pharaoh
Bluelighter
- Joined
- May 8, 2017
- Messages
- 557
I didn't see a thread in this forum about Buvidal, which is in simple terms a long-lasting buprenorphine injection - usually administered on a monthly basis but weekly injections are available. In theory, the levels of buprenorphine decrease so gradually over time that the patient will be able to come off of opiates without any major withdrawals (some say no withdrawals at all). I had my last jab over 6 weeks ago and I am unsure as to whether I am truly in withdrawals or whether the symptoms I am experiencing are mainly psychological, due to stress etcetera. But assuming that they are actual W/D symptoms (gastric trouble, anxiety, depression, insomnia and general dysphoria), they are very mild when compared to a full blown withdrawal from any short acting opiate, or the other, traditional opiate replacement medicines (methadone, which nearly killed me, or daily sublingual buprenorphine). My last merry go round with H was absolutely unbearable, but this has been a life-saver.
The main issue, for me and others that I have heard of through the grapevine where I got the treatment, is a lack of psycho-social support to go with it. As anybody who has been an addict knows, you are self-medicating in order to suppress trauma in many cases and, with opiates, in most cases that I know of (in the UK - the culture is different here. Not many people got hooked because doctors were giving out Oxys like candy and then suddenly stopping them, forcing people to find their fix on the black market). Once you are out of that "opiate haze", the depression kicks in and, whilst the treatment is brilliant physically speaking, its efficacy could be questioned when the psychological support that most addicts would require isn't a part of the treatment. I am at the end of it now, and it is tricky.
In any case, they are rolling the treatment out in certain places and I think that a megathread would be good for anybody who gets the opportunity to be a guinea pig like I have been to share their stories, advice and all the rest of it. I believe that it is a revolutionary treatment and could get a lot of people out of their habits, and we need subjective knowledge/experience in order to assist in the research that goes with testing it out. I am unsure of statistics regarding success rates, but as I said, if you want to get off of opiates and daily doses - trips to the pharmacy, holding a tablet under your tongue for half an hour a day etc., - it is brilliant.
I hope that it is eventually available to everybody who is ready and wants to kick opiates for good, but it is still in its early stages.
The main issue, for me and others that I have heard of through the grapevine where I got the treatment, is a lack of psycho-social support to go with it. As anybody who has been an addict knows, you are self-medicating in order to suppress trauma in many cases and, with opiates, in most cases that I know of (in the UK - the culture is different here. Not many people got hooked because doctors were giving out Oxys like candy and then suddenly stopping them, forcing people to find their fix on the black market). Once you are out of that "opiate haze", the depression kicks in and, whilst the treatment is brilliant physically speaking, its efficacy could be questioned when the psychological support that most addicts would require isn't a part of the treatment. I am at the end of it now, and it is tricky.
In any case, they are rolling the treatment out in certain places and I think that a megathread would be good for anybody who gets the opportunity to be a guinea pig like I have been to share their stories, advice and all the rest of it. I believe that it is a revolutionary treatment and could get a lot of people out of their habits, and we need subjective knowledge/experience in order to assist in the research that goes with testing it out. I am unsure of statistics regarding success rates, but as I said, if you want to get off of opiates and daily doses - trips to the pharmacy, holding a tablet under your tongue for half an hour a day etc., - it is brilliant.
I hope that it is eventually available to everybody who is ready and wants to kick opiates for good, but it is still in its early stages.