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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

⫸STICKY⫷ Australian Opiate Withdrawal Maintainance Medication Prescribers

Thanks Ash, great info there! IMO for ORT/getting clean, I think Subs are the best thing out there! I realise other's will having differing opinions but for me they really have been the best thing, the biggest help (second to therapy) for getting off the gear!
 
Not sure if this is the place to discuss it, but is the less-stoning Buprenorphine as opposed to Methadone because of how strongly Buprenorphine binds to mu and kappa opioid receptors, yet being a partial agonist at mu which explains why it's not as stoning? Would someone switching from a full mu agonist like codeine, morphine, diamorphine to Buprenorphine experience withdrawal?
 
I hope Mods dont mind but i want to post this here, I feel very Passionate about this issue and have been trying a few years now.....so i need some more voices...


Methadone/Bup are fine drugs, but guys we really need dispensing free like UK/ Canada , i mean really X a f/nite is pretty crazy out of ones pension benefit whatever, when the normal scripts are X There was a study done by i think Melbourne Uni on the costing, many run into problems, when its long term maintenance your looking at X a year. It's my understanding Methadone/bup is PBS but the cost doesn't really go down the dispensing line for client, I would like to see some kind of Fed gov rebate for pharmacies where they are giving help.... Us maintenance peeps need to start being vocal about it. This old school thought about paying fee being responsible is bit outdated, just being on the program is responsible enough, what gets me is many are still resorting to off side little jobs to pay for the program?, so how is that helping change ones life on straight narrow?. It adds more stress, I've written many letters over the years all fallen on deaf ears, I had this one Pharm who used to charge just X he was great but it was up in the Bush, many years ago now the average price is x a day, and i hear in other states as much as X now that is crazy!!!!!. If you get a minute write to health Minister on the Dispensing Fee isssue, If the Uk / Canada can do it so can we, This added stress is counterproductive imho!!!. For me XX is a big chunk out of my DSP , and some f/nites i wonder if i can make it....It shouldn't have to be an added worry when i really want to focus on other things......We dont treat Diabetics this way or others will an Illness right???


http://www.theage.com.au/national/methadone-too-costly-for-addicts-20080620-2u8v.html


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...hadone-treatment/story-e6frg6no-1225762538952

Study was by
RMIT University study by Dr James Rowe entitled A raw deal: Impact on the health of consumers relative to the cost of pharmacotherapy. As well as further establishing the effectiveness of ORT programs, the report found ‘that the need to pay regular dispensing fees is an obstacle to entering, and remaining in, opioid maintenance treatment’.
 
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Hehe, I've been around these parts for a few years now, yeah. You could probably track my ups and downs by going through my posts over the years here... would be interesting. No stress on the patronising front, I agree with everything you've said. My main issue is the fact that withdrawals are absolute hell on me at th'is stage of my usage... and I can't kick on my own without fucking up this awesome job. I'll do anything to keep it, but I also want to kick heroin, because I can't afford it, and it's holding my entire life back. '

The support on here is amazing <3 PLUR to all of you

Good luck to you too dais. I want to never use again to be honest. I've burned through $15,000 on heroin this year alone. That's... ludicrous. I keep getting amazing opportunities and fucking them up because of my fucked up mindset and habits, and it's time to break them.

I recently started on anti-depressants to help with my severe clinical depression, and thankfully (probably because I have no co-morbid issues) they have worked wonderfully. It's why I can finally try and pull my shit together.

I'm building structure around my life, taking charge, and making big changes. It's a bit overwhelming at times, I've tried to take it one step at a time, but I have a bad habit of rushing into things. Hopefully I've done it right this time.

I'm kind of going to do the same thing, i think its' a better option than trying to score use. Finding the right one Anti D though is what freaks me a bit, as i had some bad experiences with some.
 
Just as a quick update. I ended up at Roma St clinic, and am 4 months clean. Just moved to one day of takehomes. Have started my second business. Life... Is looking up :)
 
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.


Curious about this to?, what we can cant have while on the program/ does DDU override a GP?, as we age things happen in life, we need other medications, methadone doesn't always cut it.


Just as a quick update. I ended up at Roma St clinic, and am 4 months clean. Just moved to one day of takehomes. Have started my second business. Life... Is looking up :)

That's good to hear :) and your Anti D are working to.
 
MrIbis, I had a few 'experimental' tastes of H when I was 20, very nice, that taste on the back of your throat is Unforgettable. Any way three years ago I caught up with an old school mate and we had a shot for old times sake. I've blown well over $50,000 since January 2010 on Morphine Tabs. I gave up pot and grog because of Morphine. I'm thinking about returning to pot, but pot is so 1980's. What does one do? I called out Mark Butler the health minister for an unarmed hand to hand death match. I gave this clown a choice, a) my own prescription or b) Decimation. I feel for you man, it's never been the drug it is always the price.
 
I started on the suboxone program today. Have a 384mg/daily codeine habit and saw Dr. Gee at the Mediclinic in Clayton. The staff were very helpful and even expedited the Drugs and Poisons Permit process for me as soon as I got in, managed to start on 2mg today. Dr. Gee is a great fellow, very experienced, non-judgmental, compassionate and listens to your personal story as a patient. 2mg isn't really covering the headache but the rests of the withdrawal symptoms have abated, will probably have to increase to 4mg and pick up some plain old ibuprofen tomorrow, hoping to ween down to 1mg within 2 weeks and then sub-mg doses from then on, finally kick the habit in less than a month hopefully.
 
^you definitely don't need to increase to 4mg of bupe for replacing that size codeine habit! in my opinion, i should add. i would avoid raising your dose from where it is and tapering down and jumping off the bupe as soon as possible :) you can make it a very quick process if you desire and put your head to it!

have the headaches only started since taking the bupe; do they correlate? because it's a commonly reported side effect.
 
Yeah I thought so too, but I had the headache a few hours before going on the bupe. It's most definitely a withdrawal symptom. I really do want to get off it quick but the headache's terrible and I think I might need to increase. Or perhaps it's the ibuprofen I've been taking in conjunction with the codeine. I'll pick up some ibuprofen and see if that helps.

EDIT: The doc did want to start me on 4mg but I persuaded him to start at 2mg instead.
 
have you been eating healthy and drinking plenty of water keeping hydrated? nothing like that? anyway, i hope it clears up soon and the best of luck tapering off the opioids:)

feel free to continue to ask any other inquiries in here.
 
Yeah I ate and drank and took a multivitamin before I went, spent about 2 hours in the clinic and had some water after that while on my way to the pharmacy. Definitely have whole body aches and weakness now, I reckon I dosed the Suboxone film wrong, did swallow a bit too much cause I salivated a lot. Didn't even feel much of an opioid rush from the dose either (Not that I'm in the program to get stoned, but it'd be a nice bonus while I beat the monkey :p)
 
Bupe is not going to get you stoned, you don't want a bonus if you want to get clean. If you up your dose to 4mg, then your tolerance to all opiods will increase drastically. For all medicines with a long half-life, such as buprenorphine, it takes a few days of consistent dosing for the levels to reach a stable point. Your doctor should have told you this.

If I were you, I'd do my best to get off as quickly as possible, experiencing a little discomfort is to be expected. It will be harder and a lot more painful when you do eventually jump off the longer you are on bupe.
 
So far I've gone: 2mg, 4mg, 2mg, 1mg, 1mg, 0.5mg, doing 0.25mg tomorrow and then maybe miss a day, 0.25 again and jump off
 
I'm so looking for a private methadone doctor live on mid north coast willing to drive up to 100kms, this clinic is doing my head in, its making me want to use any help will be greatly appreciated.. I'm desperate..
 
mid-north coast where?

check out the original post for some contacts numbers and details which should help point you in the right direction.
 
I'm so looking for a private methadone doctor live on mid north coast willing to drive up to 100kms, this clinic is doing my head in, its making me want to use any help will be greatly appreciated.. I'm desperate..

Why is clinic doing your head in?, i think it's hit and miss with the programs, all Gov Bureaucracy etc, are you at a pharmacy or a Gov clinic?
 
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