Posted by Cece on February 20, 2001, at 23:37:17
In reply to Re: opiates depression » Cece, posted by shellie on February 19, 2001, at 22:42:09
Hi Shellie-
Thanks for your message. I also take Lamictal- along with quite a bit of other stuff- and have found it to be helpful in improving/stabilizing my energy. I'm bipolar II and went untreated for a very long time, which made my disease harder to treat. I'm 52, started suffering badly in my 20's, and only started meds 8 years ago- after spending years and dollars on therapists. Actually, most of the meds that have helped me didn't exist until pretty recently. So, I'm glad you started getting medical help younger
I think that this thread sorta started with questions about Buprenex, which is an opiate. There was a study done at Harvard a few (3-4?) years ago trying it as an anti-depressant, since opiates are KNOWN to be successful AD's for some people. The results were mixed, but at least the subject got some publicity and legitimacy. Maybe you could track it down and bring it up with your pdoc.
Personally, I feel that the issue of addiction, to any med, is really absurd when you're dealing with a life-threatening disease like depression. One of the things that I really like about my current doc is that he agrees with this and is very pragmatic and open-minded. There are other problems that mean I need to leave him, unfortunately.
Years ago, I worked as a medical assistant at a heroin detox center. The doc there was an interesting guy, and interested in addiction and passed on a lot of good info. One thing he told us is that among the reasons for heroin addiction is that for some people it works as a powerful antidepressant and those people are self-medicating. I'm really glad my lifestyle has never taken me any closer than that to heroin, cuz I might be one of those people, and that's sure a complication I don't need in my life.
I'm realizing that my original message was unclear about how much Vicodin I take. I take it PRN, up to 4 times a day, and each time I take it I now take a whole tab- so on really bad (very depressed, labile, desperate, etc.) days I'm taking up to 4 (they are 5/500 codeine/tylenol).
For headaches, when I have a really really horrible headache, I'll take a second tab if the first hasn't dulled the pain after an hour. I keep track of what I take, and am straight with my pdoc about it. He seems certain from my use pattern that my headaches are not being provoked (rebound headaches) by the codeine, which can be a concern. I always had headache problems, and some of the meds I take are probably contributing. But again, I make the choice to take meds to help me want to live life, and deal with the headaches- even if it means another med.
Best of luck to you, and thanks again for responding. I hope your pdoc wakes up on this issue.
Cece
poster:Cece
thread:2062
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010212/msgs/54545.html