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Anyone switched from benzos to opioids?

Posted by mike21 on April 5, 2002, at 18:05:32

Has anyone had success switching from a benzo to
a opioid mixed agonist/antagonist (or any other
opioid)?

I have never had such good results from
a med as I get from benzos. They seem to greatly
increase my capacity for experiencing pleasure.
I am thinking they are acting indirectly on the
opioid centers of my brain, but that a more direct
route might be more practical and would affect
fewer systems in my brain.

I am also theorizing that a deficiency in
endogenous opioid chemicals is actually possible,
whereas I don't know if it's possible to have
a benzo deficiency. (Maybe I have a deficiency in GABA?)

I do feel some sedation from benzos initially,
which is a welcome change from the sort of hyper-
active state of mind I find myself in many nights.
My sleep has improved after taking them, my social
interactions are improved. It is not only easier
to talk to people, but I even feel a little bit of
a desire to do so, even for small-talk which I
usually find repulsive.

I've been reading about buprenorphine here and
elsewhere. I read Dr. Bodkin's study. Seems like
I could benefit from it.

It also crossed my mind that I could have
characteristics of ADD, and that a straight dopaminergic
med like ritalin would help. I tried wellbutrin,
but I found the norepinephrine effect to be completely
overwelming the dopamine increase.

Early in my life (8 yrs) I had OCD. I stopped
the behaviours which a psychologist convinced me
were unacceptable, but the anxiety is still present.
I have tried SSRIs, the usual first line
treatment for ocd, and felt like they were doing
nothing for the source of my anxiety.

At this point in my life (mid 20s) I feel like
my anxiety is debilitating me from experiencing
a full life. (When I say anxiety, I mean the mental acts
I have to perform under any social circumstance
in order to behave in a socially normal way. It
is a constant act of calculation, filtering, replaying, etc.)
I finally become exasperated because I feel such a
disconnect from most other people I encounter.

And that is depressing. But I feel
like the real source of all my troubles is an
innate deficiency in perceiving and experiencing
pleasure. And if that is the case, I want to treat
the part of my brain that deals specifically with
pleasure. This idea is difficult to convince a
pdoc of with the popularity of SSRIs.
(I've tried prozac, paxil, effexor, wellbutrin,
st.johns wort)

So if anyone has felt the same sort of benefit
from benzos, then switched to an opioid, dopaminergic,
or any other med I haven't mentioned, your feedback
would be appreciated. Perhaps it would help my
pdoc to hear of other success stories.

If nothing else, I would like to know if my line
of thinking is in any way substantiated.

Thanks for your time,

Mike


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Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:mike21 thread:102056
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020402/msgs/102056.html