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Addiction: Substance Abuse Community

This community is a place to share information and support with others who are trying to stop using drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco or other addictive substances. Discuss with others, the symptoms of addiction, addiction recovery, ways to quit like tapering and cold turkey, and withdrawal symptoms. If you are interested in general "chat", please visit our Addiction Social Community.
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MedHelp Member's Question

HELP IS ON THE WAY!!!!

by MED HELP INTERNATIONAL, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
Within the next day or so, we will have a new addiction medicine specialist available to answer questions in this forum.  We know that you will appreciate his generosity, as he's volunteering his own time & expertise to help people in need.



Please help us by making sure that each new question is indeed a question and not just a "good morning" wish, or other such communication.  Because of funding & time limitations, the doctor will only be able to accept 2 new questions each day.



We'll give you more of the details as we get them....



Best wishes,

Cindy & Phil



Med Help International

Member Comments (35)

by bmac, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
Thanks,we need him.He will be appreciated.

by LAURA34, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
can someone answer a few ??'s I have...  I have been battling this **** for way to long about 18 mos. i tried to quit ct and ended up in the er because the headache's and w/d's were so bad. i have no strength to stop. I have 20hydro's 10/325 and i want to stop. anyway the ?? is, can someone tell me the procedure of an ambulatory detox, what they do there, is it less painfull to stop? like what do they give for the w/d's. I have the 'recipe' in my nightstand, but i just cant get myself to stop popping i have already had 7 today. this is so hard... i feel like a failure. this drug has me by the balls(well if i had them) any help, or advice I need HELP!!!!!



Thank you all

by Rdytoquit, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
Please tell me why my post was taken off the page? I asked a question about my use of oxycontin. It took me a little time before I posted because of all the neg. stuff I have been reading, I did not want to get caught up in any of it! I would think that if they took the time to cut my posts they would take the time to email me a reason! Looks like this other **** is more important than my oxycontin issues.

by LAURA34, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Suze
I envy you Suze, i am still struggling here. like i said above i have 20 left and i am done, the headaches are the worse. they make me sick to me stomach. i have tried so many times before i just start right back. i am serious this time.. was it hard for you? how were the w/d's just wanting to know what i am in store for.  Good luck to you.  and wish me some!!!



I will e-mail ya, feel free to e-mail me 2

Laura

by Thomas02, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Laura
Sorry you had to wait. I've been hooked on hydrocodone off and mostly on for 30 years. While there are any Vics in the house, I can't stop or taper, either. You asked about ambulatory detox. I know of three types: the first, where you taper on the hydro by showing up each morning for the day's rations (plus, I think, some other meds for WD), two, where they switch you to the drug buprenorphin and taper you down, and three, the methadone taper. Bup is the newest and is getting very good reviews because it's quite effective in stopping the WD symptoms while producing little or no euphoria. Bup is a synthetic narcotic also used for pain relief. As long as I knew the taper would be slow enough, I'd choose the bup for my own detox. Methadone seems like a drastic choice for detoxing hydro addicts. Many people have as much if not more discomfort withdrawing from methadone as they do from their drug of choice. If you could get a taper of 2 or 3 weeks, I'd think Bup would be the way to go. Another thing to know about Bup, if you use while on the Bup, you can go into WD.



Any of these methods (as well as others) will work as far as detoxing goes. But you should know that the real battle is more psychological and continues long, long after the physical WD is over. Not everyone likes AA, NA or 12-step groups, but by the time the detox ends, you really need to have some sort of continual involvement in a recovery program that addresses these long-term needs or you will almost certainly relapse. All AA/NA meetings are not created equal. You can find a series of meetings that help you stay clean, but you have to proactively seek them out, discarding the ones that don't work.



Hope that helped, Laura. Let me know if you want to talk. If you like, you can talk to me privately at ***@****.



I'm looking forward to having an addiction doc on the forum. I'm sure he/she has a lot more to say on all this. Good luck.



Thomas

by Thomas02, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Laura
BTW, you've mentioned severe headaches in connection to ..WD? I rarely hear 'pure' opiate addicts say that headaches are their dominant WD symptom. WD certainly causes a constellation of physical symptoms, but I wonder if you had these headaches before you got addicted ... or, are you taking anything else with the hydro that might account for such bad headaches ...



Have your headaches ever been diagnosed?



Thomas

by MED HELP INTERNATIONAL, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Painles
Sorry we had to remove the entire thread because someone or more than one, have been hacking people's names & passwords.  I've reposted your message as a whole new thread...



Cindy

by bmac, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Thomas02
What's up?Here to cause me some trouble.LOL.I hope you are doing better,how about cha'.

                                bmac

by LAURA34, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Thomas
Thank you for your info. I am seriously considering going to the ER and putting myself in the Detox program there. I think it's 7 days or until my insurance quits footing the bill.

     As far as the headaches, about 18mos ago i was in an accident, that was when i was put on the hydro i now have 2 herniated disks, then about three weeks ago i was rear-ended pretty hard, i have tried to taper twice since then, and the headaches were awful, so bad i was vomiting, so thanks for that suggestion maybe the meds are blocking something serious I should talk to my Pain Mang Dr. About six mos ago i tried to stop and had a headache but nothing compared to this. The hydro the Dr put me on were strong, as far as the narcotic part, 10 mg's and i was taking 10 - 12 a day, i am now down to 7, and i am really trying HARD. it is so upsetting, I have never done a drug in my life, hell i dont even drink. My life has been a mess, I am trying to hold down 2 jobs, and i feel like i am losing this game of life. thanks for listening

by Thomas02, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: bmac
Mr. Bill, o, noooooo! Yeah, you know me, try'n to sow more seeds of destruction ...



I spent most of today in a power blackout (you know, when you take a whole lot of really good drugs and can't remember anything LOL). The power was out almost all day here. Didn't help my job search much, but I got a lot of reading done. I did finally get an interview for what I hoped would be a good job, but it's looking like a short-term (1 month) contract job. That would put me on the street in the middle of the holidays, only without Unemployment Insurance. For tech writers, the holiday season is a real dead zone. I'm afraid it might turn into more than just the holidays ... I'm going to offer personalized PC set-up and tutoring in some of our senior communities around here. Despite classroom training being offered in these communities, seniors frequently can't apply their training to their home systems. It seems like there's a need for it, and I'm sick of beating my head against the wall looking for technical writing jobs that simply aren't there anymore.



How was your day?



Thomas

by Bodymechanic, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
I appreciate the fact that there will be an expert to answer our questions.  My only concern, after having read many back posts is that this specialist will not answer questions.  Most of the back posts that I read were answered by the medical doctor with "see a doctor".  Ummm, yeah thanks, but could you answer my question please.  We don't need someone to state the obvious.



I don't know how to scream this to the world loud enough.  WE ARE ADDICTED, NOT STUPID.





Peace

by bmac, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Thomas02
My day was fine.The Kadian is a big help.I can actually do things again.Well besides being the best bassist in town,I have

been walking a lot and getting back to livin' after the hell

I put myself thru this summer.God,I am so glad the summer is over.Well I'll let you get back to making up ****,the one thing I know you are good at,so peace to ya!

        See ya on the other side,

                 resident bassist

                 ohhhhhh noooo!!!

by Thomas02, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: Laura
Laura, sorry to hear about your back injury. I had back surgery in 93 and know some of what you're going through.



The way a chronic pain patient approaches narcotic use, tolerance, detox, etc. is different than how an addict like myself would. I think it's a great idea to see your pain doc to possibly switch to another pain killer you might be able to use without abusing. But please get those headaches checked out. Your pain doc will insist, anyway.



Thomas

by Thomas02, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: bodymechanic
I think any doctor talking to anonymous online patients is inherently limited in the advice he can hand out. We are not doctors and don't claim to be (I'm not, that's for sure). We can give our opinions, suggest stuff, tell war stories and it doesn't constitute professional medical advice. If you put yourself in the shoes of a doctor who can be sued for malpractice, I think it's easy to understand why so many of us on the forum have been advised to see our doctor.



I'm hoping that this addiction doc can at least offer some updtaes on what's available for pain, detox, maintenance, recovery, etc. plus some insider's info on how and why the national medical apparatus operates the way it does.



Thomas

by Sugarbeens, Oct 21, 2002 12:00AM
To: bmac
Hi there.  What exactly is Kadian?  Is it a narcotic or is it a painreliever without codeine?  I wish I could find something that works for my pain other than a narcotic!  And other than surgery!! Yuck! Just don't think at my age, 48, that I will go that route.  I don't post often, but, I am Butterbean(now sugarbeens) because I couldn't get back in to post for some reason with the Butterbean name, but that is me! I have had this back problem since 1978 when I fell.  They are just now given me a real diagnosis after all the test,etc I went through over the years.  I still don't think it is accurate as I know something is busted along and near my tailbone and lower back.  The MRI says I have arthritis and some herniated disks and a small tumor on spine(doc says that has nothing to do withthe pain).  Anyway, I know you have been clean a good while, but, is this new drug non-narcotic.  If it is and if it seems to work for you, I may request my doc let me try it.  I have never let him give me oxycontin because I am afraid of it after reading all the stories.  However, I see that many people love it and say it really keeps them pain