Posted by bee happy on January 27, 2003, at 15:19:02
In reply to Buprenorphine-- bee happy, posted by Peter S. on January 26, 2003, at 22:24:18
To elaborate on my battle with depression would only make you more depressed. The darkness fell about two years ago. After seeing a therapist for several weeks she came to the conclusion that it must be chemical,and referred me to a "pdoc" for the grueling months of trying all the new improved meds.The ones I can remember are Serzone, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Celexa, all of them made me feel worse..some of them made me physically ill.i had an alergic reaction to Serzone and was a walking mucus membrane for a week. I think I tried about 10 different things within the year. In speaking with my therapist I mentioned(in the very first visit) that I had always felt normal on codiene. That I had in fact had a problem with it in my youth and went through rehab to stop.(17 years ago). One day in session her face lit up and said she had heard of a study using opiates for depression and I should ask the pdoc about it. He had heard of it but wanted to get more information before sending me off with a prescription.Psychiatrists are busy treating some very sick psycotic patients with problems far worse than mine and I knew it would be up to me to find the research.I was very motivated. Here was someone telling me that perhaps I was not a druggie but had been self medicating depression all those years.I found the research study on the internet..right down to individual histories and results. Armed with that...he first tied Tramadol and then Buprenorphine. Tramadol seemed only to relieve the physical achiness that I felt not the anhedonia and fantasies of driving my car off a cliff on the Big Sur Hwy. It did nothing to change my mental state. You asked about dosage and weather I have built up a tolerance. I started on very small dosage .3mg 3 x's a day. and escalated to 2 mg 4 X's a day over the course of three months. It would apprear that I had built up a tolerance if I had not read that in treating with Methadone or Buprenorphine dosage is everything and too little can be as bad as too much. I have leveled off to 2 mg 3x's a day and sometimes I actually forget to take it.So that must say something, I'm not sure what. I have read that buprnorphine maintenance patients can go 2 days without their dose. So, am I just an ex opiate addict on Buprenorphine maintenance or a depression patient on the one drug that works for me? My family doctor likens it to a Diabetic...who without insulin would die. If I were not on this drug I'm not sure I'd be here writing this. It was that bad. I am on a compunded sub lingual gummy lozenge now. But Subutex and Suboxone have already been approved for addiction treatment in the U.S.and your family doctor can prescribe a drug for something other than it was approved. I think you will be hearing alot more about this in the very near future. I hope there is a backlash on this fear of prescribing. Yes there are doctors who might abuse the privilege...monitoring their writing practices is a good thing, but don't make good doctors afraid of using good medicine when necessary. I am lucky to have 2 doctors,who knowing my history, were not afraid. God bless them. Sorry to have gotten off on a moral rant...but "Blah's" story really hit me as the Catch 22 of "modern medicine". He's the reason I posted in the first place. I had been a lurker here for some time and was just checking in to see how some of the folks were doing. I am not Rececca of Sunnybrook Farm. I really do like bees. Alot. You asked about side effects. An odd one considering that opiates are known to constipate. I am a clockwork wonder now. That's all for me. No others. I wish I were better at explaining how it effects me....it's not a high...it's more a feeing of well being. I still get anxious at times and sad or angry when appropriate...it's does not numb me. It makes me feel the way I thought normal people felt all those years when I knew I was not "normal". More in the moment. Be here now. Now, I am. I hope this helps someone. It felt good to tell it. Thanks all.
poster:bee happy
thread:81414
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030125/msgs/137790.html