As far as using opiates as anti-depressants.. well heroin is NOT one you want to use. At the rate you develop tolerance to it, you couldn't use it daily for more than a few weeks without having to use a higher dose which would inevitably lead to you getting quite dependant.
On the other hand, if you can stay clean for a while or you don't have a tolerance anyways, I've found that Percocets work great. With painkillers, especially oxycodone, the lower the dose you start with, the longer it will take to develop tolerance and physical dependance. Until 3 months ago, I could take 10mgs of oxycodone and it'd be mildly recreational. But more importantly, it was a great mood enhancer. I'm one of those people who gets a mild "tweak" effect from opiates, so that helped, of course. I'd become MUCH more friendly, be able to get along with anyone, be incredibly socialable, think more clearly, and preform most tasks better. Of any drugs I've ever taken, and I have almost everything you could think of under my belt, oxycodone has been the most effective drug I've ever taken as far as something I could function on and instead of changing my personality or bringing out fake feelings/emotions, it more or less just reduced some of my inhibitions and exaggerated what was already there instead of create something new. Instead of being reserved and keeping my thoughts to myself, when I took low doses of oxycodone, I was able to speak my mind, be more motivated in general, and accomplish more. Oxycodone has done for me what traditional anti-depressants, ADHD medications and anti-anxiety medications could not.. and it accomplished the effects of all those in one. The best benefits I have seen from it are becoming a more confident person in social situations where before my anxiety was so bad I could't deal. I used to sit quietly at work and talk to nobody. I started taking Percs before work and would just talk to people. Now I don't need them anymore, I'm social anyways now and don't get panic attacks anymore.
Now, I'm again going to stress that potent opiates like heroin, morphine, dilaudid, fentanyl, etc., are NOT the way to go if you're seeking therapeutic benefits. The point is NOT to get fucked up. You want to go with low doses of weaker opiates like codeine, oxycodone or hydrocodone. Also you don't want to use them daily. Use them sparatically. Either once every few days, or maybe even 2-3 days then off 3-4 days.
And I'm also going to add that using opiates to self-medicate this way is not neccessarily healthy. I'm a drug addict. I honestly believe I was predisposed to being a drug addict before I ever took drugs. The first drug I ever abused was Tylenol 3 and I knew then and there that drugs were going to be an integral part of my life, and that's been true since I first abused a bottle of 50 T3's over 7 years ago. I do not by any means think that anyone should just go off and think "hey, I can take painkillers and they'll solve all my problems". Self-medicating with drugs like this is not a psychologically healthy thing. It works for me, but again, I am a drug addict. And if you really want to go for this, do not think you can do this long term. You will definantly become psychologically dependant after a while. In the long run it will probably lead to more problems than it solves. Over the years I have phased in and out of periods where I heavily abuse opiates. I'm in one of those phases now where I've started using heroin again. It was fine at first, but now I'm really struggling as I've found myself quite addicted. I could go cold turkey, I have stopped for days, but I become so eratic and irritable that I don't think it's worth it, so I'm trying to ween myself off. It's not a good lifestyle.
If you're looking into opiates as anti-depressants because you think this would be a "fun" way to overcome your problems, I absolutely guarantee you will end up with more problems than you started with.
Frax, I think this is a pretty good overview of the kind of information you're looking for. Hope it helps.
[This message has been edited by SovietContin (edited 14 November 2001).]
