Posted by MB on July 27, 2001, at 12:31:58
In reply to Re: Ultram withdrawal! » Mb, posted by Elizabeth on July 26, 2001, at 23:32:51
> > I don't understand it. Sometimes they will allow me to fall into the most beautiful sleep state with these evanescent glimpses of soothing images...
>
> "nodding?"Yeah, the images are the same, but the circumstances are a little bit different than what I would call "nodding" (and here I risk making a semantic digression). I always considered it nodding when I was in the middle of doing something and I'd wake up from some weird dream five minutes later with drool on my chin. At least what I described in the past post was marked by a *decision* to go to bed. Ok, Ok, I know I'm nitpicking...maybe we could call it a "purposeful" nod. I'm sure it's the same phenomenon at heart.
> > or else they give me insomnia to the high heavens. Usually, it's the pills cut with acetaminophen that do it. Do you think the tylenol could cause the paradoxical insomnia?
>
> I doubt it. Remember the rule that reactions to psychotropic drugs can depend greatly on set and setting.
Very true...but I've got a friend with fibromyalgia who takes opiates for her pain. She swears up and down that the pills "cut" with acetaminophen "wire" her...make her restless. with some nudging, she was able to get her doctor to prescribe something with hydrocodone and asprin. She likes it much better. Psychosomatic? Maybe. But then again, maybe not.
> > I bring this up because you mentioned buprenorphine keeping you up. Why do you think the buprenorphine does?
>
> All opioids do that to me. I have no idea why.
Well, is there a positive side to it...I mean, do they help give you energy during the day? That would be cool.
> > I would say that it blocked withdrawal for 2.5 hours, but it's possible that it continued to mitigate the symptoms even after that, but that I didn't notice...so it's not necessarily incongruent with your experience...all I know is when symptoms returned.
>
> People who take buprenorphine for opioid addiction often need to take it only once a day.
Wow! Now *that* totally (there's the valley talk again) surprises me. Let me rephrase that: Like, wow dude, that's like totally no way, man. How was that? ;-) Why do you think the dosing schedule for pain and/or depression is different than the dosing schedule for addiction? I guess different underlying disorders require individualized treatment. The pharmacology behind it piques my curiosity. It might give some insight into the disorders being treated...
I wonder if the same people endorsing a once-a-day dosing schedule for addicts on buprenorphine are the same ones who say you can go 48 hrs without a methadone dose and not get sick (sarcasm here not directed at you, by the way).
> > Yeah, but it's weird...it's a bittersweet emptiness...like having an unrequited crush when you're thirteen years old. I don't know if that would be melancholia. What exactly *is* melencholia, anyway? I've never really fully understood that term in the clinical sense.
>
> The main distinctive characteristic of "melancholic" depression is lack of mood reactivity and near-total anhedonia. The depression is unlike normal grief or feelings of loss. Some associated features are early-morning awakenings; worst mood in the morning; appetite loss (food doesn't taste good, the desire to eat is lost); marked psychomotor changes (slowing down or agitation); and intense feelings of guilt.
OK, so I think the term "melencholia" would be the opposite of what I feel withdrawing (if there are opposites to emotions < g >).
> > Yeah, I think "evil presence" is a red flag for pdocs. Anything that resembles a delusion with religious overtones gets them hot. hahaha...I mean that tongue-in-cheek to a certain degree, but there's also some truth to it.
>
> It's just one of those odd feelings that people can have. Even a generally skeptical atheist can have a "mystical experience" under the right conditions.
Yeah, I saw a show where I guy tried to explain near death experiences as physiological anomolies by reproducing something similar in a healthy mind by placing powerful magnets near certain parts of the brain. Now *that* was quite a run-on sentence. Anyway, the person felt a "presence" in the room...some felt there were supernatural overtones.
poster:MB
thread:70206
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010725/msgs/72081.html