Posted by ShelliR on November 6, 2002, at 19:40:50
In reply to Re: p.s. to Mary, posted by meow mary on October 31, 2002, at 21:20:42
> My doctor will prescribe Vicodin for both depression and pain, but doesn't want to increase the dose and it doesn't do anything for me anymore. That was an alternative to the bupenorphrine, which he first suggested and then backpedaled about. Now he said he would research it again, but when we last talked he made the comment about no-one wanting to get near it.
Hi Mary,
I tried Vicodin successfully for depression then was switched to oxycontin so it would have a longer effect. Within six months, I had to increase to a huge dose to get any effect against the depression. It was a bit scary and very very expensive (no prescription drug coverage).
I have switched to methadone; it's advantage is that it is much much cheaper than oxycontin. I am given it by a pain doctor, much like any other opiate.
If you do a search on buprenorphine, you'll find a lot of info from Elizabeth who was able to take small amounts successfully for a long time. But in the US it is only available in liquid, IV form, so she was having to inhale the liquid several times a day through her nose. Plus, it was only an adjunct to her main AD--effexor.
It was supposed to come out this year in sublingual form, but they've put it on hold for at least a year. I tried it (from overseas) and really liked it for helping the depression, but started building up a tolerance to that quickly also. And then it became very difficult to find access to.
The worst part about being on an opiate was that several times when I had to go into the hospital this last year for severe depression, the staff (doctors and nurses) treated me like a street addict and it was a horrible horrible experience which I would do anything not to repeat. If there's anything else that would work, I'd stay away from opiates, unless you have a very supportive doctor who will not abandon the effort if you have to go up. That's usually part of opiate treatment. For a positive, I never found opiates very difficult to get off of; I've done it in one day, but when I gave it a week, there was almost no discomfort.
Shelli
poster:ShelliR
thread:125689
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021101/msgs/126717.html