Posted by Crotale on June 17, 2008, at 23:53:37
In reply to Re: Kappa opioid receptors and dopamine, posted by undopaminergic on June 2, 2008, at 20:37:31
> Precisely. Hence, blocking kappa opioids - especially endogenous dynorphin - with naltrexone or buprenorphine may have antidepressive effects.
You'll get no argument from me there! I believe I may have been the first person on this board to report on the use of buprenorphine as an antidepressant, when I first started using it a few years back (I was posting under a different name). It's gratifying to see that people here are getting their doctors to try it, ordering Temgesic from abroad, etc. (I take Buprenex by IM injection.)
I had once actually asked the doctor who initially recommended it to me -- who had done some research on buprenorphine as AD -- whether he had any experience with k-opioids like Stadol (butorphanol) in depressed patients. He said his experience was that if Stadol and other k-opioids had any effect on mood, they tended to be dysphorogenic.
I've heard of people using BUP with success not only for classic "endogenous" depression but also for so-called "personality disorders" in which dysphoria was a major symptom.
poster:Crotale
thread:830482
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/neuro/20080418/msgs/835193.html