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Q: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse ( No Answer,   11 Comments )
Question  
Subject: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
Category: Health
Asked by: tmapj2-ga
List Price: $2.00
Posted: 13 Feb 2006 23:44 PST
Expires: 15 Mar 2006 23:44 PST
Question ID: 445538
ive had psychotic depression for several years and have been put on
several medications with little or no success. Id like to be put on
mifepristone but my psychiatrist knows nothing about the drug being
used for this purpose, so will not perscribe it. How do i find a
doctor that will try me on this medication? Im at the end of my rope,
my life has been destroyed, I can barely take care of myself, cannot
work or go to school and am in a constant state of misery. Im on
medicaid as I am disabled. How can I get on this medication? Or maybe
there is something else I can try? Please understand when reading my
babble that it is very hard for me to think clearly.

Clarification of Question by tmapj2-ga on 15 Feb 2006 00:21 PST
im male and the depresssion was caused by events in my life that are
out of my control

one of my questions is, could i find a psychiatrist that would
perscribe me mifepristone if i asked him for it
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: probonopublico-ga on 13 Feb 2006 23:56 PST
 
I am so sorry to hear of your condition and I hope that someone who
knows about these things can make some helpful suggestions.

Regretfully, this is not within my experience but please do not give
up hope as I am sure that someone will be along shortly.

Bryan
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: frde-ga on 14 Feb 2006 04:23 PST
 
Checking out mifepristone it seems to be a progesterone inhibitor that
is used for inducing abortions.

It looks as if it has some fairly nasty side effects.

Are you really sure that this is what you are after ?

If you are fairly young and female, then your symptoms could be
aggravated by a hormone imbalance, I'm no expert but know of a couple
of cases.

Often when people are diagnosed as depressed, they have a very good
reason for being depressed, in other words 'depression' can be a
symptom, and in my experience medics can irresponsibly provide drugs
to tackle the symptom rather than tackle the cause.

Mis-prescribed drugs can make things a lot worse, for example
prescribing anti-epileptics to treat chronic pain.  One turns into an
incompetent zombie.

Do you know what is at the root of your problems ?
Being disabled is pretty unpleasant, it gives one little control over
ones environment - being physically unable to cope is ... depressing
- could it be that ?

Have you looked at alternative therapies like homeopathy and accupuncture ?
Homeopathy might be a load of nonsense, but a visit to a homeopathist
is a lot less depressing than visiting a psychologist.

I know that accupuncture can have astonishing effects, in my case, not
those intended
- there are quite a lot of things out there that are ill-understood,
but less 'depressing' than conventional drug related medicine.

This is a very public web site, so I suggest that you are careful what you say.

However, I recommend that you look into the root of the real problem,
then find other people who have been through it.

Good Luck.
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: probonopublico-ga on 15 Feb 2006 00:42 PST
 
Where do you live?

Not your full address; just the State or Town would help.
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: tmapj2-ga on 15 Feb 2006 03:25 PST
 
rockford illinois
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: jenny03-ga on 24 Feb 2006 20:38 PST
 
It breaks my heart to read your story.  I am 23 and I had my second
episode of depression at the age of 21.  I also had psychotic
depression and nothing had seemed to help me get better until about
half a year of trying medicines.  I had lost all hope, BUT my
psychiatrist put me on Risperdal and a high dose of effexor, 525mg. 
My doctor left me on the Risperdal for around 4 months and I continue
to take effexor everyday.  About half a year ago, I was able to
decrease my effexor to 450mg and I am doing well.  These medicines
have saved my life and allowed me to regain my previous functioning. 
Please do not give up and please find a psychiatrist who might try
other possibilities for you.  My psychiatrist explained to me that no
other current antidepressant would have worked, because our serotonin
receptors have a max at which they are saturated and it is the fact
that effexor also works on norepinephrine that allows this medicine to
add additional benefits at higher doses.  With the high dose of
effexor, the benefits of the medicine come from targeting a large
percentile of norepinephrine in addition to the saturated serotonin
receptors.  Does this make any sense?  In other words, my doctor said
that without this medicine, he would have had to augment
antidepressants and antipsychotics with lithium or he would have had
to try ECT on me.  Please ask  your psychiatrist about this
combination, because effexor is currently the only antidepressant that
can have additional benefits on severe depression at high doses. 
Please email me back if you have any questions.  I wish you the best
and pray that you get better in the near future.  Please keep hope in
knowing this is a possibility.
Subject: Bipolar depression almost ended my life.
From: frozen444-ga on 25 Feb 2006 07:27 PST
 
If you or anyone you care about is tormented by clinical depression
and none of the medications seem to help, you need to read this.

Widespread ignorance regarding the endogenous opioid-depression-opioid
connection, combined with the ruthless drug prohibition laws, sent me
on a trip through hell and back. This ignorance also came within an
inch of ending my life. If I can save someone from going through this
hell by just explaining a few scientifically proven facts, I need to
do it.

Tormented by depression and nothing seems to help? You're not alone.
Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Ativan, Xanax,
Klonopin... You've tried two or three of these. They were supposed to
help you feel better- but you just didn't! Sound familiar? Did you
happen to notice that opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone are the
only substances capable of making you feel normal?

Depression can result from a deficiency/over reuptake of serotonin,
norepinephrine, or dopamine.
Depression can also result from a deficiency /over reuptake of your
endogenous opioids (endorphins/dynorphins/enkephalins). Watch TV for a
couple hours and you'll probably see quite a few antidepressant
commercials. The cruel joke is that every single one of those
commercials is just pitching yet another
serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor product. If your
depression results from an endogenous opioid deficiency, none of those
products can help you.

While common medical orthodoxy remains for some reason fixated on
seratonin/norepinephrine/dopamine over-reuptake as the standard cause
of nearly all depression, reality says otherwise. Every person has
naturally occurring chemicals in their brain called endogenous
opioids. They are endorphins, dynorphins and enkephalins. These
endogenous opioids are very properly named, as they are (molecularly)
nearly identical to real opioids like heroin or oxy. Some people have
a natural deficiency of these vital chemicals, and have no choice but
to consume opioids from an external source in order to feel 'normal'.

This is from the website of an American clinic with branches in three
cities: ( http://www.thepainmanagementcenter.com/english/buprenorphine/clinical.htm
)

"Underproduction or over-removal (severe re-uptake) of these
endogenous opioids can be the cause of many psychiatric disorders
ranging from Bipolar Personality disorders to major depressive
disorders that often times manifest themselves in severe drug abuse.
Unbeknownst to them, these patients use opioid medications either
illicit or pharmaceutical because they are compelled to attempt to
replace the endorphins, dynorphins, and enkephalins (endogenous
opioids) that naturally occur in their systems at insufficient
levels."

A clinical trial conducted at Harvard Medical School in 1995 (
http://www.drugbuyers.com/freeboard/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=196682 )
demonstrated that a majority of treatment-refractory, unipolar,
nonpsychotic, major depression patients could be successfully treated
with an opioid called Buprenorphine, even after dozens of other
(non-opioid) medications had failed to provide these patients with any
measure of relief. Some of these patients even endured electroshock
therapy, which didn't help either. Currently, governmental prohibition
laws prohibit the overt use of buprenorphine as an antidepressant in
the United States. If you suffer from this condition, your physician
isn't going to tell you to urgently seek out opiates- let alone
prescribe any. While many doctors are aware of the fact that numerous
refractory depression patients can only be helped by opioids, an M.D.
could lose his license, assets, and freedom by trying to save your
life. If you lack the knowledge that opioids can help you- or simply
lack a contact to score opioids illegally, you'll likely suffer a
miserable, suicidal existence. Notch up another brilliant success in
the government's 'War On Drugs'.

Fortunately, there's a way out. It's even technically legal.
Buprenorphine has been proven to be highly effective in treating
refractory depression resulting from an endogenous opioid deficiency.
In order to prescribe it, an M.D. must first obtain special permission
from the prohibition enforcement goons. But once he/she undergoes an
8-hour training course and files the necessary paperwork with the
ruling regime, a doctor can prescribe buprenorphine pills to 'treat an
opiate addiction problem'... Even if you don't really have one. For
many, an oxycontin dependency isn't a problem they need to overcome,
but rather a solution to the nightmare of major refractory depression
which plagues them every waking hour. However, buprenorphine is safer,
cheaper, and far more easily obtained than other opioids- and it
works. Buprenorphine partially binds to your µ- opioid receptor, which
could just be all you really need to eliminate those feelings of
crippling depression.

In order to find scientific papers and other evidence of the
endogenous opioids-depression-opioids connection, you can visit the
only web site I know of, which is solely devoted to this cause:

http://www.opioids.com

Every year, over 30,000 depressed Americans commit suicide. The fate
of millions of additional depression patients is far worse - they
live. Many tried seeking medical treatment, but were given the same
old crappy serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor
products. No opioids. Buprenorphine could have saved most of them, but
ignorance killed them.
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: tmapj2-ga on 02 Mar 2006 04:30 PST
 
where did the guy go that had information on how to get on
mifepristone :(:(:(:( pls come back
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: lostinmyhead-ga on 17 Mar 2006 15:00 PST
 
I have had problems my whole life and still do, I research a lot and
will until I find something that will make me stable.  I find most
Medical "Professionals" don't know any more than I do; so research.  I
didn't know what you were talking about the "mifepristone" so I
googled it and look at this website
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/mifepristone/ KEEP LOOKING. 
What about the Buprenorphine?  I don't know anything about it but am
going to research.
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: hedonicone-ga on 27 Mar 2006 18:59 PST
 
I'm very familiar with mifepristone and aware of it's usefullness in
treating PSD. Right now it is in 3rd phase trials and has been given
fast track status by the FDA for treating PSD. There are clinical
trials being conducted all over the US and Europe right now and they
will continue for the next year. I would first go to
clinicaltrials.gov and see if there is one in your area. The brand
name of the drug is Corlux (mifepristone), and Corcept Pharmeceuticals
owns the rights to it and is paying for the studies. So far, it has
shown to be very effective in treating PSD(over 50%)with very few and
only minor side effects. A study of Corlux in treating Bipolar
Disorder is also underway and in phase 2 trials. If you don't find a
study in your area, let me know.
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: ni42-ga on 04 Apr 2006 08:42 PDT
 
Take a look at this site:
http://www.crazymeds.org/

It's written by people who have been on the med-go-round many, many
times. There is also a forum - you might try asking your question
there, as well. I haven't found any mention of mifepristone on Crazy
Meds, but somebody might know. At the very least, you will find people
who can relate to you. Also, there may still be other options for you
- there are many, many meds out there. There is a page specifically
about buprenorphine, and tramadol (a psuedo-opioid).
Subject: Re: life destroyed by psychotic depression, med side effects making things worse
From: dre19731212-ga on 14 Jul 2006 12:34 PDT
 
Hello,

I am also looking for mifepristone to recover my HPA axis. Have you
already found a way to get it? I saw this:

http://www.abortion-pill-online.com/

but I am not sure this is a legitimate source. Do you know? Please
anyone: let me know if you know a legitimate source and post it here
or mail me (stompetower@gmail.com).

I have had OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) all my life and according to
scientific studies mifepristone can help me. My HPA axis is in a wrong
state of equilibrium and mifepristone can get me out there. I suffer a
lot from it.

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