Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

KayDee

Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

I have a loved one that just got into rehab three hours ago. He has been off the poison for 42 days, yet the depression and anxiety was still unbearable for him. I am so hopeful that he will get the help he needs from professionals because I learned family and friends cannot help, just offer support once they ask for help. Also, I read a book that said meth alters the brain so much that an antidepressant is needed at least the first year. I don't feel that exchanging one drug for another applies because I dont even think of meth as a drug, more like a chemical bomb that attacks humans on every level, physical, spiritual, mental. And to take an anti-depressant to help compensate for the damage already done to the brain might be the only way out of the abyss for many. I feel relief for the first time in five years... that he will be under professional care and in time, he will find life worth living again.

eyes
open83

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

i dont believe that anti deps are required...if anything i think they shouldnt be taken for the first year,at least...he just needs to learn how to feel again,we turned our feelings off for so lng and then when they come back we dont know what to do or how to handle them...time is the best healer...if he is still depressed after 12 months of being clean from ALL drugs including alcohol then maybe anti deps....

luvepi
phany

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

I understand the feeling of wanting the addict to have every single chance possible for success in recovery....as a loved one. I am not a recovering meth addict but I know many succesfully clean and sober people who feel that doing it the harder way might be the easier more successful way....in the end.

They have to do it the way it comes to them...some people really have felt healed by God instantaneously, some have depended on HP and the 12 step program, some have used other programs some refuse any help. I do know that they have all really just done it by themselves for themselves regardless of what their loved ones think is best. That must just have to be the way it has to be.

They got there themselves and they have to find the path out. If your guy wants the antidepressants then he will get them and take them. You can only give him the info on the side effects and maybe studies etc.

My loved meth addict took antidepressants right along with using....thinking they would work for him...regardless of all the info I gave him showing that they won't. He also believes that because his ex dope gf quit meth for 3 months after taking Prometa that the only way he can quit is if he gets the $10grand for it....the ex dope gf still lives with her active crackhead bf. See, his meth psychosis leads him down really odd paths of thinking and no matter what I or anyone seems to say, he picks his own ideas and they are stuck in his head until he decides to change them. Wierd.

Recovering from meth addiction is so much more than just quitting or even just not feeling so depressed...so much more.

Good luck to him and to you and lots of prayer for strength too!

donnaeye

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

how anyone can come off meth cold turkey deserves a medal in my book. the drug puts ya soooo far out there . . how anyone manages to sleep let alone function normally without extreme paranoia and everything else that goes with withdrawal . . as i said . . its beyond my comprehension . .

BrokenN2

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

I am on welbutrin and I can tell you that it works for me and I am in early recovery. I can totally tell the difference when I do not take my meds.

I dont see it as replacing one drug for another...hell thats why I used drugs IMO was self medication....I think i like the Dr's idea of meds better.

SOS1988

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

I’m an extremely depressed, suicidal person...drugs made that worse. I've found antidepressants help, but don’t take away why you're depressed. Granted meth withdrawal and its accompanying PAWS makes you feel pretty @#%$ bad. There are always reasons why someone gets into those dark, dark, seemingly unbeatable bouts of the blues. Hopefully rehab will help him deal with that kind of stuff. I think the therapy, coping tools and that stuff will give him a better handle on it; while the pills reduce the anhedonia, fatigue, and post meth feelings.

tega
peg

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

Quote:

if anything i think they shouldnt be taken for the first year,at least...

This is exactly what I was told when I first got clean. I was told that if I took anti-depresants that it was just trading addictions. Today I beleive that is bull sh it.
I caught Addictions last night and they actually have a new drug just for the depression, anxiety and restlessness that addicts go thru. It helps the brain get back to normal.

They know so much more about addiction and what helps today and if you are dually digonosed, like depression or ADHD they know today that you treat the person simtaeilously. You can't treat the addiction and not the depression as chances for relapse are high.

They talked about how domphmine (the feel good chicmical that the brain produces) production is screwed up. That by using substances Domphmine was realeased in larger amounts than normal and how the supply of domphimine is depleated. The brain adapts and will only realease the domphmine when the substance is present so when addicts try to get clean they just feel totally depressed, hopeless, they don't feel happy in happy situations and feel that they will never feel joy again, hence the reason most continue to use or relapse. The good news is that the brain does recover. The length of time is different for each person. Just like there is no one recovery program that works for everyone. I was fourtante that the 12 step program worked for me however it doesn't work for everyone. There's no cookie cutter program we all have to find what works for us.

If he's in a program than they will asses him and give him what he needs.

eyes
open83

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

Quote:

if anything i think they shouldnt be taken for the first year,at least...

just to clarify my statement,i didnt say this because i think it is swapping one drug for another...i am all for people who suffer clinical depression taking anti deps...

however,the depression suffered by all addicts in early recovery does pass given time...that is why i said i believe that addicts in early recover need to move through the "to be expected" depression before going on meds to treat clinical depression...

tega
peg

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

You are right the depression for me did pass however I do feel that given anti depressants could have helped me. It was hard being so depressed and just wanting to give in all the time. If there is a med that makes it a little easier why not? I know I went thru situational depression a couple years ago, felt much like I did when I first got sober, I was given lexapro and when I wasn't so depressed I actually looked at what was coming up for me, made the changes and am no longer on antidepressants. The lexapro gave me the boast that I needed to stop sitting around playing victim in my own life. It gave me the strength to look at what was coming up for me and my non-working behavior around issues in my life.

Of course everybody's different. Each an everyone of us will find the path that works for us.

vctry7

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

I refused to take anti-deps for the first 3 years. I finally had to start because of physical health problems. Honesly, I don't feel any different. That's a good thing for me. My biggest worry was getting addicted to something else. I've taken several kinds and have never felt "high" or could think abusing them would make me that way.

My depression and suicidal thoughts worsened from the time I quit until the first year clean. Then, they got a little better after I was clean for one year. They got much, much better after I was clean for two.

I don't know if anti-deps would've helped during that first year or not. I don't think they would've hurt.

herewe
goagain

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

Why deal with depression--clinical, chronic, situational, or as the result of getting sober--when you don't have to? I've never heard of anyone getting addicted to anti-deps, and I work in a psych hospital. We often have patients with a dual-diagnosis--some mental/psychological illness combined with substance abuse. Nearly 100% of our patients go on anti-deps automatically at the beginning of treatment. In many cases, the substance abuse is a symptom of the mental illness, and the patient's attempt at self-medication.

I'm not a doc...but, IMO, if the main goal is getting free of meth, why not take all the help available?

Loraura

Re: Are antidepressants helpful for quitting meth or meth withdrawal?

Here is an article I wrote explaining how dopamine works in the normal brain, what happens when you abuse meth, and what it's like when you first get clean.

Hope it helps explain the brain chemistry portion of the puzzle.

www.kci.org/meth_info/lor...nd_You.htm