Posted by pseudoname on June 18, 2006, at 18:38:30
In reply to Re: Opiate trap!, posted by flmm on June 18, 2006, at 14:34:10
I read flmm's history and I think it's serious, sobering, and important.
> This is possible as it happened to me!
However, I'm certain that flmm's "opiate" was not buprenorphine.
I don't yet tire of repeating this: BUPRENORPHINE seems to be DIFFERENT. The 3 tiny studies done so far do not show such adverse effects happening with opioid-naive depressives treated with bupe, which is a partial opioid agonist and partial ANTagonist, quite different from opiATEs like heroin, morphine, oxycodone, etc. It switches on only SOME mu receptors and those very weakly, and (perhaps more importantly) it BLOCKS kappa-opioid receptors.
I have not gotten buzzed or high on buprenorphine, not even to the extent possible from caffeine. Others, including Babble's famous Elizabeth, have reported likewise. Euphoria is not associated with bupe, and it appears to be a lousy painkiller.
Buprenorphine also has a delay in action, at least for me, of 90 minutes to 2 hours, further reducing the likelihood of psychological dependency. Its absence, even after days, does not result in craving or any other characteristics of addiction. Furthermore, in the last 7 months I've significantly REDUCED MY DOSE without loss of antidepressant effect.
Yet I hope flmm would not seek to take it away from me. The result — at this point in my life — would simply be to return me to my usual fluctuating moods of the last several years: from 48 to 57 on the Babbleometer.
On the other hand, with regard to opiates and other powerful mu-agonist opioids, I have no experience. We *know* they work for some and cause problems for others, but we apparently don't yet know how to tell the people apart in advance. On that larger issue (as is usually safe), I heartily endorse Declan's view.
poster:pseudoname
thread:651514
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060617/msgs/658441.html