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Methadone Maintenance.. Anyone?

R

Ruby4

Greenlighter
Joined
Oct 8, 2011
Messages
1
Hi,

I'm new here. Have been on MMT for three or so years now. (Biodone 170mg - same thing as methadone I believe). Currently no plans to taper off.. I'm too afraid of relapse. Terrified of it!

I came to be on MMT after my oxycontin use (for chronic pain) turned into abuse, and became out of control. I have nobody I can really talk to about this. A few close friends and family know, but it's not the same as talking to somebody who *gets* me. I'd love to hear from others who are on this, and their experiences of it.

I wrote 'My Story' - only when I went to post it on my profile, it disappeared. Don't know what happened, but when I get time I'll re write it for anybody whose interested. Basically I began with a mild problem.. when I began doctor shopping to get enough endone (5mg instant release oxycondone) and got caught out. I then became involved with a rather unscrupulous doctor, and by the time he'd finished with me I was on extremely dangerous, toxic quantities of oxycontin (up to 7 x 80mg per day!!) and pethidine - 4-6 ampules. I landed in hospital. As he had warned, nobody believed me and I nearly was charged with all sorts. It's taken me four years, but I'm at the point of starting to feel really angry about this man, and what he did to me when I was at my most vulnerable.

Has anybody else had any experiences with bad doctors? Oh the things I could tell you!

Well.. I just wanted to introduce myself briefly. People seem lovely here. Looking forward to getting to know you!

Bye for now,


Rose :)

(F, 39, Brisbane)
 
Hey, welcome to BL and AUDD.

You're right it's a great community here, and we have a fair few who've been through opiate addiction/treatment like you, so you'll be able to find any help or support or discussion you need :)
 
Welcome to Bluelight. What I would give for a doctor that "unscrupulous".
 
opi8 said:
Welcome to Bluelight. What I would give for a doctor that "unscrupulous".
Click to expand...

What *would* you give? Your free will? Your virtue? Your reputation? Your pride? Your well-being and peace of mind? Five years of your children's lives? Treasured relationships with family and friends? Your integrity? Your health?
 
Well imagine the same habit, but instead of having a doctor who'll give it all to you nice and legally at $6 a box, you're paying upwards of $40 a pill or having to use cut up heroin, buying off unreliable and possibly dangerous dealers, facing arrest if you're caught, injecting to increase potency because your tolerance is so high and facing the huge number of subsequent health risks, getting sick every time you can't score or can't scrounge up the cash...

I'm not trying to downplay your addiction or the effect it had on you, an addict is an addict, but given the choice of the two, every single addict would choose an unscrupulous doctor over a constant life of unreliable, expensive and potentially dangerous drug deals... every single one.
 
well said crankinit!

you have summmed it up perfectlly.

Rose may not understand what you are saying, she may not understand it at all cuz shes never been on our side of the fence.


Yes the dodgey doctor gave you wayyyyyyyyy too much pain medications. but at the end of the day it is still your own freewill. your own decision that to keep going back to the same doctor and getting prescribed more and more pain meds.
Yes the doctor is also at fault here for over prescribing. But you need to realise you and the doctor were both in it together, partners in crime. And it is as much your fault as much as his :)

thats all :)

and welcome to BL
 
Hi Rose

34 M Brisbane/Tweed Heads/Coolangatta

Ive read a few things i don't agree on here so i wanted to give you a kind word or two.

The fact is, in Brisbane and everywhere in Australia the GP who wrote your last script is legally responsible to write the next. Its also illegal for you to go to another Doctor and ask for Oxycontin if another Doctor is prescribing you. So no, its not that easy, you have been on 7x80's per 24hrs and i believe it. i had up to 5x80s in 24hrs at one stage, prescribed from the doctor that is.

So now your completely physically addicted and there is no help. There is a difference between an addict and a junkie. i guess you never started out a junkie did ya? i bet this didnt happen until you came to using illegal drugs at the end of your script. Meaning after those 20 pills are finished. you would have needed a new script every 3 days by the sounds. I understand what your going through, or been through

iam now on 200mg Biodone. my story is very similar to yours. not sure if you had 16screws into your spine but i know how it feels. I was never a Junkie 2 start with and those days are over, iam still an addict but. in fact in Brisbane there is Zero support system apart from Methadone Biala Program that really isnt structured to help pain patients. those patients GPs turn into addicts and then don't want to support the addiction, throw you into the 2 hard basket where they never have to worry about you. never, your out of there hands now

we have all had bad GPs i think. that guy who prescribed to you sounded like he was trying to help you but was un-expirienced to do so.

My story is, i used Oxy properly for 8-9 months. then abused it for a few months.

then i was forced onto methadone, i never wanted to go on it to start with, then a guy @ biala named Jeremy Hayler part of the DDU told me it would be for 6months, cause he knew methadone wasnt going to work for me. there are heaps and heaps of proffesionals that understand dosing once a day with methadone is not sufficient. before he put me onto methadone he has me Picking up daily and twice daily for months for oxycontin. i mean that was hell, cause i was and am now really disabled. but that don't matter to them. (i had no car either)

I would hope to see things change in Australia for real chronic pain patients. you truely are vulnerable because you are a sick person needing health care. This is not the same as being a Heroin addict by choice (because the inital shot of H is a choice, My 16 year old sister died from a single injection after running away from home). I'm sorry if you guys are offended by this but what i go through daily is because of an addiction i was given in Hospital and continued because of there fuck up. Before this i had never used anything more then tramadol.

Since my problem with Oxy i have not abused anything since. nor before. people say Tramadol is a opiate i think so ive been on these drugs for 9 years or bit more.

for those guys reading this, yes iam a very opinioned person about what ive gone through. I'm sorry if ive offended any of you. I had to score dope of the street in Brisbane & Sydney 4 times when i never had Oxy. So i agree, we are lucky not to have this lifestyle. i hated every min of it. Because my spinal problems are significant i can't go off these drugs. not like somebody who doesnt have spinal pain like this anyway. I wish i was in your position sometimes where its possible to ween off everything and then up to you weather you get back on it or not

peace
 
i have to say this also. at the very start of the Oxy abuse problem i looked for help everywhere. Even The Royal Brisbane Hospital (various departments) where i had the surgery and nothing. Lets say this kind of shit happens everyday, why isnt there a system set up for it? The 1 Size Fits all Throw everybody into the Methadone program fix is just discrimination, unhealthy, cost cutting (disabilty pension is $X.XX per week on Oxy, instead i pay $XX for methadone) $XX x52weeks x 5 years? 20 years?

initally it was the correct path for me to take. Oxy has a real bad hold on me. Its an evil lifestyle. If you don't abuse it, its really good. i needed methadone to get me leveled in life. however its not great dosing once a day, it also has alot of breakthrough pain

when i say Methadone i mean Biodone
 
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Hi Rose

34 M Brisbane/Tweed Heads/Coolangatta

Ive read a few things i don't agree on here so i wanted to give you a kind word or two.

The fact is, in Brisbane and everywhere in Australia the GP who wrote your last script is legally responsible to write the next. Its also illegal for you to go to another Doctor and ask for Oxycontin if another Doctor is prescribing you. So no, its not that easy, you have been on 7x80's per 24hrs and i believe it. i had up to 5x80s in 24hrs at one stage, prescribed from the doctor that is.

So now your completely physically addicted and there is no help. There is a difference between an addict and a junkie. i guess you never started out a junkie did ya? i bet this didnt happen until you came to using illegal drugs at the end of your script. Meaning after those 20 pills are finished. you would have needed a new script every 3 days by the sounds. I understand what your going through, or been through

iam now on 200mg Biodone. my story is very similar to yours. not sure if you had 16screws into your spine but i know how it feels. I was never a Junkie 2 start with and those days are over, iam still an addict but. in fact in Brisbane there is Zero support system apart from Methadone Biala Program that really isnt structured to help pain patients. those patients GPs turn into addicts and then don't want to support the addiction, throw you into the 2 hard basket where they never have to worry about you. never, your out of there hands now

we have all had bad GPs i think. that guy who prescribed to you sounded like he was trying to help you but was un-expirienced to do so.

My story is, i used Oxy properly for 8-9 months. then abused it for a few months.

then i was forced onto methadone, i never wanted to go on it to start with, then a guy @ biala named Jeremy Hayler part of the DDU told me it would be for 6months, cause he knew methadone wasnt going to work for me. there are heaps and heaps of proffesionals that understand dosing once a day with methadone is not sufficient. before he put me onto methadone he has me Picking up daily and twice daily for months for oxycontin. i mean that was hell, cause i was and am now really disabled. but that don't matter to them. (i had no car either)

I would hope to see things change in Australia for real chronic pain patients. you truely are vulnerable because you are a sick person needing health care. This is not the same as being a Heroin addict by choice (because the inital shot of H is a choice, My 16 year old sister died from a single injection after running away from home). I'm sorry if you guys are offended by this but what i go through daily is because of an addiction i was given in Hospital and continued because of there fuck up. Before this i had never used anything more then tramadol.

Since my problem with Oxy i have not abused anything since. nor before. people say Tramadol is a opiate i think so ive been on these drugs for 9 years or bit more.

for those guys reading this, yes iam a very opinioned person about what ive gone through. I'm sorry if ive offended any of you. I had to score dope of the street in Brisbane & Sydney 4 times when i never had Oxy. So i agree, we are lucky not to have this lifestyle. i hated every min of it. Because my spinal problems are significant i can't go off these drugs. not like somebody who doesnt have spinal pain like this anyway. I wish i was in your position sometimes where its possible to ween off everything and then up to you weather you get back on it or not

peace i have to say this also. at the very start of the Oxy abuse problem i looked for help everywhere. Even The Royal Brisbane Hospital (various departments) where i had the surgery and nothing. Lets say this kind of shit happens everyday, why isnt there a system set up for it? The 1 Size Fits all Throw everybody into the Methadone program fix is just discrimination, unhealthy, cost cutting (disabilty pension is $X.XX per week on Oxy, instead i pay $XX for methadone) $XX x52weeks x 5 years? 20 years?

initally it was the correct path for me to take. Oxy has a real bad hold on me. Its an evil lifestyle. If you don't abuse it, its really good. i needed methadone to get me leveled in life. however its not great dosing once a day, it also has alot of breakthrough pain

when i say Methadone i mean Biodone
Click to expand...

Surely your physician would've tried Jurnista 64 mg/32 mg one pill of each a day plus 8mg for breakthrough pain!

Also bro, prices are not allowed on this forum.

Sorry about your sister.

Maybe you should look for alternative methods of controlling your pain, something less addictive, such as Tramadol 200 mg twice daily + 2 x Codeine Phosphate 4 times a day...with an Authority prescription for both with repeats and amendments in quantities, Medicare (for the Tramadol) and the DDU (for the S8 Codeine) will be approved. Your financial issues will also be taken care of under the PBS Concession Card Holder.

I'm a 4th year medical student, in four to six years, I'll get into General Practice.
 
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Charles Bronson thanks for the reply. I know you mean well mate but i really have been f'd over by QLD Health. What Physician's do and don't do would suprise you in so many ways. Please google Harrington Rods, MRSA infection in spine, then hit me back with, less addictive twice daily, i wish :). I'm also not sure if its the infection that cuased all these issues. Hospitals/Doctors are well known for giving you pieces of information about things, that way you don't run out and sue right away, for real, i don't know why but thats how it happens. part of my stomach was like paralised or numb to the touch i couldnt feel in areas for over 8-10 months

can i ask you something? are you on or ever tried comming off that amount of Oxycontin? the reason they use this drug on me is because of the size of the problem. I have been on Tramadol 200SL x2 Twice daily for a couple of years before surgery (4years). So if i am sounding rude mate. I have had back pain for 20 years. however the past 6 years have been a different story

I'm already a PBS Concession Card Holder and that don't mean shit. for real. There are a huge list of shit that don't cover. Including Endoscopy fee from stomach ulcers gained from this treatment. Also Testoserone treatment is $150 a pop and no PBS. However the effects of being im-mobile, opiates, other have sent my levels to the shitter within 12months of surgery.

of course your going to stick up for what you know scientifically and practically. so am i man, i have a great understanding of what is happening to me health wise.

being this overweight (170kgs) alot of people think i know nothing about the body or health. its quite another matter. Its why iam so upset about it at times.

its not right that a Health System take away a mans ability to walk and live a life. the truth is alot of drugs don't help certain peoples pain levels for 1 reason or another. yet that person is forced to sustain on a drug that does not work because he is prone to addiction

guys please google Harrington Rods n jax in the images section.. thats me with the beard very top result on the page. my xray is the very first image when u search in google
 
Don't worry about it mate. I just converted oxycodone to hydromorphone, using cross tolerance at it's maximum level...:)

The Harrington rod eventually became obsolete as newer, more effective types of spinal instrumentation were developed. In 2004, it says you had an operation, and yet the decline of the use of the Harrington rod was around about 1998.

Looks fucking painful bro.

Sorry, it's all I can say, sorry that AusHealth has fucked you over.
 
This is not the same as being a Heroin addict by choice (because the inital shot of H is a choice, My 16 year old sister died from a single injection after running away from home). I'm sorry if you guys are offended by this but what i go through daily is because of an addiction i was given in Hospital and continued because of there fuck up. Before this i had never used anything more then tramadol.
Click to expand...

Everything in life is a choice, and every addict has a reason for using. I've never met an addict who didn't have some kind of problem they were trying to self medicate, whether it be physical, psychological, whatever. Nobody just wakes up one day and decides to become a junky, and those who use opiates to medicate physical pain aren't somehow less of an addict or more 'legitimate' than those who use them to self-medicate psychological problems. Trying to draw those kinds of lines to legitimize your own use is just perpetuating the same one-sided point of view that caused doctors to treat you the way they did regarding opiates.

Your story is shitty, and I'm genuinely sad for what you've been through, but every addict has a story in the end.
 
Crankinit, well said. I get where you are coming from, but someone who isn't willing to take strong painkillers for a consistent strong pain (Spinal disc herniation) i.e. my father because he doesn't want to set a bad example for an already predisposed to addictive benzodiazepines and other drugs (Codeine/Amphetamine etc.) son of his/doesn't want to rely on pain killers for the rest of his life. He experiences real bad sciatica/nerve injury as a result of the herniation, he's a Veteran, so I'm sure that his allowed Lyrica, but he won't take that shit, because he has seen what it's done to myself. Fucked me up.

So you're right. It all boils down to choice. An addict doesn't choose to suck dick for crack rock or a 20 mg OxyContin tablet, a potential addict doesn't wake up in the morning and say 'Fuck it, today I'm going to start the end of my normal, drug-free life', or an addict doesn't go to various doctors to score oxycodone in exorbitant amounts. I'm sure that the OP and the follow up guy knew what type of shit they were getting in to, but hey, that's the name of an addict's game. They're both addicts, one being an addict for life, the other dudes future is uncertain (no offense here)....
 
Rose Petal said:
Sorry.. I'm getting over it.. but I still get so bitter at times.
Click to expand...

Understand the bitterness. It was irresponsible for the doctor to give you so much I think...

On the other hand, with that kind of thing I'd have trouble blaming anyone but myself :( you probably do this to some extent also. I guess I've never been in that situation though, so I can't know what I'd think for sure. I have had a doctor who was maybe a bit too liberal with his script pad, but I just thought he was a really nice dude...just not the doctor for me in the long run.

Welcome to BL!

Every addict has a story for sure, I've heard quite a few sad ones at the methadone clinic. Have to wonder how true some of them are but I notice a common theme is blaming others for their problems. Now, I'm not comparing you to these people at all Rose, you should like a very nice, intelligent person. It's interesting though...I wonder if this is some self-preservation mechanism where the brain just can't cope with the idea of some of the bad choices they've made...As I said I'm the opposite - I come down hard on myself and myself alone for my poor choices, even when maybe I shouldn't. Good part of this is that I learn from my mistakes pretty quickly :)

edit - some extra thoughts I just had...If I didn't know better, and I placed my faith in a doctor to give me proper medical care (not overtreating or undertreating) then I can see where the blame does fall on their shoulders moreso than your own. I guess the trouble is that I DO know better. Not everyone is like this though...many people have no idea about common opiate dosages and that kind of thing.
 
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Apparently a circumcision doctor can give out pethidine shots to patients? WTF?

Something seriously shady going on here rose petal. Wouldn't fuck with him, he probably diverges large amounts of prescription painkillers for the national demand for strong opioids.
 
This topic is interesting, I am on methadone not for pain, have been 10yrs low dose @20mg, recently GP prescribed Oxy for breakthrough pain, but i am worried DDU will go ape at me if i lodge script? loose takehomes, the general rule of thumb is up the methadone , is that always effective?.
 
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