painkillers and depression meds

Most likely you are not going to be prescribed hydrocodone (which is different that codeine, by the way) right off the bat.  Most doctors want to try other meds before resorting to narcotics.  You will probably need to have x-rays and possibly an MRI done in order to diagnose why you are having back pain.  Also, I know several people who take antidepressants with narcotic painkillers with no consequences.  Of course that will be at yours and your doctor's discretion.  I know it's hard to stop taking hydrocodone once you become dependent on it, but your best be might be to stay clean for 3-4 days before visiting a doctor.  If they urine screen you and find that you've  been taking narcotics not prescribed to you, they may not prescribe anything strong just for that reason.  If you are in pain, you deserve to be given medication to improve your way of life, but from a doctor's view they don't really like to prescribe something they think will be abused.  I wish you the best of luck with finding the help you need.

I am new on this site, a member for about 15 minutes. I came here looking to find out what this red pill is that I found in my med cabinent. I found a really good pill ID wizard at drugs.com, but this one is not listed. It is red orange, kind of oblong, and has the imprint of KALI on one side and 083 on the other. Anyone have any idea what this might be? 

Anyhow, I stumbeled on to this discussion by accident and I wanted to comment. 8 months ago I had to have an emergency C-section and was prescribed some sort of hydrocodone as a pain killer. It did wonders for my pain! I dont think I ever felt better. I can see how easily someone can become addicted to it, it was a wonderful thing to have all my pain completely gone. I went from not being able to roll myself over in bed to feeling like doing jumping jacks! I am thankful that I did not allow myself to become addicted though, because now, 8months later, I can do jumping jacks without pain-- or pain killers. My point I want to make is that hiding your addiction from your doctor probablly isnt the answer. Especially if you are clinically depressed. Back pain is probablly the most difficult to fix, but if you have a good doctor, he or she will be willing to help you overcome your pain-- and your addiction.  If you do get a prescription for another pain medication and an anti-depressant, it likely wont cure your need for hydrocodone, and it may not help your pain if you are already addicted to something stronger. In the end you may end up addicted to more than you bargained for!

Katie

I want to give you my advice with anti depressants. I was on them in the past for various reasons.. deaths in the family, personal issues.. etc etc I won't really get into the details. Antidepressants, in my opinion, are one of the worst things I've ever experienced. They did nothing for me at all, I've been on them all, lexapro, paxil, prozac, zoloft.. if you ask me, they're all a bunch of bull. They never made a difference in my mood at all. In fact, they just made me feel worse, knowing that I had to take a pill everyday to make me ''feel happy'', or for whatever else reason.. I decided to stop taking them one day, due to the fact that it just made me feel like a drone.. or a zombie.. or something. Stopping cold turkey was a very bad bad idea.. I would get what I call ''brain zaps'', that's the only way I can describe it.. it felt like a zap of electricity was going through my head.. it was very annoying and uncomfortable. This lasted for about a month. When the withdrawal stopped, I was in a whole new world. I felt like me again, I felt like my own person, without the use of stupid antidepressants to help me for whatever reason. I will never again take another anti depressant for as long as I live. Now note, this is just my own personal experience.. these pills may have worked wonders for others, but for me they did nothing but make things worse.

 ________________________________________________________

The universe is shaped exactly like the earth, if you go straight long enough, you'll end up where you were.

Brittany- I can only speak from my own personal experiances, I too, had a very difficult childhood as many people. Antidepressants help along with honest counseling & therapy. I had to unravel the "history" of my childhood- it was hard, painful yet very benefical.For me just taking an antidepressant would be like putting a bandade on a broken leg. I have to take pain medication for a serious spinal disorder. Opiates work on the brain chemistry & neurotransmitters /so do antidepressants-but on serotonin vs. endorphins. You truly need to discuss this with a very trained Doctor. Good luck to you my Dear.You are so young.Blessings to you -Teri

is called CYMBALTA: it is supposed to attack the seratonin and norepinephrine receptors in the body: they say that depression can hurt physically, this has halped me go from a muscle relaxer/narcotic/sleeping pill cocktail at night to my cymbalta and a narcotic PRN (as needed): As always check with your doctor to decide on whats right for you as medication may be neccessary. 

I hope this helps

Yeah, Britt, be very careful to condemn all antidepressants, my wife must have literally tried every one, i am talking dozens (b/c of what my life changing, at home 24/7 injuries have done to her) and she had no luck, i mean, nothing until CYMBALTA...as eyecandy touches on, these meds target completely dif areas...there are doctors currently in testing phases w/antidepressant drug that is much more a pain med (molecularly) than an antidepressant in the normal sense - so be open, there are many dif meds, and things are constantly changing- another thing that worries me about what you said, that i want to make sure you are aware of b/c of your age and experience - if you do now, or ever took narcotics "here and there" and then over time you noticed a difference in your back pain-meaning it worsened off med-that is going on in the brain-our bodies are very smart, i study this...Think of these athletes on steroids, why do their bodies go thru such difficulties? Well, not a pill here or there, but when they cycle, that is when they continue putting in steroids (which is testosterone) the brain is smart enough, it says, oh, i do not have to secrete testosterone any longer, someone puts it in - yet their body continues to secrete estrogen (the female hormone) - well, just as with narcotic pain meds, the brain does not kick back in and secrete these chemicals right away, not even close - just b/c we feel better a week or so after stopping, i.e. when withdrawal tapers off, that in no way should make one think that the chemicals are back, that they are fighting pain again...NO, NO, NO... 2 to 3 months is a conservative time frame to be back to "normal brain activity" - back to steroids, that's why these guys get sterile b/c estrogen is still being secreted yet testosterone is missing, and is slowly trying to make a comeback - we can not "train" our brains over time, to stop producing a chemical, then just expect it to produce immediately - it's a safety valve -

I know this is not the purpose of the site, but based on all of the other medicinal/human nature issues that have been given serious play on here, i have to say i am a bit shocked that more people with experience in the above mentioned meds have not joined to help you with their experience/opinions... perhaps it is that they are taking the "holier than thou" platform b/c you don't currently have a legal script (yet everyone else they help just happened to find a pills in their boyfriend/girlfriend's jacket left behind at their pad...least you are honest)- me...i just look at the situation and add anything i believe would or could help the person...i am not the moral authority, and believe me, these people aren't either, so i hope you get some more feedback as you are very young to be dealing with such issues.

1)  I pointed out to Brittany above that Codeine is 6 times stronger than Hydrocodone, becasue her post led me to believe that she had the two mistaken (I thought, that she tought, that Vicodin (hydro) was the same thing as codeine.  Brittany--if my comment misled you, I apologize.  As incognito pointed out, Vicodin is a name brand for hydrocodone, and codeine is a completely different drug.  Codeine is more commonly prescribed under Tylenol #3 (I just use that as an example because most people are familiar with the name and I wanted to give you a reference).

2)  Brittany--I hope you don't think that people on this board believe themselves to be "holier than thou".  I try to relate to everyone on this board and give out helpful information, as does everyone else.  If anything, I thought the comments on this thread were pointed more towards helping you with a problem, unless I missed something.

SORRY GUYS... I GOTTA MAN-UP HERE -

- I owe Phiser and anyone else who may have been offended by my comments that perhaps, some are "holier than thou"...and therefore not helping her - what has been brought to my attention, is that only "members" can post...therefore I was, in essence saying that members were "holier than thou"... which was uncool - especially for a relative newbie like myself - I did not realize this at the time, assuming anyone could come on and post help... - I apologize to all -

I know I'm late with this response, but it hit home with me so I wanted to let you know of my experience.  I also have chronic back pain (degenerative disc disease) and I've been on anti depressants for 12 yrs.  I take two antidepressants and one anti anxiety medication.

My pain management doctor prescribes narcotics for the pain in my back and I have not had a problem with taking those with my anti depressants.  The doctor is aware of the anti depressant meds that I take.

The first step you should take is addressing your addiction to hydrocodone or codeine.  Until this is resolved the pain meds you may receive from a doctor might not work as well for you as you probably have a tolerance.  I wish you the best and I truly hope you get the help you need.  Addiction is a very hard thing to cope with especially if you try to do it alone.  Seek some support or find a doctor you feel comfortable with and be honest.  From my experience you may have to try a few doctors before you find one that is not biased against people struggling with addiction.  I went to three different doctors until I found one who was familiar with my problem and was willing to work with me to get myself back on track.

Best of luck and if you need to ask anything else I will be happy to help if I can.

~TJC

Please tell me how you got off any kind of pain meds.  I did it once cold turkey and thought I would die; it was horrible!!!  I want to get off of them now and get my life back but don'tknow what to do.  I don't want to tell anyone but cannot afford to get as sick as I did last time and function as a human being.  Does anyone have any suggestions or help.  I am really in a bind and soooo afraid to get sick I don't know what to do.  By the way I am on opiates and am trying meth now to try towean off but it's not working  PLEASE HELP!!!

iamsam, i have read a few of your other posts about your addiction problems. I can tell you one thing right off the bat is that like everyone says- the first step is to recognixe and admit you have a problem, then to seek help in dealing with it. I can tell you really want to find a way to get through this, and I know where you're coming from. Right now I don't have as much time to get into everything, but I want to let you know that you have a nonjudgmental ear, and a supporting voice whenever you need it. It is hard, especially if you've done it before and you know how difficult a time you are facing. Send me a personal message if you want, or I will try to be right here to help as much as I can. I have to say though- it is in your best interest that you DO NOT TRY METH TO WEAN OFF OTHER NARCOTICS!!!! Primarily methadone was used to get people off stronger drugs like heroine but now it is just as addictive and abused as other drugs.  I can tell you right now that the way to kick one drug addiction is NOT by starting another possibly stronger drug addiction. There are some other drugs/pills that may help the process but DON'T start taking one to offset the other.

i just want to say to the people that are discouraging methadone use to get off of other opiates. like someone earlier in this thread said..it was something about someone who went on methadone to get off hydrocodone. now that is just stupid, you are right. that is stopping one drug and using a harder one to do it. BUT as a patient at a clinic, i can tell all of u that methadone and people on it get such a bad rap its unbelievable. But its the only thing that works for some people. like i said, using it to quit vicodin is dumb as can be, but for the addicts like myself who were addicted to opiates for over 10 years, eventually ending up on H, methadone saved my life. and for u people saying that u get "addicted" to it, thats wrong. u get addicted to something you are using. methadone you are not "using". you are taking it as a legit medication that you become dependant on. theres a big difference between addiction, and dependance. its the same thing for all of u that say u have this chronic pain and take all kinds of pills for it. if you are taking the pills at the dosage rxed by your doc, then you are dependant on them. well its the same thing with 'done. some people who have a bad enough addiction as i, its the only thing that can keep them clean. by taking it every day, i dont get high off of it, it makes me feel like a normal person that can function on a daily basis. and the BIGGEST thing is it takes away the cravings to use any opiates. as for the withdrawals, someone on a clinic wont have to deal with the w/d's from it. they are weend off VERY slowly. the only way someone would have to w/d from it is if they %?#$$ up at the clinic, and are not playing by the rules, and are given an administrative detox, which is a forced detox of like 5 mgs a day until u are off. THEN u would have to deal with w/d. methadone clinics administer a daily legitimate medication to patients, and it is NO DIFFERENT than anyone on here that is taking oxys for "pain", or hydro, or dilaudid, or any opiate. it helps more people than it hurts, it just is looked at by people as a bad thing because they are un-educated about it and what it can do for an addict that wants to get clean and stay that way. sorry but for some people it is the only thing that works. if i was to quit my clinic, i know that as soon as i did, and i had money in my pocket, i would make the call for something...anything, oxys or H. thats what the addiction does to some people. Another thing...you dont hear people talking about addicts that take Suboxone!!! Not once have I heard somebody say the things they say about methadone, but talking about suboxone.  the only difference is that you have to go get your methadone every day, and suboxone is prescribed.  well they do the same thing, how come nobody talks bad about that???????   sorry for the long post, and im not trying to be rude or mean about this, im just sick of people knocking the clinics and methadone, when they dont know anything about it other than the stereotype that goes with it.

thanks hydro, im glad atleast someone agrees with me.