Posted by 4WD on September 4, 2004, at 22:04:16
I had the first appointment with my new doc on Thursday. In the course of talking with him I told him I occasionally (once a month or so)took hydrocodone (which I get legitimately because of herniated disks).I told him that was the only time I actually felt "normal" - had an interest in doing things like working in my garden, could enjoy working a crossword puzzle, etc. I was completely honest and told him that when I have it, I take more than prescribed, recreationally. He didn't say much at the time, but later asked if I had ever taken naltrexone. I said, no, why? He said, well, it's an opiate antagonist and would bind with opiate receptors. Since you seem to have a good response to opioids (!), maybe the naltrexone would help your depression. I'd never heard of this and it sounds counter-intuitive, doesn't it?
Then, when I was about to leave, he asked me if I'd ever been on... and he names off a list of three or four drugs, one of which was nortriptyline and one of which, I think, was buprenorphine. I said no. I'd never heard of buprenorphine but in looking up naltrexone and depression, I came across buprenorphine. I read some of the posts here and read some PubMed articles.
My question is this: For someone with a weakness for opioids, well - only hydrocodone actually - would this be a good idea? Could I develop dependence? Is buprenorphine actually a good legitimate antidepressant? Would it take away my desire to take opioids to feel better?
I'd appreciate any insight.
Marsha
poster:4WD
thread:386509
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040904/msgs/386509.html