Posted by k on January 30, 1999, at 13:06:05
In reply to Re: Opioids for depression, posted by kore on October 29, 1998, at 15:49:14
> > > In Peter Kramer's "Listening to Prozac," he states that "for unknown reasons, rare depressed patients even today will respond to no medicine exept opiates, and a few researchers into depression have become newly interested in these substances" (p. 49). I have been taking various antidepressants off and on for several years. Also, from time to time, I acquire hydrocodone through friends, and "self-medicate." A casual observer would think I was "addicted," but the main criteria of addiction are not met in my case: 1) I never actively seek out the drugs; I am never even persistent in asking potential suppliers for them. They just "fall into my lap," so to speak. And I certainly never engage in criminal behavior to get them. 2) Even after a week or so, I don't experience withdrawal symptoms and am able to go back to my normal state rather easily.
> > > My question is this: what research into opioids-as-antidepressants is being done in the field today? Are opioid narcotics ever prescribed for psychiatric reasons? If they're helpful and cause no real problems, then what's wrong with taking them? I read here once that their effects mimic depression, but that doesn't apply in my case; even though they're "depressants," my spirits are often lifted and I even feel more energy sometimes.
> for a long discussion ,reprint of research artcicle on the use of buprenorphine for depression, etc. go to the site sci.med.pschobiology. don't know how one would actually find a dr. willing to prescribe it though,when even people with "legitimate", i.e. physical pain, can't get enough .
***i have battled depression for all my life. i have tried alot of antideppresants to: i am currantly on paxil. last year, however i broke my ankle and was put on vicodan. wow! what a differance, a sense of calm and nirvana passed over me. i got to take it again for foot pain and also when my roomate had a medical injury: both times i loved it. i asked my doctor is he would prescribe it but he would not for deppression. why cant the make prozac that would make you feel like vicodan?
poster:k
thread:952
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990201/msgs/2752.html