I have No idea who to turn to about this! HELP ME PLEASE!

[WonderingBeauty]

Ok i have Bipolar diorder and i was diagnosed last year in early January...so far ive tried like 7 different medications. At first they all seemed to work but they eventually stopped. Right now im talking Abilify....and it has stopped working...ive been taking it for 3 months. I was looking up Bipolar disorder and i saw something that caught my eye..about Medical Marijuanna. Now i've smoked weed before i was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder so i never knew i had it i guess. So 4 weeks ago i tried nothing but smoking weed for 2 weeks and it helped me wonders. I was happy and go-lucky..i didnt fight with my parents like usually do and my mood was great. I had no suicidal thoughts and i was very optimistic. I got TONS of my schoolwork done and i did very good on it. So now ive been back on Abilify for 2 weeks and my moods are HORRIBLE! I'm irriatable, angry, depressed, suicidal, and for the first time i feel Homicidal! ALL THESE FOR NO REASON! So i was thinking about talking to my doctor about a medical Marijuanna card..is this a good idea...Oh i'm 16 years old...

[paranoid_cataclysm]

I would listen to ILADVOCATE in this matter as he's really informed and knowledgeable.  Maybe you built up a tolerance to the medications?

[adel_ezz]

Hi

although i never tried marijuana myself, neither alcohol or Hash or anything which makes me dizzy (perhaps i miss a lot), however that is due to religious reasons.

Anyway this is off point.

What i want to say, one shouldn't object to any method that helps the patient provided it helps. Perhaps pdocs don't write it because although it lifts anxiety and masks depression, it prevents you from being able to find a job and could also be very addictive.

my advise if you can find at least one pdoc, only one, who will advise you with it, then i would go for it

[ILADVOCATE]

   Medical marijuana (which in the United States has only limited legality in California) has been of use for nausea from chemotherapy and a few limited usages (and this is highly controversial). It is not of use in any psychiatric disability including and especially bipolar. However, it can be for some people a form of self medication. I cannot strongly advise you other than to stay off it. It may have masked depression while making you elated.
  However, as for Abilify if you could not tolerate its an antipsychotic used as a mood stabilizer. There are many options as regards mood stabilizers. We have these two lists linked up but I'll put them here:
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/meds/moodstabilizers.htm
Ask your psychiatrist about available options and what you could tolerate that would work. There are other websites we have linked up as well for informational purposes.