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Re: bad craving....need advice

Posted by Tomatheus on May 23, 2013, at 15:00:28

In reply to bad craving....need advice, posted by rjlockhart37 on May 23, 2013, at 13:04:27

> well its been a year and 3 months since I used methamphetamine but right im im such a state of depression, I wanna just get it in my system and feel alive...

RJ,

It sounds to me like you've just stated what your problem is, and from what you've written it sounds like you want to use methamphetamine as a means of alleviating depression so you can feel more alive and more energetic. Would you say that my assessment is correct?

If one of the main problems that's driving your methamphetamine use is some sort of depression, then I think that your top priority needs to be finding a treatment for your depression that's more effective than the treatment methods that you're currently utilizing. Now, I know that finding an effective treatment for a depressive disorder can oftentimes be easier said than done. And despite what others sometimes say, I don't think that I can say with 100 percent certainty that you'll find an effective treatment even if you try everything that there is to try. But one thing that I can say for sure is that your condition isn't likely to improve if you keep limiting yourself to the same treatments that you say yourself don't work. It's my opinion that if you do find a solution to the problem that is your depression, it's only going to happen after you decide to do take a different approach to your treatment than the approach that you've been taking.

So, what can you do differently? For starters, I would recommend talking with your prescribing doctor about what medications you feel aren't working and then discussing options for replacement medications. Given the fact that you've been considering using methamphetamine (again) at least in part as a means of self medicating your depression, I think that your depression needs to be treated aggressively. If your prescribing doctor is afraid to treat your depression aggressively, then maybe it would be a good idea to get a second opinion from a different doctor who'd be more open to using medications like the tricyclics or the MAOIs. Have you ever tried a tricyclic or an MAOI? If you have, what effects did those medications have on you?

I also think that if the only form of treatment that you're using right now is medications that you should consider utilizing other treatment methods. Having a therapist can be very helpful, especially if you're struggling with substance abuse issues. I'm not saying that it's a bad idea to ask for advice from people on Psycho-Babble when you're feeling really symptomatic and also have strong cravings for methamphetamine or other damaging drugs, but the person best equipped and best qualified to give you advice when you're in the kind of situation that you're in right now is a mental health professional, such as a therapist. Therapists have the training and experience to handle individuals with mental health and substance abuse problems, and I think that being in regular contact with a therapist at the very least might help you cope to the extent that you don't find yourself turning to methamphetamine as a means of alleviating your depression.

Finally, as far as treatment options are concerned, I think that you might benefit from exploring the options that alternative medicine has to offer. I would recommend checking with your prescribing doctor before adding any herbs or other supplements to your treatment regimen because many supplements can interact with medications, but please, if you're at the point where you feel like no other treatment will help you, at least give some consideration to trying alternative treatments. For depression, some of the first alternative treatments that come to mind are the following: herbs like St. John's Wort and Rhodiola rosea; neurotransmitter precursor supplements like l-tyroisine, l or dl-phenylalanine, l-tryptophan, and 5-HTP; essential fatty acid supplements like fish oil; vitamins like the B vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin D; and finally, SAM-e. Have you tried these supplements? If you haven't, don't you think it would at least make sense to try taking some of these supplements before using something that you've recognized causes insomnia, malnutrition, and behavioral disturbances? Now, you may say that supplements aren't going to work, and as I've said, I can't guarantee that they're going to work for you, but I do think that with supplements you have so many different options that target so many different biochemical pathways that I think your odds of finding a successful treatment might be better than with any other treatment approach. I will say that right now I'm taking a supplement for my fatigue and hypersomnia, and the supplement that I've been taking has been bringing me significant relief for more than a month. I don't know for sure if the supplement that I'm taking will work indefinitely for me, but right now what's helping me more than anything else is not a medication or a form of therapy, but an alternative treatment that nobody would likely ever think of trying for my symptoms.

My point in writing what I've written so far is to let you know that you have options when it comes to the treatment of your depression, all of which are better than the option that you're considering. I know that you have problems with your medications working the way you'd like them to work, and again, I don't know for sure what results you'd get from trying different treatments, but I can say that you won't know what benefits you might get from trying different treatments until you've, well, tried them. I know that it can be hard to believe that the treatments that you have yet to try are going to work when so many other treatments have failed to produce long-term benefits, but I know from my case that trying different treatments has brought about at least some improvement, and I think that you too might see some improvement if you keep trying different treatment options.

T.


Conditions:
* fatigue, hypersomnia, and related symptoms likely caused by prolonged partial sleep deprivation
* schizoaffective disorder

tomatheus.blogspot.com


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poster:Tomatheus thread:1044134
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130501/msgs/1044139.html