Posted by pseudoname on January 18, 2006, at 10:19:28
In reply to Re: BAD NEWS! » pseudoname, posted by ed_uk on January 10, 2006, at 15:16:03
About 10 days ago, I had breathing problems at night. My GP said I was physiologically fine, but took me off the buprenorphine opioid I was taking for depression, thinking it might be the cause.
We (Babblers, me, my pdoc) think the problem was anxiety and NOT the buprenorphine at all. I think the anxiety was brought on by the lifting depression.
I've been off the bupe for 10 days, and the breathing problem has continued. However, the depression has NOT returned! Not once. That is stunning. I seem to have flipped from being depressed to being anxious. I think the anxiety was always there, just neatly suppressed by depression.
My pdoc now seeks to treat me for anxiety and OCD-spectrum symptoms, which I now realize I have always had, bigtime. Despite not being depressed, I still have vague, bizarre anxieties that make many normal behaviors impossible. A lot of this was just covered up by the overwhelming depression.
To start, she prescribed Metadate CD. The original Ritalin worked well but briefly for me a decade ago, but the after-crash was terrible and tolerance developed quickly. Maybe this newer methylphenidate release will be better. Maybe if now it doesn't have to overcome the depression as well as the OCD-like anxieties, I won't have to use as high a dose or develop tolerance so quickly??
The breathing troubles are more mild and mostly at night, but I've been losing a fair amount of sleep. Ed suggested antihistamines for sleep, but since I know they only work for a few days for me and on them I wake up exactly 4 hours after falling asleep, I'm saving them for more urgent situations. It's good to know they're there.
Interestingly, a chest X-ray ordered by the GP showed "nodularity in both apices" probably from "previous granulomatous disease exposure". I'll probably follow up with a pulmonologist.
Based on my experience, I encourage anyone to consider buprenorphine (Subutex) for treatment-resistant depression, if you can get it and use it carefully.
poster:pseudoname
thread:579345
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060115/msgs/600297.html