Arthritis pain

[sharonver]

As I am trying to taper from methadone, I recently discovered that my lyme arthritis pain is coming back full form!  The meth has been masking it all of these years. My dilema now is should I continue the taper & detox and finish it and try to maintain on another med for the pain.

Sharon

[sharonver]

Good morning Rex,

Thanks for that message, it started out my morning on a good note!  I am hanging in there.  The detox is at hold and I am not feeling too bad with that, my arthritis on the other hand does get bad on some days. I am sure that this bitter cold front (in Northeast CT) is helping this. I am off to sunny Florida next week so the warm weather will make me feel better I am sure. I hope you are doing great, I think of you often and always wish you the best of health.

Sharon

[Rex1]

Truly hope you are feeling better soon, Sharon.

Rex

[sharonver]

I have found that you have to keep trying to post...  It will say they are not accepting anymore questions for that day, but I keep trying anyways and eventually my question is accepted.  So don't stop trying if it says that.  Some days are easier than others.  But I have had good luck with it, I'm persistent.

Hope this helps...

Sharon

[sharonver]

Erika,hippee, Nod-

Thanks for the advise and support on arthritis. Some days are worse than others. It isn't rheumatoid arthritis, it is Lyme arthritis caused from when I had lyme disease.  A lot of doctors don't know that much yet on lyme. So they keep telling me!  We had one specialist on Lyme in the area, he moved away before I had a chance to see him. I don't want to go on a steroid med.  When I go to my app't with the bup doctor when ever he calls me!, I will talk to him regarding this and I will then go to my family doctor.  So hopefully between the two doctors something good will come of it.

Liquid-
Can you email me?  I would like to know how you are doing with the bup!  ***@****

Sharon

[ben dare]

Good for you.  Your message was inspiring.  I am clean since Nov 1, 2002.  I went through hell but am coming out the other way, like you.  It can be done, slowly but surely.

[ben dare]

I know exactly how you feel.  I have been drug free since Nov 1, 2002.  I was severly depressed after detoxing.  I would say to you , don't expect to feel some what normal for 6 weeks or so.don't try to do anything but nurse yourself to good health.  It is Ok to stay cooped up for the time being while you are going through this hell.  It will pass.  I was extremely hopeless for about 4 weeks, but now I am hopeful and am so grateful I do not have this albatross on my back.  If you can find an addictionoligist, it would help you.  If you are from Massachusetts I could tell you the name of one.  Hang in there...it will pass.

[hippy]

well its super bowl sunday,
i keep hearing there are a 1000 more deaths on the
road after a super bowl,then any other day of the year.
i know the qb from oakland rich gannon his father is my parents
lawyer for 35 years , it more like my moms lawyer and my dads
freind. rich went  to st joes prep here in philly, i went there for a year, jesuit school.

i think the bucs can win but oakland probly will

[Rex1]

This virus that went around the internet slowed some people down last night I think.

15 days is awesome!!!

Rex

[J. E. W.]

What happened to everyone..I miss all the words of encouragement to each other. Day 15 for me. And its getting better everyday. Im actualy thinking in days now instead of mins. or hours!!!!!!! Isnt life grand??? Take care all!!  Youre all in my prayers..  God Bless All...     J.E.W.

[suzieneedshelp]

Where r uuuuuuuuuuuu??  Miss your strong tender support!
Suzie

[theGolden1]

I wasn't talking about you .... it's hard for me to understand how a person can sit through an a  meeting and NOT feel the spirit. Another word for humble is "teachable" ... (believe me I work on this every day) Today I am down to 2 and 3/4 (or 175mil)
of ultram. My hands hurt and I have a headache, but with God's help, I will keep on going ... Goldie

[hellbent]

Thomas, you can come to any party I throw. This isn't personal.

Hippy, there is a time to be nice, and there is a time to go with your instincts and say what you think. Sharing experience, strength and hope takes on a different form for everyone. When a practising addict says something that might discourage another from getting clean, I feel compelled to give the other side.

Golden, thanks for mentioning humility. It's essential. I know the odds aren't good for me staying clean, especially if I think I have done it myself and am running the show. I didn't and I am not. It is a state of grace, and I can lose it real quick. I try not to mention god or get too deep into recovery priciples on this board, but your points are well taken.

[theGolden1]

Don't forget "humility" .... "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings"(step 7). I do think we are selling ourselves short if we don't realize the true potential we have for healing. I don't think Thomas really meant to suggest that an addict is "hopeless". The brain connections have been altered .... they will change back. Period. The twelve step program is awesome. It's the spiritual connection. It's hard to place principles above personalities and just let it work on you, but I have seen some miracles over the years. There were people that I never thought would get straight ....and they did it through the program. I can only say good things about it .... Ive been in AA OA NA Alanon, Naranon and I'm on my way to GA next. (The stock market has been kicking my butt) ha ha .... Goldie

[suzieneedshelp]

Plz e-mail me right now... i need to talk to you!
Thx,
Suzie

[Thomas03]

Hi Rex, always a pleasure to hear from you. To answer your question, of course there is hope for me -- just depends on what you're hoping for.

And, no, I haven't heard from Bodymechanic. Last I knew, he was doing well on the buprenorphin. I'll let you know if I hear from him.

I hope you are well, my friend.

Thomas

[Thomas03]

I take it by your reply that I am NOT invited to your birthday party?

Thomas

[Thomas03]

FYI for those interested:

Pasted from the PBS web site ... helps explain addiction and the effects of drugs on the brain.

"Crossing the Line to Addiction: How and When Does It Happen?
  
  "No one becomes addicted the first time they try a drug," says George Koob, M.D., a professor in the neuropharmacology department at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Although there are some cases where a person's reaction to first use is so positive that they immediately begin to abuse a drug, Koob says most addiction has a subtler start. It usually doesn't take place until the person has been using chronically. The person has become an addict when his or her brain has literally been changed by this chronic use of the drug.

Many substances and activities, from food to sex, exert control over human behavior by motivating us to indulge in them. But addictive drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, and heroin, can affect the structure and function of the brain -- and hence our motivations -- in long-lasting ways. They can actually alter and "usurp," in one scientist's term, the "circuits" in the brain that are involved in the control of emotions and motivation, impairing an addicted person's will. "What addiction really is, is a result of brain changes that over time get translated into behavior changes," says National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) director Alan Leshner, Ph.D.

If a person uses drugs, at a high enough dose, frequently enough and for a long period of time, these drugs change the way the brain works. "You change the way nerve cells communicate in such a way that you develop this compulsive, out-of-control use despite knowing that all kinds of terrible things can happen to you, and despite even experiencing many of those things," says National Institute of Mental Health director Steven Hyman, M.D.

Studies using new technologies show the precise effects of drugs on the brain. "In many cases, we can actually see changes in the structure of synapses and in the shapes of [brain] cells," says Hyman. A NIDA study released in 1996 provided the first direct evidence that chronic use of opiates (such as morphine and heroin) is linked with structural changes in the size and shape of specific neurons. Researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine found that rats chronically given morphine experienced marked structural changes in critical brain "circuits." Other NIDA studies have shown that altered brain circuits could be responsible for the major differences in brain functioning between an occasional cocaine user and a cocaine addict."


Thomas

[hellbent]

I don't know how you feel about 12 step meetings, and I certainly not trying to push them on you, but consider going to an AA or an NA meeting today, raising your hand and asking for help. You might be amazed at what you end up getting out of it, hard as it seems.

[hippy]

the pills mess with your emotions when you run out of
pills, you cry at the drop of a hat.
take it easy you are in the right place , keep posting and try to read all the post you can. try to get a begining,some sort of plan.
life will be all right , try not to pay attention to your self , keep a journal on what is happening and what you want to do and where you want to be in the future.

we all here at the fourm have been where you are and it is scary.
getting more information on what is happening will be a big help and a good beggining
peace!!!!!!!!! hippy

[Rex1]

You need to call a doctor or family memeber you trust like right now, and level with them. Can you do that?

The thoughts you are having are driven by the medicine and if you think about that, you will find that Im right.

It sounds like, before the pills, life was OK. Even so, the pills likey wacked out your emotions and now they are on the edge!

One of the turning points for me, was admitting to friends and family, and my dr that I was dependent. They then help me put a plan to together. Once you have a plan, then there's hope.

WIll pray for you...

Rex

[bigmistake]

I'm not clean, I just can't find any today and I'm SO SICK of depending on these things.  I take care of myself completely.  I put myself thru college, I live on my own, and now everything is going to **** and i can't get myself into work, I'm running out of savings.  i'm a goddamn mess now and it is ALL BECAUSE OF PK.  I can't go thru the two weeks of not having any because I CAN'T function and I am suicidal and I can't put my life on hold for that long.  

I am crying so hard right now.  I want to talk to my boyfriend (he knows what's going on) but I feel like a little baby and he can't possibly understand what I'm dealing with.  I don't know what to do but I'm having a break down.

[suzieneedshelp]

Did u tell us yur story?  Ho w much, wut did u use?  I'm sorry if i missed it.  R u clean now?  If so.. congrats!  R u using Thomas recipe?
Thx..sorry for all my questions!
Suzie

[Rex1]

I couldnt function when I was gtting off the Vicodin, so I didn't. I took time off work and did it combined with a lot of leisure and hot tubs.

I realize that this may not be possible for everyone, or for you. My point is, imo, put every other activity on hold until you have at least 5 days of CT under your belt, if possible.

Are you using the thomas recipe?

Rex

[bigmistake]

I am wigging out.  tHis isn't working for me.  How can ANYONE function while trying to get this stuff out of their lives.  Besides the fact that my back/hip problem is still causing physical pain...I am completely useless without pk.  I can't do anything.  I am tired, I can't think straight, i'm soooo depressed.  I can't leave the house.