Posted by undopaminergic on June 3, 2008, at 13:26:07
In reply to Re: hydrocodone or tramadol for depression, posted by aminated on June 2, 2008, at 17:22:33
> I am currently on 8 mg bid of buprenorphine (Subutex). Like Vicodin and most other weak-ish opiates, it's really not doing the job on my bipolar depression. Morphine worked well at 90 mg bid, but that was a different doc in a faraway state. Anybody know about BUP doses (I've read of people taking less than 1 mg daily for depression with success) enough to tell me: am I on too HIGH a dose, not too low?
>I would be concerned about that as well. I consider it a definite possiblity.
> I don't even have a reliable way of cutting tabs (sublingual) up into sub-1 mg doses.
>Dissolving the tablet in water may allow more accurate dosing. However, dividing the tablet into four quarters would be a start, as you would not want to reduce your dose abruptly to 1 mg or less anyway, due to withdrawal reactions.
Once you've reduced your daily consumption to a certain point, you may ask to switch to the 2 mg strength of Subutex. Some people successfully using buprenorphine as an antidepressant have used 3 mg or slightly more, so you don't necessarily need to go down as low as 1 mg.
Also, unless you're already using a stimulant, I would suggest the addition of some methylphenidate, as it may enhance your response to buprenorhpine.
poster:undopaminergic
thread:36063
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080528/msgs/832704.html