title: Mood-elevating effects of opioid analgesics in patients with bipolar disorder.
abstract: Opioids can have mood-elevating effects in healthy subjects and have been used successfully to treat refractory depressed patients. A few case reports indicate that opioid analgesics can induce mania. The authors investigated the mood reaction of opioid analgesics in patients with bipolar disorder. Nine (27%) of 33 patients who took opioid analgesics for medical reasons experienced a significant hypomanic/manic reaction, and two other patients reported an antidepressant effect. None of the comparison subjects reported a significant mood reaction from opioid analgesics. These results indicate that opioid analgesics can have an important mood-altering effect on patients with known bipolar disorder.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, California, USA. schafferpsych@sbcglobal.net
authors: Charles B
authors: CB
authors: Schaffer
authors: Thomas E
authors: TE
authors: Nordahl
authors: Linda C
authors: LC
authors: Schaffer
authors: Jeanne
authors: J
authors: Howe
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid