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Multiple medications with no relief until...

I have been in treatment for depression and anxiety for 12 years. I have tried a plethora of drugs and have found very limited and short term relief from my symptoms. I have also been in therapy multiple times with little relief. Recently, I had a root canal and was prescribed Tylnol with Vicodin or Codeine (I don't remember which). I took the medicine for 3 days and felt an almost complete relief of my symptoms. I didn't feel high or out of control, I felt normal. After I had finished the course of medicine, my depression and anxiety returned a couple days later despite my continued use of 200mg of Zoloft along with Xanax and Busipar for anxiety. Nobody seems to be able to explain this to me. I took 1 pill a day and felt so much better. It was like my life had been given back to me. I honestly feel like I'm at my wits end with all the "normal" medication. I need to feel normal again because I'm so tired and worn out from this depression. Anyone have any suggestions?
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Avatar universal
they will never make an antidepressant that works like an opiate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and yes it is the opiate that works,not "another chemical in the opiate,maybe another chem in the brain that the opiate targets but thats called the opiate binding and sending very specific message to the receptor,and doubt it can ever be replicated
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Avatar universal
I agree with you taking codeine meds help out with this deep depression that I have I truly feel normal & a human being where I interact more with my family than stay cooped up in my bedroom all day isolating myself from the world. I wish they did have a medication that can make me feel better than not helping me.... I am sooo tired of myself feeling soooo depressed & not wanting to be a wife or a mother. What kind of medication can you find that is not addicting & has the same effect as codeine has that is not norcotics. We all want to feel that normalness that codeine gives us & keeps us on our daily living. A normal life. I have surf the internet trying to find something that does the job like codeine does. I though I was the only one who was getting that same effect from codeine....  YES I WANT THAT NORMAL FEELING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to take over my life instead of me isolating myself from my family they want a Wife back & a mother back who will be there for them & not hidding from them & dont want to be around them. Thats how bad I really feel all the time. I push them away because of my depression I am bipolar & there is NO RELEIF FORM THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT HELP FROM THOSE EFFECTS FROM THE CODEINE GIVES OUT!!!!!!!!!!! MY LIFE &  MY FAMILY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Avatar universal
     I wouldn't use an opiate on a regular basis. I know they are very addictive and will cause long term problems. I looked up their history after reading some of the articles people have posted (Thanks by the way!) and read that something like 2/3rds of men in China were addicted at one point.
      I'm actually hoping something like Welbutrin will help me. I have talked to my sister who has almost identical symptoms to me and she has had great success with it combined with Adderol I think. I misspoke when I said I had been on Welbutrin in the past (it was actually something a doctor prescribed when he decided I was bipolar. I can't remember the name but that was a horrible couple months).
     I see my Psychiatrist next week and am going to have him change my presciptions. Thanks everyone for your support. I'll try and update this after I see my doctor.
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Avatar universal
Ahh yes indeed!

Opiates such as Vicodine, Suboxone, and Codine are excellent antidepressants.
They have an amazing effect on people with Severe Depression.

PROBLEM: It is not fully understood in Psychiatry and Neurology why it is that Opiates perform so well for people with Severe Depression. What is known is that if you and I (people with severe treatment resistant Depression) keep taking Opiates for depression that we will get addicted.

In fact in less than 4 moths of usage we would require more and more to get the same antidepressant effect. Soon we would require higher and higher dosages just to keep or symptoms at bay and then.....That's it were hooked.

Trust me, already Psychiatrist know that Opiates are VERY effective for completly eliminating the symptoms of Severe Depression. They are wise not to prescribe them. The end result is almost always disastorus. Yes, even worse than the severe depression and anxiety itself.

Isn't it funny how well they work though! Two days on any Opiate and my almost totally untreatable symptoms of crushing Depression and anxiety are completly eliminated! (well, only for a short time anyway) Then the Opiate wears off and you need more and more and more.

I know what you mean though. I can take a very low dosage of almost any Opiate and it all but eliminates the crushing constant symptoms of my depressive dissorder. Like you, it doesn't make me high or feel weird....Just Normal.

Did you know that it's not the Opiate property in Opiates that gives such perfect relief from Severe Depression? It is anoher chemical in the actual Opiate that has this effect on the brain.

In the past few years scientists and Pharm companies have been working ultra hard at trying to isolate the theraputic molicule in Opiates that has this antidepressant effect. Thus eliminating the "bad addictive properties" and making the perfect non-addictive long lasting antidepressant that is based on the action of Opiates.

I'm with you my friend. I have no Idea why Opiates make us severly depressed people feel normal, but NO QUESTION that they do and billions of dollars in research is now being done to isolate this Opiate property into a viable treatment for Severe forms of medication resistant Depression like you and I have.

Whatever Drug company can solve the problem will reap more wealth that Microsoft.

I sure hope I can last long enough to see this breakthrough in antidepressant therapy.

In closeing. I KNOW IT IS TEMPTING TO USE OPIATES AS AN ANTIDEPRESSANT. DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!! TRUST ME IT WILL ONLY END UP IN HUGE PROBLEMS FOR YOUR LONG TERM CRONIC CONDITION.

The effect has a VERY short half life, and ALL humans build resistance to Opiates VERY rapidly and then it's serious crash time for us.

I agree, it works, but at a massive long term cost to our lives.

Lets just cross our fingers and pray that science can isolate this antidepressant effect that Opiates have, without the bad long term effects.
Helpful - 0
621711 tn?1223570604
wow that would be great if they could make something to make you feel like your on vicodin without having the downsides of it....you would think out of all the meds out there, something would work...i'm still on a rollercoaster with my meds...but ya'll are rite, nothing worked as well as the opiates for myself.
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Avatar universal
I understand that it isn't the answer the question I have is why does this drug relieve my depression symptoms and all the "Depression" meds don't.  There has to be some Chemical solution to this problem.  You ARE right though about the Opiates not being a long term solution. I have weened off them and I am back to my slow depressed self.
Helpful - 0
621711 tn?1223570604
i used to take vicodin to make me happy, make me smile and talk more...helped greatly with my depression...but i ended up taking and needing more and more...had to buy them illegally because eventually what you have prescribed will no longer be enough...i ended up in the hospital, detoxing....it was horrible...I WOULD NOT ADVISE TAKING AN OPIATE FOR DEPRESSION RELIEF...trust me, been there, tried that....was not the answer!!!!
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Avatar universal
You have got to be kidding me.  I have been trying to tell my wife and my doctor this for months.  I can't believe someone else finally said it.  I suffer from horrible depression. Always tired, teary eyed, brain fog, everything.  3 Months ago I had a foot problem and my Doctor gave me Norco which is the same chemicals as Vicodin.  When I take it I feel absolutely normal. My fatigue goes away and I am happy.  I stopped taking my SSRI and I am diligently trying to find the reason the Vicodin "CURES" my depression.  Thank you
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Avatar universal
Acetaminophen (paracetamol) is the first port of call for pain relief, because of its broad action and the proportion of people who feel a benefit from taking it. To see if this is the cause of the feeling better, you could take Tylenol as per the instructions on the pack (and never more than 4gms/day - the liver can be damaged permanently by large doses, and in rare cases it is fatal). If it makes you feel better then it is a candidate.

Codeine is an opioid: in fact it is metabolised by liver enzymes into morphine, which then provides the analgesic effect. Some people find that codeine doesn't work for them, while some others find it hits them really hard. The vast majority of people get some pain relief in anything from one to two hours. The variation in effects among people is largely due to the gene variants, that their livers have, for metabolising codeine --- there are multiple metabolites from codeine, of which one is morphine. Some people get a bit of a "lift" in mood from opioids, which might be happening to you (if it was codeine that you took).

Vicodin has a dose of acetaminophen, and more importantly, a dose of hydrocodone, which is another opioid.analgesic. Hydrocodone is advised as potentially being habit forming. Anyway, if this is what you took, some people do get a lift mood-wise from hydrocodone.

With opioids, if you are among the ones that feel more settled because of them, it is possible that dopamine is a component of your problems concerning anxiety. It may mean that antidepressants that affect dopamine signalling are better for you than standard SSRIs (this is just speculation, not a known fact). Wellbutrin is one such antidepressant - it targets dopamine and norepinephrine, rather than serotonin like prozac does.

While it might be tempting to try using opioids or acetaminophen long term, it is probably not at all a good idea to do so. Long term health may be compromised by addiction or liver damage, for example. If you think they are helping, see a psychiatrist (not a psychologist) as soon as you can for advice on what to do. They may be able to find a more suitable medication. Certainly, they may be able to determine a smaller number of medications to achieve the desired effect.

As always, my comments are not that of a professional doctor, so please don't take them as such.

All the best.
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Avatar universal
One article you might find interesting is below:

J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1995 Feb;15(1):49-57.

Buprenorphine treatment of refractory depression.

Bodkin JA, Zornberg GL, Lukas SE, Cole JO.
McLean Hospital, Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA 02178, USA.

Opiates were used to treat major depression until the mid-1950s. The advent of opioids with mixed agonist-antagonist or partial agonist activity, with reduced dependence and abuse liabilities, has made possible the reevaluation of opioids for this indication. This is of potential importance for the population of depressed patients who are unresponsive to or intolerant of conventional antidepressant agents. Ten subjects with treatment-refractory, unipolar, nonpsychotic, major depression were treated with the opioid partial agonist buprenorphine in an open-label study. Three subjects were unable to tolerate more than two doses because of side effects including malaise, nausea, and dysphoria. The remaining seven completed 4 to 6 weeks of treatment and as a group showed clinically striking improvement in both subjective and objective measures of depression. Much of this improvement was observed by the end of 1 week of treatment and persisted throughout the trial. Four subjects achieved complete remission of symptoms by the end of the trial (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores < or = 6), two were moderately improved, and one deteriorated. These findings suggest a possible role for buprenorphine in treating refractory depression.
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Avatar universal
The Xanax is for particularly anxiety-inducing situations so I don't take it on a regular basis. I have not seen any effects good or bad from it except maybe a little drowsiness so I have sort of given up on it. In the past, I have been on Prozac, Effexor XR, Paxil, and I believe Welbutrin. I know these all fall into the same loose group of SSRIs. I am on Busipar 30mg twice a day for anxiety but again I have seen little or no relief from taking it. I also take Straterra 75mg for ADD (I'm pretty much a walking medicine cabinet). I just can't understand why a pain killer gave me pretty much instant relief from a lot of my depression symptoms while all the different medications I have tried have had extremely limited or no effect on my symptoms. It's just extremely frustrating especially when something that finally gave me relief is not really a viable option.
Helpful - 0
585414 tn?1288941302
You could tell us what medications you've been tried on as there are a large amount of anti-depressents. I don't personally have depression so I couldn't say what's worked for me but I can say that for anxiety Xanax is extremely short acting and has a high potential for addiction. I am on Klonopin which is longer acting and in the same category, that is an anti-anxiety agent (benzodiazepene) and is probably a better choice for long term use which Xanax is generally not intended for. As regarding anti-depressents sometimes they are less effective as the years go on and a person needs to change to another one.
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Avatar universal
Talk to a psychiatrist.  There must be a reason.  Are they stimulants?  Maybe you need something different.
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