Posted by med_empowered on August 12, 2007, at 16:25:13
In reply to Re: Vicodin and Percocet for Depression, posted by linkadge on August 12, 2007, at 8:56:42
if you can get a supply. I imagine a doc would go for ultram (tramadol) before, say, Vicodin, but who knows. Buprenorphine (I think that may be misspelled) is apparently being used now and then for this kind of stuff. Its FDA approved for in-office treatment of opiate addiction. Basically, a doc can take a person with opiate misuse probs and either a)keep them on a stead dose of bupe indefinitely or b)give them bupe and then taper it, hoping there isn't a relapse of some sort. The drug mixes agonist and antagonist properties, so its supposedly pretty low on euphoria while still offering pain and depression relief. Docs need special licensure to RX it for addiction, but any doc can rx it for an off-label indication such as depression.
My guess is that shrinks would do that more often than normal docs, and shrinks who are licensed to do it as part of drug treatment would be more likely to rx it for depression than other docs, but that's just a guess.
Its a weird situation, though: if you end up getting addicted to opiates, you might be able to take Bupe forever. If you ask for a scrip for depression w/o any addiction, you may not get the prescription and might be considered a "drug seeker".Weird.
poster:med_empowered
thread:775567
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070808/msgs/775797.html