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⫸STICKY⫷ Australian Opiate Withdrawal Maintainance Medication Prescribers

Catch 22 Situation - need advice

Hi,First post here! I'm not sure if this is the right place for it?But here goes. Back in the 1970s I experimented with methadone because it was freely available from doctors you just had to say you where an addict! The trouble was the doctor would register you as an addict.But being young and stupid I couldn't have cared less.This is in Western Australia. After about a year of this I decided it wasn't for me anymore so I hung out like a dog and got on with my life without drugs except for alcohol and pot. 20 odd years later I was involved in a car accident and received a triangular skull fracture that stuffed up my neck as well so that I get chronic headaches and because of my registered addict status I cant get treatment from any doctors! They treat me like I'm a piece of shit,that's if I can even get to see one,eventually it got so bad I had to go on the methadone program for pain relief. Now I'm stuck in this town and cant go home because they don't dispense methadone where I live so I cant work either. Has anyone got any ideas how I can get out of this mess? I'm 58y/o and cant believe I can be treated like this 40 years later,there must be something I can do?
 
Hi redrooster welcome to bluelight. First of all - the way you are being treated sucks. Chronic pain management is a basic human right and the fact that you are being denied decent treatment is appalling. However - fairly typical for the medical establishment to treat people identified as drug users as second class citizens. You need someone local for advice and advocacy. I would suggest contacting WASUA as a starting point. They will support people in similar circumastances and be on your side. The other place to go to is the WA Health and Disability Services Complaints Office.

Good luck with it - it might be a bit of a process but I think you have a fair chance of sorting out something better than where you are now.
 
i'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this...but i figure you folks that keep an eye on this thread are best placed to answer it.
i have been wondering - in regard to opiate maintenance therapy - what's the catch?

i understand that you are placed on some sort of registered drug addicts list. i assume this varies from state to state, but can anyone give me any more specific information on what sort of effect this has on your day-to-day life, future medical treatment, employment prospects, ability to travel?
i don't mean to bring any sort of negativity into the discussion (in mentioning what may be a downside to this sort of treatment) but i am curious to get a better understanding of what seeking maintenance therapy can mean in a bureaucratic sense. i know that being prescribed pain relief can be difficult even decades later (as mentioned redrooster's post) but can anyone tell me what other ways being part of this can restrict you?
can you still get a police clearance, for instance? 'working with children' check?

i'm fortunate enough to have a pretty manageable habit, but in the long term i'm not sure what the best options are.
it has always seemed like there must be some kind of trade-off (we're talking about governments allowing addicts to be given drugs in the midst of a "war on drugs" - there must be a catch, right?)

i know that for many users, the prospect of going on some list is a much better option than being forced into crime to support their habit, risking legal consequences that are far greater than some red-tape bullshit that may never cause a problem.
but i've known other users that shun the idea of maintenance on the grounds that it's a mark against your name forever. is this a paranoid distrust of a beneficent system, or a suspicion based on a well-founded understanding of the pros and cons?
is it common for maintenance patients to regret going on the program?

any discussion of people's knowledge and experiences would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hey guys,

I'd like to point out i'll no longer be taking part in the discussions in this thread - I'm glad i created it way back when - and I hope it serves it's purpose for the future.

I'd like to propose, that whilst this isn't the therapy for everyone (or anyone) I was pretty fucked up with gear even 2 months ago. Escape to the bush in summer with some friends randomly - take some music gear and some psychedelics and some weed and just go get loose and meditate that shit off around a camp fire with your best mates. It fucking worked for me. I'm still clean and I've not been near heroin since and don't really want anything to do with it.

So I relinquish my title as AusDDs biggest junkie fuckhead. Good luck for the future and should you need my help PM me.
 
MrIbis said:
I'd like to propose, that whilst this isn't the therapy for everyone (or anyone) I was pretty fucked up with gear even 2 months ago. Escape to the bush in summer with some friends randomly - take some music gear and some psychedelics and some weed and just go get loose and meditate that shit off around a camp fire with your best mates. It fucking worked for me. I'm still clean and I've not been near heroin since and don't really want anything to do with it.
Click to expand...

i know you won't be contributing to this thread anymore....but are you talking about treating PAWS with that treatment suggestion?
or before undertaking withdrawal (for perspective?)

...surely not acute withdrawal? :)
 
I think there is a huge 'catch' to being on maintenance. Catch for me was I was a quarter of the human being I am now. I fucked up and so stoned every day and could not see it for life of me.

I understand if your in so much pain from am accident that relief is better than living a life of constant pain, But if you were like me and basically just trying to get on the nod everyday then you need to wake and stop staring at your shoes all day.

Life is to beautiful and precious to be tied to a chemist and zombified, retarded stoned daily like I was.
 
^ thanks for the reply, i appreciate it. were you on methadone?
i lead a pretty productive life, i guess i'm trying to work out if maintenance would end up being a huge regret or if it would allow me to be more productive. too many things to take into account for anyone to answer that i suppose, everyone's situation is so different.
 
spacejunk said:
i've known other users that shun the idea of maintenance on the grounds that it's a mark against your name forever. is this a paranoid distrust of a beneficent system, or a suspicion based on a well-founded understanding of the pros and cons?
is it common for maintenance patients to regret going on the program?
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd chime in here. Although I have no personal experience of my own to contribute, I do have a close friend who is on a maintenance program and will continue to be. She is working in a good job and currently has a working with children certificate and police clearance. So, I just wanted to say that I know at least one example of someone who has been able to succeed in the system while still on maintenance therapy - though I'm sure it wasn't perfectly easy, it can work.

My friend may chime in some time to discuss in more detail or if you want, PM me and I can give her an email to contact you to discuss the ins and outs.
 
Hey Spacejunk,

On maintenance I had multiple jobs lived a fairly 'normal' life but my family and friends could see I had lost the spark I was born and gifted with.

I didn't realise how limited I was to my true potential until I went to rehab. Didn't want to go but after 3 years methadone rangien from 40 -80 and then 8mg bupe for another year I gave it a shot and that 4 months of being clean of everything except caffine changed my life so much I don't have the vocab to do it justice.

I thought just not stealing and maintaining a job meant I was all good but imho your wasting your life on that shit.

We are born to live out our full potential.

Don't kid urself cause u can act normal and hold a job means ur all good to get fucked on opiates everyday. That's the classic mind trick of the drug. (and ofcourse the debilitating withdrawals so it takes month and years to get ur brain true again.
 
thanks for your replies.
tronica, i appreciate your chiming in and (at least somewhat) clearing up that misunderstanding. illicit drug circles aren't the best sources of information regarding society and bureaucracy!
and spiritfolk, i know what you mean. i have been using daily for about 6 and a half years now, and it seems like the only way to really improve my lot is to get off the stuff, rather than get bound into some externally-imposed dosing regime.
i want to travel and be more free, not so bound to this fear of withdrawals if i'm not able to dose up once a day.
considering i am able to stay 'normal' most of the time with PST, the only possible advantage of maintenance would be accurate dosing which would enable me to taper. as it is stands i am able to get by fairly cheaply and easily, for someone with an opiate habit, anyway. the lack of consistency in poppy seed strengths makes it hard to gauge or reduce doses.

the biggest thing holding me back is the fact that i don't have the time to kick.
if i had a few weeks, then sure...but i have to earn money to pay rent etc etc and it has always just been easier to keep going.
PST, bupe and methadone all have extended WD periods which doesn't make this prospect any easier, on top of the obvious fact that i like being high.
it's not something that is looming close on the horizon, something that is desperate or something that i am panicking about - i guess i just wanted to get a fuller understanding of the options and their implications.
so thank you - it is all food for thought :)
 
afterwards i didnt have acute withdrawals, and i haven't had any PAWs either... just old turkey straight off man... just escape and see what you're missing in the world by using heroin and blowing ur money on something so selfish when you have something to offer the world mate. good luck
 
.

so im from the states and have been taking bupe.. it works a little but not really cutting it.. i was thinking about getting on methadone.. only thing is here were we have to see doc every morning at 8 and its hard to have a job when hae to do that.. is that the same way it works there?
 
I'm fuckd, I don't want to take this shit but I'm reading your crap. Can it end????????????????????????????? HELP ME.
 
Charles Bronson said:
I'm fuckd, I don't want to take this shit but I'm reading your crap. Can it end????????????????????????????? HELP ME.
Click to expand...

man relax,there is help. Seriously man you have friends right? i'm not saying this is for everyone but it damn sure worked for me. I quit a huge well documented heroin habit from just going tot hee bush and taking psychedlics witht trsutworthy mates. Just remember the world has not abandoned you - you've have abandoned it with a very narrow view of thinking.

I think what i'm trying to say here is just opening your eyes a bit and taking that extra few seconds to admire the grass or ponder like how the hell did all this come into being. you'll see anyway - there are rides that once you have bought the ticket, you're on it til it stops. Heroin is such.

damn, /end mdma scat stoned as ramble...
 
Hi I have been on methadone for a year and I have relapsed many times but I have had enough its been 10 yrs of drugs what's helped any of you stay clean? Is a long term rehab helpful or just counselling or is it all crap and the only thing that works is determination
 
^ Determination is key. Myself and probably a lot of others with whatever addictions probably hit a point where they were doing a lot of damage to their lives and either something in particular or a realization precipitated a will to change things. How you go from there though is highly individual; counselling helps a bit but like anything else it's not going to do magic, you have to put in the hard work. Trying to restructure your life to move it away from drugs and make it more productive is also important. I found that if I just kept putting myself in situations that were similar to before, relapse was highly likely. Getting work and working towards important life goals changed a lot of that for me, there were still slip ups but when you've worked hard to build something you have a lot more to lose and that helps to keep you on track.
 
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