How much is situational, how much is the drug?

[out2far]

DEPRESSION>>>I have been taking about 6-7.5 mg tablets of Vicoprofin a day for 3 years/ am also at a point in my life where I have e retired and started collecting Social Security. So there is a major life shift in the midst of this addiction that seems to keep me "normal" I need it to get out of bed or I am in despair. Once I take it..in a half hour, I feel like there's hope, I'm good. things are positive and I can overcome any apparent obsticles. Then in a couple hours, I back to square one taking another 10 MG of Norco to get me through the next few hours. I am wondering if I get off this stuff will my mood eventually stabilize? Any thoughts or experience?
I'm going to continue to taper regardless. Would just like the encouragement and reassurance. My heart ges out to all of you.

[freedom007]

Don't want to sound like a broken record...but that's me.  Found opiates...stopped my regular meds...and the results were great at first.  No depression, lots of energy, life was grand.  Now fast forward 3 years...terrible results ensued. (tons of debt, job loss, loss of family and friends, isolation, no motivation, no zeal for life, no ambition, etc.)  

I am 2 1/2 weeks clean (my latest dry spell in a four month yo-yo battle with the pills), on my regular meds and life is brilliant.  Not saying I am like everyone else...but I get up looking forward to my day, drug free.

Your brain and body will adapt...they are wonderful, miraculous organs.  But you need to be patient and you need to be determined.  It does not happen overnight...and it takes work.  I will say this though.  Being sober is MUCH easier than being an addict, when you consider everything you do for your high.

best of luck...even though it has nothing to do with luck...

[GA Guy]

You're self medication your depression with opiates, and it's very common. Addiction is merely the pushing back of feelings through drugs. I'd suggest talking to a doctor and getting your depression stabilized on an antidepressant before trying to kick the hydrocodone. If not, the depression will just lead you back to the drugs. Then, after some recovery time, you can get off the antidepressants.

[Trying_hard19]

Wow.. this is right up my alley..

I lost the vision in my left eye due to a stress related disease, about 11 years ago.. It was terribly painful..  
It took only about a week to establish that I was going to be blind in one eye, I remember the news, it was like I weighed 1000 lbs..

I got terribly depressed, very quickly..  It was the perfect opportunity to "self medicate" .. Doctors expected me to have severe pain for 4-6 months, so I had major depression and an almost unlimited supply of Tylenol #3,  Percocet and a limited supply of Dilaudid ..

For the first year, the Percocet worked like magic for the depression.. The pain was real and the opiates really didn't help that much.. so the depression had no place to go but worse..

After about a year or two, the pills no longer solved the depression.. so my family doctor put me on Paxil.. That cause what I can only describe as a manic episode.. so he switched me to Effexor..  

I learned much about doctors ... they mean well, but are called primary care givers because they don't really know much about anything..

So 11 years later, I was taking between 200mg and 300mg of Oxycontin a day.. I had only just discovered Oxycontin.. I dropped Percocet for Oxy like trading a pinto for a Ferrari..  In 3 - 4 months, my dose had doubled more than once..

I am telling you this because using pain killers to cure depression is a horribly slippery slope..   Its like using Dynamite to catch fish.. it works, but the damage is much worse than the good..

So here I am today.. taking Effexor for depression, it doesn't work anymore.. but I cant stomach the detox off Effexor right now.. I am horribly depressed and have little choice but to take it ..  I cant take another SSRI anti depressant with this Effexor in my system..

Do yourself a favor.. don't ride this into the wall..  This ride just gets faster and faster .. the best time to jump off is today..  

[bmdad]

At first the pills make us feel super human. We feel we can conquer the world. Many start off taking them for pain and think that they actually help with other issues in their life including depression. That's when many start self medicating. I have read on this forum about people that stop taking their anti depressants because they feel they found their "new" anti depressant and that it works wonders. But as our tolerance continues to grow and grow we need more and more. Before we know it we continue to take them to keep from becoming sick. By this point if someone had suffered with depression in the past it comes back 10 fold. What started off like some miracle pill ended up sucking the life right  out of them.
Did you suffer from depression even before the pills? I do not know anything about depression but I did suffer from it some once I became hooked on hydrocodone after a back injury. Once we stop taking them depression usually ends up being one of the withdrawal symptoms but after our mind and body gets back on track our mood will stabilize. You are smart for getting off of the pills. If you taper you should be able to get by with little to no withdrawals. Just make sure you stick to your taper plan. If you ever find yourself veering off of the plan, I would toss them and just go cold turkey. The worst of the physical symptoms are usually gone in about 5 days or so. The mental aspect may last a bit longer. It just depends on the person as everyone is different. I still suffer from back pain but am learning to deal with it by using over the counter meds. Opiates weren't made to take long term. We have to find other means to control our pain.
If you are ready to take the plunge and quit, you came to the right place. You will get so much advice and support. I would recommend starting the amino acid protocol right way. You can find that in the health pages. It lists a bunch of vitamins and supplements that helps us heal a bit faster from all of the abuse we did to our bodies from taking the opiates. Also be sure to eat healthy, push the good fluids such as juice and water, and exercise. I feel exercise is the best tool for recovery.
Please stick around this forum for support. You will meet some wonderful people that will help you though this horrible ordeal.
Best of luck to you!
Brian