Can Methadone be used to treat anxiety and depression? Those suffering from depression/anxiety please read.?
I had been in therapy for two years in a different state and moved here, during my pysch meetings we tried drug after drug after drug.
(I had a mental break down prior to the therapy sessions and was diagnosed with PTSD, acute anxiety disorder, panic attacks, night terrors or panic attacks whilst sleeping and borderline personality disorder)
At the end of treatment I was finally on meds that fit me well. 225 mg effexor xr daily, Xanax 2mg one in morning, 1 in afternoon, 2 at night for the extreme night terrors, and trazadone ( I forget the mg)
Well I became pregnant and was weaned off my medication for the babies safety of course.
After the birth I became extremely more depression and detatched and was placed back on the same medications. Unluckily though we lost our health insurance and could not afford the therapy sessions, nor the meds
I found a Family Practice Dr. who was very kind and since we had moved out of state called my former therapist and followed her previous medications, the problem was, all I could afford was the xanax- So we had to change the anti-depressent which was in the 800$ range(effexor xr 75mgx3) there is no generic, so we went back to cheaper zoloft, which I hate, It takes away my sex drive to the point of noexistence at the dosage I need to be on (150-200mg range) and it really isnt cheap at that dosage either running me about 75-100$.
SO the doc decided to try some older meds which he knew would be much much cheaper and put me on Pamelor (I dont know dosage off the top of my head) but its 3 a day. Im also on Haldol.
So all in alI am on Pamelor, Xanax, and Haldol.
But recently my best friend died and I have taken it very hard and my depression medication is just not cutting it, I havent taken the Haldol in a few months due to muscle spasms, and I have a bad back to begin with.
So being on the poor side I started self-medicating- first with alcohol. I was bad for about 2 weeks, I blacked out approx. 5 times in 2 weeks and went to the hospital once, because i drank a whole 5th of jack alone. (Please be aware I usually dont do things like this and I take my meds as prescribed, I was just EXTREMELY depressed)
Well let me be the first to tell you alcohol does not help, it just makes it hurt worse- cause you wake up feeling ashamed, disgusted with yourself, imbarrassed, worried of how you maintained yourself AND STILL Depressed.
So my friend said he had some methadones and told me to try them, I looked on the internet, and found the were used for pain managment, herion or drug withdrawl symptoms but they are doing studies on depresion treatment and methadone – check it out here http://opioids.com/antidepressant/index.html
So I bought some and tried them, at this point I was desperate to feel relief from all my anxiety and depression. He had 30 mg tabs and I broke them in two, took one half in morning one half in afternoon and a whole one before bed. This with my Xanax, well it was an amazing feeling (and I dont mean I got high, I didnt take enough methadone to even feel a difference) I could get up in the morning and actually get out of my pajamas, put on makeup- Make a full breakfast for my kids and husband. Make a full lunch for the kids, Play games outside, and inside, CLEAN MY HOUSE DAILY!! (if you have major depression you know how much an accomplishment this is) Have dinner ready for the old man when he got home, get the kids ready for bed, read bedtime stories, have sex SLEEP. Its like I can live for the first time in 5 years *Tears*
I need your opinions, because I found a new Psyc. and an appt coming up on the 26 and I kinda want to bring it up to her, but I am scared of what she will think of the degree of the drug, but Im also scared if I dont tell her, I will be living in fear and depression for the rest of mylife.
HELP!
Tagged with: acute anxiety disorder • anti depressent • borderline personality disorder • depression medication • detatched • effexor • effexor xr • family practice • haldol • health insurance • meds • muscle spasms • night terrors • pamelor • panic attacks • sex drive • therapy sessions • top of my head • trazadone • xanax 2mg
Filed under: anxiety attacks causes



I’ve suffered from narcolepsey for over 30 yrs.. I am chronically fatigued and have zero energy. Doctors say I am depressed… No S@*T !!! I’ve tried every antidepressant at least twice to no avail, along w/ numerous other heavy duty drugs doctors ‘try’ me on after meating w/ me after one or two 10-15 min. visits… Lamictal, Abilify, Ativan, Ambien, Zyprexa, Seroqel, Xanax, Lithium – to name a few. I’m SO tired from being tired my whole life that it’s making me crazy! Doctors are WAY too quick to put people on these hardcore drugs w/out knowing the underlying problem!
Anyway, the only times in my life that I can remember feeling ‘awake,’ alert, alive, motivated, energetic, painfree, lust for life… was when I had Vicodin and another time when my mother gave me some of her methadone a few years ago. I accomplished more in one day than I typically do in one month (seriously.) In an average day, if I manage to bathe and get dressed, it’s 2 or 3pm by the time I am ‘ready!’ (ready for what? to go back to bed!) The methadone had the same effect as Vicodin but it lasted much longer. I know Vicodin has acetaminophine in it which causes liver damage if you take too much.
I have non-chalauntly brought this up to a Dr. in the past. The Dr. said if any drug gives you a feeling of euphoria, it’s a sure sign to stay away from it because it will become addictive. (??? I took his advice and steared clear of it and have ‘lived’ a miserable, unproductive, weak, tired life for the past 25 years. I guess that’s better than being addicted to a drug that would’ve made me euphoric!) I was afraid to ever bring it up to a doctor again because they would think I am a ‘drug seeker.’
I have since been to dozens of docs, shrinks, counselors, etc. and spent thousands of dollars on other meds and gotten addicted to pills that have horrific side effects then to have to suffer the even more horrific withdrawls… (but doctors think this is OK, yet GOD forbid we tell them opiates make us feel better! That classifys ‘us’ as drug addicts!)
I got the nerve up to tell a shrink about it a yr. or so ago. He said he’s heard opiates sometimes have an alerting or arousing effect on some people and he mentioned an alternate to methadone called suboxone. He didn’t really pursue the topic and I never had the guts to bring it back up again@ Since then, I have been prescribed all the above mentioned drugs, plus!
I am now seeing a new shrink and I am trying to muster up how to confront him w/ this same ‘treatment.’ I decided to do some research to see if opiates (methadone,) has been successful in treating others w/ depression, fatigue, etc…
I don’t know why I am so ashamed to want to feel better. I’m nearly 50 yrs. old and I know there is a drug that relieves my symptoms but I’d rather spend the rest of my life tired and miserable than chance letting a doctor label me as a drug addict. Wouldn’t anyone want to be addicted to a drug if it gave them a chance to live a better quality life?
Why am I (or you) so ‘afraid’ ? I know damn well over half the drugs I’ve been prescribed over the yrs. are ten times more mind altering and addictive than methadone. The withdrawl symptoms from the other meds are excruciating!
I don’t know… I’d rather be addicted to methadone than sleep the rest of my life away, I don’t have that many ‘healthy’ yrs. left. I want to be awake for them!
So – how do we confront the docs w/ our solution?
Tell your new doctor everything. The methadone took away your cravings for the other meds. So your doctor just might see the benefits. But if not she will know where to start with your treatment. Methadone is habit forming too. I’ve been depressed before and it runs in my family so I do understand. Good Luck!
A LOT of addicts started where you are now. Get off that train. Methadone is a hard core opiate. It is harder to detox from methadone than from most other opiates once you are addicted.
If you can’t afford meds, buy them online. I just bought 200 seroquel 200 mg that would have cost $1800 at walmart for under $100. I got that from alldaychemist, but there are lots of online pharmacies. (Don’t buy narcotics online. Lots of folks get caught.)
Seriously… stop the methadone now. I don’t care what any website says. Bottom line its incredibly addictive (I work with people addicted to methadone), if you stop it it will cause you nightmarish withdrawal, including excruciating pain (bone pain, stomach cramps). Everything a herion user would go through coming off of heroin. Infact all the addicts I know have said methadone is harder to come off than heroin because of withdrawal. Its only safe because its a controlled drug, you can still overdose on it, quite easily. You say you have kids too, i’m so shocked. I suffer with severe depression, and admitedly I take 200mg zoloft daily only and i’m lucky it works for me. You really need to see this psychiatrist be honest, and get a complete medication review, and combine the new meds with talking therapies like CBT or some sort of counselling. You can get better, but you wont with methadone, things will be 100% worse in the longer term. Oh my god, please just stop it, you can get well without that rubbish!