Taking Hydrocodone For Depression (Page 9) (Top voted first)

I am wondering if anybody else out there has taken Hydrocodone and noticed that symptoms of depression are alleviated? I find that many of today's anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs come with unpleasant side effects, whereas while taking Hydrocodone they aren't there. The caveat to all of this is that yes, I know that Hydrocodone and opiates in general can be addictive. So long term use would result in withdrawal symptoms. I'm just wondering who else might agree with me on this?

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Yes, i noticed the same thing. Its the only thing that relieves my depression

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I am a nurse and had never heard of this until I got on medschat. Did a little research and sure enough there it was. Makes sense, relieve the pain and you feel better. kind of a no brainer but it doesn't fix the problem. Pain and depression go hand in hand. Have to find out why your in pain and why you are depressed and work on both of them. Took me several years to finally find the right combo of meds, and good counseling goes a long way.

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Not only do i believe they can help depression i believe they work medicinally for diseases or can. I have crohns and no doubt the narcotics help my crohns not just pain... We need to get a study underway!!!

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RE: Taking hydrocodone for depression. This may be needed if your pain is chronic and keeps you from doing your daily routine. It's a mixed bag. After awhile your amount may increase. The APAP or Tylenol may be harmful to your liver. Also, driving is more dangerous. After a time you become acclimated to the effect of slowed reflexes. Age will slow you down. Pain is a outcome that comes with it. Personally, I use Adderall for depression and it works well as my BP is fine. It also gives me energy and I feel like I'm just more interested in all aspects of life. I can't say it is indicated for everyone but for me it's a true Godsend.

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I agree with you. It does take away depression.

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Hydrocodone gives me the same happy feeling but it doesn't last
Why can't they figure out what in the medication does that and develope something not as addictive

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Wow! I found out that I have low Thyroid. I have been begging doctors for help for over five years. Ive been prescribed four oxy 30mg a day and the first month I took six a day. Felt great! Volunteered alot plus did great in school. My dose jumped up to 15-20 a day! I found out that a medication I was taling, Phenytoin, when taken concomttantly with oxy causes hyper metabolizization. Ok so five years of 450-600mgs a day, trying to stay no more than 300mg. I stop taking Phenytoin, dose drops to 12 the following month it drops to 10, then eight. ok it finally gets down to between 5.2 -6 a day and of course doctor fires me. My current doctor I am trying really hard to stay at four but cant get below 5.2. I told them I stay in a state of PAWS even though I have oxycodone every day. I explain how can you go from 15 to 4 and not be affected? I think 6 is good because after almost six years, without external variables, my dose has never gone beyond six. It never will go beyond six. I don't feel high or feel anything and now with thyroid, am convinced its because of low oxy. I have found documentation indicating that even though opiates are co sidered depressants, they RAISE T levels!!! Tryig to stay at four oxy a day is literally killing me! Why prescribe additional meds withh side effects when you can just add two oxy a day to raise thyroid levels AND no side effects AND no more stress over being short for pill counts. My hears will probably blow up from withdrawal every miny for almost six years plus staying in PAWS...so yall who ate depressed find so eone to give you opiates. They only been illegal for 70-100 years and all the bi-polar, thyroid, depression, crime, mental illness in society is due to not enough opiates in our bodies.....we suffer from Chemical Pica and Edogenous Deficient Syndrome

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Folk who are treatment resistant may have Edogenous Deficient Syndrome--not enough pain or opiate receptors--unfortunately doctors won't acknowledge this--look up the article Ignorance Kills

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Herman2005 it sounds like normal antidepressants maybe ineffective for you.
I know several people who have this same issue. Their psychiatrists prescribed Ritalin or Aderol which is kind of a last resort treatment when conventional antidepressants don't work. The stimulants boost their mood and work fairly well from what I've seen in these people's lives. It basically saved them and gave them their lives back. One is a college professor PhD and the other 2 are high up within their companies. You should discuss the possible usage of one of the drugs I mentioned with your mental health care professional, don't suffer in silence and try to stay off Hydrocodone unless it's being used for analgesia. It will cause more problems down the road than its temporary mood boost today. Goodluck with your depressive disorder, it's more complex to treat in some people than others. Yours definitely isn't a here's a antidepressant pill now you're better...

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NEVER EXPERIENCED WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS. You only wish you had more because THEY WORK FOR DEPRESSION. LORD KNOWS NOTHING ELSE DOES!

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I've found this is absolutely true. My daughter developed severe anxiety and was diagnosed with PTSD after having her pancreatitis misdiagnosed as "anxiety" when she was 26. Another attack of pancreatitis two weeks later was also misdiagnosed as anxiety--her own doctor's PA made the mistake of consulting with the ER doc who saw her for the first attack and so just went with that misdiagnosis. That time, however, she insisted on a blood test which is when they discovered she had pancreatitis. However, the damage was done. The Nurse Practitioner therapist she had been sent to for her non-existent anxiety promptly overdosed her on Cymbalta in spite of the warnings about it which indicate that it is risky for young adults to take. When I say "overdosed," I mean she prescribed her a 33% higher dose than the strongest recommended dose. My daughter developed serotonin syndrome which led to severe anxiety and an eventual diagnosis of PTSD as a direct result of taking so much Cymbalta. She was removed from it "cold turkey" and, though her PCP told her to have the NP give her Xanax to help her through the withdrawal, the NP accused her of drug-seeking when my daughter told her what her PCP had said. She subsequently tried other medications (antidepressants and anti-anxiety) and discovered that ALL of them gave her either serotonin syndrome, grand mal or petit mal seizures. However, when she had to take opioids in subsequent situations (a broken arm, a damaged knee, a back injury after a fall from a horse, etc.) she found that they helped her anxiety tremendously. The relief was tremendous and the only thing that's every alleviated the anxiety--but obviously no doctor will prescribe opioids for anxiety. And so, through no fault of her own, she's been suffering the aftereffects of the NP's malpractice for 8 years with no end in sight.

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Jan it's not the doctors, it's the politicians in bed with big pharma that are the problem. Quality of life means nothing to either. It's all about profits, kickbacks, selling lies and control!

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Mark, then I am " doomed" to remain the rest of my life severely depressed. I have followed all the rules but I know politicians truly don't give a@#$!
The government is such a freaking mess. What can be done? All I want is to feel like a normal human being.

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Botero2015 your vomiting could be due to the acetaminophen in the percs, although I think opiates should be taken with food to avoid vomiting--but one thing media keeps leaving out regarding the hydrocodone overdoses is that usually it is caused by the acetaminophen in them--that will eat up your stomach

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Botero I forgot! LOL Google the article "Ignorance Kills" it's an excellent little read about endogenous deficient syndrome.....there are also books by Dr. Robert Cochran such as "The Opiate Cure", Pain and the Bipolar Spectrum, he concludes in that book with.... could we reduce opiate abuse by prescribing it MORE generously? The core reason is the distrust between patient and Doctor. We don't trust them, and that is why we have them sign drug contracts and pill counts, u/a's, etc. It is why we dispense the drugs not to the level of the patients comfort but to our comfort. This is the reason so many people obtain medicines from multiple doctors and buy them through other means. People with chronic pain do not trust their doctors. That is why they lie and use deceit. They have to. We make them do it because we view them as drug seekers. The opiate cure is out there. Unfortunately so is the opiate stigma. Patients are afraid to tell their doctors of the relief they get.

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Yes this is funny but true...back in the day I had a dr. that prescribed Percoset for weight loss and YES it worked wonders. Gave you tons of energy and the weight fell off like crazy.
He was relieved from his practice a few years later when so many people were going to him for weight loss.

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Dawn yes opiates are an excellent anti-depressant. Many of the synthetic have THEBAINE as their base, or foundation or main ingredient. Thebaine is the only non-narcotic alkaloid of the poppy and is in fact a stimulant. You said that they stopped the practice of prescribing them in the 50's for depression due to their addictive potential. Ok so I think that since they prescribe them with all the crazy monitoring for chronic pain users, they could do the same thing if they started to use them again as an anti-depressant. How can we get the ball rolling in that direction? Oh, check out the book by Dr. Robert Cochran, Opiates and the Bi-Polar, or The Opiate Cure. He had no qualms about prescribing opiates for anything because he's one of the few doctors that know they work for more than pain.

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I have been diagnosed with severe clinical depression. Have been taking Effexor 150mg along with Clonazepam for decades. I am involved in MMA and train hard. This also helps alleviate the symptoms drastically. However, along with heavy training comes injury and Vicodin has been a part of my life during various stages of training. When I take Vicodin it completely eliminates my depression. Not only that, it allows me to do things I have never done since my depression. I can go out and socialize comfortably, get much more done in a day, work harder and train better. Sleep and recovery are excellent. I look forward to my day and can actually cut back on my exercise which was killing me. Finally, somebody else with depression has mentioned the benefits of Vicodin in depressed patients. It works!

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Hello greet the man, Love that btw I posted down the page a bit give a read when you have the time. I agree with you in general principle but as in life there are exceptions to the rule. I've managed to use pain meds for 30 yrs with very little dose escalation, and a life long severe depression that eventually caused me to go on ssd. Traditional depression meds did very little to help with the exception of Ritalin (No longer effective) I can tell you that while my pain medication is for my call, and works fine it also helps with the depression. I have just always made sure I used as directed, however there are also those with addictive personalities that left without serios monitoring would be in serious trouble. However, with the right doc, and being totally forthright and honest they too should be able to have what works for them. MHO

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I do agree. I get 10 pills a month. My depression seems to ease at that time.

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