depression, a normal part of mild opiate withdrawal?

[redeemer]

A week ago I got my hands on some hydrocodone and oxycodone. I haven't tried either of them before only codeine and dihydrocodeine up to this point. The first time I took about 20 mg hydro to test it which left me feeling very content and euphoric. The next evening I noticed feeling slightly depressed which I didn't think about much and proceeded to enjoy 25 mg oxycodone the rest of the evening.

This weekend I took about 30 mg hydro thursday, 40 mg hydro friday and a friend of mine binged and took approximately 100 mg oxycodone/hydrocodone over the course of 12 hours this saturday. The following sunday I felt fine, enjoying the afterglow of the opiate experience generally being in a good mood. I'm very tired and decide to go to bed early even though I don't have work the next day. The next day (monday/today) I wake up feeling rather depressed. I've been through a depression about a year ago and it felt exactly like that. Very apathetic, nothing amuses me, I just feel like laying in bed watching TV.

Since I felt like this, albeit not as severaly as today, the evening after I tried hydro for the first time I suspect it could be part of the withdrawal symptoms. I haven't felt any physical symptoms except constipation, just this depressed feeling.

Is this normal? Feeling depressed the following evening even after a dosing on opiates?

TIA

 

[Survival0200]

Completely normal. Applies to at least me too. I usually have some alprazolam, if the depression starts being too nasty, because it has some antidepressant properties also.

 

[sonic]

Yeah, of course it is normal. As I'm sure you can imagine, when you become truly addicted the depression and anxiety of opiate withdrawal can be overwhelming.

 

[smackem]

Sure its normal. Kinda sucks, doesn't it.

 

[redeemer]

^ Yeah no doubt, though I'm glad it isn't my depression breaking out again but just withdrawals. Seems like a pretty severe side effect, I've never done anything actually causing temporary depression following its use. I guess it's another factor adding to its addictive nature.

 

[paranoid android]

The few times ive been through mild opiate withdrawals i always had depression and a general lack of energy. This was after using morphine, codeine and oxycodone lightly to moderately for a few months.

The last time this happened i had terrible depression for a few weeks after. I didnt have enough energy to get out of bed. Id hate to see what coming off a heavy habit of heroin or something would be like.

 

[Survival0200]

"Why can't life always be like it's when I'm high on opiates?"

 

[Survival0200]

^^
Never tried SSRI/SNRI therapy?

 

[jasoncrest]

It's the longest-lasting (months, sometimes years) symptom of Opiate withdrawal.

 

[Gaz_hmmmm]

I've had depression since the age of 11, and began attempting suicide at that age and that was before the drugs.

Anyway, basically, if I come off the opi's I'm just gonna go back to 'hell' aren't I?

 

[rashandreflex]

^^
Never tried SSRI/SNRI therapy?

i have (briefly) tried an SSRI as well as an SNRI, not for depression caused by opiate withdrawl but just depression in general. i reacted badly to both, and now, having researched the history of SSRIs and the legitimacy of the serotonin hypothesis for a paper, i doubt their true efficacy and safety. however, i probably wouldn't take a drug for depression during withdrawl anyway because to me, that is trading one dependence for another (and, yes, SSRIs do cause a form of dependence in many people.)

 

[zrawdog]

i just started using opiates (poppy pod tea) and i definitely notice feeling depressed after using them, even though i've only used them a 6 times or so in the last two weeks, and not too big doses. how long does the depression usually last?

why does opiate withdrawal make you so depressed anyway? i thought it wouldn't because most drugs besides stimulants don't make me depressed the next day. and doesn't it only affect dopamine and serotonin indirectly? i can understand why i feel depressed after stimulants and mdma, since they act so strongly on neurotransmitters associated with pleasure, and it makes sense that you would need some time to recover from the great feelings you get from them. however with poppy pod tea, i feel pretty good for a while, but i never get an intense rush or any feelings of happiness anywhere close to what i get from stimulants, but it seems like the depression is longer lasting with tea. the good feelings from tea don't seem good enough to justify the depression experienced later on, if it really does make you that consistently depressed.

another thing that confused me is that if depression is a withdrawal symtpom, then how come i barely get any other withdrawal symptoms? i figured maybe it wasn't from the tea because i thought i would notice the other symptoms more but all i get is slight nausea sometimes in the morning and constipation.

also, the last time i drank the tea i took a bunch of adderall earlier in the evening (~120mg) and the next few days i feel a lot worse than if i had just taken only adderall. is this from the combination of the two, or just because i've been drinking a lot of tea lately.

so is feeling bad after opiate use inevitable or is it just because i've been using them more frequently lately? what do you think is the most often i should drink poppy tea if i want to avoid depression, or is that even possible to do completely? thanks!

 

[pofacedhoe]

why do you think depressed people end up using opiates? i use tramadol as an antidepressant and unlike other antidepressants it acctually makes me feel social and peacefull and takes away paranoia. before the tramadol i was very agitated and aggressive and mistrustfull(like every year of my life i have been), now things dont feel amazing but they certainly dont feel distraught and anguish (like someone has died or will die soon) and this can only be an improvement

 

[alantis360]

I usually only ever get mild wd from hydros because i dont take that many and the only thing I notice is the depression

 

[j00sh]

I get like an "impending doom" effect when withdrawing from oxycodone. I'm always depressed and opiates don't seem to do much to make that any worse, but I definitely expect something bad to happen. I get into a Murphy's Law kinda mood. It doesn't really make me feel down or anything. More like "this shit's about to go down and I need to be ready for it"

Driving home from work in the morning I'm positive that a lady walking her dog will walk out in front of me if I look away from the road for a second. I keep my hand on my pocket blade because I'm positive today is the day I'm gonna randomly get jumped.. I'm not looking around in suspicion but I just know today is "the day." If the thought of getting tested for STDs randomly pops into my noggin, I'm already convinced that I'd test positive for HIV and herpes. My tag light is gonna burn out and this cop is gonna turn around and pull me over. I'm going to mess up at work and get my hand caught in a machine or slip with a cutting tool and take out a chunk of my arm. Layoffs are coming tomorrow and I'm on top of the list.

 

[DJ25]

I understand the 'impending doom' but mine is like more shall I just off myself, but then it goes away eventually. I was reading earlier that opiates also fuck with your adrenal glands adding to the feeling of fatigue- the depression/fatigue are the worst symptoms for me.

 

[JerZfirE]

To the OP:

You should stop fuckin with opiates/opiods now if youre getting depressed after only a night of partying.

Im addicted to dope, and when Im in withdrawal I get pretty bad anxiety and depression.

I dont have a history or either. After a few days of w/d, I wanna blow my fucking head off.

 

[philly_philly]

I agree with the above posters-- it's normal and I get the same way. My boyfriend gets even worse-- he only has to take a little bit of any kind of opiates / benzos and the next day he's completely blah. It's not even withdrawal for me, it's just like a rebound depression thing, and for me, the longer/bigger the binge, the worse it is. Some people I know don't seem to have this problem, so i feel like some people are definitely more susceptible than others. For me, the only thing that seems to lift my mood back up is smoking some weed.

 

[nleksan]

If you're getting depressed from that mild of opiate use, I'd recommend you stop using. I've been clean three and a half weeks from a habit of ~70mg IV Oxymorphone a day, or up to a gram of street dope, and while the physical symptoms of WD are gone, I'm suffering worse depression than I've ever felt. It's hard to get out of bed in the morning.

I was cut off of my pain meds due to abuse, and that is a problem in and of itself, as I live with chronic pain and cannot have it treated now. Just stop while you're ahead.

This depression is in spite of the fact that I am taking, as prescribed:
3mg Klonopin
60mg Flurazepam
60mg Temazepam
300mg Lyrica
20mg Desoxyn
...every day. It's the worst feeling in the world. I just hope it passes.

 

[Bludda]

Wow, I didn't know about depression and WD. I've used opies (admittedly weaker ones - PST, PPT, Oxy, DHC) for a while, though never frequently enough to get major WDs, and I've never had any sort of depression after using.

Hahahahaha, I wish I hadn't read this, coz I'm probably gonna 'think' myself into a shit headspace when I have a break.

For me the addiction comes from the part-positive reinforcement - about 20% of my experiences are either crap or just not worth it (makes me feel a bit sick e.t.c.). If I have one of these, I fool myself that that experience 'didn't count', and so I dose again fairly soon, until I have a good one - thus reinforcing the cycle.


To the OP - as others have said, it's probably a good thing to stay away from opies. You don't want to exacerbate your depression, or trigger another episode.

Depression + Addiction = bad times


Respect and peace