Opioids going to a doctor & telling them i am an opiate addict

[xivixive]

long story short -

i've been addicted to opiates for over about 12 years. aside from scripts for tooth pain here and there i've never been prescribed them. but almost everyone in my family is and all my friends are. i get really good poppy seeds. i haven't gone more than 24 hours without opiates in over a decade. getting them is not a problem, however now that i can take 300mg's of oxycodone in a day and still not be out of pain, i want to get off them. this is the first time i have ever even considered quitting. all my teeth are rotten, dentist wants to yank out 12 of them in one shot - but i refuse because there is no way i will be out of pain after the procedure. it is pretty much the end of the road for me.

i went to a doctor for the first time in 15 years at the beginning of 2015. saw her for a few months, put on gabapentin and xanax. she quit 2 months ago and i haven't seen anyone since.

so i made an apt. to go to a doctor on friday 10/20/2015. i plan on telling the doctor i have a bad habit and need help getting off opiates and asking for suboxone. everyone says the doctor will help but i am doubtful and very nervous... not only abou tthe dr. but also about subs. i've only taken sub once and was sick for 2 days. i can't have that - i've worked for a decade to never be sick.

is honesty the best policy? will the doctor help me?

i don't know how to approach the situation - any advice for me?

 

[Joey24x18]

I would look for a methadone clinic in your area if that's an option.

 

[xivixive]

it isn't - closest one is 4 hours away

 

[Felonious Monk]

Methadone clinic is your best, and honestly only, option.

Your Doctor is legally prohibited from prescribing you the opiates you need to maintain your addiction. Research the Harrison Act of 1914.

 

[xivixive]

i know a doctor can't prescribe me the opiates i need - that's not what i am looking for... i am not trying to maintain my addiction with a doctor, i can do that on my own. at this point no opiates are enough to even kill pain, thats why i want to try to use suboxone to get off them... i've been told any doctor can prescribe suboxone in NY if an addict goes in seeking help getting off opiates so i am looking for advice on how to go about that

 

[pbuilder]

I think suboxone is a good choice.

I think methadone really just keeps the person in the same addiction pattern, and most methadone patients use on top of methadone and also use other drugs, it's a maintenance program that doesn't really address the problem at all.

Suboxone is unique in the way it works as an antagonist as well, and only as a partial agonist.

Good luck with your doctor.

 

[Mad Dash]

You can not go to just any doctor, you have to go to a doctor that is qualified to write suboxone. Try doing a googlesearch to find available doctors in your area. Your GP is not going to be the kind of Doc that can write it.

 

[xivixive]

i called the practice and they said the doc i am seeing can do it.

the one "sub only" doc in the area has a 3 month waiting list with a charge of $XXX to get on the list, then a $XXX fine for cancelling or rescheduling the appointment, and an undisclosed additional amount for the prescription... sounds like a scam to me. i live in a town with a population of 3000 people, surrounded by towns with less then 1000 45 mins in any direction, that is why this is not coming easy for me.

 

[tricomb]

no price discussion please. I highly doubt there's only ONE suboxone doctor in your area.

 

[xivixive]

sorry i edited out the prices.

"in my area" means i am referring to an hour drive / 40 miles in one direction. if i want to travel 150+miles one way thats where the next closest ones are. i moved to the middle of nowhere 5 years ago hoping to get away from opiates and my GF away from RX happy doctors, but we ended up being near the amish... enter unwashed seeds costing less than a six pack of cheapest beer for 1.25lbs. i figured out the seeds before the 1 month script we moved with ran out...hence the not missing a day in almost a decade.

now that i want help quitting it seems there is no way to...

 

[SluttyPeach]

OP, you will have to go to the suboxone or methadone clinic to get what you need :/

Hey tricomb, clean out your inbox!

 

[SKL]

no price discussion please. I highly doubt there's only ONE suboxone doctor in your area.

But bupe docs are easy to find: suboxone dot com has a list. But this has been known to happen in rural areas. Now that it's more widespread and some docs are licensed to treat 100, it is probably better now, but in my rural hometown, this is years ago, there was only one bupe doc and he had a similarly exploitative pricing scheme. He was a scumbag who eventually had his license pulled for allowing female patients to pay in sexual favors. Thus his bupe patients all had to travel ~2 hours to the next doctor, who in turn had a waiting list ... it was disastrous. 30 people, quite a few of them my friends, back on dope the day the last Rx went out.

 

[xivixive]

skl, thanks for backing me up.... i am in a very rural area and check sub dot com when i made the decision to try and quit last month.... that is how i know there are 2 within an hour (one of which is the pricing scam guy) the rest are located just under 2 hours away.

i would probably not even be quitting if i didn't need major oral surgery and being sent home with an rx for 30 norcos. but i have several teeth broken down to the gum line w/ gums growing over whatever is left, constant bleeding, infections, etc.....

i also lost my job a few months ago and where i am located the only places to work are factories - all which require a drug test, then a physical (plus i'm sure a dipstick test there) then a random test within first 90 days. i have two kids so need to be working. also why i cant be sick for a week. my wife is legit disabled and cannot even lift our 20lb baby, much less carry him up/down stairs while i'm at work 45mins away fulltime. i don't want to lose the house i own due to unpaid taxes. shit is finally all coming to a head....

 

[Felonious Monk]

I didn't realize that was your situation. If you called the practice and they said the Doctor will write for suboxone that's your best information/option right there.

 

[cj]

You cant just get suboxone from any doctor. They have to be licensed to prescribe it. Most of the time the whole practice is just doctors who write suboxone scripts for cash money every month. Its not terrible but most treat you like cattle. No individualized care at all. Just go in eyes wide open and retain a normal GP for when you get sick or what not. I was prescribed subs for 5 years if you have specific questions.

 

[SKL]

^Yes to all of that and I was on bupe for years too, feel free to reach out to me as well. Not just any doc can Rx but if they say they can maybe he does have the certification, and not all docs who do are cash and carry cattle herders, although most are. (I was lucky enough to have a full service concierge croaker lol.) Some GPs and psychiatrists get the certification (it's easy enough to get) and do it fairly low key.

 

[Treefa]

I've been interested in the new Zubsolv, because I like the idea of tablets better than the damn nasty sub films.
Probably expensive I imagine, who knows. I just hate to literally be FORCED onto bupe or meth when I KNOW for a fact I would maintain much better on 60mg MSContin 2-3X a day, but doctors are so hit and miss....I've been getting 90 10/325 Norcos for 2 years now and i'm scared if I ask the doctor for something stronger, or without the Tylenol that he will force me off the meds, and back into pain.

I can relate to your situation OP since the 30th I went through 180 Norco 10mgs and somehow I don't have but 2 left, 1 50mg tramadol, and 1.5 1mg Ativan......TWO FUCKING PILLS....I have nightmares just like this lol, I find 2 measley pills in a cabinet think "that's not enough no fucking way gotta find more" then usually I wake up with NO pills.
Withdrawal used to be easy but it get's worse everytime....the physical pain is worst, I can deal with the depression suicidial thoughts, chills and loose bowels, but I CANNOT take the pain in my bones/muscles back neck shoulders knees...so mainly my entire center mass hurts 24/7.
That's why I haven't asked for suboxone, because it don't help the pain much, and methadone gave me heart palpitations/anxiety/dysphoria....mind you I've never opened up to a doctor about my OPIATE ABUSE for fear of loosing my OPIATE RX....nevermind the fact that I function 20X better on a full-agonist, they're SCHEDULE II and i'm only 21.
But shit, Hydro is schedule II now so next appointment I might as well just bite the bullet, say "Doc, the pain is back I need something stronger or different cause I have to function" which he'll answer 1 of 3 ways....1.) no more meds go CT....2.) Have you tried methadone/suboxone?
Or 3.)(least likely) have you tried the new Zohydro/Hysingla/MScontin....if he picked #3 i'd have a shot at managing my pain and opiate habit...if not i'm going down,,,down,down down down down....

Alas I wish you luck OP, my withdrawal hasn't even BEGUN and i'm in a perpetual state of nightmares and suicidal thoughts (better atm).

PS. make sure youre done with opiates for good if you go on MEth/Subs they will JACK YOUR TOLERANCE UP HIGH...that's a big part of the reason i'm in such bad shape atm....last year this time I found a good connect for Subs on the street....used em when I ran out of my Rx....like this On hydro 1.5 weeks, on sub 3 weeks..Get refill back on hydro for 1 week, sub for 3 weeks...
Did that from last august-this July and my tolerance is higher than it'd ever been, and only through complete abstinence of SUBOXONE and LONG ACTING OPIATES has my tolerance finally started adjusting itself back to a reasonable level I've been at least 2.5 months with NO suboxone and it's slowly getting back to fair tolerance.

Good luck to you all addicted to opiates recreational, or therapeutic, doesn't matter in the end, we're all helplessly hoping for relief, at least I am and i'll pray for all of you..

 

[manboychef]

To those wishing to try suboxone. It is not a long term treatment. It is used to stabalize your life and put you in a good place to withdrawal. If you stay on for a long time (what most of those cattle ranchers want) you will start experience the negative psychological effects that suboxone creates. The best bet is a fast taper to help mitigate withdrawals and to cease using opiates with comfort meds, a support group, and a program. Methadone is much better for long term maintenance though it has inherent risks. Methadone also works better when you have a support network and are dealing with your mental health issues.

I was hooked on opiates for quite a long time (over a decade). I tried everything. Short taper suboxone, long term suboxone maintenance, methadone maintenance...however it always left me wanting more. I never worked on the problems that caused me to use in the first place. My life seemed so dark and out of control. I did not think I would ever see an end to use, however I was able to beat it, and it is still an everyday struggle.

I guess if maintenance will work for you, good. Just make sure you do the work to heal your mind and spirit as well.

 

[xivixive]

i don't even know how to approach this conversation with a doctor.... i guess i'm just going to give them my life story and hope for the best...

i've only taken suboxone once (4mg) and got sick for almost two days. back then 100mg of oxycodone would get me really high though. now i can't get high... well maybe i could (thats the addict talking)... but if i can take 300mg's w/ a cup of PST and not even feel it kick in i am looking at this as the end. game over...

i hope i get rx'd the subs... i don't know what i'm going to do if i don't.... i've never considered suicide before now but i found myself thinking about it several times a day for the past week... to be in constant pain, and for it to be impossible to get relief because i've blown my tolerance through the roof, is the most depressing thing ever. i love opiates and to be unable to get relief from them anymore feels like it would feel if i found out my wife was cheating on me...

never mind WD sickness but waking up with my mouth caked in blood, sore from infection, knowing i need 12 teeth pulled and won't be able to get pain relief after the procedure is really hitting me hard. once i go to the doctor and tell them i am an addict, then it will be on my chart permanantly... no doctor will ever take anything i say seriously... what if i get cancer? what about a kidney stone? bladder infection? all these things can and probably will happen to me and i won't be able to get any help. i'll be undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, ignored, critisized, looked down on, judged as a scumbag loser forever... my coccyx is deformed, i have scoleosis, degenerating discs... after the addict gets stamped on the chart no one is going to help me ever again.....

after 15 years taking opiates i have finally realized - you can't win. you just can't. unless maybe if you are a millionaire...

 

[dognasher]

OP, I think you need to slow down.

First - you say you don't know how to approach the doctor? I'm confused there - if he is, in fact, trained and licensed to give out Subs, he has heard your story before and will hear it again. Just be straight up. Being honest will help you in your recovery too, because I'm fairly certain you are probably lying to yourself quite a bit right now. I know I was at the end of my addcition.

Second, as somebody who is on Subs, for the long term, I ask you to consider this option CAREFULLY. Right now you are desperate because your tolerance is high but do you really want to stop for good? A Sub doc is probably going to encourage you to be on them for a while - they all do - and you're gonna have to have some resolve to do a fast taper off them.

Like manboychef said, a short term taper is ideal, but if it's between addiction/death and a somewhat normal life, then maybe long term sub treatment is for you. My opinion is that maybe it is - because it sounds like you have some work to do to get this sticky situation sorted out.

I would ask all the questions you are asking here to the doctor. Just be up front - with yourself and with your healthcare provider. It's the only way out of this merry go round.