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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Opiates not having full effect due to SSRI?

shpongle1987

shpongle1987

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
520
Location
NY
Been on zoloft 50mg for about 2 weeks and just tried taking 3 7.5/325 hydrocodone which would usually have me feeling pretty damn good for about 4 hours and found that when i took them I felt good for about 1 hour then just felt tired without the opiate euphoria. Took 4 more and the same thing happened.....just got tired with minimal "well being" feeling. Can anyone tell me why this could be happening? Is it due to the fact that my serotonin is being used so much by the ssri that the opiates cant release anymore to provide that "feel good, well being" type effect? Just a guess.
 
That's odd, im on the same med and had 10mg of hydrocodone a few weeks ago. It seemed like it hit me like it always does
 
shpongle1987 said:
So that means it would cause it to have less of an effect, correct?
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Ya, inhibitors (Zoloft, in this case) prevent the enzyme from processing the substrate (Hydrocodone).

And to reply to the above post; it depends on the person really. Some report no change, and some (like yourself, shpongle) report lessened effects.
 
When I was on an SSRI (Lexapro), it dulled out highs from all my usual recreational drugs. I hated it. Would never put another SSRI donw my throat again
 
when i was on Paxil, i remember taking lortabs and i would get a 20minute buzz and all effects wore off..SSRIs did impact the effects of opiates...decreased it a LOT
 
^^^ fuck. Yeah i'm totally in the same boat when it comes to having a 20 min buzz then nothing after that, not cool.
 
^^Well as far as you saying the information is wrong im not going to agree or disagree but i will tell you with 100% certainty that while being on zoloft the effects of hydrocodone are decreased significantly. (havent used any other opiates while on it)
 
^^Well I know im remembering the experiences rite, b/c rite now as we speak i'm on them....took about 5 7.5/325 apap around 430 pm...felt pretty damn good for abut the past hour but now I am coming down. I deffinatly think psychological factors may be in play here but I guess there's no way to really tell for sure. I will say after reading your post about zoloft possibly potentiating hydrocodone I went outside to have a cig and immediately felt like I was feeling it more, so who knows haha.
 
Thank you for those posts man, they were quite informative!! Pretty much what I got out of all that is no one really knows what is going on in the body when it comes to these substances....all I can know for sure is how it effects me as an individual, and all I know for sure that mixing these two substances in MY OWN body decreases the effects of the hydro :/ Oh well. Thanks again!! I wish I was as knowledgeable as you are when it comes to stuff like that!!!
 
This has gotten way over complicated guys. SSRI's inhibits CYP2D6 which makes hydrocodone into a more potent drug so it passes through the system less potent. Now let us address the elephant in the room.

Serotonin inhibits dopamine in the NAcc.

Those two things are why SSRI's make opioids less pleasurable.

REF:

http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16111831
 
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^^ Excellent posts UnderFaz, getting into some pretty complex pharmacology though, you're right.. I'm not sure where you got your chart from, it may well be this one, but I thought I would share this with everyone who is interested - CYP-450 substrate/inhibitor/inducor chart :)

airsh0w: thank you also, I shall peruse that article once I've been to sleep! My psychopharmacology knowledge is sadly a little limited at the moment but I've just bought myself a fat text book and am really getting interested in it so I look forward to reading the paper you provided a link to.
 
UnderFaz said:
thanks for the post airshow. does that only apply to ssri antidepressants? or would any AD that affects serotonin cause this? i want to specifically ask about mirtazapine (Remeron). i dont know very much about mirtazapine's pharmocology, but from what i understand it does definitely affect serotonin.
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You're welcome.

It depends somewhat on the opioid and somewhat on the SRI/SSRI. Mirtazapine will actually increase the potency of hydrocodone in the short-term for sure by blocking serotonin receptors which inhibit dopamine. But they also are broken down by the same enzyme so that will slow hydrocodones breaking down into a more potent substance. I would say take the hydrocodone and wait for it to hit you then take the opioid for maximum effect.

It depends on the specific drugs for the enzyme part.
 
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I took 4 days of Zoloft 2 days at 25mg and the final 2 days at around 23mg. I stopped due to concerns about other health factors..

I go to use my pain relief and ive kept it low. i never used over 17.5 mg of oxycodone.. or 40 mgs of oral morphine solution.. So I Take my Oxycodone dose before chest physio.. and nothing happens.. no good feeing no buzz nothing not even pain relief... the only thing that remained the same for me was how i get tired about 3-4..

So I decided to doubke m oxy dose to 30 mgs.. when previous high use was 15 mgs and i had been using 10 for the last 2 months..

absolutely nothing.. though the tiredness kicked in and i slept solid for 12 hours.. \

so than i start research and sure enough i see that its common for SSRI's to lesson the effects.. but most say it only happens while they take them.. i bailed out on a low dose after only 4 days ands it 80 hours on and no change..

after digging some i found quite a few stories of people permanently losing their ability to feel good on pain meds after ssri's/

From Blue lights own BIGsherm7272
I have found that ever since I took SSRI's, I no longer get euphoria from most drugs, expecially opiates and MDMA. With MDMA I only get a slight roll, that lasts like 30 minutes, and I get no warmth or fuzziness from opiates like I use to, only a little sedation. I tooke SSRI's for only 8 months, and it has been over 3 years since I quit doing them, and I still don't feel right and get no euphoria from most drugs. Some people can feel euphoria from drugs just fine, while others like me do not feel anything.


I also believe that the way I got off them was also detrimental to this. I was forced to stop taking them cold-turkey by my parents, and experienced bad brain zaps and other weird feelings. I believe if you get off them the proper way, such as tapering slowly, that you can get off them with little to no long-term side effects.
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I even came across a guy who lost the ability to get a buzz or the feel good feelings from alcohol.. sure he still stumbles after 10 beers. but happiness and the relaxed feelings all gone and his poor bigger took only 1 prozac pill.

So it seems like some people or most get reduced effects while on SSRI's but lots of meds reduce the others but the highs and effects come bac once they stop then there is the smaller group who are left with permanent changes i guess brain wiring..

i didnt know this could happen and worry about it.. it happened to me and through research i found myself here.

like i said after 4 days use ive been off them little over 3 days.. so im hoping it returns to normal. though once i hit a week if things have ot changed ill know its a perm situation because its not like i was on these pills for 8 months to a year i was on them for 4 days... i read a study where they gave lexapro 1 pill to healthy male and they saw brain changes via mri within 3 hours.

Now im wondering if there is anything out there that can reset a brain after using an SSRI like something to open up the absorption back into the presynaptic cell instead of limiting reabsorbtion like SSRI's do..

Ive been needing a combined liver lung transplant since 2005 but it was a surgery that could not be done in australia to 2012 sso i was told to just go home and live and die but instead of retired moved back in with parents.. health picked up after leaving the rat race.. so by being a hermit i survived long enough to 2012 combined lver lungs became an option in austraia..

after a sinuss surgery i was given pain meds and all of a sudden im exercising which is near impossible on 28 percent lung cpacity.. so i continued on them and im booked to see a proper pain specialist in 3 weeks for a ong term solution.. i went to the movies for the first time in 7 years.. its amazing what pain relief has doen for me.. so me being open is why they tried the SSRI zoloft and now its ruined the miracle i found
 
THIS is why I wish they could prescribe opiates for depression. I know, I know, it sounds crazy but they sure as hell make a world of a difference with my mental health problems.
 
I wish i had never tried the SSRI//

My life was improving just on pain killers,exercsing again.. lost 17 kilos.. gone to concerts.. parties..

and thats been ruined by 4 days of SSRI's

I used pain meds to make me able to breathe easier.. it removed the feeling of air hunger.

Now that;s gone..

its one thng to lose the buzz the high but the pain killing action too..

plus no one believes me
 
I'm not on SSRI like Zoloft but I'm on Latuda and lithium for bipolar and since starting I haven't gotten shit from my pain meds, pain control or buzz. Connected?
 
I'd say so. Latuda is an antipsychotic if I'm not mistaken and those are definitely known to interfere with pain meds according to what I've heard although I can take Seroquel which is an AP and it doesn't seem to interfere although it is a very low dose for sleep, 25mg. Lithium for me definitely seems to interfere giving me almost withdrawal like symptoms. Sucks, huh?
 
There are drug addicts and drug users. The user takes a minimal amount of opiates ( or drug of choice ) but i'm really talking opiates, a minimal amount is required to remain functional and not get sick. Save your enjoyment doses for the weekends. You can't be high all the time. Well you can, but how do you know.?
 
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