CBD Use and Are Anti-Depressants, Worth It?

I went to college for social work/clinical substance abuse counselor, ended up leaving and joining the Marines (hence the sore spot about solving depression by joining the military). I’m not an expert, I just know a thing or two about treatments and various different drugs.
I also personally know several people with long term depression who used AD’s and benefited greatly from them. Again, they’re not for everyone, and I’m sure too many people are taking them right now, I just find it funny how many people on this site shit all over doctors while diagnosing and treating people over the internet with no formal training.
Have you begun taking the AD’s? Let us know if it helps and keep us updated.

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Orthotics from a podiatrist are the most helpful thing for my plantar fascia. The down side is they are expensive AF and, for me, they are bad for my hips so I can’t be on orthotics long term.

Plantar Fascia taping with Kinesio tape helps. I do the classic tape method you can find on YouTube plus I add a strip of tape horseshoeing around the base of my foot. For the strip on the bottom of my foot and the strip around the side, I maximally stretch the tape across the arch. The down side is it’s a pain in the ass to do everyday and initially it takes a little practice.

Rest.

It isnt fake i was hardcore depressed, I quit drugs (real drugs) got on a plane to Israel in 2008 and 6 months later i was in the army(theres a good 10 years where i dint post here). Maybe your just too weak to understand it.
I still live here and every year spend a good three weeks back in the army.

Good for you - that’s an inspiring story and I’m legitimately glad you turned your life around that way. I just think this is an issue, once again, of short term vs long term depression. Doing drugs leaves you constantly depressed and depleted of neurotransmitters. I should know, I used to do lots of coke and various other things. You can be depressed for a long period of time due to drugs without it being attributed to a permanent chemical imbalance in your brain that exists regardless of your bad habits. What the OP has SEEMS different - I have NO real idea if he’s experiencing true clinical depression or not, and I hope he isn’t.

I had terrible tendonitis in my early teens and after a few years of wearing orthotics in my shoes, my arch was corrected and I no longer have horrible heel and tendon pain. A podiatrist is a foot doctor for a reason, go see one if you can.

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your partially right, its a chicken or egg thing though. I also did blow and speed etc, did the depression push the drugs and they perpetuated it? or did they start it? mostly the first one.
You know that the chemical imbalance thing is just a hypothesis right and there is literally no proof of it (and no its not like gravity where its a theory without proof). The only thing people call evidence is the fact that severly depressed people get better with AD drugs, but that doesnt prove anything, aspirin cures headaches so lack of aspirin causes them? Check its really quackery to sell hardcore drugs, most AD drugs are akin to mdma.

Antidepressants aren’t akin to mdma, ADHD drugs are- they’re stimulants, namely amphetamines.

There isn’t literally no proof of chemical imbalances, but there IS proof that there are a ton of other circumstances and factors that contribute to depression besides depleted levels of chemicals, so you’re correct to point that out for sure.

MDMA is methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine and it is classified as a stimulant in the same category as amphetamines and is based on amphetamines. It hardocre boosts you serotonin difference between mdma and SSRI is that mdma does it alot quicker and to a much higher degree. Its also way more damaging even at lower doses, but they essentially do the same. Boost some neurotransmitters and block reuptake of others.

I know. I meant that ADHD medications are amphetamines, not antidepressants. Amphetamines and SSRIs are distinctly different drugs and there are warnings against taking them together. They can have similar effects but often have the completely opposite one.

@flappinit

Think I’m on my eighth day today. Not expecting (nor should I, according to the doc) to feel a difference for 4-6 weeks. Didn’t experience the nausea/dizziness I was warned I might feel for the first 2-3 days though, so that’s nice.

Never personally done coke - “uppers” aren’t really my thing, but man isn’t that an expensive habit? It’s not really big around where I live but it just seems tough to keep up with.

Agree with that for sure. I believe my childhood experiences and surroundings have played a big part in my issues.

Will update on the meds in a while.

@on_edge

Thanks for that - we’ll have to look into the orthotics. I’ll check out the tape too.

@Merkava4

No disrespect intended - it just seemed kinda vague at first so I wasn’t sure about it. But congrats on your recovery man I’m glad you were able to fix it on your own.

But on a side note, since neither of us know each other, I’m not taking this to heart at all, but

is probably one of the worst things to say to someone who may actually be quite depressed. For your future reference.

@random8889

Sorry about your friend. Did he ever get it figured out?

I can still ejaculate so yay for that. Will have to talk to the doc if that ever becomes an issue.

Lift yourself up and drag yourself out of it. I dont care if you think its the worst thing or it isnt PC, your responsible and you need to fix yourself.

It sure is. It’s a horrible habit too. Drug addicts are incredibly innovative and resourceful people. We find ways to get money. You just have to give up more and more of your self respect to keep it up, until one day you have none left.

Aaaaand now I’m confident you’ve never been clinically depressed. No one who has, thinks this way let alone says shit like that.

@Californiagrown I disagree. I’ve been there. Maybe “drag yourself out” isn’t the right phrasing, but it is 100% about taking responsibility and doing what you can to make yourself better and happier until you get there. @jshaving is already showing that initiative by making this thread and reaching out.

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He’s fine now, his serotonin came back but he just stayed in and slept all day lol

Forcing and reinforcing a change in behavior is the easiest way to change your mindset. Clean your room, stand up straight with you shoulders back and smile, no matter how you feel, and things will get easier. Take it one day at a time and you will eventually create a positive feedback loop and literally change the way you feel.
OP is taking a step and that is good, you need to take thee steps everyday and reinforce them even though theres no direct measurable gain, it works out in the end.

Kinda impossible to do when you can’t even force yourself out of bed for days or weeks, not really care about getting better.

YES YOU CAN force yourself to do anything.

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@Californiagrown it sounds like you may have experienced a deeper level of learned helplessness than @Merkava4 did.

“In my years of private practice, I’ve met many people struggling with depression who thought they were merely sad. I’ve also met many people who were extremely sad and worried they might be depressed. Because we associate depression with its primary symptom of pervasive sadness, many of us struggle to tell the difference between these two common psychological states.

…I discussed one of the more unfortunate consequences of this confusion: How people struggling with depression are often expected to “snap out of it,” and are told “it’s all in your head,” or “choose to be happy!” Such sentiments reflect a deep misunderstanding of depression. It only makes the person with depression feel worse.”

This thread is a perfect example of this.

@flappinit

Can definitely attest to that. My aunt became a meth addict at 15 (now sober, with the exception of marijuana), two of my uncle were alcoholics and one was quite heavily into drugs (this one recently checked himself into detox for opioid use - hasn’t given up the coke, ecstasy, or alcohol but it’s a good step) both by 15, my dad was drinking and smoking weed & cigarettes daily by 12, another aunt was selling weed and other drugs by 14, a cousin who’s more like my brother is 20 and getting into hard drugs, and many more relatives are addicts/alcoholics as well, though some more so than others.

Anyway, yes, I definitely have seen the brainpower put into feeding their addictions, that if put into other outlets, such as school or work, would definitely lead to some success, and happier, healthier people. Luckily very few of them have really hit rock bottom, which means they are still able to keep their lives somewhat together and not lose all self respect, as you mentioned, although it often seems that that ends up being what it takes for a change to happen.

On a somewhat related note, and if you feel fine answering, are you sober? You answered in this thread a month ago that you’d used CBD oil before, although for most cases, I don’t consider marijuana use (especially just CBD) that dangerous or unhealthy, unless all of your resources are going towards it and it’s hindering you in your other daily activities, and that you no longer used harder drugs, but do you drink? Maybe you’ve mentioned this in other threads before but I don’t remember.

And from what I can, maybe not so much in your family, but possibly with your coworkers/friends (might be wrong here) or maybe your wife’s family, you’ve had some experience with addicts. And you did do some schooling on that topic. (By the way, what made you decide to study that?) How do you deal with having addicts in your life, and what’s your recommendation for others dealing with them?

In my example, I am quite close to most of my relatives who use/abuse subtances, and simply understand that I cannot change them or make their decisions for them, so for the most part, I simply show as much love and positivity towards them as I can, while also praying for them to seek help. My dad is the exception occasionally, as his drinking has caused me emotional pain and stress throughout my life, especially as a young child, so we have had arguments as I’ve gotten older and I’ve said some not very positive or loving things, but I’m working on that. But yeah, is there any ways you have dealt with, or recommend dealing with addicts? Anything you can or should do besides being a loving family member/friend, or just stick with that and hope for the best?

And good article - I read it.

Will continue to update as the meds go on longer and I work on the other aspects of my health.

Mostly @Merkava4 and kinda @baumbodies

Not to completely disagree with you guys on this, but just wanted to share it real quick.

My grandpa (mom’s dad) was drafted into the Vietnam War. He didn’t support the war, but when drafted, accepted it and went off to Vietnam. From what I’ve been told, he was given the training to become a medic, and ended up (on accident I believe) being in some pretty big/bloody battles. Obviously, we can assume he saw some pretty messed up stuff, and had to work with probably some pretty messed up (physically) people.

When he came back he seemed fine. A little different, obviously, but very glad to be home, loving towards his wife and children, and went right back into his old routine. He had been a great student, gone to college, had a good job and was a hard worker, and very much a man of God. (To those who aren’t religious, that might not mean anything, but I mean it as in he felt there was something bigger than himself to lean on for guidance and strength, and something to derive joy from, as well as serve in his life.)

After a couple years later, he started not being able to sleep. Didn’t really notice any big differences, but his wife (my grandma) said he had lost some of the twinkle in his eye and wasn’t quite as jolly, although most couldn’t notice it. He also constantly has flashbacks to his time at war. I’m sure he had some PTSD, but basically, he ended up one day randomly (to everyone around him) going out into a field and shooting himself in the head.

He was a pretty “strong” man. He’d lost a brother and one parent as a child. He’d gone to war, against his choice. He’d made something of his life. He had a happy family. When he came back, he continued working and being involved in church. But he was in a bad place mentally and while I’m sure he “fought” it, he wasn’t able to beat it. He killed himself.

I’m not a psychologist or an expert on this stuff, and I never even met my grandpa so I can’t say anything first hand about him, but I do think that sometimes depression is much deeper than, as @flappinit said,

will fix. Yes, you need to push postive thinking, eat healthy, exercise, maybe go to counseling, find new ways of dealing with emotions and processing things, and get new patterns. You need to do work for yourself. Yes yes yes. All true. A pill cannot fix everything for you.

But it sometimes is a little more than that.

Just my two cents.