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Re: Opioids for depression

Posted by Viridis on December 7, 2003, at 1:32:52

In reply to Re: Opioids for depression, posted by bsj on December 6, 2003, at 21:08:27

I've been very impressed with the effects of hydrocodone (the opioid in Vicodin, Vicoprofen, etc.) on my mood. I've had some recurring problems with a tooth over the last couple of years and have been prescribed a fair bit of Vicoprofen, which I've used completely legitimately and responsibly on a very sporadic basis. Invariably, my mood improves (and stays that way) for two or three days after taking a therapeutic dose.

I'm not talking about euphoria etc., just greater enthusiasm and energy. And no, I haven't abused these meds at all, just used them here and there as prescribed. I'm thinking about how to broach this with my pdoc -- he's a very open-minded person and I expect will agree with my conclusions, yet he's also quite frank about what meds he can and cannot prescribe safely (from a legal perspective).

The frustrating thing is that opioids are very safe when taken properly, and even if one does become dependent the health risks appear to be low. They have a long history of use in medicine but, much like benzodiazepines, now have a stigma attached to them, plus there's little money to be made (the latter two points are not unrelated to one another).

I'm all for new developments in psychiatric drugs, but wish that there were some incentive for doctors and pharmaceutical companies to re-explore some of these older meds as well. It seems that once a new class of drugs gains patent status, the older, now-generic ones become taboo whether they're really inferior or not.


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Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:Viridis thread:952
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031202/msgs/287323.html