Tapering and Depression?

[shauna268]

I have been on this site now for about a week...and the support during my taper has been amazing, Thank you.  Through this site..this week was the first week I begun to swallow my taper dose...opposed to snorting, so thank you for you're support with that. I have never considered myself to be a depressed person, and have recently started to notice major up and down mood swings...and my mind take’s me into a depressing state at times. This only began happening...the lower my dose has become...is this normal? or were the drugs perhaps suppressing a depression I didn't really know I had?

[fb7777]

I agree with tiggz1977 - I've researched the same thing, but the amount of time you're depressed will depend on how long you were on the drugs for.  Since my addiction, the longest amount of time I've been off narcotics is 3 weeks and I was depressed the entire time. I think you should talk to your Dr. about it and get on an anti-depressant and then wean off that after you're off the narcotics. Or do you get anxiety? I found and have researched that Xanax can help greatly with depression CAUSED by anxiety.
Some Dr.'s may be hesitant to prescribe that since it can be addictive, but I can honestly say that if my previous Dr. would have just refilled the Xanax for me, I wouldn't have relapsed with the narcotics. It made my anxiety go away, and I actually felt happy. I know some people may disagree with me there, but I think it differs for everyone... for me, I am only addicted to narcotics. I am not one bit addicted to alcohol or any other substance at all.

[recoveredfromamonster]

Your brain normally produces Dopamine and Serotonin. These are chemicals that allow you to experience pleasure. When you take Opiates and methamphetamines your brain stops normally producing these chemicals because the drugs are producing them artificially. When you stop using these drugs your brain is not capable of producing these chemicals right away and there are none present. The result is temporary depression. Spurts of crying for literally no reason is quite common too. When the drug is completely out of your system it is but a few days till your brain starts to produce them again. On average with in a week of going cold turkey. You will experience these wds even when tapering because the less drugs in your system the less of these chemicals in your body until your brain "re-boots". The drug leaves your system much faster than your brain can re-boot. You will be fine though. Loss of energy, loss of appetite, cold sweats, nightmares, loss of sleep, stomach cramps even a bit of unusual aggression are not uncommon. You'll get your life back though. You can do it. GOD bless. I'll pray for your recovery. When the cloud lifts it isimperativethat you continue your recovery. I suggest NA.

[tiggz1977]

welcome to the forum! I'm no doctor but I can only speak for my experence on it. I reacted the same way and after several googles* lol I found that your brain stops producing serotonin and dopeamine when u take te drugs. so as you taper down your forcing your brain to tart to make this on it own so for a few day to a week you may feel some depression. you should see a doctor and tell him/ her about it. maybe they may put you on a temporary SSRI for a few months and see how you feel. or you could have been self medicating the whole time it is hard to tell only a doctor can find out for sure. stick to your goal and keep up the taper!! you can do it! God bless