Posted by LT on October 25, 1998, at 22:34:59
In reply to Opioids for depression, posted by Anonymous on October 25, 1998, at 21:12:49
> In Peter Kramer's "Listening to Prozac," he states that "for unknown reasons, rare depressed patients even today will respond to no medicine exept opiates, and a few researchers into depression have become newly interested in these substances" (p. 49). I have been taking various antidepressants off and on for several years. Also, from time to time, I acquire hydrocodone through friends, and "self-medicate." A casual observer would think I was "addicted," but the main criteria of addiction are not met in my case: 1) I never actively seek out the drugs; I am never even persistent in asking potential suppliers for them. They just "fall into my lap," so to speak. And I certainly never engage in criminal behavior to get them. 2) Even after a week or so, I don't experience withdrawal symptoms and am able to go back to my normal state rather easily.
> My question is this: what research into opioids-as-antidepressants is being done in the field today? Are opioid narcotics ever prescribed for psychiatric reasons? If they're helpful and cause no real problems, then what's wrong with taking them? I read here once that their effects mimic depression, but that doesn't apply in my case; even though they're "depressants," my spirits are often lifted and I even feel more energy sometimes.
Dear Anonymous, I have the same experience. I have been taking darvocet once daily for chronic back pain for about a year and a half, I take 40 mg of prozac in the morning which improves the depression for a couple of hours, then after I am at work for 2 or 3 hours the back pain gets much worse, also the depression. Taking the darvocet gives me about an hour and a half of some pain relief and lifts the depression somewhat. Recently I had a foot injury and my orthopedic dr. said to take vicoprofin instead of darvocet for pain and I get the same results with that. I only take it once daily because I had a psychiatrist tell me it could cause depression, I have not found this to be true in my case, I have had the depression a lot longer than the pain!
poster:LT
thread:952
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990201/msgs/953.html