Opiate Addiction: Methadone Facts

Question: I need help fighting an opiate addiction?

(Posted by: Why Me on 2009-01-26 19:10:18)

I am a 38 year old man that has ( had ) everything going for him. My whole life I totaly ignored and stayed away from everyone that did any kind of drugs no matter what they where. Over the last 2 years I started using pain meds for back pain then it became an addiction. I currently have taken 160mg of oxycodone 4 to 5 times a day. I will take anything I can get my hands on to stop the pain. Yes I started it for back pain then the high, Now 2 years later I want off !!! Because 1 - I am loosing everything, 2 - I am spending over a $100.00 a day like nothing "Street Value ". And the first thing on my mind is, do I have enough and i will only concentrate on getting it before anything else. Food, Etc..I have reduced my dose to about 90 mg 3 times a day. I take it so I dont have withdraws. I try to stop but it hurts so bad, I cant sleep, eat, think, walk, I have restless legs and arms. I am a total jerk to everyone, I dont want to do anything without it. I WANT TO STOP !!!! I went to the emergancy room and they did all the tests blood work etc.. After all said and done they tell me I cant go back there again and make me sign a paper stating so. They also said I need to go to west care, ????? I have heard some pritty bad storys about west care. That they dont give you anything and your in a room so you can quit cold turky. I cant stop cold turkey. The emergancy room said because of my high doses I take and how often I could have a heart attack and or die if I try to quit cold turkey. I dont know what to do, I have tried several doctors and they keep telling me the samething. To Stop !!!! If they only new. I heard suboxon is great and Methadone, I also was told that, As ridiculous as this may sound, To do "SPEED " that it will take all the pain and side affects away. I am so serious about quitting but like i said the withdraws and pain are very, very, very BAD!!!! I used to bad mouth drug heads and I am now paying the price. P.S >. Please dont reply to this post if you dont know what you are talking about and / or never experianced what I am talking about because anyone that has, understands what I am saying, so please keep your comments to yourself or it will come back to you 10 times fold CARMA IS A MOTHER F- - CKER!!! I know. Can someone please help me?????

Posted by: Nursey on 2009-01-26, 19:25:02

Call this West Care place. You can get information on a treatment plan before you sign up. You cannot do this on your own! Whoever told you to take speed is an idiot. I believe you have heard bad things about this place because rehab is not summer camp and you have to be real about the fact that YOU NEED THIS. Also, if you are hearing these bad things from other drug addicted people, it is because they don't want you to get better. Misery loves company. Even practitioners in state run facilities are not going to risk their license to practice by knowingly risking your health. If several physicians have told you that you need meds to get off of these drugs then I am sure that the specialists in this rehab know that. Please be brave and get yourself the help you need.

Posted by: Yes...you could be pregnant! on 2009-01-26, 19:13:38

Withdrawals are bad.. but tehy dont kill you so get help get off it...

Posted by: Tsunami on 2009-01-26, 19:15:44

Have you seen the place where they take you to places to clean up and its called recovery or something like that on tv? you can do this and its free. you have to be on waiting list it wont' be easy and i am sure its not totally cold turkey they would help butyou have to want to go and take care of yourself. if you do thisits worth it believe me i do not know what you are going through but its call intervention. you can call places of heath that could possbiel help you get there i am not sure where myself. but i think health clinics would helpyou be directed try that take care and God bless you.

Posted by: Chris S on 2009-01-26, 19:17:47

Well there are groups and stuff but your best bet is just to realize what your doing to your body and your future.. if you asked this question using Yahoo answers youre not going to find a very inspiring answer.. you just need to pick yourself up.. dust yourself off and move on.. your 38 not 100 its not the end of life... another good thing is lifting.. when i started lifting i kinda changed my life to be built around working out to get to that next number. if you light yourself up the day you lift you obviously wont be able to and if you light yourself up the day before you will be way too tired to lift the next day and if the resting day still gets clogged with drugs start walking and work to running... good luck.

Posted by: msnsndrsn on 2009-01-26, 19:19:07

Pray to God......this is coming from a Christian. God will answer all prayers even yours. If you just get on your knees and ask Him to help you and put your whole heart into it. He will answer. I have delt with addictions before. Trust me. Trust the Lord....He will help you.....if you just ask. I am praying for you. God bless you.

Posted by: buffywinchester on 2009-01-26, 19:20:54

You will have to stop cold turkey, because this addiction is killing you. You know how I can tell that it's bad? You honestly believe that you CAN'T stop. It's good that you managed to reduce your intake, so you're on the right track. But you do need to check into a clinic. That's the only way to get yourself healthy. Of course it's going to seem scary - you're about to completely stop taking medication that your brain insists you need. By the way, just because I was never addicted to drugs doesn't mean I can't answer your question. I've known alcohol addicts, and if you had any idea how much caffeine I used to drink and how terrible the migraines were when I tried to quit - they were so terrible that I wanted to die, and since that was just from caffeine addiction, I can only imagine that your pain must be 100 times worse. But that doesn't mean I have no clue. The thing is, you say you want help and that you want to stop being addicted, but you're not doing anything to help yourself. You need to get out of your chair and go check yourself into a treatment center. Otherwise, you're just another whiny b*tch on the internet, looking for attention.

Posted by: :) on 2009-01-26, 19:21:25

Disorder of the central nervous system resulting from continuous use of opiates. Because of prolonged opiate use, natural pain killers, known as endorphins, no longer function normally, Endorphins are no longer produced by the body naturally because it is instead receiving opiates. Firstt thing you need to do. Is Detox, the medically supervised withdrawel Of the drugg. agitation; anxiety; tremors; muscle aches; hot and cold flashes; sometimes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea — are not life-threatening, but are extremely uncomfortable, Scientists also developed a buprenorphine formulation that includes naloxone to deter abuse of buprenorphine. Naloxone and naltrexone are available medications that can curb the allure of opiates by blocking the opiate receptors so that opiates produce no pleasurable effects when they are taken. The blockers alone are sometimes useful for addicts who are highly motivated to quit. In the naloxone formulation of buprenorphine, the blocker effect comes into play only if a user tries to abuse the buprenorphine medication by injecting it, which could normally create a bigger high, instead of letting it dissolve under the tongue as prescribed. The best way to Stop an addiction is to go to rehabb, thats pretty much the best way.

Posted by: celebrate on 2009-01-26, 19:24:17

Last year I was on pain meds for pain that comes from diabetes to my feet & legs. I thought I would never be able to live with out the meds. Once my husband went to pick up my pain meds but the cost was so high so I told him to forget it. I had started a job to get the insurance & it was about $90 which I was no prepared to pay. I ended up not even being able to go to work the next day cause I was in so much pain I would up all night. Anyway, I used something called EFT which you can look up on the internet under the site by Gary Craig. There is a women named Deborah Donnegal (her last name is unusual & longer than that) but you can look up her youtube.com videos or she might be at Gary Craig's site. You can e-mail me if you can't find her info. I would get a hold of her if you can't do this on your own. I also have a friend who used to help me for free so e-mail if you can't afford to get help but remind me of your question & I will contact this person to see if he can help you over the phone.....I did it myself & stopped using the pills. I didn't do it when I had told you my husband was getting the prescription but this time last year I did the EFT & had a tini bit of pain at the beginining but I found out what the emotional pain was for me. I decided that what was hurting me was not going to change by me being in pain so I looked at it differently. You back in about what is behind you. In the past (most likely). and or it could be about support & you not feeling supported in life. I know so much about this which is why I was able to heal myself. You can also be free of the pain if you can believe this enough to get the help you need but it really is up to you to want to heal rather than to continue being the victim of it. Many people can be healed but they say they want to feel better yet go on complaining rather than seeing the healing & appreciating the peace & pleasant feelings they have without pain. I have don't many healings so I have seen what can happen besides so many of my own healings.

Posted by: l.aura on 2009-01-26, 19:26:47

I've never been there before personally, but I've seen it happen to a few people I love. I'm sorry you're going through this, and I know it sucks, but you're the only one that can actually do it. You've got the first part done, simply wanting to quit. I wouldn't recommend picking up another habit to fix this one, you might end up in the same situation down the road. Most people have to try at least a few times before they are actually successful at quitting, and unfortunately cold turkey is often the best choice - in the sense that you quit the drugs cold turkey and substitute the physical addiction with a mental/ spiritual one. I know it seems impossible, but you CAN do it, as painful as it might be. You have to be tough on yourself, and if going to rehab isn't your thing, there could be other options. I've heard of people going to the wilderness and forcing themselves to "reconnect " with nature. If you have access, there are shamans that will guide you through a psycho-tropic journey that will help you beat the addiction. Some people find that religion helps them quit. It really all depends on you and your mind and body. Find something that is a greater power in your life and focus on that. But I'm happy that you want to quit and are reaching out to figure it out. This will be a challenge of mind over matter for you, and it can be done so don't lose hope or give up, no matter if or how many times you stumble. Good luck!

Posted by: Belgian Mom on 2009-01-26, 19:28:43

Have you tried talking with your own physician? N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous) may also be of some resource to you, they may have information on a physician that will be able to help you overcome the addiction. N.A. has a website and a meeting locator, so you would be able to find a meeting in your area. I too had back surgery, although I was fortunate enough not to become addicted to the pain medicine, I know others that have. With help from their doctors, and pain management professionals, as well as N.A. meetings, they were able to overcome the addiction. I wish you well.

Posted by: tiffany b on 2009-01-26, 19:34:46

This is coming from someone who HAS an addiction problem and has a mother who is in the same situation as you. The only thing that I believe you can do is STOP. You have to take a look at your life and say that you don't want it anymore. I'm 27 and almost threw my entire future away over nerve and pain pills. I didn't go to rehab though, I just said enough is enough. I still battle and struggle every day. There aren't too many days that I don't think I wish I had a pain pill or a nerve pill but I go on. When you see that everyone around you is in a constant scare that they are going to find you dead then you can realize what your doing. You can't fully realize the situation though until your off the pills. Once your off of them, you think my god what the hell have I been doing. Then the trick is staying off of them. My mom is addicted to opiates and has been for 13 years. She used to be one of the best nurses, the best wife and mother you could find. They've taken all that away though. She too has back pain and I can tell you that her back pain is probably nothing compared to the pain that her mother feels when she worries every night that her daughter might not wake up, or that she might catch her house on fire because she's passed out smoking, killing her and her family. (this almost happened a few years ago). I'm in no way saying that you don't need something for pain, but oxy's are not the way to go. You should have your doctor give you something smaller, loratab maybe, then slowly wean yourself off of that. Then maybe you can get your life back together. I hope this helps somewhat and that you didn't take this as being disrespectful. I'm only saying this cause i have been through it and have had several family members (not just my mother) lose everything due to pills. Including their lives. This is honest and not just some idiot on here making s**t up. Just reading your post makes me want to go out and buy something so I know what your saying. Rehab is a joke though. You do need support...but first you have to just know that you want more for yourself and everyone around you. Addiction is something you can only get over on your own. It takes a lot of will power.

Posted by: Taz V on 2009-01-27, 05:54:19

Turning cold turkey is the worst thing that you can do Why do you have such bad back aches??? I suffer from scholiosis (not sure of the spelling) but it's when your back grows skew and not straight I suffer badly from pains, heartache, emotional, physical and sexual abuse I have done cocaine, painkillers, depressants and sleeping tablets for the past 6years I can't kick the habit and some days absolutely refuse to do anything besides one of the above I find that it kills all the pain I would like to quit but without it I feel like NOTHING