I feel like this is the spot to finally ask this question (not really JJ related)

About a year ago I was preparing for my first tournament as a purple belt while running my own business. Needless to say I was burning the candle at both ends so I was drinking a lot of energy drinks and had started a juice diet to help with the weight cut. I decided to try a pre workout for training for the first time also. Long story short I landed myself in the ER from a caffine overdose and almost had a heart attack. This ended up fucking up the wiring in my brain and I now suffer from an anxiety disorder. Which kept me off the mats as a serious student/competitor for about 6 months and completely fucked my cardio.

I've never been the medication type and I'm sick of the meds. Plus i feel like they are clouding my mind for JJ. I was wondering if anyone thinks the THC route would be a good idea? If so edibles, smoking or what? I smoked from like 14-20 so I know the effects. Just curious for some other opinions. Sorry for the rant, thanks in advance for anyone that was willinh to read.

Hard to say man, I started having rapid seizure and it put me down for awhile. Im on multiple seizure meds now and they fog me and slow me down a lot. the only thing I can say since I have started back it has helped me mentally and gave me drive to work on my cardio and strength again. And the cardio has gotten bad. Thc is tricky because you cant control the dose or control the time frame that its in your system. I would suggest a psych doc if your using a family med doc now and tell them whats up they may be able to change your meds to something easier on your system. especially if your using benzos. I wouldn't just stop them and try thc all in one swoop though you may end up in the nut house if you do.

Disclaimer:
I do not endorse use of illegal substances, doing so is at your own risk

I mean if its just Anxiety, then I wouldn't see a problem with it. I know a few people around these parts who partake to settle down their anxiety. Now don't get me wrong, they're not Blazed off their ass the whole time, they're just taking a little here and there to take the edge off. We've had guys say it works, but we've had guys say it actually made them feel more anxious. If you don't mind being a science experiment then give it a shot. Also, the different strains all claim to help with different things. Obviously if you're feeling anxiety you definitely wouldn't want to go with something that may amplify the anxiety.

http://forum.grasscity.com/medical-m...d-anxiety.html

I'd give this a read, and see what other people have found out.

Best of Luck, I hope you can try and resolve this issue naturally rather than with a Pharmaceutical

http://www.leafly.com/explore/conditions-anxiety

check this out as well

Weed is a naturally occuring plant that I believe was put here by the Lord to surve a multitude of medicinal purposes.
That being said, I have heard of it having both effects regarding axienty, based on the user.

For some people it helps them deal with Anxiety, and for others it increases it and makes it worse. Only experimentation will answer that question.

I think it also has to do with the strain. Indica VS Sateva or something like that.
One is better or worse than the other for mental, and one is better or worse than the other for physical.

Have you tried any adrenal health healing supplements?

Gaia Herbs makes a good product called Adrenal Health. It's mostly Holy Basil and Rodiola, both are excellent for stress management. Combining that with 8+ hours of sleep and cutting out caffeine made a huge difference for me.

Scheduling the sleep is the hardest part.

I have a therapist plus the mats as far as the mental goes, and yes I'm on benzos, but a very low dose. I've listened to JRE and Eddie talk about this over and over and I'm aware it can go both ways. I was hoping somebody would have some insight on the indica/sativa thing so I knew which to try. I'm hoping just low dose and to drive out to CO and get a green card. I've tried 100 natural things and even new mood from onnit. Thanks for the links. I'll check em out.

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Originally Posted by BJ Searle

About a year ago I was preparing for my first tournament as a purple belt while running my own business. Needless to say I was burning the candle at both ends so I was drinking a lot of energy drinks and had started a juice diet to help with the weight cut. I decided to try a pre workout for training for the first time also. Long story short I landed myself in the ER from a caffine overdose and almost had a heart attack. This ended up fucking up the wiring in my brain and I now suffer from an anxiety disorder. Which kept me off the mats as a serious student/competitor for about 6 months and completely fucked my cardio.

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note to : Josh Passini!!

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Originally Posted by BJ Searle

I have a therapist plus the mats as far as the mental goes, and yes I'm on benzos, but a very low dose. I've listened to JRE and Eddie talk about this over and over and I'm aware it can go both ways. I was hoping somebody would have some insight on the indica/sativa thing so I knew which to try. I'm hoping just low dose and to drive out to CO and get a green card. I've tried 100 natural things and even new mood from onnit. Thanks for the links. I'll check em out.

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Start with pure indica or indica dominate hybred. Sativa strains tend to be more "trippy" head high which can lend itself to more anxiety. Indica tends to be more "put you on the couch, chill the f*** out, ranch relax-o".

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Originally Posted by Greg W

note to : Josh Passini!!

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How do I do that?

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Originally Posted by BJ Searle

How do I do that?

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That was just a sacastic note to Josh about his similar lifestyle and caffine intake!!

I would recommend really cleaning up your diet, if you haven't. Take out all processed, artificial crap. The food (or "food") you put in your body has an extreme effect on your body, mental state, everything. Other than that, maybe try some Alpha Brain and/or New Mood from Onnit?

Gotcha

Are you still drinking any type of energy drinks, even if it's caffeine? All that ish can mess with your head, and teeth for that matter. I use to drink Rockstars on the regular, but started losin' it on people, clients, my dog, etc, so I had to stop. Then I took up Monsters, which isn't as bad, but still gave me anxiety and jacked up my teeth. Then I migrated to Coffee, a somewhat lesser evil, but it causes delirum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium so I cut back big time, then some more, and finally just drink a small Hot Chocolate every morning.

By the way, what Greg said about the effects of Sativa and Indica are on point. A hybrid, leaning towards the Indica side are ideal if you have anxiety. Alls you need is one hit though. I just to go full blast, but over the years have been weaning off substantially.

Peace.

BJ anyone with the balls to go for their own business and compete at a high level such as yourself has my respect.

However I don't think this is the place for unbiased advice.

What works for one does not work for another and vice versa.

I have friends who smoke weed all day and are as passive as a Labrador. On the other hand I have (former) friends who's anxiety is so blatantly caused or at very least sustained by smoking (and obsessing over) pot that I've distanced myself from them due to their delusional tendencies.

As much as we'd love to help, imo you can't honestly expect to find the answer you're looking for here I'm afraid sir.

No, I gave up everything. My only drink is water, and electrolyte supplements like gatorade after training. I had a really clean diet till I moved to NE, and then things went to shit. I really need to get back on a good diet. The accident gave me a caffine sensitivity and a mad anxiety problem. So no caffine at all.

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Originally Posted by Chris Garry

BJ anyone with the balls to go for their own business and compete at a high level such as yourself has my respect.

However I don't think this is the place for unbiased advice.

What works for one does not work for another and vice versa.

I have friends who smoke weed all day and are as passive as a Labrador. On the other hand I have (former) friends who's anxiety is so blatantly caused or at very least sustained by smoking (and obsessing over) pot that I've distanced myself from them due to their delusional tendencies.

As much as we'd love to help, imo you can't honestly expect to find the answer you're looking for here I'm afraid sir.

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I appreciate that, and I'm not looking for advice to take as gospel from anyone. I was hoping to find someone in a similar situation that might be able to share their story with me and possibly give me some insight and ideas. If not, I'm no worse off than I was before posting.

Strains have everything to do with anxiety.

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Originally Posted by BJ Searle

I appreciate that, and I'm not looking for advice to take as gospel from anyone. I was hoping to find someone in a similar situation that might be able to share their story with me and possibly give me some insight and ideas. If not, I'm no worse off than I was before posting.

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Good lad cheers mate

have you tried meditation? by regularly increasing the level of oxygen going into your brain there has been a lot of success in reducing stress and increasing things such as memory and concentration. i even read an article the other day about rapid cellular changes when meditating. it definitely doesnt hurt.

another thing that isnt all about the drugs is a list you can go through when you get really anxious, its hard at first but you basically sit there and go through asking yourself questions, like why am i anxious, is that really a problem how is it going to affect me, how can i stop it. mix that in with breathing exercises and most of the anxiety goes away. at the start as i said its not easy but eventually you do it in the blink of an eye and all of a sudden your not anxious anymore. ive also found it helps in situations in everyday life, helping you cut through the crap and get to the heart of a problem.

id also look into ways of reducing cortisol levels. things like getting your sleeping pattern sorted and getting more sunlight and having regular sex is all really good for you though two of those may be easy to get than the other.

and personally i feel that if the benzos are stopping you from unctioning properly then you have to decide whether they are better or worse than the anxiety. talk to your doctor about reducing the dosage and trying other methods that wont fog you up.

and do what you love man, if thats jiu jitsu then try your best to get back into it. exercise will increase endorphines which wont hurt either.

good luck

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Originally Posted by Chris Herzog

Strains have everything to do with anxiety.

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indulge further please

Just to go off on a different way, I will tell you my little story. For about the past year I was down, felt like everything was going bad, wasn't going to advance in my job, thought the relationship w girlfriend was going bad, one little depressive or anxiety causing thing would cause me to spiral, and not give a f about my job, my girlfriend, anything. I would go to class, roll around and that would take my mind away from things, but then it would just come crashing back when i entered the "real" world again."

Then I started having a problem sleeping, that started in late September/October, and I always had a caffeine sensitivity. Growing up we never had caffeine in my house because my mom would have bad reactions to it, heart palpitations/racing etc, so idk if its genetic or something w/ not drinking it in my youth and most of my teenage years. If I have just one little cup of coffee, like at a diner you get for breakfast, I'll be up until 1 or 2 in the morning, and if I'm crazy and have more I'll be up even later. Even if I have 20 oz soda I'll be up till 12 if not later, I normally try to be asleep by 11 bc i need at 7 hrs of sleep or im dead the next day.

So I cut out the caffeine but during this whole time since Sept/Oct I would have the craziest dreams and wake up every 1.5hrs, then wake up the next day so tired and be dead the next day. Which made everything worse. So then I was like I need to sleep, but I don't want ambien or anything prescribed, so i tried taking some melatonin, 3mg. Ever since I did that I sleep all night, dreams aren't crazy, just more real. But I noticed I wasn't tired anymore and that my mood changed overall, and that i was more positive, the stupid things that bothered me about life just rolled off my shoulder, less worried about things, and relationships w/ people in general have improved. Now it's only been about a month so who knows, and it might be a trick im playing on myself, but it has worked. Now i know w melantonin you take it a month or two then stop for a couple weeks, but I feel it has helped a lot.

So whats the point, idk, but i think good sleep matters (duh captain obvious). I think whatever changes you can make to improve your sleep and the quality of it will change how you deal with people on a regular basis. Before all of this if you ask most people they will tell you I'm fun guy, only met less than a handful of people I never got along w/ or really "dislike" so I wasn't a reformed jerk I think. I hope my experience helps and if you read this whole thing sorry for bad grammar/mispellings bc i don't feel like proof reading (I have to do so much of that at work that i just type and go when im out of the office) and sorry for prob a boring story of life that most people have had.

Just smoke it!

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Originally Posted by CTGRXB

Just to go off on a different way, I will tell you my little story. For about the past year I was down, felt like everything was going bad, wasn't going to advance in my job, thought the relationship w girlfriend was going bad, one little depressive or anxiety causing thing would cause me to spiral, and not give a f about my job, my girlfriend, anything. I would go to class, roll around and that would take my mind away from things, but then it would just come crashing back when i entered the "real" world again."

Then I started having a problem sleeping, that started in late September/October, and I always had a caffeine sensitivity. Growing up we never had caffeine in my house because my mom would have bad reactions to it, heart palpitations/racing etc, so idk if its genetic or something w/ not drinking it in my youth and most of my teenage years. If I have just one little cup of coffee, like at a diner you get for breakfast, I'll be up until 1 or 2 in the morning, and if I'm crazy and have more I'll be up even later. Even if I have 20 oz soda I'll be up till 12 if not later, I normally try to be asleep by 11 bc i need at 7 hrs of sleep or im dead the next day.

So I cut out the caffeine but during this whole time since Sept/Oct I would have the craziest dreams and wake up every 1.5hrs, then wake up the next day so tired and be dead the next day. Which made everything worse. So then I was like I need to sleep, but I don't want ambien or anything prescribed, so i tried taking some melatonin, 3mg. Ever since I did that I sleep all night, dreams aren't crazy, just more real. But I noticed I wasn't tired anymore and that my mood changed overall, and that i was more positive, the stupid things that bothered me about life just rolled off my shoulder, less worried about things, and relationships w/ people in general have improved. Now it's only been about a month so who knows, and it might be a trick im playing on myself, but it has worked. Now i know w melantonin you take it a month or two then stop for a couple weeks, but I feel it has helped a lot.

So whats the point, idk, but i think good sleep matters (duh captain obvious). I think whatever changes you can make to improve your sleep and the quality of it will change how you deal with people on a regular basis. Before all of this if you ask most people they will tell you I'm fun guy, only met less than a handful of people I never got along w/ or really "dislike" so I wasn't a reformed jerk I think. I hope my experience helps and if you read this whole thing sorry for bad grammar/mispellings bc i don't feel like proof reading (I have to do so much of that at work that i just type and go when im out of the office) and sorry for prob a boring story of life that most people have had.

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Thanks man thats the kind of a shit I was looking for

Frig, you guys, I am disappointed. The Jiu Jitsu culture is saturated with smart, fit people who want what is best for their body. We eat good, exercise hard, avoid a million things that we know are bad for us, but then I hear about my brothers and sisters drinking energy drinks and my heart breaks.

That shit is poison. Soda is not fit for human consumption. Diet soda makes people FAT. Aspartame was designed originally for use as a bioweapon. Soda has brominated vegetable oil in it (Flame retardant). The acid that they add to soda pop is so caustic, the people who transport it have to have special training and need to wear hazmat suits to clean up any spills, and the danger signs on the containers of that acid is literally considered only one level down (in classification) from Nuclear waste. Every time you drink it, it depletes your skeletal structure of calcium.

Not only that, but every time you drink it, the chemicals mixed with the carbonation have an effect that (it seems) no one knows about:
It stops your body from being able to process calcium AT ALL, which, as a direct effect, shuts your immune system OFF COMPLETELY for up to 12 hours.
That is from drinking just 1 cup of pop.

So be warned: if you are sick, or have tumour, or a disease you are fighting, etc, and you drink a pop, you are literally shutting off your immune system for 12 hours and allowing that sickness to run rampant, unimpeded for up to 12 hours.

I am not trying to preach, I am only trying to maybe wake up even ONE person.

If it's energy you're short on, talk to me about Nutritional Cleansing. The program I use will have your bursting with energy within 4 days. The program also has an all natural energy shot that is all organic and plant based, and uses the naturally occuring caffeine from Green Tea extract. It was designed specifically for athletic performance.
The product line also has a melatonin spray that I use for helping myself sleep on the occasions where I get put on shift work and my circadian rhythm becomes all screwed up.
All natural.

But either way, do yourselves a favor and stay the heck away from pop, soda and those poisonous energy drinks!!