Posted by tom on October 28, 1998, at 14:20:22
In reply to Re: Opioids for depression, posted by LT on October 25, 1998, at 22:34:59
> > 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 had similar succes in taking opiods for deppression/agitation. i had started out taking vicodan, which a friend had suggested might help me, which it did,but after a few months the daily dose that i was consuming had now increased from the one that would suffice months previous,up to 12 or15. at any rate, after 2 years of unsuccessfully trying to self-medicate with morphine,I subsequently ended up on methadone for 3 years,which helped a considerable amount with the depression ect., but it was a pain in the ass to dealing with the methadone programs, and that stuff is hell to get off of, so unless you can get a lifetime supply of lortab,or you want to do the methadone thing, or untill they legalize drugs, I would suggest alternate methods of dealing with depression.
poster:tom
thread:952
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990201/msgs/967.html