marijuanna and juvinile diabetes

[baddiabetic]

hi my son is 15 years old he was diagnosed with juvinile diabetes last year hes been smoking pot everyday since hes gotten diabetes and i was just wondering what are the diabetic complications if he keeps smoking pot

[JDRF-Team-BL]

Dear Baddiabetic,
     Other than the fact that is usi ng an illegal drug but the euphoric effect of marihuana might make him forget to care properly his diabetes. The only other thing i've ever heard about smoking marihuana and diabetes is that the munchies you get from the drug may have you eating more than is in your diet.
Good luck with stopping, bret

[sleeping beauty]

It depends on the individual using it.

Observe his actions when he is high. If he is constantly in the kitchen, constantly eating junk or over-eating, then he has a  problem with the munchies. Smoking ganja stimulates receptors that prolongs the feeling of 'hunger', when in fact you are not hungry.
Therefore constant eating will obviously elevate the blood sugar.

I can be sure, I speak from experience on this, and I've been trying to cut down smoking it.

Comfort lies in the hope that this is merely a phase that people my age go through, and sooner or later we wise up.

God Bless

[Starsnrose]

Marijuana, like any other recreational drug, increases diabetic complications three fold.  This means that you will lose your sight and be blind three times quicker than if you didn't smoke marijuana or anything else for that matter.  Recreational drug use causes you to not pay attention to your blood sugar and how your body is feeling/reacting.  This creates a situation where your blood sugars are high and your heart, kidneys, lungs, skin, etc. are affected.  How do I know all this?  I know because my diabetic son was a user and died two years ago of kidney and heart failure due to diabetic complications.  He was 33 years old and was also blind.  The dr.'s told us he would have lived much longer if he had not been a drug user and had taken better care of himself.  Don't doubt me on this one.  It's fact.  My heart knows because I will miss him forever.  Don't play games or mess with your life.  Someone cares.

[dee12]

Just wanted to add that smoking anything in general contributes to poor circulation which utimately increases the likelihood of complications/nerve damage.

I have smoked marijuana ocassionally in the past, I usually do get the munchies although i always took insulin to account for it, but everyone is differnt and reacts differently.  The thought of the damaage it causes to my body is enough to steer me away from it.

[bexbyrequest]

I'm type I and 22, and have been diabetic for 12 years.  I never would have used marijuanna when I was 15!  At the time, I felt that diabetes had taken some control away from me of my body, and I didn't want to loose anymore control with drugs.  In the past few years though I have use marijuanna occasionally, and am able to maintain ok control when on it.  However, I can maintain much better control of my BS on marijuanna than when drinking alcohol.  I think if your son is only going to use it once in a while, it is fine.  I think the only tricky thing is to manage the munchies.  Something that might help is to get him prepackaged delicious foods
(bags of chips or cookies, or prewrapped ice cream cones, etc, and throw in some low carb options too like nuts, lunch meat, veggies,etc) for when he gets the munchies, so that he will know how much to bolus (this might sound a bit odd, but I find that the difficult  part of bolusing for the munchies, is remembering how much food I actually ate).  I would be more cautious with him about alcohol, which is significantly more difficult to navigate as a diabetic (though it can be done, if he is willing to drink in moderation).  I can't imagine being in your position as a mother, how stressful, but just like everything else in his life, he will probably have an out of range blood sugar after he uses marijuanna (like he would if he played basketball for the first time, or took a stressful test for the first time), and will learn from it and improve his control the next time he uses it. Good Luck!

[sleeping beauty]

http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/diabetes_5.htm


FREE UP FROM MARIJUANA IGNORANCE...

[je5]

Hmm, smoking pot daily may not be the best idea for somebody with diabetes, but then again it probably isn't the best idea for anybody. I have been smoking for about a year now and I have found that it doesn't really hinder my blood sugar control. While no physician would tell your son what he's doing is a good idea, I would be much more concerned if he was into heavy drinking. If the smoking gets in the way of testing blood sugars and correct insulin dosing or he begins to have more breathing difficulties than he used to, it is time to cut back, but I would tell him to be weary of other drugs, especially alcohol. Although it is one of the only legal recreational drugs that is widely used, it is also one of the most dangerous for diabetics. While getting a little drunk every once in a while is probably okay for a diabetic, getting super drunk is not, but as far as the herb goes, pretty much toke up as much as you'd like (with some common sense guidelines of course).  

[Sakitumi]

I am 29, a diabetic since 7 years ago. I used to smoke MJ before my diabetes and I was alright, school, family...all. Well I couldn't stop smoking MJ just because of my diabetes, both things diabetes and MJ being part of my way of living, so I continued. I tell you something, personally it never harmed me in any way, but sure it still makes me eat much more when getting high. If you smoke in a moderate manner (max. 1 joint a day) I guess you should be OK. The only bad thing in my humble opinion is the drinking of alcoholic beverages. These chemicals well known as alcohol are really really bad for a diabetic, especially a young one. Please find yourself a different way of getting loose than alcohol consumption

[syd420]

i am 17 years old, and i have had type 1 diabetes since i was 4 years old.
i have been smoking since i was about 13 and honestly, im not sure about the long term effects, but i know from personal experience that if you have the right mindset about taking care of your bloodsugar, it can actually help. as long as you cotrol the munchies, it can lower your BS.
TRUE STORY:
i was with my friends and we had just eaten some ice cream and i went to do a shot, and realzed that  didnt have my isulin... this was at like 2am, and i already had my theory that ganja does loewr BS, but i decided to reallytest it. i waited ti 3 when my bs was higher i believe i was 428 and we smoked... in the next hour or so, although i smoked a good bit (i am not a light weight at all) my bs dropped to 216.
i just thought that was interesting... i actually plan to be a scientist and try to figure out the good and bad effects or marijuana for people with type 1 diabetes