Opiates & Depression????

Q: I'll try to keep it short. I'm 29 and have suffered from moderate to severe depression all my life. Nothing suicidal. I was overhyper as a kid so early on I took ritalin which did nothing. Later I was given high Lithium doses which did nothing, somewhere in there was a little red pill but forget the name.. again- nothing. The diagnosis's ranged from bipolar to sociopath, manic-depressive to borderline and back again for another round ~~ For years I gave up and just dealt with it as I grew, then around 24 I started seeking help again, so far I've tried Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Zoloft... etc.. all of which have done nothing.

A:Then I went to the dentist, and was prescribed Vicodin after a major root canal. The prescription was for 30 tabs, I took one a day for 15 days, then went in for another root canal. Got another prescription for 30 more, I just kept taking them at the same 1 a day rate. The first week I started taking them I noticed a MAJOR improvement in my life. I was stunned and realized it had to be the vicodin, cause nothing else had changed. I was happy, energetic, spending more time with my daughter, sleeping well (usually suffer from insomnia) working better(boss has been very impressed), enjoying hobbies and completing projects and not spending time on the couch feeling woeful and in a world of darkness! Headaches & migraines are gone. I did some reading about vicodin and learned that it gives you a feeling of "euphoria" .. I never felt euphoric, just normal. Like a normal happy person. I decided to make sure and experiment a little. I stopped taking them for 1 week, by day 2 I was back on the couch, irritable, sad with the not knowing why, by day 4 I was back to the insomnia crap. When the week was up, I started with the 1 a day again, no euphoria or buzz or anything but by the 2nd or 3rd day I was feeling like a normal happy person again. Has anyone else had a similar experience? The little bit of reading I've done hasn't given me much of an answer. I'm considering going back to my doc and asking what's up but am almost certain I'll be labeled as a junkie, (I'm with an HMO). Another part of me says "so the hell what." Let this be my new life and let the search begin! I am a recovering opiate addict and im on methadone (150mg)and I have also noticed that it helped my depresion, BUT I don't recomend shooting dope to treat depression. long term opiate use leads to decreased endorphin production, so after a while you need an opiate just to function as a "normal" person(in more ways than one) I have sustained long periods of total drug abstinance and I could never understand why I was so unhappy until I learned that I was an "endorphin deficent(sp?)" person, and that I will require metahdone for the rest of my life. since I have started methadone treatment I have been able to treat my depression/anxiety with some success(which was impossable before)

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