication?

[Steven G.]

About 3 weeks ago I got high for the first time, and then again yesterday. I found something on the net about a kid who died from overdose becuase he was smoking pot after taking his medication, which caused the pills to not break down in his body. I don't smoke alot of weed, but how safe is it on an antidepressant? Can it cause alot problems?

[Speak Easy]

What meds are you on

[Steven G.]

Just Effexor, by the way your you really 17 LDG? I read alot your posts, you seem alot older.

[Speak Easy]

Haha, you're the 2nd person to ask me if I'm really 17; the last person accused me of being 40. Yes, I'm 17 and will be graduating high school in a few weeks. Not sure why nobody believes this, but whatever. I'll be 18 in September, and I think it's funny how that 1 year can make such a monumental difference in how people perceive what you say/write.

Anyway, I have smoked weed on almost all of my meds, and the only one I regret doing so on was Risperdal (antipsychotic). Marijuana will affect the way your med works, but who knows how. It is more likely to affect it during the beginning, so my advice to people who wanna take substances while on an rx'ed med is to wait until they are stable (6-8 weeks).

If you are mentally stable, or feel better, after 6-8 weeks then start off slow with a little puff here and there. See how you feel. It may interrupt the effects of your med, and on Effexor, you would definitely feel this. Everybody is different, but I have had no troubles smoking on Prozac, Lamictal, and Zoloft. I've never tried an SNRI, so I dunno if this might make a difference. Try it and see how you like it. Anything you do safely and in moderation will not be irreparable, so just try it and see how it works for you.
If you do decide to try it, let me know how it goes.

[Speak Easy]

Originally Posted by Steven G.

found something on the net about a kid who died from overdose becuase he was smoking pot after taking his medication,

Could you provide me with a link to this article? By the way, there's no such thing as a marijuana overdose, and although 5,000 people die per year from alcohol, there has never been one death solely caused by marijuana in human history. To die from marijuana, it has been established that one would have to smoke 40,000 more times than it actually takes one to get high, and that is a lot of cannabis if you take into consideration that most people are high off of a couple hits if it's high quality.

[Steven G.]

Thanks for the helpful infomation. I can't seem to find the link to that article, I also cleared my history since then. Also I didn't mean he overdosed on marijuana, I meant his medication. Something in the weed was effecting the pills in his body if that makes any sense. I wish I could find the link (I just googled weed/medication last time). Maybe it was wrong, or maybe I missread something. Well, thanks alot!

[SilentProphet]

LOL bro i don't know about you but i was a big time weed smoker back in the day! I loved it BUT it always made me feel wayy more nervous, cause my heart to race, make me think about things that shoudlnt even be a thought. Now i will smoke it once in a while after a few beers, LOL thats bad too tho! but i get the feeling of feeling great and even tho my heart is racing i don't care. But now if i was just smoking tho with friends and no alcohol? that would suck! i would probably just sit there and not say a word! thats happened before! before i was a drinker! i never notced it tho, that it had an effect on my anxiety. My friends would smoke and still be all talkative and laughing, but i would be thinking to myself "what should i say to add into the conversation" LOL then i would just sit there and say nothing!

I'm not trying to push anything or say this and that, but Weed is terrible for people with Anxiety, alcohol is great for it. Don't do either tho..unless you are of legal age

[SilentProphet]

Sorry tho i went way off topic! But i never noticed any side effects at all if i would hit the pipe while on lexapro or paxil. But what i say don't matter, your body could have a different effect.

[davemason2k]

I always heard drinking beer while taking anti depressants was bad for you. Can you die from this?

[SilentProphet]

Hold on one sec..
Sorry, dirt was seeping through into my coffin and getting on my laptop while i was posting this.

[SilentProphet]

Nah tho man! i mean maybe if the person was allergic or something/ could it do damage to your organs? YES. But i felt fine and never had any side effects drinking while taking lexapro or paxil, i guess they in the antidepressant family and treated for the same thing? I'm a n00b tho. The warnings are always for those "some" people who may have a reaction. they have to have a warning even if it's just for a few people. I can eat peanut butter by the bowl full, i have a friend who if eats a spoonful can die.

[scotthallkevinnash]

I was on Paxil, Lexopro, and Zoloft (200mg) and I smoked weed on a nearly daily basis. There were absolutely no side effects from smoking weed while on any of these medications.

These were all SSRI's however and I believe Effexor is an SNRI so the effect may be different.

Drinking while on SSRI's is a different story however. When I woke up the next morning the hangover would be way worse then usual and I would also basically wake up with a panic attack for some reason.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by SilentProphet

LOL bro i don't know about you but i was a big time weed smoker back in the day! I loved it BUT it always made me feel wayy more nervous, cause my heart to race, make me think about things that shoudlnt even be a thought. Now i will smoke it once in a while after a few beers, LOL thats bad too tho! but i get the feeling of feeling great and even tho my heart is racing i don't care. But now if i was just smoking tho with friends and no alcohol? that would suck! i would probably just sit there and not say a word! thats happened before! before i was a drinker! i never notced it tho, that it had an effect on my anxiety. My friends would smoke and still be all talkative and laughing, but i would be thinking to myself "what should i say to add into the conversation" LOL then i would just sit there and say nothing!

I'm not trying to push anything or say this and that, but Weed is terrible for people with Anxiety, alcohol is great for it. Don't do either tho..unless you are of legal age

me too. i can't smoke dope because it makes me feel like i'm having a panic attack. has anyone ever mixed weed and betablockers or benzos? i've never tried it myself, but i would be very curious to hear other people's experiences.

[Speak Easy]

Originally Posted by Jean

has anyone ever mixed weed and betablockers or benzos? i've never tried it myself, but i would be very curious to hear other people's experiences.

Hmmm, yeah, I have. Not in an abusive kind of way, though. It was more like I took my Klonopin, forgot that I had taken it cause I was feeling really good, went out with some friends, and ended up smoking. In my experience, it worked wonderfully. There was no panic or anxiety that smoking marijuana can sometimes incite. Everything was very relaxed and laid back, but at times, it became a little too laid back, and I was just extremely drowsy.

[Speak Easy]

Originally Posted by davemason2k

I always heard drinking beer while taking anti depressants was bad for you. Can you die from this?

I'm sure you won't "die" from this, unless you plan on drinking some sort of absurd amount of alcohol, but I don't think the SSRI would make you any more prone to "dying" from some type of coma or whatnot if you are drinking extreme amounts of beer (actually, the SSRI-alcohol combination would probably be safer from that standpoint, since you will get much more drunk in a shorter amount of time, causing you to pass out after a little amount of alcohol is in your body, thus, impeding you from drinking any more, or at least, to a lethal level of like .45-.50+ BAL). You would never be able to achieve such a high BAL while taking an SSRI, because you simply wouldn't be able to get that far, unless you are some kind of beastly freakish alcoholic with impeccable alcohol and SSRI tolerance.

Keep in mind that a mug of beer (11 oz., 4.5 percent alcohol), a glass of table wine (4 oz.) and a shot (1.5 fl.oz.) of liquor (80 proof) contain about the same amount of alcohol, which is around 9-13g.

Anyhow, boozing while on SSRIs basically impedes the med's working process unitl the alcohol has been completely metabolized, and reduces any sort of alcoholic tolerance you thought you had, resulting in a drunken davemason2k after about 90% less alcoholic intake than it would normally take you to get drunk.

[SilentProphet]

When i first started up my paxil i noticed i coudnt drink as much as i used too i would get fuller and throw up. And i never throw up! That eventually went away tho. I only drink once or twice a week now, and only beers

[AliBaba]

Steven,

I've been on Effexor for over a year & i've puffed a few times. Let me just say it was DYNAMITE!!! Sooo, i really wouldn't worry at all about it.

That Paxil/Marijuana/death story sounds extremely sketchy. Unless it involved "serotonin syndrome" or the guy lacking the ability to break down some sort of enzyme. Still, I don't buy it.


"Matt, Matt, Matt"