I have had success with dealing with depression by taking a drug called welbutrin and have 9 months of sobriety. I am also taking a drug called suboxone that blocks the opiate receptors in my brain stoping with drawl symptoms and cut all the negative people out of my life. I am lucky to have a very strong support system and parents who are helping me through this and have allowed me to keep my embarrassing drug use secret from the rest of my family including my little sister.

My same doctor who has helped me regain my sobriety tells me Chantix works the same as Suboxone by blocking the nicotine receptors in your brain. She say’s that when these symptoms happen to people, it means they have some sort of depression and the symptoms are elevated and aggravated when you take away the nicotine from your brain which helps suppress those feelings.

There is a very negative stigma regarding depression and depression medication, but the new drugs that they have recently developed to treat depression have few to no side effects. I have experienced no negative side effects since I have gotten my medication balanced correctly and even have seen improvements in my energy, desire to socialize and ability to focus and retain information. My short term memory is still recovering from my drug use but has been rapidly improving the past two months. I have never put all this out there at once, but I feel like my story may help some of the people on this thread. Especially the last person…religion is good for some people and I am glad your beliefs help you deal with your troubles, but the symptoms and feelings you are describing sound very similar to the ones I had to deal with during the rare times I stopped using any drugs over the last fifteen years. I dont know you but urge anyone who has the feelings many of you expressed on this thread to at least talk to your physician, usually they can help you without seeing a “shrink” if you don’t want to see one or do not believe in therapy. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, I know that sounds cheesy but it is how I truly feel now that I have taken these steps in my life.