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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Nirfoochile on March 23, 2004, at 3:41:48
I have a friend who is also bipolar. She has been severely depressed for about 4 months. I was shocked to hear that she tried crack recently. About 2 weeks ago all she could think about was how she was going to kill herself. Now she actually seems better. She said that crack provided the elation she needed to want to live. After feeling extremely good (if even for a short period of time), she doesn't want to give up living. This is the strangest and scariest thing I have ever heard. I have heard that a crack addict's only purpose in life is to do more crack. Their lives center around where they will get there next fix. I am terribly frightened for my friend. How is this drug going to effect her bipolar disorder if she continues to use it? She is also on lithium and an antidepressant.
Posted by CrazyGuy on March 26, 2004, at 19:38:55
In reply to Bipolar Disorder and Crack, posted by Nirfoochile on March 23, 2004, at 3:41:48
Hey, sorry to hear about your friend. I think crack is an EVIL, EVIL highly addictive drug. (The same can be said of crystal methamphetamine, in my opinion.) From what I've read, the stimulating high from crack is *INTENSE*, but short-lived. Unfortunately, successive highs are not as intense and those who become addicted to crack are chasing that initial high but will never again experience it. And, of course, I think we've all heard about how crack addiction can lead to a myriad other problems (e.g. losing your job, getting evicted, turning tricks to support yourself/your habit, contracting HIV, going to jail, losing custody of your kids, even a violent death). I think the time to intervene with somebody who's using this drug is IMMEDIATELY. I would strongly urge you to talk to your friend (in a nonjudgmental, support way) about your fears regarding her crack use and encourage her to tell her pdoc about her use of it. Since it sounds like she turned to this to get herself out of a depression, she and her pdoc REALLY need to consider a modification to her meds (dosage change or adding/changing a med). The way to approach your friend about this, I think, is to tell her that this experimentation with crack is an obvious sign that her current meds are NOT working and she desperately needs to contact her pdoc for an appointment ASAP (or pretty dang soon anyway). In the past, I've been on Provigil (a non-addictive stimulating drug originally developed for narcolepsy) when my depression wasn't responding to my (then) antidepressant and mood stabilizer combo. It started working (extremely well, I might add) for me in a matter of days. This might be something her pdoc will want to consider. (There has been a case report in the medical literature about the use of Provigil for treatment-resistant depression which, I'm sure, is where my pdoc got the idea for this.) Good luck!
Posted by Nirfoochile on March 26, 2004, at 21:51:38
In reply to Re: Bipolar Disorder and Crack, posted by CrazyGuy on March 26, 2004, at 19:38:55
Thank you very much for your response. It gives me hope for my friend. I think that she really needs a boost to get the ball rolling and snap out of her depressive phase. She has been told over and over again that it will be at least 3 months before she starts to get better and she has seen little to no improvement. She is obviously impatient if she turned to crack. Perhaps Provigil could be her middle ground. Thank you. I will also suggest to her to switch doctors since the one she is seeing stands firmly behind the Luvox / Lamictal stategy.
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