firstly, i call my methadone doctor 'Dr Done'
i think the auckland methadone services r pretty fucked really - serving all the ex-junkies in the auckland region (a pretty big region - like a third of NZ....at least 1 million ppl!) - yet they only hav one clinic....and 2 doctors
one doctor i refuse to see cos hes....an asshole (he knew me from my multiple trips to detox - and yes those methadone doctors also manage all the detox clients!)
that one just said to me oneday 'Lydia, ur the most complicated case ive ever had to deal with'
i replied 'then dont deal with me' - and i laid a complaint (i tend to do a lot of that wen it comes to the public health system
)
he also told me that i wudnt b able to hav serum level tests done (to find out if im a fast metaboliser - i suspected i was, cos no matter wat dose i went up to, it never held me thru to the morning!) until i reached 170mg!
my new doctor ('Dr Done' - not quite so bad, quite gentle; still makes it well-known he knows im playing around with other drugs and i 'shudnt b mixing this and that with methadone'.....oh and he thinks im 'neurotic'...which i guess i am to b fair) told me this was complete and utter bullshit - that u cud hav serum levels checked at any level.....i was like 'ur kidding! u mean i didnt possibly hav to go thru all this BS and cud hav had all this done ages ago?' and he was like 'yea basically'
i was on 150mg wen i finally got the forms off him, one blood test to take in the morning before i had my methadone, one to take 4 hrs afterwards (the general 'peak' of most ppls methadone levels)
i dreaded taking the morning one.....i am used to waking sick: aching all over, stiff, shaky, runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing and yawning (oh and very irritable - i cudnt even b bothered brushing my hair wen i went to dose i felt so yuk)....so having a blood test, waiting in a room full of ppl while i was sweating like a pig and sneezing and sniffing, well that was not fun!
the later one wasnt fun either cos i get so little sleep from (what ive found out r methadone wds!) that usually i spend hours sleeping in the afternoon
yet another reason i had to give in my job as mod in the end!
well wen Dr Done got the results i got rung immediately by my case manager saying 'oh the doctor has some interesting results for u' (this is back in maybe august.....)
i asked her if the tests had revealed if i was a fast metaboliser and she said she cudnt disclose that info
i asked if she knew and she said that, yes she did, but she still cudnt discuss it with me 8(
well cos theres only those 2 fucking doctors covering all the methadone clients in the auckland region (plus all the detox clients which come pretty frequently) there wasnt a place for me to see Dr Done till NO-fucking-VEMBER!
gotta luv the NZ public health service eh
finally couple of days ago i went to see the guy (taking Keira with me for support) and he is actually a nice guy, commenting that i seem a lot better for having found someone (actually i was partly calmed by wat he had to tell me!!!)
he told me that my results showed a minimal amount of methadone in my system even 4 hrs after dosing.....and before dosing there was nothing in my system
by then i was taking 167.5mg daily!
he said that i was the fastest metaboliser hed ever come across
instead of splitting my doses into morning/night, hes just plain added another 20mg at night time and i am still allowed to climb higher up the scale another 30mg in the morning before he has to reapprove and rewrite another script
i sometimes feel a bit self-conscious cos i know im one of the ppl at the clinic on the highest doses - and shit, i will never fully stabilise until im fully off valium
im down to 24mg of valium tonight and planning to put my done up by 5mg next week wen i go away to the hunting lodge with my mum and my darling Keira
however, shit happens - and i know ive gotta get off 'done someday (after ive got off valium - and yes, i will b way into the 200s by then.....it WONT b easy!)
Keira and i call each other 'troopers' - hailing from the Iron Maiden song
cos wen were waiting for the next attack, ud better stand, theres no turning back!
now im taking methadone at night as well, im a diffrent person
i wake with only valium wds
no more gooseflesh, hot/cold flushes, runny nose/eyes, runs for the toilet, etc
apparently ppl with ADHD often do hav fast metabolisms
i was told by another 'done patient thats probly wat it is - my friend Tanea
thanks Tanz, now im well - to a degree (and even to a degree means a lot to me
)
i think the auckland methadone services r pretty fucked really - serving all the ex-junkies in the auckland region (a pretty big region - like a third of NZ....at least 1 million ppl!) - yet they only hav one clinic....and 2 doctors
one doctor i refuse to see cos hes....an asshole (he knew me from my multiple trips to detox - and yes those methadone doctors also manage all the detox clients!)
that one just said to me oneday 'Lydia, ur the most complicated case ive ever had to deal with'
i replied 'then dont deal with me' - and i laid a complaint (i tend to do a lot of that wen it comes to the public health system
he also told me that i wudnt b able to hav serum level tests done (to find out if im a fast metaboliser - i suspected i was, cos no matter wat dose i went up to, it never held me thru to the morning!) until i reached 170mg!
my new doctor ('Dr Done' - not quite so bad, quite gentle; still makes it well-known he knows im playing around with other drugs and i 'shudnt b mixing this and that with methadone'.....oh and he thinks im 'neurotic'...which i guess i am to b fair) told me this was complete and utter bullshit - that u cud hav serum levels checked at any level.....i was like 'ur kidding! u mean i didnt possibly hav to go thru all this BS and cud hav had all this done ages ago?' and he was like 'yea basically'
i was on 150mg wen i finally got the forms off him, one blood test to take in the morning before i had my methadone, one to take 4 hrs afterwards (the general 'peak' of most ppls methadone levels)
i dreaded taking the morning one.....i am used to waking sick: aching all over, stiff, shaky, runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing and yawning (oh and very irritable - i cudnt even b bothered brushing my hair wen i went to dose i felt so yuk)....so having a blood test, waiting in a room full of ppl while i was sweating like a pig and sneezing and sniffing, well that was not fun!
the later one wasnt fun either cos i get so little sleep from (what ive found out r methadone wds!) that usually i spend hours sleeping in the afternoon
yet another reason i had to give in my job as mod in the end!
well wen Dr Done got the results i got rung immediately by my case manager saying 'oh the doctor has some interesting results for u' (this is back in maybe august.....)
i asked her if the tests had revealed if i was a fast metaboliser and she said she cudnt disclose that info
i asked if she knew and she said that, yes she did, but she still cudnt discuss it with me 8(
well cos theres only those 2 fucking doctors covering all the methadone clients in the auckland region (plus all the detox clients which come pretty frequently) there wasnt a place for me to see Dr Done till NO-fucking-VEMBER!
gotta luv the NZ public health service eh

finally couple of days ago i went to see the guy (taking Keira with me for support) and he is actually a nice guy, commenting that i seem a lot better for having found someone (actually i was partly calmed by wat he had to tell me!!!)
he told me that my results showed a minimal amount of methadone in my system even 4 hrs after dosing.....and before dosing there was nothing in my system
by then i was taking 167.5mg daily!
he said that i was the fastest metaboliser hed ever come across
instead of splitting my doses into morning/night, hes just plain added another 20mg at night time and i am still allowed to climb higher up the scale another 30mg in the morning before he has to reapprove and rewrite another script
i sometimes feel a bit self-conscious cos i know im one of the ppl at the clinic on the highest doses - and shit, i will never fully stabilise until im fully off valium
im down to 24mg of valium tonight and planning to put my done up by 5mg next week wen i go away to the hunting lodge with my mum and my darling Keira
however, shit happens - and i know ive gotta get off 'done someday (after ive got off valium - and yes, i will b way into the 200s by then.....it WONT b easy!)
Keira and i call each other 'troopers' - hailing from the Iron Maiden song
cos wen were waiting for the next attack, ud better stand, theres no turning back!
now im taking methadone at night as well, im a diffrent person
i wake with only valium wds
no more gooseflesh, hot/cold flushes, runny nose/eyes, runs for the toilet, etc
apparently ppl with ADHD often do hav fast metabolisms
i was told by another 'done patient thats probly wat it is - my friend Tanea
thanks Tanz, now im well - to a degree (and even to a degree means a lot to me
)
