bwanajzj
Bluelighter
I was wondering about the efficiency of ORT and detox facilities, with regard to the hired personnel. So I have a couple of questions, based on my own experiences.
Some bg info - I went to a clinic and got subutex, planned a three month taper, ended up taking six, and went almost straight back to acquiring dope and methadone on the streets. As always it is easier to put the blame on others, but I do take the fall for this one. However, I also think that the prescribing doctor, psychiatric nurses and social workers at clinics have a huge part in terms of the patients recovery.
A) What kind of psychiatric nurse/social worker sits at the gates and guards your clinic?
The one who took me in, went through my bg history of abuse, and had follow-up conversations with me was a kind guy, but he was a recovered coke addict who had found his calling at the clinic after coming clean from a party coke habit. Can he really relate to opiate addiction and give the right advice?
B) What kind of doctor sits on the mighty script pad?
Mine was a steady gentleman kind of guy, but always looking skeptical at every patient in terms of their needs and wants (he didn't fully understand the mentality of an addict, and thus always thought that every patient of his just wanted more). This is to be expected as he is prescribing a 'narcotic painkiller' to people with history of abuse, but he knew little more about buprenorphine in it's different forms of preparation, apart from that which was written in the various pamphlets (some are nowadays seriously outdated and ill-informed publications). I could recite a single line of generally accepted information, from the bluelight community for example, and it would be news to him. And not having experienced opiate/opioid withdrawal, he could also not really relate to my symptoms and pinpoint the right cure - be it a script of clonidine or a pointer in the direction of psychological help. Wouldn't a recovered doc who had abused painkillers over the years, gotten banned from practice and so on, be a better person for the job?
I would just like to hear what kind of people you all deal with when you want to get out of the dope/opiate/opioid hustle and choose to use either methadone or buprenorphine through a clinic. Because at my clinic it ended up being me steering the whole process as neither the pyschiatric nurse/social worker or the doctor could relate to what I was going through and even when I told them, no external sources of help were recommended, although I know of their availability now through my own research. May it be stated that 90% of the addicts there were there for maintenance needs, not detox. Needless to say, I did not find success in my ORT, and was wondering if it is partly due to the nature of the process and the people involved, and if so, what could one do to get them to fully understand the symptoms? This also brings up the topic of addiction in its nature and entirety, be it a disease or inherited genetic disorders, social status and surroundings, etc. But remember, I already stated that I still take the blame for the fall/subsequent relapses, and can't blame the clinic as they only had so much to offer.
NOTE: The clinic i went to was not funded by patients, but by government, so making money was not the goal (thus docs don't have other incentive to keep people at high doses for long, except for when relapse occurs). Quite the contrary, as funds of course were limited, getting people to the lowest possible dose was the goal.
What would you all prefer if you do not have access to a detox retreat center with a high success rate? Go in, get your drugs from an ill-informed doc and be gone? Or go in and get the help that you need from people who have been through what you have been through? I would definitely have preferred the latter, and I wish a quick taper had been forced on me from the beginning, at least as an initial attempt at getting over the worst withdrawals from heroin. Quick tapers have been my route to success each time I have reacquired a habit and needed to get off for any reason, and I am going through a one-week taper using buprenorphine right now.
Some bg info - I went to a clinic and got subutex, planned a three month taper, ended up taking six, and went almost straight back to acquiring dope and methadone on the streets. As always it is easier to put the blame on others, but I do take the fall for this one. However, I also think that the prescribing doctor, psychiatric nurses and social workers at clinics have a huge part in terms of the patients recovery.
A) What kind of psychiatric nurse/social worker sits at the gates and guards your clinic?
The one who took me in, went through my bg history of abuse, and had follow-up conversations with me was a kind guy, but he was a recovered coke addict who had found his calling at the clinic after coming clean from a party coke habit. Can he really relate to opiate addiction and give the right advice?
B) What kind of doctor sits on the mighty script pad?
Mine was a steady gentleman kind of guy, but always looking skeptical at every patient in terms of their needs and wants (he didn't fully understand the mentality of an addict, and thus always thought that every patient of his just wanted more). This is to be expected as he is prescribing a 'narcotic painkiller' to people with history of abuse, but he knew little more about buprenorphine in it's different forms of preparation, apart from that which was written in the various pamphlets (some are nowadays seriously outdated and ill-informed publications). I could recite a single line of generally accepted information, from the bluelight community for example, and it would be news to him. And not having experienced opiate/opioid withdrawal, he could also not really relate to my symptoms and pinpoint the right cure - be it a script of clonidine or a pointer in the direction of psychological help. Wouldn't a recovered doc who had abused painkillers over the years, gotten banned from practice and so on, be a better person for the job?
I would just like to hear what kind of people you all deal with when you want to get out of the dope/opiate/opioid hustle and choose to use either methadone or buprenorphine through a clinic. Because at my clinic it ended up being me steering the whole process as neither the pyschiatric nurse/social worker or the doctor could relate to what I was going through and even when I told them, no external sources of help were recommended, although I know of their availability now through my own research. May it be stated that 90% of the addicts there were there for maintenance needs, not detox. Needless to say, I did not find success in my ORT, and was wondering if it is partly due to the nature of the process and the people involved, and if so, what could one do to get them to fully understand the symptoms? This also brings up the topic of addiction in its nature and entirety, be it a disease or inherited genetic disorders, social status and surroundings, etc. But remember, I already stated that I still take the blame for the fall/subsequent relapses, and can't blame the clinic as they only had so much to offer.
NOTE: The clinic i went to was not funded by patients, but by government, so making money was not the goal (thus docs don't have other incentive to keep people at high doses for long, except for when relapse occurs). Quite the contrary, as funds of course were limited, getting people to the lowest possible dose was the goal.
What would you all prefer if you do not have access to a detox retreat center with a high success rate? Go in, get your drugs from an ill-informed doc and be gone? Or go in and get the help that you need from people who have been through what you have been through? I would definitely have preferred the latter, and I wish a quick taper had been forced on me from the beginning, at least as an initial attempt at getting over the worst withdrawals from heroin. Quick tapers have been my route to success each time I have reacquired a habit and needed to get off for any reason, and I am going through a one-week taper using buprenorphine right now.
