Marijuana and diabetes

[M3lsAlice]

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend, 30, has been type 1 since he was 13. We've been together for a year and a half and living together for three months. Prior to that, we were friends for about a year.

He uses Novomix twice a day and has a pretty sweet tooth which means he's not always the best at regulating his sugars. He also smokes weed regularly and I just wondered whether anyone has experience of how this might effect him with regards to managing his diabetes.

Thanks in advance

 

[Steff]

It will effect him badly, as well as smoking which is basically the same he is damaging himself and could cause a great deal of issues not just in the long term for himself but short term to, you need to sternly tell him to give it up and find a lot healthier vice, gym maybe ?

 

[Twitchy]

If you can persuade him to stop, do, soon as possible. Whatever people like to think it is addictive & it does **** with your head. I went out with a weed smoker / addict for a bit at uni, never, ever again would I put myself through that. I also saw a family member end up suffering for years in what I would call an emotionally abusive & damaging relationship due to the influence of the weed her boyfriend was smoking. It is nasty nasty stuff & won't help with the diabetes control, if for no other reason than it affects the ability to make clear decisions & everything gets indefinitely postponed with life shlepping along in stasis. Diabetes is also associated with increased risk of depression so there's a double whammy there, especially as if his control isn't good he'll probabky be feeling grim physically & mentally too.

Sorry, that doesn't seem like much help but all I can say is diabetes is enough of a handful if you want a long & healthy (mentally & physically speaking) life, without throwing weed etc into the mix. Only you two can figure this one out, but take care of yourself & don't let your life become hostage to someone else's addiction. Sorry if that sounds harsh. Best of luck.

 

[DeusXM]

At the risk of alienating people, I'm not convinced cannabis and diabetes is always a bad combination. It's just never a beneficial one.

From a basic health point of view, smoking is bad for you. I'm assuming your boyfriend smokes mixed joints and therefore will be getting the definitely carcinogenic tobacco with very probably carcinogenic cannabis in one deep hit. That'll increase the risk of cancer dramatically in anyone but this seems to particularly negatively affect people with diabetes.

However, there is a school of thought that suggests using a vaporiser removes this risk. I don't know the facts, but if so, that sounds like a safer way of inhaling.

As for addiction - look, cannabis isn't addictive, certainly not in same way booze or tobacco are (unless you're mixing tobacco with cannabis).

Now for the diabetes perspective. The short answer is 'no-one really knows'. A more useful answer is that cannabis may affect blood sugar levels. The theory goes that the munchies are actually hypoglycaemia, so cannabis may lower blood sugar levels temporarily. It also lowers blood pressure, which is why some smokers go very pale and feel sick (ie pulling a whitey). So there are considerations to bear in mind.

In short then, if your boyfriend is managing his diabetes well, is generally responsible, sensible and able to control his diabetes when under the influence of a narcotic, then cannabis is probably no more dangerous for him than it is for anyone else. In that respect, it's a lot like booze.

 

[Twitchy]

As for addiction - look, cannabis isn't addictive, certainly not in same way booze or tobacco are (unless you're mixing tobacco with cannabis.

😱 What the?! Are you kidding?... Where did you find that gem?? Not very scientific but all the dope smokers I have known have never given up & their lives have gone into a spiral dive - I'd say that was addictive. Their mental state also got increasingly messed over the years, with increasing mood swings & aggression. If cannabis isn't addictive maybe it's also true that 'you won't get pregnant if you do it standing up' & 'solvent abuse won't kill you the first time.' Those 'might' be true for some people but it would still be stupid, dangerous advice to give. Sorry but I feel very strongly on this, I've seen at first hand in multiple cases the damage this supposedly 'harmless' drug leaves in it's wake. Frankly I will always advise my kids on the dangers of this rubbish, if it's so benign, prove it, give it up & fine a safe way to chill out & have fun.

 

[Caroline]

playing devils advocate here. I am assuming the young man is intellegent and knows the risks he is taking.

I understand that we all want to support the people we love and care about and it is right to voice our concerns, but the only person who can give the addiction up is the person themselves and they have to WANT to and ask for help.

I'm sorry if this sounds a bit negative, one of my friends was convinced her partner would give up his 'habit' if she got pregnant. He thought she was trapping him so beat her up badly, she spent months in hospital and lost the baby and ended up going home to her mum.

I hope something sorts itself out for you and everyone is happier and healthier because of it.

 

[Robster65]

It's likely to end in tears since the risks of type 1 tend to increase, the less attention you pay it. If he's indulging his sweet tooth and not maintaining a reasonable blood sugar level, which he'll struggle to do on novomix, he will be storing up physical problems for the future.

The weed itself can obviously cause mental health issues with regular, long-term use.

I hope you can persuade him to smoke less and give more time to his diabetes🙂.

Rob

 

[robert@fm]

As for addiction - look, cannabis isn't addictive, certainly not in same way booze or tobacco are (unless you're mixing tobacco with cannabis).

😱 What the?! Are you kidding?... Where did you find that gem?? Not very scientific but all the dope smokers I have known have never given up & their lives have gone into a spiral dive - I'd say that was addictive.

It's a long-established fact (I think it was in a World Health Organisation report in 1967) that cannabis isn't addictive, and nor is alcohol or even LSD (in fact the way LSD works counters any tendency to addiction). Those who claim that any of these are "addictive" are probably confusing addiction (physical dependence) with habituation (psychological dependence) -- after all, it's a common error to confuse the meanings of similar words, such as precision and accuracy, nations and states, or fonts and typefaces.

Of course, the fact that LSD is non-addictive doesn't prevent it from being extremely dangerous in other ways...

 

[Twitchy]

Addiction / habituation is splitting hairs frankly - either way lives are ruined.

 

[DeusXM]

And the same also goes for cannabis. While it has an addiction potential, it's erroneous to say it is a significant one. In fact, alcohol and caffeine are more addictive than cannabis. But the point about nicotine is important - if you are mixing cannabis with tobacco then you will get addicted because you are becoming addicted to the nicotine in the tobacco - check out the chart at the end of this article from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA is an American governmental body so you'd assume they probably know what they're talking about and given the US has a far less tolerant approach to Britain on drugs, even they think cannabis is one of the least addictive things you can use. French government reports also suggest that cannabis can't really be considered addictive in comparison with alcohol or cocaine.

http://www.tfy.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm

all the dope smokers I have known have never given up & their lives have gone into a spiral dive - I'd say that was addictive.

But this is hardly scientific proof. I know plenty of cannabis smokers from university. None of them are currently smoking cannabis. Almost all of them are in well paid jobs or doing extremely interesting things with their lives. So on that basis I could claim cannabis smoking makes you a better person, but I know that's actually nonsense.

Their mental state also got increasingly messed over the years, with increasing mood swings & aggression.

Just because cannabis isn't addictive doesn't mean it can't be harmful.

Those 'might' be true for some people but it would still be stupid, dangerous advice to give. Sorry but I feel very strongly on this, I've seen at first hand in multiple cases the damage this supposedly 'harmless' drug leaves in it's wake.

I totally understand. I feel much the same way about alcohol, and even more so about tobacco. I also never said cannabis was harmless either or that it was benign. As I said "I'm not convinced cannabis and diabetes is always a bad combination. It's just never a beneficial one." My view is generally that people shouldn't smoke ANYTHING.

There is a difference between addiction and harmfulness and it is important not to conflate the two.

 

[novorapidboi26]

I used to smoke weed recreationally as a young teenager and it doesn't directly effect the blood sugars......however your appetite can be stimulated to a point were you cant stop eating......🙂..........this could be bad for your man as he is on a very inflexible insulin regime........the same one as my younger brother.....

There are obviously other non diabetic related long term effects of smoking weed.......

I was smoking quite heavily and it did effect my brain.....I was unable to do my job properly (Site Engineer) due to my brain being slowed down...

I also have some friends who smoke regularly and its clear to me, and them that it has had an effect on them that will never go away now.....

But as I said, nothing do to with the Diabetes directly....

 

[Andy HB]

Something that no-one has pointed out yet .... it's also illegal ain't it?

 

[novorapidboi26]

Something that no-one has pointed out yet .... it's also illegal ain't it?

It is, but irrelevant to diabetes........

 

[Wilsonmt12]

I'm a regular weed smoker and I can say it has neither been addictive or caused mental health issues in me. I think the media unfairly portrays weed. If people have predisposed addictive personalities, then those are the people who would get 'addicted' to weed. Just as they would get addicted to alcohol, gambling or even video games.
If people have existing mental health issues then marijuana could exacerbate this, just as alcohol or stress would. But I don't believe weed to be causal of these problems.
On the issue of it being illegal, alcohol was illegal in prohibition era America and homosexuality was illegal until 1967 in this country! Laws aren't always right. Alcohol causes a lot more deaths than weed and it's legal!
I rarely smoke weed during the day or when I have things to do, just as you wouldn't get drunk to go to work. I have a good job, house, girlfriend and social life. A couple joints in the evening to unwind doesn't make me a bad person, plenty of people will be having a couple glasses of red wine. It doesn't affect my diabetes at all. If I get a bit of the munchies, I just give a bit more novorapid and give a few more tests🙂

 

[Steff]

Hopefully any youngers who join won't see that tho

 

[Lauren]

This is going to sound extremely harsh but I have to say it.

My brother has been smoking weed since he was 13. He is now 23. He tells us he doesn't smoke it very often but we know that he smokes it every day. It has ruined his whole life. He has developed epilepsy and bipolar disorder and is extremely aggressive. Now, being only 13 years of age when he became dependent on it, we have no idea whether he would have ended up with these problems or not regardless of his weed habit, but I would hazard a guess and say I doubt very much he would be anything like he is now if he had never taken the stuff.

He cannot work, he has no friends and he has no hobbies. He lives off benefits which he spends entirely on weed, and when he has spent that my Mum foolishly gives him more money (hundreds of pounds) which he spends on yet more weed. He lives in a tiny flat and has a bed, a sofa and a TV stand, he can't afford more furniture. He recently spent his ?800 furniture grant from the government on x box games which he then traded for (you guessed it) more weed. I learned long ago not to give him money or anything of material value because he will use it to get more drugs. I don't get him birthday or Christmas presents, the only thing I buy for him is food.

He is very thin and malnourished and looks extremely ill and unhealthy. He hates his life and has nothing to live for. He self-harms and thinks about suicide (obviously we are helping him as much as we are able to but it's very difficult to help someone who doesn't want to help himself).

Anyway - anyone who says marijuana is not addictive is an idiot. My brother is living proof that it is addictive. If not the drug itself then whatever they mix in with it (which includes rat poison as a bulking agent, btw, according to my pharmacist). If you want to flush your life down the toilet and make everyone around you depressed and anxious, not to mention waste thousands of pounds of tax-payer's money, oh and get arrested for petty crimes, then go ahead. You smoke that weed. You smoke it until you're bored of it and want to try something harder. You ruin your whole life, lose any career prospects or personal relationships you have at the moment, go ahead! But don't say I didn't inform you of what might happen.

To the person who originally posted: I am sorry that you are going through this. I really, really hope your boyfriend kicks the habit and gets better soon. I can't imagine what it must be doing for his Diabetes but hopefully he'll be ok.

Sorry for the tone of this message but it pees me off when people make light of drug addiction.

 

[Steff]

Lauren well said Hun sorry its been so personal to you though, anyone who says its not addictive or ain't harming them then stop smoking it then, if I knew my oh was smoking it btw I would cause holy hell

 

[Hanmillmum]

If people have existing mental health issues then marijuana could exacerbate this, just as alcohol or stress would. But I don't believe weed to be causal of these problems.
/QUOTE]

Sorry but I have to disagree, in my work I have seen it cause and maintain mental illnesses from mood disorders to psychosis.

I would guess that it would contribute to vascular disease in the long term (vaso-constrictor) and poor control of BG's via apathy and increase in appetite in the short run. I do hope your boyfriend cuts out or at least cuts down for his own healths sake 🙂

 

[Lauras87]

I had an ex who smoked weed & did coke who wanted me to do it with him.

In my opinion, smoking weed or doing any other drug when you have a medical condition is asking for trouble as any illegal drug will alter your perception of things.

A few people have said it but its illegal & currently class B.

It's addictive, my friend has been smoking it for years but his rate of smoking it is alarming. He goes to work high, I believe smokes a joint in his lunch & goes home & smokes it for something to do.
He was a lovely bloke prior to it taking hold of him.

His parents have told him to stop smoking or move out & I think I know which he'll pick

 

[Lauren]

Thanks for your support Steff. And I agree - if it's not addictive, why do you smoke it?