marijuana-and-anorexiaDo you think Marijuana could help people with Anorexia?

Marijuana helps increase appetite in people without the illness. But would the illness override the feeling of wanting to eat caused by marijuana.

Also would marijuana relax or alter the mind, making the person more likely to eat? Perhaps you know someone who has anorexia, who has taken medical marijuana to fight the illness

Find out whether you have may have an anorexia problem, people who may have anorexia, reveal their thoughts.

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Join the discussion 62 Comments

  • MICHEAL says:

    i think it should be illegal.

  • Elizabeth says:

    Marijuana can be helpful or not. The helpfulness of it has changed throughout time. I used to be severely anorexic and then bulimic for a decade.

    I started smoking pot in college, when my bulimia was full blown. Did not help. Maybe made me enjoy food too much? I just couldn’t control myself. Also my academic performance started to decline. Was it the pot, or just my overwhelmed mental state? It seemed like a long continuous mental breakdown. I started art school the next year, and dropped out from the pressure of it all. During that time, pot helped me to cope, but my eating disorder didn’t go away right away.

    It was one of those rare cases where I “recovered” on my own after many years. Maybe I was so sick of it all. I think the bad state of my teeth (and the horrific dental bills) was the biggest motivation. However, my appetite had become permanently haywire. Still is. But that is where the pot comes in. I don’t like that it hinders my mental abilities and motivation to do things. That is the biggest “evil” of it for me. However, it allows me to enjoy food. It allows me to eat, and to eat enough without that automatic urge to purge.

    I am at a healthy weight now. When I am feeling too anxious and or nauseous to eat, a small toke will make the world of difference. It helps to regulate my eating and appetite in a big way, and for which I am very thankful for.

  • Shan44 says:

    Can I get medical marijuana for anorexia, I am only 95lb and antideprssants aren’t working, does anyone know how I can get some? Anything is worth a try, before I die.

    • love recovery says:

      I live in a state where it is not legal.

      I too was very close to a physical death, and felt like I had died mentally b/c i had lost everything to my ED. I made the choice to break the law to save my life! I believe anyone faced with death should do the same.

  • Shan44 says:

    I am anorexic and bmi is under 15, where do I go to get a marijuana medical lisence? 95lb and loosing. I don’t want to die, antideppressants aren’t helping. Any advice?

  • billy says:

    first canabis is not the wonder cure all drug it does have a place in medical research. I am a post cancer pt. I also lost my left kidney the drugs they gave did little to help me eat. However after a vaporizing a bag I can eat a normal meal. I wish you all the same results. Billy

  • joe hansin says:

    i smoke weed

  • Marajuana is a viable option for those with less succeptibility to addictive behaviour and for whom other alternative therapies have failed. If it dos’nt work for you dont do it anyway eating the stuff is the most effective yeah a marajuana pill to help aid eating and opening of other nueral pathways

  • Magdalena says:

    I also have found that marajuana just fuels the self loathing, “i hate my self therefore why even bother sustaining my health?”

    I have developed eating problems due to prescription medication , leading into drug addiction and on occasions seriouse abuse.

    Marajuana is a viable option for those with less succeptibility to addictive behaviour and for whom other alternative therapies have failed. If it dos’nt work for you dont do it anyway eating the stuff is the most effective yeah a marajuana pill to help aid eating and opening of other nueral pathways

  • lee says:

    In my case smoking marijuana DID NOT help me at all with my anorexia/eating disorder.

    Being stoned all the time enabled me to ignore the hunger, and I simply replaced food with smoking weed. I found smoking marijuana to be a very effective appetite suppressant.

    Yes, I got the munchies initially for the first couple of weeks after smoking the stuff. But after smoking weed every day my body became resilient to the munchies and the marijuana as well, so I smoked more and sought more potent weed, food and eating became unimportant.

    The kilos just came off very easily 35kg, and could have easily continued. Great, I was starting to disappear. (that was my reason, I guess ).

    So I would have to say no, marijuana did not help me.

    I have done this more than once, and it works every time. Now, I won’t smoke marijuana or take it any other way because I do not want to start the vicious cycle again. So just be careful. in my experience marijuana and an eating disorders can be counter productive.

    • Mat says:

      Ive been smoking Cannabis illegally for around 3 years now and i find myself agreeing with some of the other posts on this site, when i fist started smoking Cannabis i started to put some weight on but as time went by i think you smoke past the munchies and the hunger pains you just get higher and see no need for food and your body builds a tolerance so you up your dose as to speak, and so your hunger just goes away.

      You think giving this to somone who is allready having prioblems eating is a good idea? Isnt this just repacing one bad habbit with another? – maybe it would work if they had small precribed ammounts of thc over short periods of time?? but under a close watching eye? im unsure..

  • Bdette says:

    AND YES, JOE SMITH, I DO SMOKE WEED TO HELP ME EAT…
    RATHER I STARVE?
    YOU CLEARLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT AN EATING DISORDER DOES TO SOMEONE AND THE LENGHTS THEY WOULD GO TO IN ORDER TO NOT ONLY CURE, BUT HELP IT.
    Actually…fxxx you Joe Smith.

  • Bdette says:

    My eating disorder came into my life before marijuana, and I slowly discovered that it was the first successful treatment for my loss of appetite. It also helps with the anxiety, stress and insomnia I’ve had to deal with. I would not label it as a cure, but certainly a viable treatment.

    However, I do have the most addictive/obsessive personalities ever, hence my eating disorder. I’m addicted to cigarettes and caffeine but not once have I felt dependent on weed to get me through a day.

    A word of caution though, marijuana DOES cause munchies, it’s no myth…so if munching out be careful not to over eat, as this has very painful consequences (if you are on a binge/purge cycle).

  • annonymous says:

    I have personally struggled with anorexia for 16 years.

    I have been hospitalized 14 times for my eating disorder, and have also done many intensive outpatient programs, as well as residential treatment. During some of my “recovery” periods (in between relapses) I smoked marijuana.

    No, it is not legal where I am, but it DID help alleviate the anxiety that surrounded me when i went to eat ANYTHING. I lived on 200 calories a day, and when I smoked marijuiana, I could actually eat a whole entire meal without feeling like I literally was going to die from the guilt.

    No, it didnt’ CURE may eating disorder, but it did help with anxiety, making it more likely that i would eat more. Some of my treatment team members knew I was doing this, and they did not frown upon it. If it helped me eat, they did not care HOW I got the nutrients my body so clearly needed. And no, i am NOT a drug dealer….like someone who is in medical school…i am a social worker.

  • Iraklis says:

    joe smith, great logic, what can i say?

    you wrote: “who ever brought this up must be a selling it! making money hands over fists!” Don’t you think that when legalized the black marked sellers would get out of job?

    A pusher loves marijuana prohibition, first he makes good money on a super high price on something that’s illegal and second he comes easier to the customer suggesting him real drugs (Heroin, cocaine ect). It’s guys like you the FBI, who are the BIG PUSHERS and inventors of this market, love to have all round. It’s a shame people have to suffer under these mentalities!

    It would be better for you to comment on subjects you have a slide idea about.

  • sweetjones says:

    RE: joe smith. to you an all the people like you why do you get on sites an talk shit about people on the sites doesn’t that make you a hippocrite of sorts, or maybe just ignorant of anything of real value, i’m surprised you can use the internet, “must be a sellin it”? you sound like a moron. If you knew any real facts on marijuana your views would change, your probably a beer drinking, cigarette smoking hillbilly so i suggest, learn something!!!

  • JaneDoe says:

    I have been suffering from anorexia for a couple of years now. Marijuana does help with weight gains and depression, but you shouldn’t become too dependent on this wonderful medical herb. It is possible to become addicted. The withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, depression, anorexia, and more. It can help temporarily, but may worsen the eating disorder in the long run. I have learned this the hard way.

  • Dr. J says:

    I am in medical school and I am also someone who has struggled with anorexia for many years. I am 5’7″ and weighed 94lbs at my lowest. I discovered on my own that marijuana really does help alleviate the symptoms.

    It helps with the depression that comes with the eating disorder; it helps with eating (so I didn’t feel incredibl depressed by eating a real meal or something); and it also helps with not exercising as much. I used to exercise for two hours almost every day and like Sticky, I lived on less than 1000 calories a day.

    For someone without an eating disorder, it hard to understand how this could be beneficial. For someone with an eating disorder and is suffering greatly both mentally a physically, they will do anything to stop the madness. So if marijuana will help with those symptoms- then WHY NOT?? I am actually doing a research paper on the topic of marijuana and anorexia.

  • joe smith says:

    Wow what has the world come to! I do pot so I can eat! Should I do meth or coke not to eat! Come on now people! Legalize this and that! Wow this is crazy who ever brought this up must be a selling it! making money hands over fists!

    • christine says:

      Re: joe smith says:

      ‘December 9, 2009 at 6:12 am Wow what has the world come to! I do pot so I can eat! Should I do meth or coke not to eat!…’

      I believe that you are already aware of this, however just in case there is any possibility that you did in fact live under a rock or something of equal nature…YOU ARE A DOUCHE. Only a complete tard would write what you did, wtf are u even doing on this site? Go ahead and do that coke, maybe you will have a heart attack as do many anorexics/bulimics from malnutrition, etc.

      You don’t have to believe anything that is written here, but for those of us who have gotten high on weed(only works if done infrequently in my exper.) to help eat

      Struggled w/anorexia 25+ yrs so have a decent idea of how things work. Jerks such as yourself do really affect many attempting recovery. If they try to sell you weed then they are not the smartest either. Then you may have something worthwhile to add ON A WEED SITE tho…get the f*** out, d.b.!

  • Sticky says:

    I’m a male 5 foot 10 inches tall and weigh 128 lbs. and still needing to lose more weight. I suffer daily with my eating disorder. I’m always looking at the calorie count in foods and drinks before I buy or eat anything. To me consuming 1000 calories is to much. I average around 500 calories a day sometimes far less. I never knew that medical marijuana could help with an eating disorder. I haven’t smoked marijuana but will definitely check into it.

  • Kate says:

    I am a 16 year old girl with anorexia I have been anorexic for 3 years. At my lowest weight I was 84 pounds at 5’4”. Ive been so sick and recently slipped back into anorexia going from 130lbs to 105 in just 3 weeks. I have smoked twice during this time and both times felt more relaxed about eating, and was able to stop myself from purging. I think that marijuana will help me in the long run and to me it is just as hard to smoke as it is to recover because it is the same as making the decision to eat. I know that when I smoke I will eat so its the mental decision to smoke that helps me fight anorexia. Medically it helps me let go of some control and takes away my nausea and anxiety around food.

  • Helene says:

    After reading through all the comments, I’m still up in the air about this issue. i am eighteen and i’m recovering from anorexia nervosa and taking medications to help with my social anxiety. I am generally nauseous for unknown and possibly psychosomatic reasons.

    When i was smoking weed consistently over a period of approximately three weeks i found myself eating cookies every night for dinner. My appetite was undoubtedly increased, but this poses a problem because the foods i craved were not very nutritious. My nausea was gone, so that was good. My social anxiety was reduced at first, but when i was around people i’d prefer to impress i became extremely paranoid and forgetful.
    Now i have significantly reduced my intake to maybe once or twice a week, and my appetite has vanished. Nothing sounds good. Peanut butter always pulled me out of my anorexic lows, but even my favorite foods are highly unappealing. My memory has improved with this reduced intake, and my anxiety has leveled out, the medication is seeming to do just fine. My nausea has returned.

    So, the way i look at it, medical marijuana could help someone with anorexia if they plan to continue using it indefinitely. i don’t like what it does to my brain so much, but i continue to be peer pressured into smoking. This creates problems for me because it continues the cycle. If I’m not high, I’m not hungry or motivated to consume the nutrients necessary for survival. This is a severe dependency issue that needs to be considered.

  • like dude says:

    I hace one and when i got stoned, I ate without thinking about getting fat. Afterwards I had no desire to throw up either because both i was happy and calm, and had some insane cottonmouth. I think it would definately help people with ed’s.

  • renee says:

    i totally agree.. i had an eating disorder and marijuana definately helped me. i feel great about myself and im no longer as self conscious about my weight as i use to be.

  • Flaky says:

    I think that there is a risk of the weed making you more likely to eat something you cant handle emotionally. I know that if I ever smoked while I was ill, if I gave in to the munchies and ate the paranoia caused by the weed would make the guilt even harder to deal with….and the feeling of the loss of control was horrid and proved to em I was a lazy person with no discipline!

  • Knome says:

    I found this article because I am interested in applying for a medical cannabis card myself, but I have found it incredibly annoying that a certain soembody said that “A few sessions can provide the anorexic person with a miracle cure”. I have been in therapy for three years with multiple therapists and have found no relief. Eff that.

  • Anonymous says:

    That's crazy… at least, from my point of view.

    I would give anything to be able to smoke dope again… I constantly crave it.

    I'm 24 and I've had severely disordered eating since I was 13, and I started smoking dope when I was 20-21 to numb out the obsessive thoughts, and I only created more problems for myself. I became psychotic and was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia THEN I got put on drugs that made me stack on weight resulting in me becoming overweight for awhile until I tapered off the drugs. I have lost alot of weight in the last 6 months but I STILL hate myself and I still see myself as obese, and I still have this eating disorder.

    I would start smoking again at the drop of a hat, to numb out the pain… but I have a serious medical condition that prevents me from being able to.

  • Anonymous says:

    I am so glad to find other peoplewho have the same thoughts as i do!! I always thought people looked at me like I was crazy when i explain how cannabis helps with my eating disorder…
    Iv had an eating disorder for the past 5 years, and I started smoking on a daily basis about 2 years ago. WHen I smoke, I feel less anxious about food, and I sort of have a "screw it" attitude towards my eating disorder. I get an appetite, and I eat, and I usually dont feel bad afterwards. The days when I dont smoke, its very hard for me to eat enough. My dad usually always says im looking thinner on certain days.. an you know what? Those are the days where I havnt smokeed (or havnt smoked the day before)..
    There is something I need to tell you, though, that there can be a negative effect. Sometimes i get the "munchies" so bad I end up eating so much, like a binge. (ex: ate half a dozen tim hotons donuts).. and this caused me to purge. You can go overboard and eat too much and then realize how many calories you took in, and the only way to get rid of it is to purge ( but all of us eating disorder girls/guys should kno that the calories still remain in you, even after you purge!!) Purging just helps with the physical discomfort, but it won't take away those calories.

    Every one is different, but for me i know, as a fact, that when I smoke my weight is maintained at higher number, I eat more varieties of food, and I eat a good amount of it, all while feeling less anxious. Just dont over do it… know your limits on food intake when you smoke! Dont binge and purge!

  • Anonymous says:

    An acquaintance of mine is borderline, if not anorexic, and she would only really eat when they (my sister her friends are closer) were smoking weed, they would go for a sesh just get her to smoke and eat something if she hadn't yet that day. In short, they were treating her without her knowing or even accepting she had the disorder in the first place.

  • Anonymous says:

    i noticed many people said marijuana caused their eating disorders. if i were as prideful id blame weed too but i blame myself. now im using weed to cope with anorexia and its worked pretty well the past few weeks. but thats what happens when getting high isnt the only thing that matters.

  • Anonymous says:

    week caused my anorexia. I was a normal teenager with normal eating habits, but when i became a heavy marijuana smoker I only wanted to smoke and do nothing else not even eat. It would make me feel less sick until my next hit. I used to be 145 lbs and I barely tip the scale at 118 right now. I would just caution you to not smoke heavily. my husband and his friends sell marijuana so i have got to see hundreds of marijuana customers over the last 6 years and i will tell you that most heavy smokers have no appetite and dream of the days when they had hunger pains instead of weed cravings. Because of my physical pain from smoking marijuana I am choosing not to smoke any longer. I will however let this blog know how I do because I used to feel a lot like your guys did that it helps me, but now I can look in the mirrior and see that i am wasting away on drugs.

  • Anonymous says:

    Touchy subject, I've battled all my life with an eating disorder, not exactly anorexia, just I am NEVER hungry and when I eat I have this impulse to puke even though I know I'm not over weight. I can sadly say I am 26, a mother of 3 and I weigh 96 lbs and I am 5'6" tall. When I started smoking marijuana I was as some said paranoid because I was brought up very anti-drugs of any kind therefore it made it worse. Once I realized it calmed my nerves (Rather than some man made, lab engineered drug with more side effects than anything else) I found it easier to snack. Is it a cure all? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I am diagnosed with S.A.D & G.A.D (Social and general anxiety disorder) depression and an eating disorder and I've found that marijuana helps better than Prozac, Zanax you name it, I've tried it and weed is the lesser of the evils, in my mind

  • Anonymous says:

    I smoke weed everyday to cope with my eating disorder. It does not help me with weight gain the disorder overrides it for me. But i helps make life managable, and livable. and sleep. I was on strong sleeping pills before i found weed.

  • jessicajordan1985 says:

    I came across this doing a search for marijuana being the cause of anorexia.

    If you are thinking about using pot as a cure please read my story! I have had a large life for my 23yrs Including abuse that I will not talk about as it is to foggy and unclear. But I will talk about some events that I can remember clearly and are all turning points in my obsessions with food, appearance, and depression.

    Up until 1998 I was a relatively happy child although I have had always had some sort of bulling since pre-school.
    It was my first year of high school and Bullies would have a huge affect on my life. The boys in my class would bully everyone and I was normally one who would gain alot of thier attention.

    I was never clean as a kid my Dad is non-abusive Alcoholic, who despite that has always had a job. He would finish work at about 2:00pm get drunk and pass out for the rest of the night. Mum worked Night shifts in an aged care facility, my brother is 2yrs older than me and has Autistic behaviors.
    My earliest clear memories are from in grade 1 (6yrs old 1991) coming home And having to cook mine and my brothers dinner in the microwave every night after school. This was exactly the same until around 1996 and Mum changed to day shifts.

    From the bullying I became shy, reclusive, and depressed. I knew they enjoyed teasing me because they always got a fantastic reaction. At first i would stand up crying running out of the class room telling every teacher I could find.

    That continued everyday for months eventuality I started comfort eating my weight went from a healthy weight of 80lbs to 151lbs and this gave the boys more ammo. So the teasing I can remember clearly was about how fat I was. This led to me becoming completely cut off from all my friends as I isolated myself into a depression and I would push people away with violence and angry out burst.

    The out burst were always against my friends and innocent school peers as I could never confront my bullies I soon got a reputation for fighting and myself being a bad girl and a bully and no one wanted to no me.

    I grew more and more depressed over the next 2 years as the boys continued to bully me I Stopped eating for days on end and I did not speak a word or make eye contact with anybody outside of my family and my parents adult friends for about a year.

    I would tell my parents what was happening at school and that I was depressed and my Mum would always just say “You’re to young to be depressed” or “just ignore the boys and they will stop”.

    By Mid 2000 I had anorexia and I finally changed schools after years of begging!
    I liked to keep my weight just slightly above emancipated so my Mum would stay in denial of my problems. When I started at my new school I found it very difficult to make friends. There was 1 girl who made a huge effort to be my friend. She was a much larger girl 5″9 and 264lbs we were both born on the same day February 9th 1985. We were able to talk about everything together except my secret. Another new girl came to the school Skinny blonde and really out going and befriended Amanda and I She was in the year below us but seemed so much older than us and cooler she had a boyfriend who was 21 and had a car, she would talk about what she had taken drugs, the one time she injected speed and how she always smoked dope. Her Mum was pretty wild, and Rachel’s house became the hangout were we were allowed to drink and pretty much do what every wanted. Rachel was already an every day bong smoker. Soon after meeting Rachel Amanda also started smoking bongs and I grew increasingly apart from the
    girls as they both got more and more into weed.

    I soon became completely depressed again and lost all control over myself and again started to comfort eat now 17 and in our last yr of high school I weighed a Massive 172.8lbs but Amanda now weighed 132lbs and was 5″9 she was gorgeous and became extremely confidant and seemed to be happy for the first time in her life. I was amazed and as gossip goes around everyone put it down to smoking weed.

    I would soon find for myself that it was and is a way to manipulate your mind and gain control over your body. For the next few years I suffered sever depression I would self mutilate, chew and spit, abuse laxatives, and binge eat. My weight drop and raise rapidly over that time and I abused myself mentally as I continued to convince myself more and more that those boys were right.

    As I could not gain back the control I had previously had. I remembered Amanda and her weight loss I started smoking weed by myself in my bedroom just before I would go to bed when I was soon after I turned 19yrs old. I did not want an addiction.

    Soon I met a new friend who was gay and very active in the gay community. He would come over everyday and we would both find comfort in hanging out with each other. Ashley was another huge pot smoker so it didn’t take me long to pick up the habit I was hooked it numbed alot of pain. I was in control of my body again I lead myself to believe that I did not need food to survive just water, multivitamins, chocolate and diet coke I would live on that diet days at a time never really feeling overly hungry and sometimes I would purposely have a huge pig out in front of my Mum.

    I rapidly started to lose weight and before I could believe it I was at my lowest weight in years a mere 88lbs. but I liked to have it stabilized at exactly 99lbs nothing more nothing less. I did not try to hide anything this time. I would blatantly skip meals just saying “I’m not hungry” and My Mum would never really think much of it and just say “you have to eat” and would never push the issue. Mum being in the medical profession has alot of people around her one day Mum came home and was like one of the counselors asked me if you had anorexia then she laughed and said “I said she’s getting there.”

    My confidence started to grow and I started to make myself some really nice friends who did not take any drugs and were all going to college and had planned and thought about their futures. They would invite me places, just to have a coffee and hang out we would go to the clubs and flirt with guys, I have never spoken to any of them about anything real I never quite felt comfortable around them as I had no dreams and no future. (I had alot of sick days suspensions, and waged alot of early high school to avoid being bullied.I was eventually expelled in my last year of high school because my grades and participation could not pass me.)I was still depressed and they could see this and blame it purely on me smoking weed which would make me really angry so I eventually stopped returning phone calls and going out.

    After that I cried non stop for a week and I still to this day don’t know quite why I hit an all time low and in a fit of pain I slit both of my wrist. I panicked and ran straight to my Dad who took me to the hospital. The doctor put me on the anti depressant zoloft which i took for 1 month only which is apparently a big no no. Nothing else happened.

    Up until I turned 21 I was serverly depressed and hardly left the house for 2year except to get weed and beauty procedures which I have always been OCD about the MAC counter my other major OCD. One day about 6 months before my 22nd birthday I started looking through the paper for a job I applied and got my first job as waitress in a strip club.

    My confidence was low and would not let me aspire to much. I was the highest tipped waitress the club had ever had. My confidence raised I made friends with everybody the waitress, strippers all the glassies and security wanted to know me and I would even sneak off with one of the security gaurds that would get close to no one and me and him would go and smoke weed on our breaks which we co-ordinated I finally felt like I belonged somewhere for the first time in my life I would get put on all of the vip shifts were the highest tippers where. I was there for 5 months before we got a new manager Ben.

    At first Ben and I got along then one night a guy grabbed me between my legs and I ended up crying unstop ably. The guy was taken out the back but I was never told anything else. The dance manager told me to go down stairs have a cigarette to calm down and all off the staff there had made it quite clear that I did not have to tolerate anything like that at all as it was not my job. After about 20 minutes Ben came down stairs and told me that he hated criers and no matter what he would not have any staff crying in front of high profile customers.

    A few nights later some of the girls and I were out in town for the opening of a new strip club owned by our club. Due to not being complete the opening night was canceled. So everyone decided to go to the club were we worked. Ben told all the girls we were out with to go up to the vip area, as we all started to walk off Ben called me back and asked where I was going I replied cheerfully “up to the vip” and he simply replied no your not. I instantly started to cry as I had already had a bottle of champaign and ran straight up to the vip and told the girls what had happened they told me to stay up there so I did and eventually Ben came up there stairs to the vip and asked me what i was doing there and he had one of my security guard friends walk me down the stairs though I was not kicked out.

    I was left alone drunk in a packed strip club crying all by myself the girls came down and we all went to reception the receptionist gave me a vip stamp and I left the club to go and have a cigarette on the street. Minutes later Ben came down and asked me were I got my stamp from (I now look back and realise how petty this man was and clearly remember one night before he started taking me off vip shift he counted my tips and sarcastically said “maybe i should be a waitress”)

    I lied and said I paid for the vip stamp he knew I was lying and said out on the street I was fired I flew into a hysteria and ran straight into the pizza restaurant next door they took me out the back and gave me a couple of pipes to calm me down by this point i was still hurting real bad I was in alot of debt over $20,000 when I started at the club and in 5 months I had got it down to $9,000 I was planning on moving in with a friend and 1 person had shattered all the progress I had made in that small amount of time.

    The pizza guys offered me extasy I have had it a few times before and knew it would cheer me up! And it did i was feeling great and confident and then something I had always been interested in while working in the strip club was coke everyone would rave about it. I had been offered it once before in the club but I said no. But this night i was low so I had a line i don’t remember much after that but i remember him trying to have sex with me and me getting out running down the street then nothing then one of the dancers putting me in a taxi was the last thing I remembered of the night.

    For the next 3 weeks I cried and was depressed but this time I was angry and I was determined not to let him beat me. For the first time since I was 19 i stopped cold turkey and smoked no weed at all I had gone from smoking weed from the moment I woke up in the morning to having no bongs at all over night. I was so proud my Mum was also proud and said if I can prove I could keep it up and stay clean for 6 months she would give me $500. During that 6 months I got a job at another strip club right across the street doing promo out the front it was great at first and everyone from across the street would come over to say hello and give me a hug I very quickly worked my way into the club as a hostess which is like a pimp for strippers. After I proved to be extremely motivational to the girls (I would tell them the things I was desperate for someone to tell me) and had extremely high sales I was promoted to manageress.

    I had put on weight and Eventually I started to Slack off and drink heavily within one month of being manager I was drinking every night but not your standard drinks the only ones that could give me a strong enough kick like bacardi 151 , green chartreuse, and french absinthe.

    I had lost all control of my life once again, I felt like everyone hated me even though I now don;t think they did, I gained alot of weight again and got up to 149.6lbs. I quite my job this year in June I am currently 23 yrs old I have become dissociated with everyone again, I have stopped cutting myself, I have started to smoke weed again and have been since September and I am currently 128lbs. I did have a nervous break down and I finally asked if I could talk to someone. my Mum arranged some counseling and I go once every 2 weeks I have not yet felt comfortable opening up and talking about the way I feel I am on the mental health watch list for depression only.

    I am also on a program called the personal support program with welfare.
    The psychologist is only currently treating me with depression and helping me improve my self esteem, acceptance of myself I often feel he is more interested in talking about himself.

    I also have perfectionist tendencies and anxiety.

    I am on my fourth month of 200mgs of zoloft and I do believe they are helping me with my depression I am also smoking weed again and feeling more in control I have lost 22lbs in the last 2 months and I will not be happy until I am at my favorite weight of 99lbs. I rarely smile or call anybody my relationships with boyfriends last exactly two months. I often think that everyone in my life would be better of if I did not exist. I am constantly sad, alone and depressed. My doctor has also told me I have something wrong with my kidney but i never went back for a check up, I pee pure cannabis. There a very few things that make me smile. I hate my life. If I could change anything at all I would change nothing because it could be worse. I wish that no one chooses to take the paths I have. Talk to somebody instead be Assertive about your problems.

  • Anonymous says:

    im 24 yrs old and weight only 105-110, it sorta changes week to week. I try to eat a good diet, I dont have anorexia or belimia, but sometimes the most nauseating feeling just hits me when i try to eat, sometimes i can eat through it without throughing up, but about 65% of the time i cant, i have been smoking weed since i was 11, mainly in blunts but sometime i use a bong if i have too, and it use to work on the nausea, but now it seems more frequent and weed helps less and less, the feeling use to come on 2 to4 times a year now almost every couple of days any ideas before i go get cracked at a doctors office with my no health ins havin ass.

  • Joe Budden says:

    umm this is a really good blog ive been readin it n ive been smoking pot for 5 years now since i was 12, and i never had an eating disorder before that but now when i wake up in the morning i can’t eat anything at all until i smoke some weed is that an eating disorder or a dependency? I really need to know.

  • cristian says:

    My opinion is quite different from what I have read in the article. Marijuana can end up with an addiction treatment and anorexia can be treated in other ways that are simpler and more efficient. One way to treat anorexia is to visit psychological therapist that is specialized in this specific field. A few sessions can provide the anorexic person with a miracle cure.

  • Anonymous says:

    You have no idea how powerful of a tool cannabis is when it comes to eating disorders.
    It is not an instant solution. I can smoke cannabis and still find myself falling into eating disordered habits. It does, however, open a door to let you deal with your problems. I suffered from anorexia pretty severely from age 12 onward. During this time, I was constantly ill, could never think properly, and did untold amounts damage to my heart, my internal organs, my body. I wanted desperately to stop, but I couldn’t break myself of the behaviors… it felt like the only thing in my life that I could really rely on. I fell deeper and deeper into depression, and eventually decided that I would kill myself slowly by starvation. I started smoking cannabis recreationally at 19. I had no idea how drastically it was going to change my life. It changed my way of thinking about food. It suddenly made more sense to view it as an energy source, rather than this source of good or evil… It is very difficult to describe to someone who has not experienced these behaviors. Having the munchies led me to rediscover foods that I loved long ago, and let me really enjoy them without the eating disordered thinking of “OH MY GOD CALORIES CALORIES CALORIES.” More of a mindset of “MMMMM…”!
    I started to wake up into a different person, one with an unbridled passion for life, living, and treating my body with respect.
    I think it’s an AMAZING tool for someone who is ready to get rid of their disorder, but it’s not a “magic” fix. This journey took a few hard years, and there are still times when it would be too easy to go back, but I really don’t think I ever could. Once you know how incredible it is to be healthy, sickness no longer seems so romantic, and really more crazy than anything.

  • Anonymous says:

    no!! this illness overrides the feeling of “hunger” your body synthesizes. at least for me. It’s an even greater achievement for an anorexic to NOT EAT under the influence of eating- inducing- chemicals.

  • Anonymous says:

    I found a great blog article about how starving yourself can be counter-productive in an effort to lose weight. http://weightcontrolinfo.com/2008/06/06/fat-loss-tip-stop-starving-yourself/

  • Anonymous says:

    I also suffered from anorexia a few years ago. I got down to 93lbs.I still restrict my intake of food. Mostly I am on the ‘Ghandi’diet where I only drink water, coffee,and ice tea. When i started smoking pot I eventually started gaining weight and I no longer got nauseas when I see people stuffing fast food into their mouths.
    Marijuana also has helped me handled my severe chronic depression. When I get highly stressed and suicidal pot relaxes me far beyond the medicatons i take. The only problem is I have no contact for purchase.
    Marijuana also helped one of my dogs in a big way,it probably added 8 yrs to his life. He had incredibe allergies to everything and would scratch all his hair out until he made his skin bleed. I took him to an allergist but the allergy shots he coldn’t handle. I put shirts and sweaters on him but he continued scratching and would become frantic. So I finally decided to shotgun some pot smoke into hid mouth and nose.(2-3 hits)It would immediately calm him down and he would try to lick my mouth for more.Within 30 minutes he would be asleep and no longer in pain
    I am interested in how to get involved in making marijuana legal or at least medical marijuana legalized in Texas. Is there anyone who can give advice on this or point me in the right direction. I have seen several very good reasons for medical marijuana.My email is zanne1008@sbcglobal.net

  • Anonymous says:

    Well I have had an eating disorder for 8 years and smoking definantly does not help me.
    If anything it makes the starvation worse when you finally overcome the pain.
    Hard pain killers change my body image in the ways that i feel fatter and more bloated.
    Even marijuana can’t help some people..

  • Anonymous says:

    Smoking marijuana is not for everyone but for me it has done wonders. When I smoke the anxiety goes away and I actually enjoy the food I am eating. With so many failed drug prescriptions and nothing comes close to the way I am at ease with myself. I am no longer nervous to go to family functions or even out with friends. I think they even enjoy me more……

  • Anonymous says:

    I’ve had issues with bulimia since I was about 14. My parents hospitalized me and had me see a bunch of different therapists and nutritionists but none of it helped. I’d go through times when I didn’t eat, and I’d be happy then. But the second that I did eat it turned into a binge and I hated myself. It even got so bad at one point that I tried to kill myself for eating a bagel. After eating I’d always vomit or take laxatives or exercise. Literally all of my thoughts were controlled by my eating disorder… they pretty much ranged from ‘i’m fat’ to ‘how can i get skinny?’ That was all that I saw in life: calories, fat, and bones. I was completely withdrawn from others because all I cared about was my weight. I felt unlovable, so I wouldn’t let anyone get too close to me emotionally. It was seriously like hell.

    This past summer around my 18th birthday I started to smoke marijuana. It really opened my eyes and mind. I started seeing more in life than just fat and skinny. I learned SO MUCH about myself! I realized I actually had a personality that I LOVED, and that there are so many great things in this world that I’d rather focus on than my weight. I began to really love myself and open up to others. I realized how happy I was and how happy I made everyone around me! I didn’t have to think about eating anymore, it just happened haha. I’d eat when I was hungry or had the munchies, and that was that. I didn’t worry if I gained a pound. There are more serious issues on this planet. My eating disorder was out of the picture and I was happy, optimistic, confident, genuine, loving, and so many other great things.

    For the past three months though I haven’t smoked, and I’ve noticed that my old eating disorder tendencies are creeping back on me again. I haven’t smoked because I wanted to see whether the change I had experienced in my life really was because of cannabis. It definitely was, and I find that amazing. I’m a big supporter of medical marijuana and know that someday it will be legal. After all, “pot is proof that mother nature wants us to be happy”.

    PEACE&&LOVE TO ALL
    <3 Heidi

  • Travis says:

    I’m a 19 year old male who suffered from anorexia. I’m sorry, but this just does not apply in my case. I think the marijuana made my eating disorder WORSE because I got hungrier, yet I was still so terrified to eat. But at the same time, I couldn’t be happy without the marijuana, so I felt the need to be high ALL the time. I was spending about 100 dollars, on average, a week on weed. Sometimes more.

    When I went inpatient for my eating disorder, obviously access to weed was cut off, and I got off the stuff, and I was doing much better. When I got home, I was hesitant at first, but I started smoking weed again, and it has become something that I feel like I need all the time again. And, my eating disorder is starting to come back.

    So far, I’ve been sober for two days, and I’d like to say I’m happier, but really, I’m not. I’m more motivated, and eating disorder wise, I’m doing much better about eating and feeling okay about it. But my mood is just horrible, and I’m so irritable.

  • Anonymous says:

    I am a 25 year old male and I have been bulimic since I was 12 or younger. I have smoked marijuana since I was about 18 but oddly enough I hadnt noticed that smoking actually helps prevent me from getting sick after eating. I go a few days after smoking without making myself sick. It helps me rid myself of depressed emotions and feelings. I have almost quit smoking now though because of the girl I am with doesnt agree with it and now my purging has increased drastictly yes I do go on a smoking benge on occassions and I no longer feel the need after eating. Does the goods outweigh the bad on this. They should legalize the medical use of marijuana if not for this reason alone. I know Bulimia causes death from heart failure and everything else. Our government is totally corrupted by power and profit. It should be based on the well being of its people and not the profits of whom it is governed by. We are so scared and ignorant as to what is going on around us now. Its a shame that politics are who runs this country now instead of the people who made it great to begin with. Email me if you agree or wanna respond.
    SUWANDEEZ@YAHOO.COM

  • Wannabeyummy says:

    I have smoked weed since I was 15 (29 now) and have lost over 100 pounds in a year and a half due to SEVERE calorie restriction, anorexic tendencies up the butt hole, and a few mini-fasts here and there.

    I do all this and still find a way to get my weed in for the day and not succumb to gluttonous binging, still losing weight, and get the most compliments on the days I don’t eat anything at all. (go figure this WONDERFUL society)..

    Ever since I cut my caloric intake by more than half, life is easier and better, ppl are MUCH nicer (mmmm, cute boyzzzz), and the clothes friggin’ ROCK!!!!

    I NEVER WANT TO BE AS FAT AS I WAS EVER EVER AGAIN!!!!!!

    Would looooove to get down to 130 (5’8) and rock some ass!!!!

  • Anonymous says:

    I have been struggling with anorexia or anorexic tendencies since I was maybe nine years old. I am now nineteen. The past five years I have been on and off my deathbed, in and out of hospitals. Throughout this I have smoked marijuana on and off as well. During the periods of time where I smoked up on a daily basis, I did much better with eating regular meals and found myself able to function much more normally. I have not been smoking daily the past three months and have plummeted into a hole again. However, over the summer when I smoking four or five bowls a day, I was doing really well. Honestly I was probably being the most normal I’d ever been. I didnt gain weight really but I did eat meals and snacks without mass panic episodes or throwing away half of my plate. I tend to think marijuana would be a viable treatment option for many other anorexics. Right now I am almost afraid to start smoking regularly again, simply out of the fear of being comfortable around food. Abusrd I know, especially given my severe circumstances. Given a choice though,between going back into a treatment center or smoking a little more bud, I’d gladly take the latter. Smoking pot was far more therapuetic and helpful than most of the other therapies and hospitals I’ve encountered.

  • Anonymous says:

    i dont have eating disorder but im 12 years old and im reaserching anorexia and looking up pics for it and this is the most appropriet pic ov seen on this google images. thank-you

  • Anonymous says:

    Hi I’m a twenty-something year old male doctor. I suffered with anorexia/bulimia from age 16 until I guess about 20, although I still have the occasional bout. As soon as I started smoking weed (aged 20) I suddenly became less bothered about eating nice food and just enjoyed it. The general effect of weed is to make you lazy and less bothered about things, but if this includes your obsession about food and that it makes you so lazy you can’t be bothered to throw up then it can’t be a bad thing! I have worked in psychiatry and have seen many people develop Schizophrenia secondary to smoking cannabis, however this is only more likely if you have mental illness running in your family, but do be careful. I must admit my memory has suffered too! I find it helps me cope with life, has made me more confident and a more healthy weight, and also helps me to figure out the problems i have in life. I can’t deny that weed can make you paranoid, lethargic, depressed…but use it in moderation and it really can help. Ps smoking is Very bad for you, but hey, we’re all human!

  • Anonymous says:

    I think just as anti-depressants can help or hurt someone, so can marijuana. Everyone’s chemical and mental reactions are different. It’s true that if you don’t want help,as an anorexic, you won’t seek it.
    But if one really does want the help, and marijuana seems to help, I see nothing wrong with it.

  • Lorie says:

    I guess my question is if marijuana helps a person suffering from an eating disorder what will happen if the person stops smoking marijuana? will they just go back to their old ways? and if the person don’t stop, isn’t it just another form of addiction instead of an actual help or cure? i know i’m not in the same situation but aren’t my thinking is that there are better options.

  • Jt Hollister says:

    I can’t say I speak from experience, as I never had an eating disorder. I can say that I know marijuana makes almost everyone voracious. On the other hand, I also know someone who actually loses their appetite. Most likely it would depend on the person.

    More importantly, however, there are no harmful effects. There’s no reason not to try.

  • claire says:

    i also agree, i don not go over 200 calories unless i am high and it is also physically impossible for me to purge afterward

  • Anonymous says:

    Well i find this funny because i found marijuana caused my anorexia. When i started smoking i was fine, but after a while i started getting extremely paranoid about my weight and wouldnt eat much. After realising that marijuana may have been the cause i have since stopped and fealt much better.

  • Anonymous says:

    An interresting thought. But thought I’d add my thoughts on the opposite problem. I posted on the “Depression” post, and have used it occasionally for getting my evening routine going, but I’ve also been using it to focus more strongly on my weight-loss goals. I think of it as self-hypnosis, since under the influence I’m more suggestable, even if I’m doing the suggesting. So I meditated on my goals, and what needs to be done to attain those goals.

    I simply cannot put anything unhealthy into my body when under the influence of marijuana. I’ve actually started to take a bite of something and just stop, food in hand, mouth clamped shut, and suddenly revolted by the snack. This carries over to when I’m not using as well, though not to as strong a degree. Also end up with a compulsion to exercise and do Yoga. (have lost 35lbs in the last six months).

    It could be used then, I suppose, with appropriate therapy and hypnosis to make a person want to eat things that are good for them (binging on onion rings wouldn’t be much help) and to help change their body-image, and to be able to see muscle and a moderate ammount of fat as beautiful.

  • Jt says:

    Hey,
    That’s an interesting thought. But if it would ‘cure’ it, people like this wouldn’t really see it as a cure would they? They would see it as stopping them from their goal…and they simply wouldn’t smoke it again, don’t you think? Just a thought.

    Nice blog. I have a blog that is very unpopular at the moment, but I was wondering if you would consider blogging about or linking to this persuasive essay on Legalizing Marijuana? Have a look, let me know what you think!

    http://www.luminousnerd.com/2006/marijuanacannabisthc

    Peace 🙂

  • Anonymous says:

    I’m 54 years old and I’ve had anorexic tendencies for as long as I can remember. I’ve noticed that it’s a coping mechanism in an uncontrollable world. Smoking marijuana let’s me get to that “place” (tokers know what I’m saying)where eating is just another routine function. Thinking, creating, producing, communicating, sharing, laughing, loving and experiencing life – that’s what’s important. How we get there is a personal choice. Cannabis has been used therapeutically for body and soul thousands of years. Who are we to argue with human history?

  • Anonymous says:

    It defiently can help i struggled with an eating disorder and ocd for that last 2 years and I started smoking way more often and i have become so much more laid back about my weight and keeping my size perfect! i’m way less stressed out and insucure but now when I get the munchies I can eat without feeling like shit and wanting to throw up after! marjuana has saved me from ending up in the hospitol again!

  • Anonymous says:

    It’s really strange that I came across this post today. I have been wondering the same question.

    I have had an eating disorder on and off since I was 12 years old. I am currently 19. After I moved out of my parent’s house and away from their rules and limits on smoking marijuana and meeting many people who percieved of the plant in a much more natural, healthy way, I began smoking regularly. I feel like it helps me in many ways, but it has only recently began to occur to me that partly why I love smoking is for the anti-nausea effects it has.

    After years of throwing up my food, my stomach automatically tries to get rid of food. Marijuana, however, helps ease that discomfort and allows me to digest food. Also, it helps my stress levels about my body image and weight.

    But at the same time, I cannot help but hear the other side of the argument. Have I merely embraced marijuana into my life because of my addictive personality and unhealthy substance abuse issues? Could my marijuana usage really be facilitating my demise????

    Some how I doubt it.

    I would love to hear what anyone has to ssay about this topic or any further resources that are available.

    Thank you!

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