Oxycontin Addiction and help determining if sympoms are withdrawal vs bipolar disorder

[amymar]

Hello,

One of my best friends just told me about 2 months ago that she has been abusing and addicted to Oxycontin for several years.  I love my friend and I am so worried about her. Her doctor gave her some drug (can't remember the name, not Methadone) to help with the horrible withdrawal symptoms. It has been about 6 weeks since she is off of the OxyContin (and also off marijuana which she smoked a LOT). She is suffering from horrible depression and anxiety and also is not able to sleep and wakes up with panic attacks. I tell her that it is going to take time for her body and brain to recover from the drug. The problem is is that she has also been diagnosed for Bi-polar disorder. She came from a horrible family upbringing including psychosis, suicide, drug abuse, sexual abuse etc and has the classic symptoms of being bi-polar . She has been on Prozak for years but the Prozak now does not work and took her into a manic episode. The doctor said she has Prozak "poop out" and pulled her off it. He put her on lithium which was a horrible experience. I think she is suffering from the OxyContin withdrawal and  that is what is causing her pain, not being bi-polar. Has anyone here been addicted to OxyContin/marijuana and also been diagnosed bi-polar? What options does she have? Therei s no way she can take any narcotics, she has laso been addicted to coug syrup and benzos, just nmae it :-( How long is it going to take until she can sleep again? THanks very much. She is a wonderful person and I feel helpless

[tink2]

im not a medical expert, but from experience  - withdrawing from any opiate causes depression and person may need to be treated for depression.  opiates work on ur hormones and serotonin - they deplete them - so when u withdraw   - u can go thru severe depression.  i would listen to the doctor, might want her to go to another doctor for a second opinion or try another anti-depressant.  everybody reacts differently to medication, especially anti-depressants - need to find the one that works for u.  keep reading, this site is wonderful and resourceful.  good luck :)

[amymar]

Thank you for your comment!  I found out the drug her doctor gave her to help with the Oxy addiction withdrawl is called Suboxone. Does anyone have experience with this?

[texasrebecca]

WHO ARE YOU????

[nklansko]

First of all, I know this post is over a year old, but I wanted to get the correct information out there for anyone who stumbles onto this page because tink2's information is wrong. I went to rehab for oxycontin addiction, and I was taught by doctors exactly how opiates affect your brain. Here's how it goes, and I'll try to put it in lamen terms the best I can:
When Oxycontin enters the brain, it causes the stimulation of a "feel good" neurotransmitter called dopamine. Your body naturally produces dopamine, and the body's natural dopamine comes in many different "shapes" if you will. In order to produce the feel good effect, neurotransmitters are released and fit into specific receptor sites according to their shape (Imagine putting to puzzle pieces together). Thus when they "connect" to the receptor sites, the feelings of pleasure happen. With Oxycontin, it stimulates the production of dopamine neurotransmitters, however this process is different from the natural process because instead of producing a wide variety of "shapes", the brain is flooded with dopamine that is only one shape. At first it feels good, because of the overwhelming amount of dopamine. However, with continued use, the body adapts to the overwhelming amount of the "single shaped" neurotransmitter, and begins to create more receptor sites which match that neurotransmitter. This is why users begin to build a tolerance, because as more receptor sites are created, there needs to be a greater presence of those "single shaped" neurotransmitters in order to attain the same desired effect. Thus, without the presence of the excess dopamine, there is a greater number of unfilled receptor sites, which in turn causes the depression. The body will continue to produce the same amount of dopamine naturally, however the bodies dopamine comes in diverse shapes and the receptor sites created from the oxycontin use will only take the specific "shape" neurotransmitter that oxycontin produces. The body does produce that "shape", but a much less amount. If users stop using oxycontin soon after the new receptor sites are created, they will disappear and with time the brain will return to its normal amount of receptor sites.
If the Oxycontin use continues for a greater length of time, long term depression becomes a factor. This is because with constant oxycontin use, the newly created receptor sites are being constantly used. With prolonged use, the some of the receptor sites become permanent, or at least take months or years to disappear. This is why it long-term opiate addicts have such a difficult time kicking the habit, because they have to put up with depression that lasts months or years, and in some cases a lifetime.
I used Oxycontin for 10 months, five months of which was everyday use, and around day 50 of my recovery, the last of my depression was gone and I felt normal again. Thus, my opinion is that every year of use requires 2 months of sobriety until one is feeling depression-free, give or take a couple months. I suggest to anyone who is using oxycontin to quit immediately because, like cigarettes, quitting becomes exponentially harder as time goes on.

[novics]

Thank you for your very helpful and informative post! I am clean now for 27 days and I am really fighting the come and go severe depression and I was also diagnosed with bipolar 9 years ago (And talk about depressing I also have to again take care of my Mom with Altzheimors disease 24/7). Your post gives me hope that this will go away eventually and I just have to stay strong

[Coolio Hernendez]

Awesome post...i feel like i really understand now....I am gonna copy and paste your post.....

Thanx

[wait2long]

excellent post and valid information...you know what your talking about..
thank you, a lot of people will benefit from this information and everyone should read it, it explains a lot that many might not know or be aware of...
thank you again.
W2L

[m2morga]

I dont know if this will help anyone or not but I feel I should add my two cents.. Stay away from opiates, I have suffered from depression and chronic undiagnoised pain all my life, well since I was 12.. I have been to numerous drs and on many antidepressants and none seem to work.. I really dont know what is wrong with me. anyway, oxy and hydro fell into my hands and I thought they were miricle drugs, I felt normal for the first time in my life, happy and able to do things and life lifel to the fullest as long as I took them.. I decided I had a problem when I skipped a few doeses and man I apparently did. It has been hell on earth. I really dontk now how Im gonna make it without it. If I could just find a dr to take me serious aobut the pain I have and try to find something that works instead of me trying to dr myself. This is day 5 without and Im wishing I could go to sleep and never wake up, I cant go on like this. I remember why I got on the stuff to start with. Can anyone help.. I need help bad or Im not gonna make it.. I dont have much of a support group as I am asshmaed of what I have done. I really went into it innocently. I just took 20 mg in the morning orally and 20 at night orally but it is evil, I cant imagine some of these post, dont know how they are still alive... Any suggestions, please help.. I need a friend