Posted by shelliR on February 25, 2002, at 10:31:20
In reply to Re: opioid stuff and dealing with doctors » shelliR, posted by Elizabeth on February 15, 2002, at 11:12:37
> Do you really think you were truly addicted to oxycodone? That wasn't my impression. Anyone who takes oxycodone regularly, as you did, will become pharmacologically dependent on it (it might be that this doesn't always happen to people taking it for depression; I'm not sure). That's a normal reaction, not a pathological one. Addiction is when people start having cravings, doing things to get drugs that they would never do otherwise, and so forth.<
Hi Elizabeth,The question of addiction is a very complicated one, I think. I probably had a normal reaction to oxycontin, but what is normal versus pathological, anyway? I increased my dose x5 in a five month period. Still, I suppose, that doesn't clearly proof that I was addicted, but I certainly became habituated easily to that drug. And oxycontin is known for producing an easy habituation. I wouldn't recommend it for depression. If you are pharmacologically dependent, and the medication is taken away from you, you probably would probably feel and do things that you otherwise would not. You might become obsessed about getting the drug.
It is hard for me to clearly identify whether my difficulty in giving up methodone had to do with the resurgence of my depression or withdrawal or both.I am not really disagreeing with you, just saying that I don't think there is a clear distinction between addiction and being pharmacologically dependent. My experience with oxycontin has given me quite a scare. I am very worried that the high dose has changed my brain chemistry-- in the sense that even though I was off all opiates for six weeks, it has taken a higher dose of vicodin (than pre oxycontin) to relieve my depression, since I have resumed taking the drug in the last few days.
I don't think I would take opiates if they did not take away my depression. But I do like opiates, and if I had a recreational drug, it would be my drug of choice. If I took a bit too much, it made it slightly high in a very nice, energizing way. Otherwise at a "regular" dose, I felt quite normal, just without depression in my chest.
But for me now, it is scary to think about using opiates again, because of the fast increase in my tolerance. I have ordered temgesic (sublingual bupe) from the internet and do feel a bit safer taking that because it cannot (so I read) make you high. But I'm not sure whether it will have the same positive effect that hydrocodone or oxycontin had for me. If I'm lucky, it will. Also, there is no guarantee that habituation will not occur. Maybe less likely than with full opiates, but not out of the question.
By the way, sublingual buprenorphine is up before the FDA and should be approved soon. (Of course they have been saying that for almost two years.) Also, I spoke to several of the researchers at McLean re that version of bupe, and neither thought is was less stable than the injectable bupe.
I have been through ect, unsuccessfully, but at least it seems not to have killed too many of my brain cells. And I am exploring hormonal and other physical causes of my depression (see below post).
I think if I didn't know that opiates were an option, I could not continue to live with this pain. So whatever the risk, opiates are giving me some relief and some hope.What else are you taking with the bupe?
Shelli
poster:shelliR
thread:93100
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020222/msgs/95429.html