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Julie and Lurko in Mexico's avatar

Well that was a delightful read. :) And I agree with definitely telling your doctor or psychiatrist if you are doing any recreational drugs. First of all, because they have seen it all and nothing you do is going to shock them. But there's a more important reason you need to disclose. Many years ago, when I was battling depression, my psychiatrist prescribed Paxil. At the time, I was also smoking weed, and I was honest about it with my doc. He told me to start taking the Paxil, and lay off the weed. At the time I did not understand why he was telling me to not use marijuana, and I assumed he was just legally bound to advise me to follow the law. (This was wayyyyy before medical marijuana was a thing.) So I was like whatever, I'll still smoke if I want. I learned the hard way that the advice was not out of some paternal instinct to make me behave. Apparently, Paxil reacts really badly with THC and can make you have suicidal thoughts. I hadn't had that kind of problem in almost a decade, so when the thoughts came from seemingly out of left field I was like "WTF." Later I learned that drug interaction was a thing, and no you really cannot mix the two. I wish my doctor had explained that a little better, and that he wasn't saying it because "drugs are bad, mmmmkay?" But it's ok, I survived, and the moral of the story is, "Please tell your doctor what recreational drugs you do, because it literally could save your life."

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