I took 23 pills a day for Rapid Cycling Bipolar. Then I started taking cannabis as a BPD treatment.
Editor’s Note: Any testimonials or endorsements found on this site are for anecdotal purposes only. The information in Rxleaf testimonials is not intended as direct medical advice, nor should it be relied upon as a substitute for consultations with qualified healthcare professionals who are intimately knowledgeable about your individual medical needs.
My name is Sidney, and I am proof that cannabis heals! I will remain anonymous because I am a single dad living in an illegal state just trying to use cannabis as treatment for my Bipolar Disorder (sometimes abbreviated BPD).
At 52 years old, I’m, permanently disabled. I have had several operations on my spine and feet. Then I was also diagnosed with Level 3 Rapid Cycling Bipolar. These doctors had me taking 23 pills a day! For 10 years!! Worse, the pills made me I balloon to 359 pounds. I could not walk, bend over, or function as a husband and father. I spent over $350,000 (over 10 years) on those pills.
My wife of 28 years walked out on my son and I in August 2016. I then stopped all prescription drugs!! I fully expected to want to have out and kill everyone. Well, I met a new friend shortly after my ex left, and he introduced me to CBD treatments. To my surprise (and everyone else’s), I started to improve. A LOT.
In 11 months, I have gone from being helpless to this:
- I remodeled my house
- Sold my house
- Moved
- Had a divorce
- Kept custody of my son
- Lost 120 pounds
- Learned to walk again
- Best health in 25 years
I did all this with no help and no doctors. I take CBD candies and 2g of medical grade cannabis a day. That’s it. No pills, not even an aspirin!
So stop wasting your lives, your health, and your money on prescription drugs that were never designed to help. I think they only keep you an addict, coming back for more, month after month, year after year, until you are DEAD!!
The RxLeaf Take: Does Cannabis Help with BPD?
Sidney turned his entire life around, thanks to a BPD cannabis treatment, and there’s good science to explain how one little plant could change everything.
His disorder, rapid cycling bipolar disorder – sometimes referred to as “BPD” for short, is characterized by intense mood swings from manic highs to depressive lows. The “rapid cycling” part of the diagnosis refers to the frequency of the episodes.
The mood swings affect patients’ energy levels, concentration, and ability to perform everyday tasks. While the “cycling” component implies equal tonal shifts between the highs and lows, most patients spend far more time depressed than manic.
The cause of the disorder is unknown, likely a combination of genetic and environmental factors mixed with bad luck, and scientists have had little luck in pinpointing how the disorder manifests in patients.
It’s a mysterious disorder that requires a mysterious solution, which is why a BPD cannabis treatment makes sense. Cannabis can squash many of the symptoms associated with BPD and has interacts with the very same system that could sit at the root of the disorder.
So Many Pills
Sidney was taking twenty-three medications a day. That’s excessive, but there’s a medical logic that helps explains why this practice, called polypharmacy, happens.
The trouble with BPD is that it manifests in so many different and complicated ways that doctors have difficulty finding a single medicine that can manage its wide-ranging symptoms. And, without a solid understanding of the cause of bipolar disorder, physicians often focus their efforts on helping patients deal with the symptoms as they flare up — as well as the disorders that often occur in tandem with BPD, which can lead to prescribing medicines whack-a-mole style.
For instance, many BPD sufferers understandably deal with a lot of anxiety. There’s no telling when the next episode will occur, so many patients live in fear of flying off the handle and what might happen when they do. This commonly leads to substance abuse problems as well, as patients try to self-manage their disorder.
So, doctors are often looking for more than a BPD treatment. They’re also treating anxiety, depression, addiction, psychological stress, and more. One pill for each of these problems, plus the symptoms they spawn, can easily add up to a whole medicine cabinet worth of prescriptions.
Not All Prescriptions Work
Although many patients spend much of their time depressed, popular anti-depressant drugs don’t always work well as a BPD treatment. In fact, sometimes they increase the frequency of the cycles. When anti-depressants are used, they tend to be taken for only a short time. Instead, doctors have found more success prescribing mood-stabilizing drugs, such as lithium, in combination with antipsychotic drugs, like Zyprexa or Seroquel.
But because the underlying science isn’t well understood, not every mood stabilizer or anti-psychotic will work on every patient. Further, the right medication in the right dosage takes time to find, and the only way to get it right is through a long process of trial and error.
And many of these drugs produce their own side effects, which also need to be treated.
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a medicine that could handle everything without piling on harmful side effects?
BPD Cannabis Treatment?
Luckily, there might be a single way to treat all the symptoms and help curb future episodes. Sidney found success for BPD through a cannabis treatment that consists of high doses of CBD and a bit of THC.
By working with the human endocannabinoid system, which regulates mood, Sidney was able to conquer his bipolar disorder enough to give himself a second shot at a fulfilling life. There’s a potential that what are believed to be natural mood stabilizers in cannabis may have pulled him out of a depressive funk, allowing for him to exercise again, and potentially improve his mental wellbeing. Whatever he did provided him with enough energy to remodel his house and fight for his son.
The total life makeover has been amazing, and it provides a new avenue that psychiatric researchers can look to for guidance. If a cannabis BPD treatment was able to so thoroughly combat the disorder, what else is possible?
Cannabis and Bipolar Disporder
Its worth noting that the causation of mental health disorders like BPD has long been in question. After all, how do people with BPD consume cannabis for a treatment, while others supposedly get BPD after consuming cannabis? No matter what, the facts are this – if you already have Bipolar Disorder, you’re more likely to consume cannabis. This fact has thrown off the research for decades. Some researchers have published pieces, like this one from a 2009 issue of Psychiatry, claiming cannabis causes BPD.[1]Khan, M. A., & Akella, S. (2009). Cannabis-induced bipolar disorder with psychotic features: a case report. Psychiatry (Edgmont (Pa. : Township, 6(12), 44–48. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20104292/.)) Others, like this 2015 study published in PLOS ONE claim the opposite – that it may have the ability to help regulate mood and enhance positive feelings for BPD patients.[2]Tyler E, Jones S, Black N, Carter LA, Barrowclough C (2015) The Relationship between Bipolar Disorder and Cannabis Use in Daily Life: An Experience Sampling Study. PLOS ONE 10(3): e0118916. … Continue reading
If nothing else, this proves that cannabis may have the potential to help some people, but perhaps not others. Either way, we need more clinical research, on people like Sidney, to find out.
References
