New research targeting the opioid receptors in the brain

Many with SZ disorders suffer from depression. There is a lot of new research targeting the opioid receptors in the brain to alleviate depressive symptoms.

The problem now is to construct a drug that doesn’t have problems with dependency and overdose.

Beware - self medication with opoids is very dangerous and can lead to addiction. A Quote:

“The United States is in the midst of an opioid addiction and overdose crisis precipitated and exacerbated by use of prescription opioid medicines. The majority of opioid prescriptions are dispensed to patients with comorbid mood disorders including major depressive disorder (MDD). A growing body of research indicates that the endogenous opioid system is directly involved in the regulation of mood and is dysregulated in MDD”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0117-2

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Is the opiate crisis a result of depressed patients not receiving the proper treatment?

They self medicate instead of receiving treatment for an underlying mood disorder.

(of course it’s also a matter of “crime economics” and the pharmacy industri)

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If I suffered with depression I would rather microdose with magic mushrooms than take opioids any day of the week.

Anecdotally, I took opium once and dissociated for a day, not knowing what on earth happened. I took magic mushrooms and laughed constantly.

There is a lot of research being carried out with mushrooms for depression atm.

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@labratmat

Yeh I read an article about magic mushrooms helping depression.

I wonder if they do help.

I’m not encouraging people take magic mushrooms though.

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Yes, I know about microdosing. And it’s very interesting and promising.

I had the worst psychotic anxiety attack on shrooms when I was young, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work now when I’m more mature.

I have green fingers, and would be able to grow my own stuff.

But take care out there - psychedelic therapeutics is for professionals. You can ruin your life with a bad trip.

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I did magic mushrooms when I was 15 and I had the time of my life. I did get a come down for a couple of hours though, but I enjoyed myself.

The next few months I felt very refreshed and confident.

I don’t think it’ll have the same effect now that I have schizophrenia.

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It’s because people who have pain are given these drugs which are very addictive. They get addicted. Their doc takes em off it. They try harder things like heroin and fentanyl what they can get their hands on. Pain pills are really expensive on the black market Heroin is much cheaper and more available

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I think that psychedelics are too risky for SZ people. We are already psychedelic in advance :smiley:

Yes i had a good trip on shrooms too, but next time i was in hell for several years (flashbacks)

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Sounds right. It’s down to economics.

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U should see the old OxyContin commercials from the late 90s acting like it’ll save all your problems in some miracle way. All the people in the commercial had serious drug problems and their lives were destroyed. Since this company has been sued a lot I think it’s Purdue pharma in the USA.

Sure people get addicted just the old fashion way of trying drugs recreationally too but most is because of misunderstanding of these drugs. And yes economics + greed too

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@labratmat I have taken magic mushrooms several times, and all I could do was laugh. It was like flushing out the psychic pipes.

I would definitely consider microdosing with them to treat depression for myself

What I find interesting is that our brains come already with opioid receptors built into it. I believe there are also cannabinoid receptors built-in as well

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On the subject of microdosing magic mushrooms,

I did that for a year with no notable results.

I could do a large dose of mushrooms and feel better for about two weeks,

But the small doses did nothing.

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There has to be a receptor of a drug to latch on to for it to work. Cannabanoid yes. Many drugs work on serotonin. And dopamine. And some on ndma receptors some occurs naturally in the brain , well dmt.

I found opioid receptors to be interesting apparently if you get hurt your body activates it’s opioid receptors and it works as a natural pain killer. Otherwise you’d feel more pain when you’re hurt…

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It’s fascinating stuff. I wonder if they could activate opioid receptors in the brain, using something like electromagnetism at a particular frequency.

I’m just wondering if you could get the benefits of pain relief, without the danger of addiction

I guess you could become addicted to the stimulation, but one problem at a time LOL

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Ooh yes, greedy economics. I have seen documentaries about the opioid crisis and oxycodone. But it ends not there:

A couple of years ago “The daily show” was sponsored by Lyrica (pregabaline)

And before that - The antidepressant, Wellbutrin, was sold as the “Happy horny skinny pill.”

Among psychiatrists the combination of Effexor and Mirtazapine is known as “California rocket fuel”

Come on - who wouldn’t like to be skinny horny happy on california rocket fuel?

Someone should do something about that.

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Ha, yes… addicted to ETC (in fact some are addicted to ECT)

They are trying to find a combination of opiod agonists and antagonists. That could be, naltrexone + buphrenorphine to avoid getting addicted.

My pdoc is at the moment considering this kind of medication in a very low dose.

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My mom’s doctors keep reducing her oxycontin (she has a chronic pain disorder) because of this bullcrap and now she’s bedridden. We’re having to move back to Virginia so she can be under the care of a doctor who will give her the medicine she needs to function.

All this focus on the so called evils of opioids is backfiring. There have been suicides of people who can no longer get their medication and live in mind numbing pain every day because of it. Someone needs to make a documentary about those suicides so people can understand this is a two sided issue.

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The sad part is, because opioids have been so badly abused in recent years, there’s people who really need it that get denied

When they took a steel plate and screws out of my arm, my nurse practitioner at the time refused to prescribe anything. All they had to do was go through the attending doctor that oversees nurse practitioners, but he refused to do it. Bloody ridiculous

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Naltrexone I take 25 mg in the morning and 25 mg at night. I’ve been on it 5 1/2 years. Treated my addiction issues among other things it’s the best med for me with not really any side effects besides nausea when I first started it. I give it a 10/10

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@Jonnybegood does Naltrexone have any pain relief qualities? Or is it specifically for addiction?