The Addiction Help .com

Most addictions are based in relieving the pain one has, be it physical or mental. This is why people need more and more. While high there should be less pain, but coming down the pain will get worse. I would suggest a rehab centre or your local detox centres to begin the process of recovering & getting your life back. Your doctor can certainly help you with all of this as well. I do hope you will consider sobriety.

2009-05-19 05:28:56 by liz

www.sovcal.com A chronic pain patient shares her story of recovery from opiate addiction and learning to deal with chronic pain and associated ...

Ok so my Dad started taking opiates for pain but about a year later he is still addicted to pain pills. I can't convince him to stop, does anyone have any advice or know of any treatment or medication that can help him kick this habit? When he can't get his pills things get very ugly and he feels he needs them just to goto work. HELP!

Find him a Narcotics Anonymous, or even AA both I believe have a separate group just for spouses an children of addicts.There really is not much you can do, until he decides he gets help. Attending one of those meetings would probably be the best thing you can do, since they will be able to tell you the best way to handle this for your Dad and for you.

2008-07-01 13:52:18 by ultra_violent_alex

Price: $29.95

My husband and I are seeking methadone treatment for our addiction to opiate pain killers. We have been taking opiates daily for almost 2 years. My husband and I start at 2 Lortab 10 mg and go from there. We take up to 10 pills per day. Not only do we take Lortabs, but we also get Percocets, Dilaudid, Morphine, Tylenol with Codeine, etc.
I started taking such pills 6 years ago as needed after I had been prescribed Lortabs for muscle tension migraines resulting from a car accident. I never took them regularly until 2 years ago. It is very important that my husband and I seek help for our addiction. We began with prescribed pills, then sought them illegally.
Not only are we destroying our bodies, but we are spending all of our money on these dumb pills!
I have the # for a local methadone clinic and will call tomorrow to start. We are nervous and I am just wondering how the program works. Any details would help us greatly. Thank you so much... you are helping us get clean

First of all congratulations! You are taking the first step towards the rest of your life and from xperience let me say...Methadone saves lives! This is not the most supportive place to ask Methadone questions. Most of what you will get is negative feedback regarding Methadone clinics and that is not what you need right now. You need factual answers. Here are 2 sites where you will get a lot of support. Please go to...
http://www.readybb.com/nama_wespeakmetha...
http://findingnormal.webs.com/
There are experts, patients, advocates, etc at both sites to help. The first was the first support group I joined when I started and the second is my own website:) that I started because I wanted to give something back after having my life given back to me with Methadone.
I will try to give you an idea of what to expect though. Please remember that each state differs and although all clinics must go by federal regs. they can have stricter state regs or choose no state regs at all. Also ther is some variation depending on whether the clinic is regulated by CARF or JHACO.
It is in the Federal Guidelines and agreed upon between most MDs and Psychiatrists that are experienced in MAT that whether you have been shooting heroin for decades or are taking 10 Lortabs a day, that the initial dose for a patient entering an OTP is 30mgs. My clinic gave me 20mg to start. The rules also state no more than 40mg. for a first time visit. They usually advance 5mg. every other day until your withdrawal stops. This can be different for each patient mine was 85mg.
Why do you have to be there so long my first day? The reason for this is because you are a new patient. Many things will happen. You will be given a drug test. This happens before anything else. They expect to find opiates in your system. That is normal...you are seeking help for opiate addiction...LOL They do expect you to be in withdrawal though. Most clinics require 24hrs off of opiates before they will take you. They will observe you for signs of withdrawal. They will ask you if you have taken anything and if you have within the past 24hrs they may send you home. Some clinics require 48hrs. This is not so much an incompatility issue as it is a need to see how you react in withdrawal. Blood pressure readings, heart rate, etc. are considered in this. Specifically they use a scale called the COWS (Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale)If you want to peek at one go to...
http://www.naabt.org/documents/COWS_induction_flow_sheet.pdf
Therefore when you ask for an increase and say it is not working they have a baseline to go by. There are some drugs that will absolutely resrict you from admittance into most clinics. Benzodiazipines are one. Valium and Xanax, Clonipine, etc. These types of medications can be deadly when taken with methadone and are responsible for the majority of so called "Methadone related" deaths you hear about. You will be given a list of meds that are not compatible. You will also see a doctor, have blood drawn, see a nurse, and meet your counselor. It is a long day. If all goes well and you are a candidate you will be dosed and told when to come back the next day. Don't expect a miracle the first day. In fact the first 2 weeks are allowed for adjustment. You are drug tested every week. Counseling every week. As well as going every day for your medicine. If you stick with it and follow the rules there is no way you will die from Methadone! As far as trading one drug for another here is the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) states in their Frequently Asked Questions Section regarding that very claim...
Is methadone treatment just switching one addiction for another?
No– You are switching a life risking behavior (addiction) for a daily inconvenience of needing to take a medication (physical dependence). Many of us must take medication for a disease. Addiction is a disease. Look at it like this...
"It is like this. We have diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease.
Addiction is a disease.
Some people can treat their diabetes without medication. Diet & exercise alone controls it.
Some addicts can treat their their addiction without medication. NA meetings, councelling, etc. alone controls it.
However, for many diabetics diet & exercise alone isn't enough. They require medication.
For many addicts NA & councelling alone isn't enough. They require medication.
Some diabetics can take medication for a short time & eventually control their disease with diet & exercise but this is a small percent.
Some addicts can take medication for a short time & eventually control their disease with NA & councelling, etc. but this is a small percent also. Telling someone with diabetes controlled with insulin to throw away their insulin and jog the next morning is equivalent to telling someone whose addiction is being effectively controlled by methadone to throw down their methadone & go to an NA meeting.
It not only won't work but is so dangerous it could be fatal!
As far as what the other post said about it ruling your life. It depends on how you view it. For me it isure beats chasing pills all day. Granted I may have to make arrangements before going on vacation to get carries or go to a guest clinic but before I couldn't afford to go on vacation or leave my contacts that long. LOL I see it as a blessing. I dose and leave to go live a normal life. It is awesome. God Bless!

2008-06-22 14:55:45 by Frady

Price: $17.95

Yes, it can also be prescribed for pain. However, doctors have to be certified to prescribe it and can only have a certain number of patients taking it. A regular family doctor or general practitioner is like,ly not going to be able to prescribe it. The docs who are certified are mostly addictionologists and pain management doctors (who generally have another specialty as well, usually anethesiology, neurology, etc.).

2007-03-19 19:14:09 by imgetinrite

I have a horrible problem. I started taking opiate drugs (such as Vicodin and Percocets) about 4 years ago for pain. I always had legitimate prescriptions. I would take them on and off but always atleast a few weeks out of every month. I think at that point I was mentally addicted but not physically. I have horrible kidney stones and I am always passing them. I have pain constantly now. My doctor says that when a person passes so many kidney stones, that the pain receptor gets turned on and doesn't turn off again. Anyway, in September I was hosptalized for a surgery on my kidney. I was then put on all sorts of opiate drugs. I have been trying to taper off since then. It is the most horrible, painful thing that I have ever dealt with in my life. I think that it is worse than the kidney pain. Anyway, does anybody have any ideas of how I can beat this horrible addiction. I never imagined that I would be addicted to something..... I cry all the time and I am sad :(
I don't really want to go to a rehab. I was wondering about any home remedies...herbs?....anyway to get my opiate receptors back to normal so that I can have a natural high instead of only being happy when I am taking a pill? Please some help?

Ok... I don't tell you my entire story but you need to know that I'm 40, had a neuralgia that made doctors to prescribe me strong narcotics since I was 29.

So, I have taken morphine, hydromorphone for near 10 years constantly. Last year, a neurosurgery (cutting a branch of the trigeminal nerve) made me near-free of pain. But, I was physically and mentally addict to narcotics. 1-2 years ago, I need to inject (not IV, subcutaneous only) me 8-10 mg of Dilaudid (hydromorphone) a day. It's equivalent to near 500 mg of oral morphine a day.

My opinion ?

You could make it cold turkey (that was my first choice) BUT see a doctor that is competent first. It's not the question if your "a real tough guy" or if you can do it, it's you life... Yes, some can do it cold turkey, but some have heart failure too !!!

I was against taking methadone but a doctor that REALLY know how to treat with methadone convince me to try. It's not like in movies - you know, taking the methadone at the drugstore and PAF feel good for all the day. It's tough too. Adjusting the dose, then reducing constantly and slowly the dose. But I had not suffer from physical pain like when I tried cold turkey. But in this case, you have to decided solely to stop narcotics. Methadone don't do this for you...

And after +/- 1 year: methadone was stoped. Not taking it anymore, and no need to take other narcotics too. This time, there was a good ending. With the aid of methadone for me. Truly hope something will work for you !!!

And by the way, reducing the dose of my hydromorphone before trying to stop with methadone was desastrous. Maybe cold turkey, but not the "slowly stop" method. I think it's the "never stop" method !!!

2006-12-12 13:26:26 by trying~hard~to~quit