[suanshwe]

Has anyone who has suffered from treatment refractory MDD been prescribed ultram (tramadol) or buprenorprine even though they were never a drug user?

I have tried everything and am trying to find a psychiatrist in the Northeast that has done that for his patients.

Any help is appreciated.

[Leesa]

Hi ~ Ultram is NOT a med for depression. That is for PAIN. And I can't remember for the life of me what the other drug is. But if I recall, that's not a depression med either.

Meds such as Prozac, Cymbalta, Zoloft are meds for depression. You are usually started on a lower dosage and if it works well, fine. If it doesn't, then the dose can be adjusted. Usually it takes perhaps 3-6 weeks for it to take effect.

I take Cymbalta twice a day ~ 120mg. total. This works great for me, as I'm clinically depressed.

Talk to your doctor about this. He/she can prescribe something for you. You do NOT need a psychiatrist to prescribe these. Best of luck and God bless. Hugs, Lee

[mrsD]

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

There is a very small subset of depression patients who respond to opiates. This is because the mu receptor can also be involved with the serotonin system.

We have a thread on the bipolar forum about buprenorphine:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...=buprenorphine

Ultram is a weak serotonin acting drug, and has some contraindications about using with SSRI drugs because of that.
This listed interaction describes it:
http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactio...2057-1348.html

This is the full list at drugs.com :
http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/tramadol.html

I personally have not seen any of our PN posters here describe antidepressant results with tramadol. I use it myself, but not every day and I don't see that effect either. But the literature describes it as a potential, and it is used often for the pain issues in patients with fibromyalgia which is a central pain condition responding to serotonin.

[pabb]

i am here to tell you that tramadol certainly does have an antidepressant effect on at least some persons! and when you dont know that and stop taking it for pain and you crash, it isnt pretty......I am not sure what MDD is?