Posted by shelliR on November 9, 2001, at 12:19:42
In reply to Re: naltrexone » shelliR, posted by Elizabeth on November 8, 2001, at 20:43:03
Hi Elizabeth.
> > My pdoc thought I'd really like naltrexone because of its relationship to opiates.
> That doesn't make much sense to me. Naltrexone is an opioid *antagonist*! Dr. Bodkin said to me that he and his colleagues have tried it and other mu-antagonists (like Stadol), and if anything, they made depressed people feel worse.
Well, of course I don't know. :-). But if Dr. Bodkin also tried naltrexone, then I would assume he was going for the same effect as my pdoc.It must affect the same cells to make codeine-like drugs ineffective. I guess they were both banking on a positive reaction by affecting the same cells in opposite ways. I don't know, but I think it was strange that I did feel some very bad, codeine-like effects from naltexone
Why are pdocs proscribing naltrexone for depression at all? I mean what is the thinking in terms of that drug affecting depression, given the fact that it is an antagonist?
> I've seen some stuff suggesting that taking a micro-dose of naltrexone taken along *with* an agonist can prevent tolerance, tho'. Wish the drug houses were putting resources into studying this and trying to get something we can use out of it.
>That would be interesting, although with my one day horrible experience with naltrexone, I would not be the first to volunteer. I was not taking oxy or vicidin at the time Right now I am totally freaking out about the cost of oxycontin. I had never gotten more than a week of it before and never really thought about the expense. Wednesday night I went to fill a whole month's dose, plus concerta and wellbutrin and it was over $1400. So I left a note for my pdoc (who I see Monday) that he's got to come up with a generic substitute, even if it's short acting; I can't afford almost $1,800 out of pocket on meds and general insurance every month--my insurance pays 100% of medical bills but no persciption benefits. I've applied to their drug programs for assistance, but I'm not sure because I have money in mutual funds which if they know about, they will turn me down.
I wonder if it's worth going down to Mexico.
So my drug stuff is all up in the air. The only good news is since going up about a month or longer on the oxy, I haven't had to go up any more. But it's still too early to tell if it's permanent.
Man, on top of dealing with the depression, I can't deal with worrying about money.
Shelli
poster:shelliR
thread:83321
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011104/msgs/83664.html