Opioids Rikodeine is a real drug and it is scary

[Tbek]

Hi,

I’m a Rikodeine addict/recovering addict. I currently pay between $300-$800 every 4 weeks to fly over to where I can receive treatment via sublocade (buprenorphine).

I’m sure you think that’s a lot of money. And it is, but it is still cheaper than the amount of money I spent travelling for and buying Rikodeine.

I read a post on here where someone had an addiction and they were asking for help, and someone responded that Rikodeine isn’t “a real drug” and that it’s “for kids” and that you “can’t be addicted” to it. There are a few select words that come to mind for people like that.

Rikodeine is a REAL drug that caused REAL addiction, and yes it can and does ruin lives.

I was addicted to this for YEARS and it took me that long to get help, because my doctors also didn’t believe it was a real addiction. I went to my doctor in withdrawal suicidal, begging for something, *anything* to help, and he told me to “just stop taking it, it won’t kill you”.

Tried the drug and alcohol clinic and they put me on a year+ waiting list, when I asked what I was supposed to do in the meantime their response was to just keep taking it.

The reason why Rikodeine is such a problem is because of doctors like mine, because of people mentioned above who take morphine and heroin and think “that wouldn’t give me a buzz, as if it would for anyone else”.

Rikodeine is a problem because it’s easy to get, and people are constantly, falsely told that it isn’t addictive, so they’ve been shopping around the state, spending hundreds of dollars a day just to curb the withdrawals that feel like death, that they wish they could just take a knife and end, selling everything they own for a couple of bucks petrol, losing jobs because they can’t go to work, can’t physically function without their high, ruining relationships with family and friends because they borrow so much money, they’re thousands of dollars in debt.

Rikodeine is dangerous because when you go to try and get help, you’re belittled, called a liar, told that it’s ‘not that bad it’s just codeine’. In the end you’re too embarrassed to get help, but you also cannot just stop.

Rikodeine is dangerous. And if you’re in a situation where you’re addicted, don’t you ever let anyone tell you otherwise when you’re trying to get help for yourself. You fight for the chance to become free of that addiction.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Hey @Tbek I'd like to give you a belated welcome to the community! We are always thrilled to have new people and I'm sure you could easily become a valued member here. I look forward to seeing you in action! First, this is more of a recovery issue in my opinion. We aren't really discussing Harm Reduction in a direct way; there's no danger involved at this point and that is what these HR forums are for. No harm done, I'm gonna send this over to Recovery, but if you want to talk more about the pharmacology of this stuff, feel free to make another thread.

There is always gonna be some douchebag who says "I could do that, that's not hard" yada, yada, yada, Don't worry. Your case is legitimate. You're not the first and won't be the last person to become addicted to Opiates.

Rikodeine is a brand name. To my knowledge, this Rikodeine almost always has Dihydrocodeine as its active ingredient. Dihydrocodeine is roughly twice as potent as Codeine. It is a prodrug, being metabolized into Dihydromorphine in the body, the same way that Codeine is a prodrug for Morphine. At any rate, they are very similar drugs. The only thing you really need to know is that it's twice as potent. With that knowledge, you can now consult the immense quantity of literature concerning Codeine and use this literature as a foundation.

A person withdrawing from a Codeine habit for the first time is arguably going to have the same experience as a person withdrawing from Heroin. Sure, Heroin is worse, but a Heroin addict knows what's coming, how to fix it and how long it will last. A person withdrawing from that Codeine habit will be blindsided by the agony of it all. The not knowing is arguably the hardest part. Whomever says it's not difficult has no idea what they're talking about.

If people don't take you seriously, just say you have a Morphine or Heroin habit. The treatment will be essentially the same, based upon the severity of your symptoms.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Yeh, a dihydrocodeine addiction is definitely just as 'real' as any other opiate/opioid addiction. I was just amazed at how much your treatment is costing. Where do you live @Tbek ?

 

[Señor Moreno]

Of course it's a serious addiction.
Allways hated people who despise wds from smaller habits than theirs.
It's like a blind man telling a dude who has just lost an eye: "hey, don't fucking complain, you totally fine!".
Well, Mister Blind, I am sorry about your situation being worse than mine, but please, fuck off.

 

[themediumlebowski]

That’s a terrible attitude to encounter, just because someone has two broken hands doesn’t mean one broken arm doesn’t hurt.

Respect on your restraint and maturity in recognising their ignorance, and especially your resolve to keep fighting and deal with the addiction

 

[Tbek]

Yeh, a dihydrocodeine addiction is definitely just as 'real' as any other opiate/opioid addiction. I was just amazed at how much your treatment is costing. Where do you live @Tbek ?

Hi! I know this is about 2 months belated, I didn’t get any notifications that anyone had replied to my post

I live in Tasmania, Aus. The laws here are pretty fked. The cost of treatment is purely and entirely travel. 3 or more years I spent trying to get help in Tasmania, before I gave up.

I was “fortunate” enough that I needed to have open heart surgery in Melbourne (Victoria). The same day I woke up after surgery was the same day the doctors at that hospital in Melbourne started treating me for my addiction.

Tasmania couldn’t do in 3 years what Victoria did for me in a day.

 

[Tbek]

Hey @Tbek I'd like to give you a belated welcome to the community! We are always thrilled to have new people and I'm sure you could easily become a valued member here. I look forward to seeing you in action! First, this is more of a recovery issue in my opinion. We aren't really discussing Harm Reduction in a direct way; there's no danger involved at this point and that is what these HR forums are for. No harm done, I'm gonna send this over to Recovery, but if you want to talk more about the pharmacology of this stuff, feel free to make another thread.

There is always gonna be some douchebag who says "I could do that, that's not hard" yada, yada, yada, Don't worry. Your case is legitimate. You're not the first and won't be the last person to become addicted to Opiates.

Rikodeine is a brand name. To my knowledge, this Rikodeine almost always has Dihydrocodeine as its active ingredient. Dihydrocodeine is roughly twice as potent as Codeine. It is a prodrug, being metabolized into Dihydromorphine in the body, the same way that Codeine is a prodrug for Morphine. At any rate, they are very similar drugs. The only thing you really need to know is that it's twice as potent. With that knowledge, you can now consult the immense quantity of literature concerning Codeine and use this literature as a foundation.

A person withdrawing from a Codeine habit for the first time is arguably going to have the same experience as a person withdrawing from Heroin. Sure, Heroin is worse, but a Heroin addict knows what's coming, how to fix it and how long it will last. A person withdrawing from that Codeine habit will be blindsided by the agony of it all. The not knowing is arguably the hardest part. Whomever says it's not difficult has no idea what they're talking about.

If people don't take you seriously, just say you have a Morphine or Heroin habit. The treatment will be essentially the same, based upon the severity of your symptoms.

Thanks for your advice. I am already very much educated on all of this though; I spent a good 3 years while trying to get help, also trying to find a way I could do it on my own. So I’ve done a lot of research on Rikodeine and its drug, pretty much every other opioid/opiate in existence. Treatments, laws, the lot.

It wouldn’t have mattered much if I told them I had a morphine or heroin habit, due to the laws and ignorance in the state I live. At the very most, they offer a safe place to shoot up. Apart from that it’s on the waiting list.

I was put on the waiting list and classified as high risk due to my inclination to suicide. After a year on the list I only had contact from them one time, and that was to see if I still needed help, because they were removing people who no longer needed the service.

 

[themediumlebowski]

Does anyone know what the current pharmacist only regulations are?

I’m not trying to circumvent the law, I just want to know what the law actually is?
Like is it one bottle a month or one a fortnight or what?

 

[Tbek]

Does anyone know what the current pharmacist only regulations are?

I’m not trying to circumvent the law, I just want to know what the law actually is?
Like is it one bottle a month or one a fortnight or what?

It depends on the state, and the pharmacy. It’s currently an S3 Pharmacist Drug, so it is over the counter, but you do NOT need a script, and (by national law) you do NOT need ID.

The reason I was able to very regularly and very reliably purchase it for 3+ years, DESPITE having a blacklist under my name, is that the recording of the purchase of Rikodeine is spotty at best.

It does NOT have to be recorded. Sure, more and more pharmacies are bringing in policy to record the sale of Rikodeine these days, but it’s still easy as hell. Half of those who DO record it use only their store system (it is not recorded on a franchise or national system), or they do not ask for ID so you can give w/e name you want.

I have deduced that there are approximately 3-4 different systems that can be used to record the sale of such drugs, which is what makes it very difficult for pharmacies to catch addicts, because when the sale is recorded, the record may only exist in THAT store, or within a group of stores with the same owner and/or system.

There is even a state vs national system that can be recorded against.


On top of all this, you will compete with the discretion of the pharmacist. I have had recorded and still been able to access a bottle mere days-a week after an original purchase. I have been refused a bottle because I have purchased a bottle in the past - whether a year or more, the pharmacy in question would sell one, and only one, bottle per person, per life, without a script.

The system is inconsistent, it is messed up, it is doomed to fail, and it does NOTHING to help those who need help.

Look, I’ll be honest; I don’t care why you want to know. I don’t care if you’re curious, I don’t care you want to get high, and I don’t care if you’re and addict trying to stay high until you can beat your addiction. This is the information I have, the facts I know; Take them and do with it what you need to do for you and your life, or for a friend and their life, or a fucking family member. Do what you need to do.

This is the reality of Rikodeine, and the ONLY reason I’m alive is because the system is so goddamned fucked that I was ABLE to feed my addiction and access it 2+ times daily for three years until I was lucky enough to get help from my damn CARDIOLOGISTS, in a different state than my own. Because cold turkey would have killed me; my MIND would have driven me to death and I know a lot of other people are/will be/could be in the exact same boat.

I don’t encourage recreational use. I don’t encourage addiction and am all for people seeking help to get clean.

But I get it. I know how hard it is to access help. I know just how MUCH that temporary high can save you from stupid, dangerous thoughts, just for a moment; just until the day help becomes accessible to you.

So fuck it. If this information saves a life then let it save a life.