Depression - Opiods

LegacyUser

Has anyone been prescribed an opiod for resistent depression? I've tried every other option without success and would like to know if this is a realistic alternative.

LegacyUser

Unreg1982 wrote: »

Has anyone been prescribed an opiod for resistent depression? I've tried every other option without success and would like to know if this is a realistic alternative.

whi is going to give you opiods for depression?

LegacyUser

It is possible for doctorts to prescribe opiates for depression (in the US anyway). I have read that in some cases of resistant depression a small dose of an opiate has good results. Obviously doctors are reluctant to go down that road because of the risk of addiction, but if all else fails they can be another chance at recovery. http://www.opioids.com/buprenorphine/buprefdep.html

locum-motion

Unreg1982 wrote: »

It is possible for doctorts to prescribe opiates for depression (in the US anyway). I have read that in some cases of resistant depression a small dose of an opiate has good results. Obviously doctors are reluctant to go down that road because of the risk of addiction, but if all else fails they can be another chance at recovery. http://www.opioids.com/buprenorphine/buprefdep.html

A quick search on google reveals many blogs and chatroom posts about this study, and one newsletter article from the National Association of Advocates of Buprenorphine Treatment (at least they wear their bias on their sleeves for all to see!) I can only find the abstract for the article, not the article itself; perhaps someone else with access to OVID may be able to get the article?

The study itself was done with a very small sample, only 10 patients, which doesn't usually lead towards reliable results. Also, it was an open label study. Open label studies do not produce reliable results in the same way as a double-blind, placebo-controlled study would.

The results themselves are not very promising: 4/10 achieved remission of symptoms, but 3/10 had to stop taking it because of adverse effects and 1/10 actually disimproved. Because of the small sample size, it is impossible to extrapolate to how many people would have improved, disimproved or suffered side effects if there had been, say, 10,000 patients in the study. On the face of it, it would be easy to say "There's a 40% chance that I'll achieve remission", but that's not a valid conclusion to draw. Perhaps, there'd only be 4 in every hundred, and the study happened by random chance to include those four people.

I think the most telling point in respect of this study, though, is the fact that it's over 14 years old and there appears to have been no further work done on it (from my admittedly brief google search).

I'd be interested to hear what others think, particularly Sam34 (Mod on the Bio/Med Forum) as it's her area of expertise.

old boy

usually the best way to bring a smile to some one face is a reasonably good shag, people on anti depressants cannot do that, the reason being the medication prevents this, i cannot get a proffessional to answer this, replys please.

sam34

old boy wrote: »

usually the best way to bring a smile to some one face is a reasonably good shag, people on anti depressants cannot do that, the reason being the medication prevents this, i cannot get a proffessional to answer this, replys please.

erectile disfunction is a potential side -effect of some anti-depressants, not all of them, and of the ones that can potentially cause it, some are more likely to do so that others. it's not accurate though to state that the meds prevent it as if it was a guaranteed side-effect, it is apotential one, not a definite one.

discuss with yur gp/psychiatrist whetere a switch of meds would be an option. (it may not be, for various reasons, but its worth asking)

sam34

locum-motion wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear what others think, particularly Sam34 (Mod on the Bio/Med Forum) as it's her area of expertise.

i have never prescribed opioids for depression. i have worked with one professor who did, but he reserved them for very treatment resistant depression. id say i saw him use them in max 4 people, so i cant really make a general statement about their worth.

they are listed in some of the guidelines, but they come way down the list of options. i dont know of any psychiatrist using them routinely or frequently.

Kevster

Given boards.ie's reputation, Im shocked that this hasn't been locked yet. I suggest that you discuss this issue with a doctor dude, and not unknowns on a silly web-forum.

Kevin