Long Term Effects of Oxycontin Abuse

[GeriP]

I have recently discovered that my 23 year old son is addicted to this drug.  He is in the mental health unit of a prison awaiting trial for crimes commited while under the influence of this drug.
He is being treated for hallucinations, anxiety and panic attacks, and general depression.  I do not know the names of the drugs he is being given but he is slowly returning to normal.
The doctors do not know if these symptoms will be re-occurring, and what the long term effects are going to be.
i am trying to find out what I can do, and can be expected in the future.  What are the chances of beating this????

[cindi]

The new forum that has been started is not an addiction MEDICINE forum with doc there to answer questions,,,we are a group of addicts helping each other......who better than to do that than those who have experience....one addict helping another...as for the medical professionals,,,,we do have some Medical professionals on the other board,,,,I, myself am a nurse, we have a professional therapist, another Medical professional and a pharmacist,,however, upon checking the archives I do see that at one time there was a nurse that was anwering medical questions,here on medhelp.,,,of course as a nurse I am not permitted to make a medical diagnosis however, I am permitted to point people in the right direction,,,,,the same as the other professionals on any board....but like I said,,,,the experience of being an addict is adequate enough.....so , as far as being on that board as being the med professionals  that is not what it is all about...it is support for the fellow addict,,,and us as a family sharing our experience, strength and hope.....i agree,,why do we have to nitpick and argue,,,it is time to put this to rest.let it die and as k said  get on with helping each other,,,,cindi

[kstuebin]

Why don't we just let the record speak for itself.  I personally have only had experience with Dr. Steve the past couple of months and he just hasn't been helpful and responsive during that period. Maybe he was before. What's the advantage to giving  medical advice if it isn't useful? The only help I got here was from the other users.

I don't think Frankie's remarks are pot shots. They're legitimate criticism. And they're shared by most of the people who post here.

And for the record, we started our forum prior to your suggestion for a new Medhelp venue.  It was already up and running with great success when you posted that offer.  I think Frankie has pointed out more than once that there's certainly room for as many forums as will be supported.

You're right about one thing. It's time to let this issue die and get back to the business of helping people.

[Frank Lee]

I said I would quit posting for a while, so shoot me, but your misrepsentation of my input set me off. Criticism is a way of life, you are going to have to deal with it, especially when your "qualified medical source" has been less than helpful or positive. Regarding what qualifications exist on the other site, you frankly don't know. An MD following a name doesn't mean somoeone with real substance problems will get the help they need comming to a site where the same two sentences are repeated. I dare say there's a lot more support lately elsewhere. It's thanksgiving in America, I believe that means we celebrate freedoms like, starting our own forum if we choose, (again, you won't address this but especially when someone threatens to take this one away.) Take it as valid criticsm if Dr. Steve's posts were construed as delete and it's a "software error" - really, odd, that's a new software error, eh? Moreover, I stand by my criticism of Dr. Steve's responses. Finally, Dr. Steve hasn't supported me, he threatend me.

Good luck with the site.

F.

[Cindy]

Dear Frank & KStuebin,

Geez!  This is getting frustrating!  I believe I said in my previous posting that we would have preferred that you work with us to make this a better forum, rather than taking public pot-shots at Dr. Steve for thousands of people to see!  

Regarding publicity for your forum - you do not have any qualified medical professionals working with you and therefore, Med Help cannot, for the sake of our commitment to medical quality, support your forum.

In addition, we told all of you that if for some reason Dr. Steve chooses to leave the forum, Med Help will do everything we can to see that it continues, yet you decided to start your own forum.

As for the "delete" comments you see under Dr. Steve's name, these are software errors - not Dr. Steve being arrogant! We're working on correcting these.

This is a week during which America traditionally gives thanks -
We ask all of you to take a moment and really think about the words you are putting out for the world to see. How would you feel if your credibility was being attacked by annonymous people?  Wouldn't it be kinder to offer suggestions for improvement?

Think about the thousands of people who have been helped by Dr. Steve and ask yourself, doesn't he deserve better than remarks like:...

"His rash of short brain-dead responses this weekend, coupled with is audacity to post "delete" ( I thought that was up to you) has sounded the death knell for your board."?

Dr. Steve has supported you - now is your chance to give a little something back!  Talk to him - support him!  

Cindy Thompson
Med Help International

[Frank Lee]

Cindy,

So the logic is because Dr. Steve has put in countless hours, and thousands of people visit this site, I have no right to be critical? Come on Cindy.

I think I was constructive - if you read the post I noted Dr. Steve has done some great work in the past (I've read his stuff). It just seems like this has become a bothersome chore rather than a labor of love.

Dr. Steve at this point is not posting substantial advice. I would like to ask anybody who has recieved advice from him in the last 6 weeks to go on record as recieveing substantial advice. His answers are pat. You would be better off in my opinion, going back to your original format and letting people visit and share. If someone wants specific medical advice ( with your caveats) they could ask Dr. Steve and then he wouldn't have to come in weekly and give meaningless refains.

I simply feel, and I am not alone, that he has done more to hurt this board ( threatening to close it, posting simply "delete") than to help it - that is my criticism.

Yes, I want to help people. If that means occasionally letting them know there is another site, so be it. You can call it advertising although it's a little odd. We sure ain't making money off it, it's labor intensive as you know, and we only started it because your Dr. Steve threatened to close this one. And, as Kstuebin says, we have listed your site on our board and we will continue to do so. God, this is not about competition. I just feel he is doing this place, which I said has helped me, a disservice.

So that's my two cents worth. I will stay off your board for a while if that will help. But I must tell you, I still care about this place. That was why I posted.

Frank

[kstuebin]

We've post your forum's address on our site.  We don't have a lot of ego invested in this.  We're primarily concerned with people recovering and we don't care where they find the help to do it.  I wonder why you would.