Posted by shelliR on March 9, 2002, at 21:10:47
In reply to Re: sidetrack from Addiction » Elizabeth, posted by Zo on March 9, 2002, at 18:39:03
my pdoc subracted the bupe, added Lamictal---and I have been steadily undepressed and unsuicidal since then. September, I think it was.
>> If I were in a place to track and respond to the bupe threads, I'd also have to talk a bit about letting any one med becoming the holy grail--having lived that process over and over, for long enough, as have others here of course. I'd add something about Bupe's unavailability helping it appear as Grail--and about my being "saved" after all this time, by something as ordinary as Lamictal. . . at the same time that I'd discourage NO one from going after it. . . I think you understand. You're in a powerful position here to affect the suffering of others, as I know you know. You've given great hope to many; I hope my experiences can add something to your admirable efforts. I'll have to do a post with the whole gory med history. . .
>Hey Zo,
Hooray, that you are no longer in the depths. That's truly wonderful.
FWI, I think lamictal is not an ordinary drug; From my own experience and reading posts about others' experience on lamictal, I think it *can* be magical for treatment resistant depression. In fact, I am trying it again, this time with a diuretic, hoping to avoid the water weight that made me so uncomfortable and unable to fit into my clothes. Of course, like most drugs, what's magic for some is not magic for all.
Re bupe. I do think if you go through the posts, they are fairly balanced. It is certainly clear from the thread that buprenorphine is very difficult to get from your pdoc. If it works though, it can also be a magic drug for some people with treatment resistant depression. I truly feel that it saved my life. I am hoping the lamictal will take over, but since the titration for that drug is so slow, I absolutely needed something to get me out of my pain and suicidal thinking. Bupe is doing the trick.
I do think you have to treat buprenorphine with the same respect that you do other opiates. My experience is that it did make me a bit high, but I quickly acclimated to it, and now I don't feel high. I would say more energized though. Same as with other opiates. And I am watching to see how much I increase. I went back to Botkin's study and he summarizes what happens with each subject/person and many of them did need to increase; I don't know if anyone went up out of control.As for your experience of setting off a manic episode, any AD could set off that reaction. Elizabeth and I and others have talked about how opiates are energizing to us, so I suppose any drug that can be energizing can result in what you experienced with a bipolar II diagnosis.
Many of the folks who participate on this board are treatment resistant. I think it has been made clear, by even the people taking opiates, that this is not a first line defense against depression. But hope is so very important to help get through this. I think in my posts to Elizabeth, I have been very straight forward about my meltdown on methadone, and she has been straight forward, even in this thread, in admitting that she hadn't fully realized the potential of habituation. So I'm a little curious about the timing of your warning. I also disagree with your implication that Elizabeth is recommending buprenorphine to anyone who has not tried the traditional pharmaceuticals to treat their depression.
Anyway, I know you are trying to be helpful and your posts about bupe *were* helpful to me. I was warned that I might get high on buprenorphine, something I would not have expected from the literature. And knowing that, has made me realize that I may need to increase the bupe, hopefully not in the same way as oxycontin, though. Choosing between death or an opiate, I decided to go for the opiate (partial opiate), and I have no regrets. And I would hope that anyone on PB would make the same decision.
Shelli
poster:shelliR
thread:93100
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020307/msgs/97263.html