Warning, Super Long Post Ahead....sorry, but i got alot to say on this.
Tchort while I understand your opinion on methadone/suboxone bein valuable to people with addictions, I really feel like its ridiculous to use that for such a minor addiction. Bupe and Methadone are strong opioids, and I feel the same way I would if somebody was sayin they had addiction to Kratom, or Codeine. Especially the OTC codeine pills in aus and the uk. It dont make sense to replace a weaker opioid with a stronger one. The dependence on those when they used in a SMT or MMT program is longer and stronger than the original dependance to begin with. It dont make sense.
All withdrawals suck, no matter wat, we all kno that, but now its like everybody is addicted to everything. Somebody posted in here about bein addicted to benadryl? WTF? Soon people is gonna say they addicted to OTC pseudoephedrine cough and cold pills too. These might be "addictions" but they are much more psychological than heavier addictions to strong street drugs. and when the drug itself is a relatively weak drug to begin with , the WDs is also gonna be weak compared to other drugs. sure somebody who never went thru heroin WD is gonna think that kratom WD is the worst shit in the world, but i feel like at some point, people aint got to be babied that much. We all want to be comfortable , but its like somebody with a stubbed toe tryin to convince themself and their doctor that they need oxycontin for the pain. It just aint necessary.
Even when you got bad back pain, the first treatment is to try physical therapy, go to a chiropractor, cortisone shots, massage, anti inflammatory drugs and THEN painkillers. It should be the same with addiction, if that addiction aint CLEARLY destroying the persons life and health. In a case where somebodys out of control and clearly causin damage to their mind body and spirit then sure bring on the mmt/smt, no questions asked. But if somebody is dealin with a non severe addiction to a weaker opioid why not try other options first to see if they work, and save the heavy duty shit for once there aint nothing else left to try?
I aint tryin to down play, simplify, or put down other ppls experiences since all pain is relative and to me heroin WD is horrible pain, when it cant compare to the pain of a soldier with his leg blowed off layin in the street in Iraq somewhere. HE is somebody who REALLY needs relief. So it aint like i think heroin and other strong opiate WD is somehow more deserving of treatment or comfort since there is always someone who needs releif more, but im just sayin, to a person whose extent of opiate use is some tylenol 3's with codeine, or a legal otc med like loperamide, or a weak plant pseudo opiate like kratom, they probably dont realize just how minor and weak their WD symptoms really are.
When you are sick, feelin like you want to die, with every muscle screaming in pain, your body on fire one second and deep freeze in ice the next, pouring sweat, eyes like fuckin dinner plates, confused, unable to walk a straight line, feelin like throwing up and shitting all at once while you dry heave cuz you aint been able to eat all day from the sickness....headache feelin like a meat cleaver is stuck in your forehead, so weak you cant barely stand up without your eyes fadin to black for a second and almost passin out, THIS is withdrawal, its torture, you want to put a .45 slug in your head. I dont think that slight restlessness, fatigue, and watever symptoms one poster mentioned (They even said that they didnt experience regular wds just a couple semi uncomfortable symptoms) really calls for introducin a strong ass opioid like methadone or sub. its counter productive.
Even when people have small ass habits for "real" (i sayin that in quotes since its arguable wat a real opiate is) shit that actually crosses the BBB and gets you HIGH, like hydrocodone, i still dont think its a wise plan to start on the maintenance programs. I see the ppl here post about it all the time, they be like "OMG, Please help me, I use 20-30mg of hydrocodone a day! I am so worried about kicking! I need meds for withdrawls, i want to get on suboxone!" its pointless.
A habit like that will cause some minor wd, but its foolish to get on a substance created to help users with addictions to a much stronger opiate, becuz it just digs you in a deeper hole. Its like the cure is stronger than the illness in this case. a doctor dont operate on a sprained ankle. the treatment gotta be appropriate to the problem, and i dont feel like maintenace is in proportion to the severeness or lack of it, of "loperamide addiction". People on heroin, oxycodone, dilaudid, morphine, wtfever, with serious, long term addictions, NEED suboxone and methadone becuz their addiction is so strong that none of the usual things can help.
So IMO there aint no reason that a person with a small habit* should not be feelin fine with a combo like clonidine, a benzo like klonopin/valium (xanax dont seem as helpful in WD IME), antihistamine like Vistaril, a muscle relaxer (flexeril, zanaflex) and some good rest, good food, and distraction like TV, magazines, and movies. If that person can smoke some weed too, shit, they are home free. (*And obviously, these doses of loperamide aint small at all they are huge, but i am measuring the addiction by how much it ruins the persons life, not simply the dose of the drug used. and this loperamide habit which seems to cause no negative effects other than the withdrawals from the posts ive read, could be considered mild. not stealing for it, risking their life for it, hurting people for it, doin shady shit, running their entire life around it, losing their mind when they cant get it, etc. that shit aint present here, so how bad can it really be. all this compared to the hell of a life that addicts of more traditional drugs of abuse, would put this loperamide problem in the category of mild addiction or "small" habit not small in size but small in severity. thats just my opinion.) wat Im sayin is, I aint somebody who feels like MMT and SMT are for everybody.
Any doctor with a brain behind their forehead will be able to gauge if a person addiction is severe enough to need that type of treatment, I dont think it should be the one size fits all treatment to every single semi-opiate "addicction" from minor, mild habit/dependence to life crushing , lying at the gates of hell, deathwish heroin addiction. Some sub doctors is just in it for the money, and write a script to anyone who walks in regardless of how severe or mild the addiction is, but ones with a lil more thought goin on in their heads might not prescribe it to somebody if their addiction dont call for it. a pretty good dr i went to explained this to me and it makes sense. He wouldnt just give sub to a person unless their dose of opiates was high enough and they had been addicted long enough to deserve it, otherwise it had the potential to create more harm than help in the long run.
There is other ways to treat it, there is non opiate comfort meds and shit like that, that can get you feelin just about fine thru the week that you have to deal with your light withdrawal symptoms. IMO If the withdrawal aint strong enough to make you physically unable to do your day to day lifeits better to just ride it out with your meds, good rest, and the shit i suggested before. why make it harder when you can just kick and get thru it. Like i said, if your WD symptoms make it impossible for you to leave the house, if you are so uncomfortable you cant work, cant do shit, then by all means u should get some sub or methadone, I am just sayin, why get on that and have to kick that too if you can just get thru the first couple days with some minor discomfort?
All Im sayin is that in some cases MMT and SMT just aint necessary. IF ANYTHING, a DETOX using LOW doses of suboxone would benfit this person who fits that profile, but staying on methadone or sub as a MAINTENANCE program is fuckin ridiculous. I dont feel like only heroin users shoud be entitled to gettin releif and comfort when they are kickin. It aint some kind of elite club or nothing. But I am just sayin that suggesting maintenance to somebody with this kind of habit (and not only loperamide in general, but just the general rush to recommend it to anybody with ANY form of dependence, even when its extremely mild) dont always require it. If a person smokes like 3 cigarettes a day, it would be stupid for them to get the nicotine patch or gum, they should just taper down their cigs and eventually quit. its the same thing here. I aint here to judge how bad or not ppls addictions are. and that aint wat im tryin to do.
but I am just tryin to point out that in general I dont think smt and mmt should be the FIRST option of treatment for everybody on any end of the addiction spectrum. And I aint only talkin about loperamide here cuz it got its own set of problems that come with it obviously,so i aint tryin to knock this person or say they are stupid or dont deserve treatment, i just dont know of sub or methadone is really the best option especially consderin that they can easily taper off with some help and other meds , and could avoid the kicking of the done or sub which would definately be worse than the wd from the loperamide would. So in case it aint clear, i am talkin in general about the way people think that the second they develop a minor habit that it immediately deserves the heavy duty anti-addiction artillery of methadone or suboxone. I dont want to make it sound like i feel like only some drugs deserve sub and meth. assistance, cuz everybody differnt, and there can be a heroin user who only chips and has a minor , small habit, and there could be a hydrocodone user using like 300mg a day , obviously the hydro user got a worse problem.
I aint tryin to discriminate against the users of certain drugs at all. just that if a habit aint that severe why use the treatment intended for a severe problem, I guess thats really all I am tryna say, and people should try an consider that sometimes it aint the best idea and realize that their use can be modified and treated with other options instead of automatically assuming they NEED sub or methadone when it prolly really aint needed at all...
.I dont know Im sorry if ppl feel offended from this, but it can just be really frustratin to read about people complaining about their 'horrible addictions' to weak-ass, legal opiods , when i have slept homeless , broke, and half dead due to heroin and completely destroyed parts of my life, relationships, and body due to my addiction. everyone feels their own pain and i cannot judge them for theirs ,but im just sayin, when you been to hell and back over this shit and then hear somebody like, Oh, well, i am totally addicted because i had slight muscle aches from the drug that i can legally purchase for almost no money at all, at any store in the country, its just like damn grow some balls, you aint got no idea wat its really like and just how low you can go. Like in Half baked when Bob saget goes "you addicted to WEED?! Have you ever sucked dick for WEED?!" LOL. similar feelin, just I never sucked dick for dope, but the point is the same, when you been destroyed by shooting dope you just cant comprehend how somebody can think that eating otc anti diarreah medication is really that huge of a deal....