I feel foolish even asking. I feel foolish coming here. I went to an NA meeting and felt so out of place with my marijuana problems. They felt like pale self-control issues in the middle of tough, dark addictions to deadly drugs.
But weed is draining my life, ruining my finances, it's aggravating my bipolar disorder...the list goes on.
I've been sober from opiates for four years! I spent three years in the sickening hell of that addiction, with some other pills thrown in as experiments, but I let it all go. It was tough, but somehow, as stupid as it feels to say this, quitting marijuana is harder. I cant seem to go more than a few days without it, I experience terrible physical and mental withdrawal symptoms, and after the withdrawal starts to settle down I have intense mood episodes. It was easy to see how painkillers were destroying my life. With marijuana, it's easier to say, "I'll just do this in moderation..."
My psychiatrist diagnosed me with cannabis dependence. I didn't know until I saw the billing codes and asked about them. So, now I have a dual diagnosis and I don't know if treatment for cannabis dependence/addiction exists, and I don't know if I have the guts to ask for help with something that seems so trivial compared to other issues I've overcome and issues others are going through. I've been sitting on this for two years.
Have you gone through this? Does anyone else have a dual diagnosis like this? Thanks for reading.
Peace,
BrainStorm
24 year old woman living in the U.S.
Diagnosed Bipolar NOS in 2009
Diagnosed cannabis dependent in 2011
Four years opiate-free!