side effects

[Airedog]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie, I busted up an ankle in June '99, had surgery in Dec. '99 and am scheduled for more in Jan. 01. I have been on opiates since Nov. '99. I have just seen a pain specialist who upped my codeine contin to 300 mg. 2/day, with Statex morphine for breakthrough pain. I have started getting panic attacks that scare the hell out of me, I believe it is codeine related as I have had bad reactions in the past to codeine and percocet, when used in elevated dosages. I have cut the contin to 150 mg. 2/day and used the Statex as prescribed. I am experiencing some withdrawal, headache and yawning, don't need as much Aci-Lac. Anyone else had this happen?

Prior to this accident I was drug and alcohol free for 12 years and I am really trying to avoid an active addiction again; a physical dependence is a different problem with a different solution <IMO>. There have been times when an NA meeting would be nice, but I do not feel that open meetings are an appropriate forum for my situation. Fortunately, I have friends in program who have been in similar situations and they have mentioned this site as a resource.

Thanks,

Dave

[tom to Dan]

I've visited the only two clinics in my county and Dan, my friend, I don't need to have too many more issues to decide that I'm not parking my car in either one of those areas and expect it to still be there when I get back. Not for one ******* second. These places are basically the outtake for the Orange County jail system. In a word, they're cesspools. If that's the only way I can get methadone, than methadone's gonna have to wait. Frankly, I'm disgusted that this is all I have to choose from in the year 2000. I should be able to get methadone from a clean, safe, professional environment. Call me a class snob all you like, but the choices here in Orange County, California for methadone are a joke. I downloaded a list of physicians belonging to CSAM. I'm contacting each one at their e-mail addresses and stating my case. I'll let you know what happens. I' haven't given up yet.

[Frankinscense]

There has to be ways around this note thing. I didn't have to have a note. I just said that I have a horrible addiction to opiates and they gave me a UA and a physical and boom I am dosed. Same day no waiting. 30mg's methadone down the hatch. Tom,I sense you have many other issues here. One thing,the feds always know who are taking schedule two drugs. You still have your right to privacy. Absolutely no one can get your records unless you sign a release document. The problem with most addiction doctors that prescribe methadone is they give out way to large of quanities of methadone. Most addicts cannot keep their hands out of the cookie jar. I have thought long and hard about this. I need the supervision that the clinic provides. Anyway, every addiction doc in my area will not do the paper work to prescribe methadone. Or they are not confident enough to prescribe methadone. Whatever the reason,I still feel the need to attend my clinic and receive their counseling and supervision. I wanted to point out that all opiates appear as opiates on a UA. They do not show up as hydrocodone,oxycodone, codeine, morphine,or heroin.  A clinic has no way of knowing if your on heroin or vicodin. All morphine based opiates that are listed above show up as opiates. The only ones that show up otherwise are synthetics like propoxyphene and methadone. Think about it. Best Wishes,Happy Holidays!
Dan...

[J.B. to Brian and Vicky]

It's good to hear that you are maintaining so well with the Darvon and Xanax.  I'm doing the same with my Lorcet and Xanax and am still able to function quite nicely.  For once in my life I've found a happy medium concerning drugs.  I call it control but others might say that I'm being a hypocrite.  Anyway, it's my business and I'm doing fine!  Bringing home the bacon is what counts anyway.

Tell Bobby Hi!  Marty is doing well but a little stressed out with Christmas shopping and planning.  Just a few more days of this and things will be back to normal, I hope.

Happy Holidays!  J.B.

[tom to J.B.]

hi to you and Marty. Hope all is well. It's funny, but my three disk bulges --- at least the pain from them -- has improved significantly over the last few months. This has happened before, and then just as suddenly about-faced and put me back in agony again. But for right now, my need or desire to get on methadone maintenance is purely to feed the cravings. But to satisfy them, I've got to establish with another pain doc and then ask for the referral. As I've said, I won't screw things with my main doc just to get the note for the meth doc. So it's like I've got this dreary doctor-patient game ahead of me in order to get that note the clinic wants and right now, I just don't have the time or the real desire to go through the whole stupid charade. In a way, I've got my own maintenance program going in the form of taking enough Darvon to get through the day and bring home the bacon. I've got an outrageous supply line set up for Darvon and Xanax and will probably stay with it til my company gets a piece of important software out the door in time for our IPO. This should take about three months and could mean some nice bucks for me through stock options. It's not the perfect solution. I'd rather just get a dose of methadone every morning and then go to work. But this ******* "note from my mommy" thing makes the whole thing a big time-wasting pain in the ass. Why can't I just go to a doctor and get the stuff privately? The regulations conrolling methadone stink. So for now I'm just cruising on Darvon and Xanax til I can legally get methadone from a clean, safe and confidential source. Call me picky. But what the hell.

[J.B. to Brian and Vicky]

Lately, I've been lurking in the MGH chronic pain forum and have learned that quite a number of people have graduated to methadone.  Many were on Oxy Contin, MS Contin, Percodan etc.
Have you checked out the MGH forums?  I thought that in one of your past posts you said you had an ongoing problem with spinal pain.  Just wondering.  

[tom to barbara]

something told me you'd like the klonopin. It's the methadone of benzos. easy, stable and smooth ...

my goal is still to get on methadone but I'm not burning my bridges before I walk into that clinic, and that's what they want me to do, that is, the one out of two clinics that will even talk to me. Dan, you said all clinics weren't created equal ... boy were you right on that one. Something tells me I won't make it to methadone until i can get it from a tony, private addiction specialist in an office that makes my yuppie ass feel safe and secret. What I've found so far in my area are clinics that are more like war zone triages for heroin users coming out of prison. Nothing wrong with that. No one needs methadone more urgently than they do. But these clinics are pieces that don't fit into my puzzle. Give me a private doctor, private diagnoses, private rx, private life. Keep the state and the feds out of it.