# Ssri and Marijuana



## n1kkuh (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi, i've been on prozac for about a month and i've been titrated up to 20 mg's from 10mg's 3days ago. The other day I was with a friend and we decided that it would be a good a idea to pick up a nice dime bag. We smoked, and while I was high I felt great, I was talkative and I felt free. I went home and I was hanging out with my family and it was a beautiful moment.

However, its been two days later and I've been feeling kind of groggy and out of it, like I'm in some kind of mental fog. I've been experiencing normal anxiety, well, normal for me at least. And I've just been feeling like I'm in a haze. Has any one experienced this before when smoking pot while on an SSRI, or could it be the fact that I've had my dose titrated up? I like the experience that I had while I was under the influence, but the after effects seem to suck.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

Weed generally doesn't give any negative after-effects or hangover. The most that happens is you feel a bit burnt out and lazy.

I think your recent dose change is the cause of your symptoms. SSRIs always cause anxiety, depression and more for me in the first 2 weeks, and Prozac is no exception.

I have a question: assuming you take your dose in the morning, do you feel kinda crap during the day, then feel happy, sociable and energetic in the evening?


P.S. Smoking while on SSRIs is a great experience. The serotonin seems to erase any anxiety and paranoia from the experience.


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## n1kkuh (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks for the reply, as of recently I have been taking my pills in the morning and I haven't really noticed too much as far as feeling any different as the day goes on, but today I definitely had that happen to me. I was feeling like crap early in the morning and I'm feeling a lot better now, which is 5 hours after I took my pill. How ever, it could also be that I was suffering rebound anxiety fro my ativan which I took half a pill of an hour ago. Or it could be the fact that I went out for a walk and got something to eat. Or it could be that I smoked a cigarette earlier.

I'm not sure, but I'll try to keep a mental note of it these next few days when I take my dose in the morning. Do you recommend taking it at night instead or something?


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

n1kkuh said:


> I'm not sure, but I'll try to keep a mental note of it these next few days when I take my dose in the morning. Do you recommend taking it at night instead or something?


I strongly recommend dosing just before you go to bed. It's what I'm gonna do when I go back on Prozac in a couple of days. I much prefer to have the antidepressant effects in the day/evening time rather than while I sleep.

In my experience, the positive pro-serotonin effects from Prozac seem to kick in about 9 hours after dosing, then last at least 12-14 hours after that (pretty much up until the next dose).



> Not necessarily. Weed affects everyone differently. Whenever I smoke I'm anxious and paranoid as **** for at least a week afterward.


I think that's probably a psychological reaction -- most people are perfectly fine after smoking. Maybe you're going a bit OTT and whiteying?


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

> In my experience, the positive pro-serotonin effects from Prozac seem to kick in about 9 hours after dosing, then last at least 12-14 hours after that (pretty much up until the next dose).


The half-life of norfluoxetine after long term use can be over two weeks.


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## Thomas Paine (Mar 29, 2008)

rocknroll714 said:


> Huh? OTT? Whiteying? And no, it's not a psychological reaction.


Maybe it has to do with you getting a little paranoid about being caught, then you sort of repress that fear, forget about it, and it comes back out as general anxiety.

Just a thought. 

I tend to think that most of the negative side affects of marijuana are due to it's illegality and social status. *But it remains illegal and looked down upon, so that means I would have to discourage it's use for "anxious" people (including myself).*


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## Thomas Paine (Mar 29, 2008)

n1kkuh said:


> Hi, i've been on prozac for about a month and i've been titrated up to 20 mg's from 10mg's 3days ago. The other day I was with a friend and we decided that it would be a good a idea to pick up a nice dime bag. We smoked, and while I was high I felt great, I was talkative and I felt free. I went home and I was hanging out with my family and it was a beautiful moment.
> 
> However, its been two days later and I've been feeling kind of groggy and out of it, like I'm in some kind of mental fog. I've been experiencing normal anxiety, well, normal for me at least. And I've just been feeling like I'm in a haze. Has any one experienced this before when smoking pot while on an SSRI, or could it be the fact that I've had my dose titrated up? I like the experience that I had while I was under the influence, but the after effects seem to suck.


I think it's your brain adjusting to the SSRI. I personally wouldn't smoke weed together with it though if you want the SSRI to work like it's supposed to. They both hit on some of the same receptors and interfere with each other, I think.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

> The half-life of norfluoxetine after long term use can be over two weeks.


That's true but what I said did happen, and did for others I've spoken to too. I believe it could be the level of SERT inhibition rising above a certain threshold and causing a dip in serotonin biosynthesis/release, or something similar. Perhaps the brain adjusts to the level of inhibition but each time the new dose of fluoxetine pushes it just a little over the threshold once more due to its long half-life.

This phenomenon maybe subsides over time leaving the serotonin buzz lasting 24/7 (once you have steady concentrations of [nor]fluoxetine), but I'm not sure.



rocknroll714 said:


> Huh? OTT? Whiteying? And no, it's not a psychological reaction.


OTT = over the top = too much.
Whiteying = getting so stoned you freak out, vomit, pass out, etc.



> I think it's your brain adjusting to the SSRI. I personally wouldn't smoke weed together with it though if you want the SSRI to work like it's supposed to. They both hit on some of the same receptors and interfere with each other, I think.


They affect entirely different receptors and have zero interaction.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

The actual duration of action of weed is not very long (hours). If you have psychological/psychiatric "symptoms" for days or weeks afterwards it's not because THC stored in fat cells gets released and hits receptors in your brain, but the trip triggered these symptoms some people are sensitive too.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

rocknroll714 said:


> Actually it's not "total bullcrap". I had a friend who was totally infatuated with weed and was on probation. He had drug tests once every two weeks so what he would do is smoke for a week and then heavy detox for the next week with water, detox drinks, and other stuff. On one of his tests he didn't quite manage to detox enough and he tested positive and spent another month in juvie. Besides him studies have validated it numerous times. It's common knowledge that THC can stay in fat cells for as long as 6 weeks.


Really, it's not true. Drug tests mainly detect the inactive metabolite 11-Nor-9-carboxy-THC, not Δ9-THC. As I said, Δ9-THC levels are down to negligible levels after a few hours, hence the loss of psychoactivity after this time.

Your friend failed the test because he topped up his levels of the inactive metabolite through the breakdown of THC.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

euphoria said:


> Really, it's not true. Drug tests mainly detect the inactive metabolite 11-Nor-9-carboxy-THC, not Δ9-THC. As I said, Δ9-THC levels are down to negligible levels after a few hours, hence the loss of psychoactivity after this time.
> 
> Your friend failed the test because he topped up his levels of the inactive metabolite through the breakdown of THC.


Sure, that's applicable for people who occasionally smoke or live an active lifestyle because it'll metabolize out faster, but if you live a sedentary lifestyle and you smoke quite a bit, the more time it'll take the THC to metabolize out, so they're always topping out so to speak.


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## n1kkuh (Jul 11, 2008)

This post got a little crazy, and I thought I should share my experience with weed. I smoked my first joint about 6 years ago and there was a period where I would smoke pretty persistantly just so I could fit in. All my friends would want to get high after school and I wanted to fit in so I would smoke with these guys. I didn't enjoy it at all however, I was horribly paranoid, I was so anxious that I wouldn't say a single word, and my friends would comment on it.

Basically I can see how weed can make people more anxious and I understand. It hasn't been until recently that I have been able to enjoy weed, maybe because I'm getting older, maybe because my SA is diminishing or I'm finding greater peace in my mind. I'm not sure, but it seems very apparent, that the quality of your high is dependent on what kind of frame of mind your in at the time of you getting high.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

n1kkuh said:


> I would smoke with these guys. I didn't enjoy it at all however, I was horribly paranoid, I was so anxious that I wouldn't say a single word, and my friends would comment on it.


This used to happen to me, and maybe would again now. Only when I was on either an SSRI, benzo, opioid or other anxiolytic drug could I fully enjoy the high without the horrible anxious part. I have however got a lot more used to the effects though so I'd probably be alright as long as I smoke on my own.

I know exactly what you mean about sitting there and not saying anything. It's pretty depressing.

To be honest I think this demonstrates how horribly anxious my brain is naturally wired to be, considering other people enjoy weed naturally as I would on an anxiolytic drug. Oh well, soon I'll be back on Prozac...


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## UndercoverAlien (Dec 29, 2009)

I don't have much experience with this combo because i had quit smoking for about a month because of my anxiety. I have been on Fluvoxamine(SSRI) and Adderall/Ritalin(self-medicating) and I recently smoked a decent size bowl with some kief. All i can say is i felt amazing and everything was great. No worries, no racing thoughts, no negative thoughts or anything of the sort. In my opinion it helped and its better than being on just the Adderall and the SSRI.


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