no appetite. is there any reason not to smoke pot?

[david2357]

why do people think i shouldnt smoke pot. i have 0 appetite ever. i can go a full day without eating and id still have so little appetite the next morning that i had to force feed myself and it was still a miserable time eating. i hate eating and food so much, even if its ice cream . i have gone days without eating and simply forgetting to eat. i dont have anorexia nervosa, as that is a psychological problem. i have a physical loss of appetite and have since birth. so i started smoking pot. suddenly i developed an appetite.

you cant simply force feed yourself 3-4 times a day, eventually you start eating less and lose weight and become unhealthily skinny. yet with pot, i can eat. also, pot lasts about an hour. and i have more than an hour between classes, and i dont even really have to focus in class anyways unless i have a test.

again: my lack of appetite has been there before i started smoking weed, so its not an effect of withdrawal from weed. by the way , i am 18 years old.

[Angel]

Have you spoken to your doctor about your lack of appetite? There may be physical causes behind this issue that may be resolved.

My friend recommended to me that I smoke to increase my appetite while I was recovering from anorexia nervosa. I personally don't see anything wrong with using it that way. You should consult your doctor first and see if there is anything you can do, if you have not already done so.

I hope things work out for you. x

[Dr.Bobby]

Originally Posted by Angel

Have you spoken to your doctor about your lack of appetite? There may be physical causes behind this issue that may be resolved.

My friend recommended to me that I smoke to increase my appetite while I was recovering from anorexia nervosa. I personally don't see anything wrong with using it that way. You should consult your doctor first and see if there is anything you can do, if you have not already done so.

I hope things work out for you. x

^. This. well said!

David, everyone has to make their own choice about drugs, but yours is really curious: Most use pot recreationally, the only quasi medical use for it is for those receiving chemotherapy for cancer treatment! I've never heard of it used 'medically' to increase appetite.

What you might do is schedule a physical (and now that you're 18, a 'Real' adult one, not one of those 'Say ahhh' kid physicals!) and find out what's causing your loss of appetite so whatever the treatment is, it's the result of medicine, not guess work on your part or convenience.

[david2357]

Originally Posted by Dr.Bobby

^. This. well said!

David, everyone has to make their own choice about drugs, but yours is really curious: Most use pot recreationally, the only quasi medical use for it is for those receiving chemotherapy for cancer treatment! I've never heard of it used 'medically' to increase appetite.

What you might do is schedule a physical (and now that you're 18, a 'Real' adult one, not one of those 'Say ahhh' kid physicals!) and find out what's causing your loss of appetite so whatever the treatment is, it's the result of medicine, not guess work on your part or convenience.

the reason nobody uses it to increase appetite is because most people want to lose weight.

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

Marijuana is known to interact with a variety of gastrointestinal hormones, including ghrelin, which upon release, stimulate hunger. It also provides some motivation to eat by activating the mesolimbic cholinergic-dopamine circuit. Ghrelin isn't the only gastrointestinal hormone involved in hunger stimulation, there are others, such as insulin, neuropeptide Y, agouti-related peptide, etc... .

Although it is unusual you had this since birth as it would've been caught by now, it brings another problem. If you don't eat (regardless of the reason) for a while, such as in the case of anorexia, it can be difficult to start eating since your body will reject the amount of food. I'm not saying you have anorexia though, it's merely an example. I only know a few genetic disorders that would affect eating and hunger, although I doubt you have them, Praeder-Willi Syndrome (at first, there is extreme difficulty and unwillingness to eat but later people often become quite obese as they keep eating), Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (although it includes symptoms you obviously do not have).

However, a much more likely cause may be anemia. There are about 5 types of anemia, maybe a bit more, I'd have to check and see. For you, I'd look toward microcrytic anemia, in particular, iron-deficiency anemia as people with it usually have reduced hunger and it's usually only detected once blood is tested. There are several causes of iron-deficiency anemia, one of which is insufficient iron obtained from eating. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on any type of anemia, with emphasis on iron-deficiency anemia.

Whether you want to smoke marijuana or not I don't care, you're a grown man so you don't need anonymous people on the Internet telling you to quit getting high, you can make that choice on your own. It provides some help for you, although legal medications may be a bit better simply because they don't pose the illegal risks, however, I'm not going to tell you to quit smoking or continue smoking. Instead, I think it's necessary for you to go to the doctor and see if it is a type of anemia or something else because it's obvious it's disruptive to your life and health.

I would say it's not a great idea to go to class baked. You admit you don't smoke when you have a test, which is good as it reminds me of a funny time when I had a test in third-year neurobiology and just before the test, I realized the guy next to me was baked out of his mind! LOL. Gave me some good laughs after the test.

[Thirteen]

Originally Posted by Dr.Bobby

David, everyone has to make their own choice about drugs, but yours is really curious: Most use pot recreationally, the only quasi medical use for it is for those receiving chemotherapy for cancer treatment! I've never heard of it used 'medically' to increase appetite.

Actually, there are A LOT of medicinal uses for pot, INCLUDING helping people get their appetite. Thus why here (in Canada), pot can be used medicinally for bulimia here. It also has positive affects on various mental and physical health issues.

Source: Uses of Medicinal Cannabis, according to the dispensary, which is completely legal.

To the original poster: Talk to your doctor, and definitely get a physical. As has been said, other things can be affecting your appetite. Self-medicating isn't good, especially if you don't know for sure what the problem is. If you have something physically wrong making you not eat, pot isn't going to really help what's causing it, but only provide a temporary solution.

[Dr.Bobby]

Julz, I'm referring to medical uses here in the USA, they seem to be different in Canada. I'm unaware of the legal use of marijuana here for that purpose.

Herbs of various sorts have been used throughout history for a number of medicinal uses, so it's not at all surprising that marijuana could be used similarly. However, the difference today (at least here in the US) is that before any substance is approved for treatment, it needs to undergo fairly rigorous experimentation to demonstrate effectiveness, and then regulated by trained professionals. Unfortunately for pot, it has first gotten the reputation as being primarily a recreational drug, which makes medicinal claims much more suspect in the absence of actual rigorous scientific demonstrations as well as a network of trained professionals to regulate it's sale and use.

Another factor that the OP has shared is that he has Aspberger's, which (amongst other things) results in a lack of awareness of cues, which could include the hunger cue. So, aside from the legality issue and the lack of effective medicinal regulation for pot for this purpose, pot use wouldn't give him the tools he needs to address the underlying cause of the problem (and others from Aspberger's), and might cause more harm than good.

The solution here is to get to a doctor and have them assess what's going on, take the Aspberger's into account, and devise a treatment that addresses the real causes of the problem.

[Revolution]

The reason not to is because it is illegal. If it's legally medically in your state/country, then you can always go to your doctor, tell him your symptoms, and ask for a prescription. If it's illegal, a doctor can also prescribe you another drug that can help as well.

But you don't want to get in trouble for doing something illegal, especially something as minor as this. If you're having a medical issue, go to a doctor rather than self medicating an issue that may be more easily resolved.

Hope that helps, good luck! Message me if you ever need.

[Thirteen]

As Traci said, if you can legally get medicinal marijuana in your state, then you could try to get a prescription. But, if it's illegal in your state, you should probably check the laws before partaking. For example, states that don't have it legalized still have different punishments. One state may charge you a lot less than another would for the same amount, so look up your laws.

Last of all, if you're going to smoke, do so responsibly. What I mean is, don't over-do it, don't carry enough to get in huge legal trouble, don't smoke in public, etc. I know marijuana has medicinal uses and benefits, but it also has risks (not only the legal ones, but health as well). Do some research, make sure you KNOW what you're getting into, and be responsible!

Oh, and Bobby, your theories of Aspergers affecting appetite, and that pot makes it worse, both don't make sense. I helped out in a Special Needs class in high school, and have a couple friends (one online, one in real life) who have Aspergers Syndrome, and nobody I've known/met/helped out with has a problem with their appetite, nor complications from smoking marijuana (though the 2 I know are the only ones I know who smoke it, but neither has had issues).