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Opioids Seeing a shrink for the first time tomorrow

K

k20

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
195
Long story short, I've been a poly drug addict for about 5 years now. My DOC would be opoids by far. Took oxycodone, hydrocodone, tramadol (I'm one of the few people that enjoy tramadol), and last but not least heroin. Been off of heroin for about 6 months now, but relapsed with oxycodone and have been taking it regularly. I was never prescribed any of these except tramadol. I also use benzos regularly.

I never had professional help and was extremely against the idea, but now I think it's a good idea to see someone. I've tried tapering and quitting many many times but always ended up relapsing. The other day I went to my school's psychologist and he referred me to a couple of shrinks that can prescribe buprenorphine. I called three places, one doesn't take new patients, I scheduled an appointment with one in two weeks because he didn't have any earlier times available. Since I'm out of oxy now, I want to take advantage of it an try to quit while still motivated enough to. I didn't wanna wait 2 weeks and go through w/d so I called this last place up, made an appointment for tomorrow but the psych's name isn't listed under the "Suboxone Certified Doctors" but the other two are.

I genuinely wanna be clean but would being direct and forward, maybe even bringing up bupe if not mentioned, be considered "drug seeking behavior? I wanna treat all my underlying psychological problems, but my immediate concern is getting sick. What do you guys think?

I live in CA if that matters at all
 
They'll probably mention bupe before you do anyway! You've had this problem for five years and your topping up with benzos, so treatment is your best action! Hope it works out as you please mate!
 
I had been seeing my psychiatrist for eleven years and was constantly switching antidepressants, restoril and xanax. Sometime later I started going to the pain clinic to get oxys but not until 2009 was able to come clean with him. I wanted to get off the opiates. He was upset that I didn't tell him sooner but gave me suboxone which helped me get my life back. Be honest about your problem. I had to learn the hard way.
 
I would say honesty is the best policy in order to get proper help from a psychiatrist. Most people who start on Suboxone do so by directly bringing it up with the doctor. Asking to be put on buprenorphine for an opioid dependence is not drug-seeking behavior, it's wanting-to-get-help behavior :). Being an admitted opioid addict may negatively affect your ability to be prescribed opioids for pain, but it will positively affect your ability to be prescribed opioids for addiction. They might ask why you are considering Suboxone and whether or not you have considered or tried other methods of quitting like cold turkey or detox, and they will expect you to have a real physical dependence - just be honest and explain why you feel Suboxone is the best option for you. It's a great idea to tell the doctor what you said about wanting to work on your underlying mental health problems as well. Working on your mental addiction and the reasons you use in the first place are very important, even more important than the physical dependence, but stabilizing on Suboxone can take care of the physical dependence for now so that you will be able to work on the mental aspects.

If that doctor turns out to not actually be licensed to prescribe Suboxone at least he can refer you to one of the others who are and hopefully get you in with one of them quickly.

Best of luck to you and let us know how it goes and if you need any help with cravings or anything. The Dark Side is a great place for support when recovering from addictions.
 
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Just remember to be fully honest. He/she can't help you if you leave details out.

I tell my psch everything, we have quite interesting discussions about my drug use, plus it helps build trust. Trust means he's going to be more comfortable prescribing you meds.
 
I used to be against the idea of therapy or medications for issues I've had pretty much most of my life, so I tried to avoid them as much as possible. However, I find therapy to be one of the best things I've ever done in my life, and wish I went to therapy before my life started to crumble down in to pieces in certain ways. Now I don't see mine for substance abuse, but I've seen one for depression, ADHD, and any other issue I'm having in life. It took me a little bit of time to find the right therapist for me, because not all of them are going to fit your personality, or will make you feel comfortable. Don't feel discouraged if the first one you see isn't right for you. You have to find someone that is right, because if you want to feel comfortable enough to fully open up, accept their advice, work on your issues INSIDE and OUT of the therapy session, etc., you need to feel that the person has your best interests in mind and genuinely cares about you. Just make sure when you have sessions that you actually are truthful and want to change. You need to do the work inside the session and outside the sessions in real life. You can't expect the sessions to do all the work for you. You have to put effort into it. Its going to be hard some days, but it ends up being extremely worth it.
 
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