Aa
it's absolute BS!
Sorry but I'm going to rant here for a second. How come it's so easy to get hooked on meds but a pain in the arse to get off of them? Please correct me if I'm wrong since I've never been on medical assistance or methodone but it seems like it's easy enough to get medical coupons or assistance and have a dr prescribe pain pills or to get on methodone if you don't have money but unless you've got bucks to spare you can't get on suboxone. What the hell??? Shouldn't it be free to get us off this junk? And for those of you who don't believe in paying for social programs, you will pay no matter what. You'll pay because your car insurance premiums are higher from drug crime, you'll pay because people OD and have to stay in the hospital, you'll pay when the courts and jails are full of criminal cases. So why don't we pay up front and let these people get better, get good paying jobs and collect their taxes? uggg, it makes me so mad that I recommend suboxone to people and then have to hear about how they can't afford it. It's cheaper to stay hooked or to try and white nuckle it which means they are taking time off from work which impacts our economy etc. Sorry for my ranting but it's so sad.......,America is great at making messes and then not cleaning them up.
Well, I'm in NYC, and that's one of the M.clinic hot spots of America.
Here, you go daily from the start (except sunday, G-d Bless our country and it's religious freedom!!! ;) ) and if you get clean tests, some give you "take homes". I get three a week, having been "clean" for two years.
If you keep testing positive...well...generally they let you stay on, but you have to come in every day. Some will throw you off eventually, it depends on the clinic management policy. The only thing they'll throw you off quickly for is not paying/getting your insurance cancelled.
I hear it's different "in the sticks", that since clinics are scarcer they're much stricter. People drive up to a hundred miles to get to their clinics in some places.
I lived on Gloucester Road in London, near the park back when I was a "young adult" for a year. Wish I'd never come home, miss it very much!
Here, you go daily from the start (except sunday, G-d Bless our country and it's religious freedom!!! ;) ) and if you get clean tests, some give you "take homes". I get three a week, having been "clean" for two years.
If you keep testing positive...well...generally they let you stay on, but you have to come in every day. Some will throw you off eventually, it depends on the clinic management policy. The only thing they'll throw you off quickly for is not paying/getting your insurance cancelled.
I hear it's different "in the sticks", that since clinics are scarcer they're much stricter. People drive up to a hundred miles to get to their clinics in some places.
I lived on Gloucester Road in London, near the park back when I was a "young adult" for a year. Wish I'd never come home, miss it very much!
Well getting off Suboxone fast isnt a big worry to me its just that My follow up visits are $75 per session and 30pills 8mg of suboxone are $150.00 So my main thought was to not get addicted to the Suboxone, I would go see my doctor in a month and have her give me 1 more Dosage of the subs and try to be done....So two months to get clean? I wish others could give me their advice, I just can't afford to stay on this for very Long....It's sad to say But I only paid $5.00 for a prescription of 180 Norco and 180 Vicodin.....I see why people just take the "easy" way out and continue opiate use... Alltogether I have spent $300.00 On the Suboxone plan and should only spend about $215.00 for the second month... The doc said she would like to see me every week for the first two months and I was honest and told her that I'm 23, go to school and support myself.. So I wondered to myself I know the doctor means well and would like to monitor me, but when I told her my situation she quickly said OH okay I understand, so just come back in a month then... A part of me thinks do the docs want my money or do the REALLY care?Its a tough World... I cant ***** though because Im getting clean and praying to live a Happy Normal Life again.... I want to laugh again, I want to wake up in the a.m. and not say, Damn I need a pill to start my day, I want to not get so moody and I want good clean friends.:)
When you go to a methadone clinic or dr in US and are prescribed it for Heroin Addiction, do you just go and see dr and pay for your methadone prescription or do you have to provide clean drug screens each week? I was just curious about how it works there as i live in UK. I am on Methadone and have been for few years now for Heroin addiction. I get Methadone from an clinic that deals with addicts. I go there every 2wks and have to provide clean drug screens so that i can keep on getting Methadone. If you provide constant positive tests they will not keep prescribing. I have been kicked off Methadone prescription a few times before because of positive tests in the past and ended up doing as much Heroin as i could get to try and deal with the methadone withdrawal. I don't pay for Methadone as i am nott working at the moment and if you are in receipt of benefits you get free prescriptions but when i was working i didnt pay as i am diabetic and in uk if you have certain medical conditions you get free nhs prescriptions. The charge for a prescription here is only £6.85 per script or you can pay approx £23 fora month. I get Methadone on weekly pick up because i have been stable on it for a while and provide clean tests, i used to go to chemist every day for supervised consumption in case you sold it. I haven't heard of many people being on methadone for pain management here but that might be just because i don't know about it.
In all dr's surgerys in UK there are notices up saying that you can not ask for Diazepam, Tamezepam,Zopiclone and few others and that anyone currrently being prescibed has to taper off and go onto something else. I was on Zopiclone to help me sleep and they just stopped it and now won't prescribe any kind of sleeper at all while i'm on methadone as they say overdose risk to high. Not to long ago i was buying valium and zopiclone and ended up with a bit of a habit with them as i was having problems with domestic violence and was total wreck and couldn'tsleep. My dr would not entertain giving me anything to taper off them so i wasn't buying them ilegally and would not helpin any way other than saying just stop them. I have stopped taking them now but got no help at all from dr. Even though they won't prescribe most benzo's to people already on them they give out SSRI's for depression like sweets and i wasn't told about any side effects or problems coming off them i just had to find that out for myself.
In all dr's surgerys in UK there are notices up saying that you can not ask for Diazepam, Tamezepam,Zopiclone and few others and that anyone currrently being prescibed has to taper off and go onto something else. I was on Zopiclone to help me sleep and they just stopped it and now won't prescribe any kind of sleeper at all while i'm on methadone as they say overdose risk to high. Not to long ago i was buying valium and zopiclone and ended up with a bit of a habit with them as i was having problems with domestic violence and was total wreck and couldn'tsleep. My dr would not entertain giving me anything to taper off them so i wasn't buying them ilegally and would not helpin any way other than saying just stop them. I have stopped taking them now but got no help at all from dr. Even though they won't prescribe most benzo's to people already on them they give out SSRI's for depression like sweets and i wasn't told about any side effects or problems coming off them i just had to find that out for myself.
You think the pharmaceutical companies would be happy if everyone stopped taking their drugs and went straight? Doctor's would be happy if people decided they can take care of themselves holistically, with good health/eating habits? (well, Some would...)
The problem is the health care industry is so divided against itself.
Pharmaceuticals wants sales, lots of them. They develop meds that are meant for long term use. Not because they're better, but becuase it has the greatest profit margin.
Health Insurance wants people to NOT take drugs, not get sick. They want people to pay their rates and never collect.
Government doesn't care as long as it doesn't cost THEM money and the law isn't broken. They make drugs legal or illegal at the whim of the public mood. There's no logic to it, just which lobbyists they're making happy.
Hospitals, doctors...they don't really care as long as the have patients. They're caught up in the above mess, and have to practice medicine according to law...even when it's not in the patients best interest.
Leaving us, the patients, somewhat screwed. You have to basically be responsible for your own well being. If you leave it up to the mess listed above, you end up exactly where so many of us are today. None of the above are working TOGETHER to solve the problem, each is pursuing their own best interests. Which is why health care and pain management is such a mess in this country, and always will be unless something serious changes.
The problem is the health care industry is so divided against itself.
Pharmaceuticals wants sales, lots of them. They develop meds that are meant for long term use. Not because they're better, but becuase it has the greatest profit margin.
Health Insurance wants people to NOT take drugs, not get sick. They want people to pay their rates and never collect.
Government doesn't care as long as it doesn't cost THEM money and the law isn't broken. They make drugs legal or illegal at the whim of the public mood. There's no logic to it, just which lobbyists they're making happy.
Hospitals, doctors...they don't really care as long as the have patients. They're caught up in the above mess, and have to practice medicine according to law...even when it's not in the patients best interest.
Leaving us, the patients, somewhat screwed. You have to basically be responsible for your own well being. If you leave it up to the mess listed above, you end up exactly where so many of us are today. None of the above are working TOGETHER to solve the problem, each is pursuing their own best interests. Which is why health care and pain management is such a mess in this country, and always will be unless something serious changes.
i know we need allot of work in our health care system. I dont have the answers but it's a shame so many ppl want/need help and just cant get it. I found out a couple of weeks ago that I have cervical cancer and I am having a terrible time getting treatment. I dont have insurance. I'm ashamed at the attitude of our system on many levels but that doesn't mean I'm bashing our county. Unfortunately we are promised things we vote for them they turn out to be lies.
You make a good point. I think if any of us knew exactly what our taxes pay for, we would be shocked to see that so very little of it goes to "social programs", namely welfare.
I personally do not think "America" has anything to do with my addiction; therefore, I am not going to bad mouth my country like the original poster. I just do not believe in that. If it does ever get to the point that I am saying things against my country or blaming it for all my problems, I hope I would just leave and move elsewhere.
why are you worried about getting off the sub so quickly? i am not trying to deter you..just curious as to why you are choosing the route of shorter term maintainence?
i actually got damn lucky with my sub doctor...shes awesome...hasnt charged me anything yet, and when i questioned her...she said that it was her business who gets billed...cant argue with that...i am in weekly therapy which is on a sliding fee scale...$20 bucks a week...and the cost of my sub..which is about $70 bucks for a 7day supply...i do not have insurance...but i have lowered my dose quite a bit...the first 5-6 weeks on sub...i was on a high dose (transitioned from methadone) 32mgs daily...then it was costing $170 bucks a week...its about 6-8 bucks for 1, 8mg pill...but so damn worth it, because i am not dead...and i am living an addiction free lifestyle...
im on 8 MG..... I have 30 pills but only take two a day and started today so they should last me almost 2 months
so $150 consult and $150.oo for pills isnt too bad? do u think i can get off sub within 30 days?
Mine is through a regular suboxone doctor. I found him using a search on suboxone.com. My insurance benefits for chemical dependency are like $2500 every 2 years I believe. So the only thing I owe is $30-40 for the script.
I have Kaiser and the longest they kept me on Suboxone was 2 weeks! I paid $5.00 for 30 pills 2 MG.... But when I relapsed 6 months later, you know what they told me? that I wouldnt be able to do suboxone I would only be offered Inpatient Detox and it was 30 days... Well I couldnt because of my job, so here Iam have Insurance but still had to find my own Suboxone doctor... It is crazy how all this works when you really look into it..... Can I ask you how ur Suboxone treatment works and the cost? thanks
good to you! I think that is so awesome that you realized your truck was less important than you. That is really inspiring.
i have to pay cash for mine and it is expensive, and of course ,..no insurance!!...although i am on the lowest dose my body will tolerate, but had to,,,the 170$ weekly was killing us...i even let my truck get repossessed so i could continue my treatment...which in the long run is better for my family...we can do without 2 cars for a while...
so i hear ya LOUD AND CLEAR!!!
so i hear ya LOUD AND CLEAR!!!
I'm one of the lucky ones who has insurance and the means to pay for treatment. I just feel so bad for all the others who at most, can get a short term treatment stint in the hospital but nothing that will benefit them long term (suboxone). Oh well, I guess that's just the way the system works but I didn't realize until I went through this whole situation, how hard it is for someone to 'just quit" even when they've come to their rock bottom.
I feel it's more the doctor's racking us for the afternoon they spent getting their certification than the drug company, but the price of the pills do keep alot of people in unnecessary withdrawals. I have had to take some medication that was even more than the Sub, but it was use it or be sick . On the flip side, we would pay top dollar for our DOC. To get my lortab, I was spending between $150.00 and $300.00 a month for the drs and scripts and that was with having insurance and 2 to 3 times that without ins and I know that is not nearly what some people spent. I hope you dont have to stay on the Sub maint. for very long.
oh, and please everyone don't think I am at all trying to make excuses for my problems. I know I AM the reason for my addiction. I just think it should be as easy, if not easier, to get help than to create the problem. I also think there should be legislation that requires any dr who can prescribe opiates to be trained in addiction. Same training that is required for suboxone treatment.
I agree with you... Damn my Doctor would pretty much give me whatever, vicodin, Norco, flexeril, valiums.... All I had to do was tell him oh doc my back hurts and wear a low cut shirt!. I finally broke down to him after 4 years on and off being on this **** and It was like he Cared or acted like it, but in reality was Loosing Money because I wanted to get clean and get off Opiates... So the search was on he wasnt a sub Doctor... SO I called 8 docs that prescribed Suboxone and consults were 400- 500 dollars and 3o pills were 200 bucks! I thought damn I cant afford this , and thanx to my insurance for not covering it! so my last final call it was a true blessing... $150 consult and $75 once a month check up fee and $150.oo Suboxone script.... When you spend this kind of money You know you wanna get clean! I thank God I found this help, because Its a true Blessing
But they can make so much more money if everyone was clean! I'm sure when Reckitt Benckiser's patten runs out (not sure when) the generics will come out and prices will come down. Still doesn't address the dr's fees and the fact that most of them don't even take insurance. It's disgraceful.
Because addiction is a big money making industry. The "poor masses" are, as far as our government is concerned, useless. So they figure they may as well make money off of their pain and suffering.
That, with taking a right wing attitude towards addiction, ensures that addicts will always be villified and unhelped. Which is ironic, because I think that everyone in this country knows someone who's a friend or family member who's an addict.
That, with taking a right wing attitude towards addiction, ensures that addicts will always be villified and unhelped. Which is ironic, because I think that everyone in this country knows someone who's a friend or family member who's an addict.
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