Monthly Archives: January 2012

FYI-Painful Surgery and Sub

Posted on by

Author: u2star

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:51 am

rule62 wrote:
I think living in Las Vegas has a negative effect trying to get pain relief. The addiction rate here is high and I think doctors are leery to give out addictive substances.

Johnboy, I wish I could have had some decent drug therapy but was left to suffer with pain at a steady 9, sometimes 10 whenever I tried to swallow. If you’ve been through it, you know. Never had pain like that before.

But yes, I am doing much better than last week and only have moderate pain swallowing. Still haven’t had the courage to eat anything spicy or salty yet. Had my tonsils out at 13 and learned from that. Ate a potato chip after 2 weeks and thought someone had stabbed a knife in my throat! So my memory of that is still alive and kickin’. Maybe in two more weeks I’ll try spicy food, which I love.

Funny thing is, after eating mostly soup with extra rice, my stomach has shrunk and I’m not used to high fat foods and don’t crave them anymore. All I could think of in that first week was pizza, burgers, and taco’s. All I really want to eat now is soup and light foods. Lost about 10lbs which really isn’t much for what I’ve been through. I will end up losing more after the radiation starts so I will need to put the weight back on. Need new levi’s but don’t want to buy a pair when I’ll probably put the weight back on later. Kind of glad I did have some extra fat on me to get me through the tough period. My wife says I look like the man she married 21 years ago.

They haven’t scheduled my last surgery yet and now that I feel better I may as well get it over with ASAP. He will cut the shit out of my mouth so my throat will work but my mouth won’t.

Now for the honesty. Ever since the pain went down considerably, and now that I can actually FEEL the pain meds, I have been taking a wee bit more than I should. Damn addictive brain took over as my tolerance got higher. I don’t have enough pills to last until my next surgery so I will go back on the lowest dose of Sub that will keep my w/d’s at bay. Sorry guys, I slipped. I HATE BEING AN ADDICT!!

You guys are really a second family to me and know that your support has been helpful.

That’s the truth for today.

Thanks very much for sharing and your honesty. I am sorry you had that horrible level of pain. Keep sharing. We all help one other!

Tapering: Cutting off .25 milligrams every 2 wks or so?

Posted on by

Author: stephent

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:12 pm

Taper57 wrote:
The most important thing though is to listen to your body, and not go to fast. The longer you stay at a given dose reduction, the more Sub that’s stacked up in your system will be eliminated. For me it was when I got below 1.mg that the reductions got tougher, doable, but tougher. My last reduction was to .25mg and I stayed there for thirty days before my jump. The longer reductions paid off for me big time, days 3&4 were the worst, but still only felt like a cold coming on. By day 5 the fog had lifted and I felt like a new person,

This is great advice, I want to highlight it for others that may read this thread. When I create or respond to a thread I think back to all the times I was scouring the internet for any and all information possible.

UPDATE ON HIV POS RESULTS

Posted on by

Author: stephent

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:19 pm

Cryonight wrote:
Oh and Rich- PMS, I started using Drugs at the Ripe age of 14-22. It started with E at Raves and escalated to H when I finally hit rock bottom and went into treatment. Thats when my life changed. Life keeps changing though. I’ll always be the same person but my life and the world will always be changing. That is just a fact we all have to accept.

My story is somewhat similar, I used lots of psychedelics at raves and jamband shows (phish for example) and began using opiates for the comedowns. Didn’t really touch H, but in the United States we have access to so many pharmaceuticals and grey market opiates that one can get plenty addicted without the help of dope.

I know I got off light in my "bottom", but the last few months of my use I was doing lots of coke on top of the opiates and that is when it got really dangerous for me. When I first started smoking marijuana, I liked how I could "function" on it and go about with life. Later, with opiates I found the same thing. Then after awhile I got very lethargic and tired on opiates. Once I started using coke on top of them I felt that I had found the "perfect combo". I am very thankful that some part of me knew that this was not good and I didn’t go completely balls out with it and tried very hard to restrict my use. But, there is only so much you can do when you use off and on for 10 years. My tolerance was just huge (I had a large natural tolerance to opiates in general, but it got way worse.)

Jumped at ~6 mg / day…

Posted on by

Author: SpeedKills

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:11 pm

So, I’m on day 19, and while I usually sleep for at least 6 hours a night, it’s always 2 hours – wake up – 4 hours, it seems. But, after the first few weeks of insomnia, it feels a million times better even to sleep this way, now.

Just thought I would post an update. Eating a lot of protein seems to help, too. Eggs and bacon every morning, some kind of fresh meat every afternoon. And lots of bananas! I’m 99% sure that if you don’t eat healthy, it will take you infinitely longer to recover.

Other than the sleeplessness, I feel like I’ve made a full physical recovery. While I’ve heard that it can still come in waves, or every other day, or whatever, I’ve been feeling fine for the last 3 days, and unless I eat crappy food, I feel normal most of the day… until night hits, and then I get 5x more energy somehow and can never sleep.

Good luck to anyone who finds the willpower to stop subs… even if you go right back on it, you should at least understand what quitting it is like, I think.

Wrist Surgery pins and all….

Posted on by

Author: slipper

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 6:39 pm

rule62 wrote:
Even though you and I were taking the same 1mg dose, you are splitting it and I didn’t. So to answer your question about when I stopped the Sub; I take my dose at 10am once a day. The next day I started the Hydro. I suppose I could have waited for several hours until some w/d kicked in but why suffer needlessly? Barely felt the first dose but it improved as days went by.

You are way below the ceiling so the w/d’s come on fast. I too would feel minor w/d’s by around 3-4pm if I skipped my morning dose. Only tried that once to see how long it would take.

Warning, warning, warning.….once you get that fuzzy good feeling again you will be tempted to take more than prescribed. That was my downfall. Went a little nutty for 2-3 days and went back on my beloved Sub. For the pain I took two Aleve and those actually work pretty good. Pissed me off that I couldn’t control my meds. But damn I felt good for a few hours.

My next painful journey is radiation treatment. Either my Oncologist or a Pain Clinic will give me pain pills. This time around I will have my wife dole them out. My plan is to go out and buy a small combination safe that she and only she will have the number to. There isn’t a hiding place in or out of the house that I can’t find. Addicts can smell their doc’s. It may sound silly but if anyone has a better idea let me know. Stupid F##king addiction!

After I’m dead, I will leave my brain to science to see just how different an addicts brain works vs a non addict. I’ve seen a TV show that had a CT scan of an addicts brain and a normal one. There is a difference.

Addiction is "Covert Suicide"

Rule

This is not helping the op…but I just had to tell you my husband got a small safe (it is a real nice one we had at the funeral home with a key to open it)…I was just like you …I could find those damn things anywhere he hid them…well……..he has the key on his car keys chain and yes i have…walked back to the bedroom..got the key right out of his pants he took off and walked right passed him in the den to the computer room where the safe is kept…got what I wanted and took the key back….so I STILL CHEATED!!!!///…damn addiction is right….Of course I had to pay at the end of the month when I was short i pill (klonopin)…..and fess up…caused all sorts of shit….so please get a combination lock that she memorizes and does not write down ANYWHERE….because we are what we are….

Judy

Using Suboxone for the second time

Posted on by

Author: finallyachance

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:41 pm

Hello Denice sorry I missed your post. Sometimes we get a technical issues and a post will be left alone in the cyber
world unanswered, but I am sure there will be soon some of our regulars around soon. Hang on.

I am sorry about the insurance hardship. I know that can be frustrating. I hope your switch will work in your favor. I think a bit more information is needed so maybe we can answer your question. I am assuming what you are asking what can you do to help the process of it all until your insurance goes thru. Well you could try weaning yourself down in the amount you are now taking etc…But I think a more realistic approach would be to get on the phone and try to expedite your insurance good luck and some of this forum’s finest will be right behind me that can assist you more on the issues.

See I knew Breezy would have an answer.

Not sure what I need to do

Posted on by

Author: finallyachance

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:03 pm

JOHNATHAN IS THAT TRUE? Wonder why all the suboxone Clinics in our area charges a monthly fee at my clinic it is $175.00 a month and at our Myrtle Beach clinic the fee is $250.00.

Below is what I copied off my clinics website.

There is another clinic crossroads at the bottom of this post I got off their website in my area because I was thinking wow how come my clinic charged and do all the others I went on all the area websites to see and they all charge we are the lowest one one of them was $300.00 per month.
DOES ANYONE ELSE’S CLINIC CHARGE A FEE FOR THE MONTH??????

MORNING PROGRAM
Methadone Patients:
Admission: FREE (Normally: $50.00 (includes initial lab fees, physical, and assessment)
Daily: $11.00
Weekly: $70.00
Monthly: $270.00

Suboxone Patients:
Admission: $50.00
Medication: $5.00 per 8 mg tablet (avg. daily dose: 16 mg)
Monthly Medical Management Fee: $175.00/mo. (includes all laboratory & physician visits)

EVENING PROGRAM
Methadone Patients:
Admission: FREE (includes initial lab fees, physical, and assessment)
Daily: $12.00
Weekly: $70.00
Monthly: $270.00

Suboxone Patients:
Admission: $50.00
Medication: $10.00 for up to 16 mg; $5.00 for each additional 8 mg tablet over 16 mg (avg. daily dose: 16 mg)
Monthly Medical Management Fee: $250.00/mo. (includes all laboratory & physician visits)

Guest Dosing
Set-up: $25.00
Guest Dosing: $15.00/Day

Crossroads clinic charges around $275 a month, which does not cover the cost of the drug, and they do not take insurance, Stanton said.The pill, which costs around $15 a day, is covered by insurance and government programs like Medicare and Medicaid.Ittel said the treatment costs far less than what some people are paying to get their drugs on the street.
“It will be a nice option for a niche population, but as it is prescribed now, it won’t replace methadone programs,� he said.

Addicted to painkillers need help / advice

Posted on by

Author: finallyachance

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:51 pm

Youngandconfused

Wow I wish at 23 I would have figured out what I was doing or what I was getting myself into. I too was introduced to PK due to illness mine was kidney stones Chronic I would get them about every six months and have to be on PK for months at a time. Today when I get them I get them removed immediately to avoid being on PK for any length of time. If you sat back and read your own post you would see what is called the progression of the disease in it’s earlier stages. Oh we get away with it in the beginning but eventually (and before you even know it) it’s not like being able to go a day or two without….it’s more like within hours of not having a pain pill you will be acute withdrawals. At the end of my using, I had to set my alarm clock so I could wake up in the middle of the night to take something so as I did not wake up in severe withdrawals not able to get to my pain pill bottle. I have laid in my bed waiting for my husband to get to me to get my pocketbook (where my pain pills were) out of the living room because I have woke up too sick to get it myself. And you get to a point that not a pill will work but more like 5 or 6 pills is what works at one time. In fact I could be sick in bed and someone bring me "a pill" (and not to seem ungrateful but) they should not have even wasted their time bringing me that one pill because that ain’t gonna to get it.

I am not bragging her by no means I am qualifying to you what the end is like. One pill is too many for the sober addict and a thousands not enough for the active addict. Well that is the way it gets. While anxiety and depression on days 4 and 5 seem rough to you now well it get’s where anxiety and depression stays with you and just breaking down to take a pill because you want to just get high as you say well that is no longer just because you want to it is because you have to. And more like hour 4 and 5 not day 4 and 5. And the Porn replacement well soon enough the pain pills and porn addiction will be your problem because the pain pills is only a temporary fix when they no longer work like you want them to you more than likely will be even more depressed and uptight with your new found chronic pain pill addiction and you will be using the porn to deal with the ill effects you get from the progression of the pain pill addiction.

I could go on and on about what to expect on this roller coaster you speak about but thank god it is still a roller coaster and not all downhill yet. You still have school which you more than likely will not have if you keep going because your tuition money or grant money etc…will be your expected check to pay back everybody you owe money to and a heap load of pills that won’t last you very long at all. OK OK, I was suppose to shut up about it three sentences ago and I will except to say…. Get help now. Not later but NOW. Stay in therapy and get on ORT (opiate replacement therapy) ASAP.

Some posters may come behind me and say that your habit is relatively small and really it is compared to a lot, but given your admission of your propensity to replace one addiction for another and depression and anxiety etc…I am not so sure just detoxing would be the answer for you right now. Now that’s just my opinion because I relate so much to your post (about thirty years ago). Just would like to be proactive here then to see another 23 year old college student bite the dust. Good Luck and we are here for you no matter what you choose. And the next post I have to you I will be easier on you. lol.