Posted by baseball55 on February 25, 2019, at 18:57:11
In reply to Re: 'Real' drugs work on virtually everyone, posted by radish on February 25, 2019, at 17:02:30
While it is probably true that research is limited as drug companies try to milk profits from the drugs they have, I'm sure that if someone could figure out how to make an opioid that killed pain and created enough (but not too much) euphoria WITHOUT being dangerously addictive, pharma would jump on it.
But opioids are dangerously addictive, not to mention sure-thing vehicles for suicide (not an insignificant concern with a depressed population). I have heard a lot of people with severe depression wonder - why not oxycodone? Why not suboxone?
As a former opioid addict I can tell you a few things. (1) resistance builds very quickly; (2) opioids kills the endorphin system so that the brain loses the natural ability to feel pleasure, sometimes permanently or for a long time. A psych-doc who specialized in opioid addiction told me that 40% of addicts relapse in the first week because they can't handle the dope-sickness and another 40% in the second week because they can't handle the depression; (3) if you think SSRI withdrawal is bad, try opioid withdrawal, You feel like you'd rather be dead than feel this way; (4) even if you can get enough to keep ahead of the resistance, depression has a way of breaking through. And you probably can't get enough. Eventually you need to shoot it up and eventually, shooting in the arm isn't enough, I've known addicts who end up shooting in their necks to get a better rush.
Also, yes, morphine and caffeine work the same way on everyone, but many other drugs don't at all. Anti-cancer drugs often have very low response rates, as do many neurological drugs (for MS, epilepsy, Parkinson's).
I think Scott is correct also. Clinical trials often won't take people who have used other anti-depressants, which is to say, anyone with severe depression. Most people who use anti-depressants are mildly depressed or barely depressed at all, just unhappy about issues in their lives. GPs give this stuff out like candy. Almost everyone I know is on prozac or wellbutrin. They swear it works, but the line between placebo and actual effect is quite low for those whose depression is mostly situational.
poster:baseball55
thread:1103378
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20190206/msgs/1103400.html