Author: laddertipper
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:54 am
| finallyachance wrote: |
| I have no Idea, but consider yourself very lucky. It’s almost like the best Christmas present I have heard about. I would have been so panicked that I would have had terrible diarrhea and sweats/chills etc…From the panic alone. I am interested in what your next move is. Do you have a relapse prevention plan going on? Are you considering finding a new doc? Just wondering. I sometimes work myself up into a panic when I realize that at anytime these docs can just decide to yank it all up and we can be left in situations like yours. The way I look at it is we are addicts and if we mess up every once in a while it’s because the mentality is still there even if the "cravings are under arrest by the bupe and/or done. I think the only way a doctor should kick us out etc…Is if they have offered comprehensive therapy to include relapse prevention and then seen we just are not investing ourselves in our treatment. Just giving us a medicine that controls cravings and withdrawals alone does not help us at all when and if they kick us to the curb. Why these doctors are so shocked, pissed or wanting to punish us for behaving like addicts is when they are not treating the behaviors or causes should be up for examination to some type of board review etc… They are treating the symptoms. (It’s kind of like cough syrup instead of antibiotics for bacterial flu) Cravings and/or withdrawals are symptoms/side effects of a much larger issue called addiction. If they want to be considered addictionologist, then they should be accountable for their treatment administered to their clients. Do doctors normally kick clients to the curb that are diabetics because they eat too much sugar? Or Cardiologist kicks patients out because they smoke? If they did and these clients die because they cannot get their medications are they liable? They should be. And…to a degree, I am sure they are liable. Now I know there has to be a line drawn somewhere in the sand so as to a client cannot get their medications and continue to use illicit drugs, but that is why they should offer any and all services to help arrest the disease and then when the client still continues to behave like an addict, then their efforts (the doctors) have been made and the client is now accountable. I am sure some will disagree and I admit this is just my opinion. I am not so sure about Bupe doctors as I have been on bupe but it was years ago and it was the subutex form and it was in a detox setting several times. I used it not as maintenance so to say, but with methadone if you continually use they usually don’t kick you to the curb they do not let you take the advantages of level changes and/or take homes etc… I am not sure as to why your doctor kicked you to the curb and maybe that link you provide above will say why, but I can almost for sure say that the doctor had not offered you all the services he should have to include relapse prevention and by kicking you out, he shows his lack of commitment to his clients as what if you would have suffered dearly? What if you in a day’s time etc…are lying dead in a shooting gallery somewhere? Was whatever you did so badly to deserve that? Someone somewhere and sometime soon needs to find that line in the sand and set up some accountability for these doctors that play GOD. Thank You for letting me vent my thoughts and feelings on your post. I hope I have not deflected the original post and/or your subject matter or post will still be responded to in the manner best fit for your needs. I am sorry this has happened to you and I hope you have a plan. We cannot depend on these doctors to always do what’s best so we need a plan. |
Finallyachance, I have had precisely the same thoughts as you. Supposedly, addiction is a disease (which I believe it is) and these doctors are treating the disease of addiction. In treating any disease, there are no certainties. What about diabetics who don’t follow the prescribed diet, check their sugars as they should, or take their insulin as they should? What if their diabetes worsens because of those choices? Are they cut off their medications? I don’t think so and have never heard of it. What if a cancer patient does not follow their doctor’s directions? What if they skip chemo sessions? What if they have lung cancer and don’t stop smoking? Are they going to be cut off treatment? I don’t think so.
I think if addiction is to be seen as a disease, it needs to be given the same respect as other diseases and the person being treated should be given the respect that people with other disease are given. If an addict slips up, is that not a symptom of the disease? It’s ridiculous to tell someone they have a deadly disease and to give them a medication like Suboxone to treat it, but if that person doesn’t follow the precise treatment plan, the doctor can turn their back and walk away, regardless of how precarious a situation that puts the patient in. How can any doctor not worry terribly about a patient who they suddenly cut off Sub treatment, knowing how hard it can be to find another doctor. I really don’t get this aspect of Suboxone treatment and I hope at some point, this huge gap is addressed and remedied. People should not be afraid that they will be abandoned because they slip up. For anyone dependent on Suboxone, it’s a scary situation to be in.
laddertipper