Re: Question about withdrawal from narcotics

[Guest guest]

Hi Lori,

I can understand your concern about withdrawal from narcotics. It's true

that it can be hell. There is a new drug on the market, (actually not brand

new)

to help with the

withdrawal process. It works very well. My husband is on the medication

now. There are different names for the drug. He is on Subutex. It's a

sublingual medication which prevents the body from the severity of withdrawal.

When

you see your doctor ask him/her about it. If you want more information please

email me.

Kathleen/Santa , Calif.

[Guest guest]

Withdrawal from our medications does not have to be a hard nor

painful process if done correctly by your doctor. Almost any drug

that has addiction or tolerance problems including drugs used for

heart disease and other medical problems can be reduced in small

measurments in order to either reduce or to completely keep the ill

effects of withdrawal from happening, its just that it is not done

correctly for a number of reasons including the prescribing doctor

refusing to treat you anymore and leaving you to deal with

withdrawals on your own, which is actually neglect and the doctor

should be responsible for this.

This is one of those subject thats does raise my temper since it is

so unjust.

> Hi Lori,

>

> I can understand your concern about withdrawal from narcotics.

It's true

> that it can be hell. There is a new drug on the market, (actually

not brand new)

> to help with the

> withdrawal process.

[Guest guest]

Hello,

This discussion about addiction has gone on for years with doctors to the

point of ridiculousness. It's so bad that people do not get adequate treatment.

It makes me furious!

When my mother was dying one doctor was totally against her getting Demerol

at home that I was to inject for her. I was so angry at this moron that I

stopped the whole meeting. I asked if it really mattered since she was going to

die anyway and walked out of the meeting. This was may years ago and I don't

see much of a change.

I think the general public gets caught up in the words addiction and

dependence. With the drugs I'm on someone would most definitely get high. I

don't!

It controls my pain most of the time. Yes, I'm dependent on these medications

to do just what they were prescribed to do. If I stopped them today I would

get very sick. I spent years trying to control the pain and I used street

drugs to do it. Only because I could not get adequate medication to control

what

the many surgeries had left me with. Thank God I found doctors years ago who

would treat the problems I have with the correct medications. I know the

difference between addiction and dependence. I went through a 12 step program

to

get off the street drugs. This month (June25) I will celebrate 18 years of

recovery. I still have daily pain that would put most " normal " people in the

hospital. We all do here. Today I'm glad to have the doctor's who will help

me attain a level of comfort to continue to work, altho limited and take care

of my family most of the time.

Sorry to go on and on..... As you can tell this subject gets me goin'.

Kathleen/Santa , Calif.

[Guest guest]

Dear Kathleen,

I understand completely. I have seen relatives dying of cancer, too, and was

told " she just has to live with the pain, there's really nothing we can do.. "

What bullcrap! Our nation COULD reduce chronic pain, cancer pain etc. but

simply chooses NOT to. What is WRONG with our doctors, the DEA, etc.?

I have read that the risk of addiction is less than one percent. WAY less than

1 in 1,000 or something like that. That the risk is almost nonexistent. Yet

doctors are still so reluctant to help patients.

My first uro would not only not give me any pain relief, he told me to " live

with it " when I described my symptoms and " don't be a crybaby. " I told hiim I

was urinating every ten minutes at night because of the pain and getting no

sleep for months on end, and he laughed and said " Oh how do you sleep then? "

And I said " I don't. " And he was sooooo amused! Obviously he thought I was

lying.

And this was a man who was a uro, who was supposed to be an expert on IC because

that is in the field of urology!

Even my current uro, who at least let me try the tricyclics (which didn't work

for me), Elmiron and other treatments, and here I am still in unrelieved pain,

only gave me a script for 25 Percocet to last me until 27 July. He gave them to

me in late May. So I have to figure out, which night do I get to get four hours

of sleep? And of course in pain the rest of the time. And he tells me " you

REALLY don't want to use these narcotics, they are terrible drugs.... "

But I hope the pain management clinic will help me. That's my last hope now at

this point.

I share your anger.

Blessings,

Lori

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I understand the dilemna of pain meds too. I still have a hard time getting my

mind over the fact that I need these drugs. It's even harder finding docs who

do as well. There is such a stigma and it really isn't neccessary is it?

That's what they were made for. But yet, I've gone off pain meds just to see if

I was better and didn't need them. And that's where I am right now. I do need

them and now I have to convince my doc as well. I go to a pain management

center here but the head of it is a phsyciatrist and he has to corridinate with

my GP. And if I run out of meds too soon trying to get more is like a 3 ring

circus. Each doc says to see the other doc and round and round. Because of

that I too had withdrawls after being on the pain patch for a year and 2 had

come off too soon so I used them up on a Friday and couldn't get 3 docs to get

it together to get more so I had withdrawls so bad I ended up going to the drug

rehab to get off of them easier. The withdrawls just made me want to run away

from myself and I couldn't. So it was helpful to go there and get treatment and

only stay there 3 days rather than the 21, as they knew I wasn't a 'druggie. I

had already gotten over the worst of it on my own but I didn't think I could

make it.

And this is confession time for me. I understand pain making me very uptight

and grumpy. It also makes me forgetful to the harm of my families finances.

Has that happened to anyone? We have to file for bankruptcy because I have been

unable to work and we are barely surviving. That's a great guilt trip alone.

But, add to it that I was sued by the hospital for monies owed and I missed the

hearing so they judged against me and last Friday they took all our money out of

our bank accounts and we didn't even have money for gas or milk. I had gone to

the store for those very things and I couldn't pay for them. I couldn't figure

out why. I got home and in the mail was a letter from the bank with the judges

statement. Soooo, that's my horror story for the day. The guilt that I have

over all this is very high. I try to tell myself that I am still worth

something...but I haven't figured out what that is yet. I'm just a lump in my

bed or couch and I'm only 38. What in the world am I going to feel like when

I'm 60?...ok..no more pity party but I'm sure there are many of us here feel the

same way and maybe have done similar things. I'm trying to get it together so I

am on top of things more....hope it works.

Take care all of you and thank you for this group.

Dawn in Montana