Many people with chronic pain disorders become clinically depressed and a medication intervention may be necessary depending upon an assessment of their problem. The Addiction-Free Pain Management® system suggests that a full biopsychosocial evaluation be taken to determine the type and severity of the depression.

Some types of depression (situational) respond best to cognitive behavioral therapy. Other types (bipolar) may need a medical intervention in addition to therapy.  There are many different types or classifications of antidepressants to choose from, therefore a healthcare practitioner who specializes in treating depressive disorders related to chronic pain should be consulted to determine the most effective medication for each patient.

Pain reduction is another key factor that may benefit from using an antidepressant. The use of tricyclic antidepressants has been an effective tool in pain management for years. For example, the tricyclic Elavil (amitriptyline) is frequently used to treat and help prevent migraine headaches. These antidepressants have been able to provide relief for nerve pain and often result in lowering the dose of opiate medications.

Another class of newer antidepressants is the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Many pain management specialists utilize this type of medication for chronic pain treatment particularly for people who live with constant debilitating chronic pain, as their serotonin system becomes depleted. This type of medication is good for both depression as well as improving pain management.

SSRIs like Prozac, Effexor, Lexapro, or Celexa, improve mood as well as help relieve pain, reduce fatigue and improve sleep problems. There have been reports about SSRIs being helpful for some types of neuropathic pain symptoms. Some studies also suggest that using an SSRI and a tricyclic antidepressant (such as amitriptyline) together may be more successful at breaking the cycle of pain, depression, and sleep problems caused by fibromyalgia than using just either one alone.

In addition, there are three antidepressant medications that can also be very helpful; Cymbalta and Effexor, which block the reuptake of serotonin and norepenepherine and Wellbutrin, which alters the levels of norepenepherine and dopamine. Cymbalta is a versatile medication approved to treat depression and certain types of pain. Norepenepherine, serotonin, and dopamine are neurotransmitters that not only affect depression but also pain management. Many pain management specialists recognize that combining different medications creates a synergistic effect for both pain management and improving depression.

To learn more about the role of depression in chronic pain management please check out my article The Role of Clinical Depression in Chronic Pain Management that you can download for free on our Ariticles page.

You can learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you are in recovery and want to learn how to develop a plan for managing your pain and medication effectively go to our Publications page and check out my book the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To purchase this book please Click Here.

To listen to a recent radio interview I did conducted by Mary Woods for her program One Hour at a Time please Click Here to go to this interview.

To read the November issue of Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please Click here. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please Click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.