🌟🌟 Social 🌟🌟 The 2025 Recovery & Social Thread

[LucidSDreamr]

the fuckin Suboxone cost $188 for 1 weeks worth!

this is absurd. The black market is cheaper for subs, even for subutex which is better

Fucking he’ll heroin is cheaper if you don’t have a heavy habit and have self control

 

[Jnowhere]

I was charged up to 500/month for Pfizer lyrica; having insurance usually cut it to 300 or so..
Then somehow Pfizer got a extension on their patent so generics never showed up
Gabapentin I always threw out; didn't think it worked. Ended up spending 30k on Lyrica alone
Lyrica was like magic. Finally generics came out in 2019 or so and it was 15 bux.
Then Pfizer bought out the generic supplier which kept the money grab going.
Now I get Oregon Medicaid so 0 dollar meds including the pregabalin...
kinda bankrupt and corrupted by my treatment by medical "professionals"

I can tell you the medical system got better and better and then at some point. It got worse and worse. And cost are out of control. It is a mixture of greed and and then the Obama care and all the mandates. It is a massive fuck up and got the best Healthcare in the world is now at 4.4 trillion a year. To give reference only China and Germany; have a higher National Gross Domestic Product, than we spend on Health care.
Basically only 2 countries entire economic output is higher than we spend on Healthcare. Doctors salaries compared to inflation and the cost have gone down. The lawsuit industry, the beauracracy, cost of medications, doctors insurance costs which gets passed down, and free health care for illegals, along with too much health care and unnecessary tests so doctors won't be sued, greed, fraud and the Federal government getting to involved in telling
doctors and the health care industry what to do are all contributing factors in this ridulous 4.4 trillion plus in 2024 industry.

To make matters worse, no can get effective pain relief it seems, because most doctors will barely if at all prescribed opiods for people who truley need them.

For awhile it was over prescribing and now pain patients have to suffer. Even terminally ill were under prescribed and when I was told I was dying from liver disease and had pancreatitus I was prescribed but probably less than half of what I needed. It has gotten better and I took the morphine 24/7 of the table myself because I don't like opiods even though I use them for pain and I can eat food because of them. The morphine It did help some even with a bad liver. The price of lyrica is ridiculous because all it is ; is a more refined gabapentin and that shit is cheap.

 

[Jnowhere]

Im also having a good doctor who is gonna have to retire soon.
Im also wondering if you were considering a depot shot or something of subblockade
Seems you went Lucidlydown to 1mg on methadone; tapering was torture and being off was also shitty.
I always thought if your tolerance was low enough you could take a dose and it would ease things, not make them worse!
Im addicted to benzos feel kindling whenever withdrawal hits sounds like methadone may be similar.
I tell my son; don't get addicted to benzos man whatever you do. Just look at your old man.
Thinking brain may be perma fried from benzos; fucking with the dose, endless attempt at tapering, etc

Benzos are a nightmare but I only take 3 a day and the same as I have for 8 years. I went down to Valium but went back up to Ativan 2mg x3 times aday I had cut in half by going down to Valium 10mg but it was too weak.

Your advice to your son is great advice.
No one told me ever before or when I got them prescribed because of the insomnia and how hyper opiods made me and My GP did not originally prescribe me any and another doctor did and my doctor was okay because he probably thought I was dying. Because he knows the dangers and now I am just over 8 years my past my expiration date;
according to the doctors in the hospital.

Your advice is great because it could take me 1 to 1 1/2 years to get off them.
They are only schedule 4 and are a nightmare to get off of.

You're right and tell him any longer than 2 or 3 weeks he will probably end up with, withdrawal. Taking them for years you maybe stuck on them forever and you can die from benzo withdrawal if you are suddenly cut off and have been using for a long time. The misery of stopping it is apparently horrible and very long lasting if you live.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

30 days free from methadone (with the exception of a single 2 mg dose 1 week ago).

The PAWS seems to have gotten worse recently.

Granted I have a fever currently from a cold and I’ve not been able to do all the self care lie excercise and meetings.

Just when I thought I was in the clear PAWS seems to be increasing.

Any advice for dealing with it while being sick with a flu / fever as a dog?

Seems like sitting still just makes it build and build but I’m too sick to be active.

I can sleep decently at least each night …most nights

 

[Coffeeshroom]

Use some paracetamol to break the fever, works for me. And then there is maybe just adding a small dose of comfort meds but apart from that. You gonna have grit and grind your teeth to get through this last hurdle.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

Use some paracetamol to break the fever, works for me. And then there is maybe just adding a small dose of comfort meds but apart from that. You gonna have grit and grind your teeth to get through this last hurdle.

Used Valium as a comfort med in the worst part of the cold but I’m too scared to become dependent on it and not be able to sleep anymore without it and get dependent.

Yea grit and suffering. As a drug addict that’s something I’ve never done; always reached for the fix instead of grinding through struggle

 

[Coffeeshroom]

Well if you have some laying around then have some, sure you know what dose you need and just take it once a day if possible and try not go past the week mark and you should be good ( the getting dependent on diazepam part ) so i if you know you have the will power and discipline to only use it like that fie it a try.

 

[deficiT]

30 days free from methadone (with the exception of a single 2 mg dose 1 week ago).

The PAWS seems to have gotten worse recently.

Granted I have a fever currently from a cold and I’ve not been able to do all the self care lie excercise and meetings.

Just when I thought I was in the clear PAWS seems to be increasing.

Any advice for dealing with it while being sick with a flu / fever as a dog?

Seems like sitting still just makes it build and build but I’m too sick to be active.

I can sleep decently at least each night …most nights

if you're not feeling up for doing any kind of heavy exercise yet or anything like that, I mean shit, even some light stretching can help, anything to get the body at least moving a bit. but yeah, paws is the worse, never gone through it on methadone really but i can imagine its bad... stay strong though. black seed oil definitely saved my ass a bit when i was getting off of dope. its really just enough to sort of take the edge off of the sniffles and aches.

i've now been taking more kratom than i would like, I mean, it definitely helps with the pain after surgery, and just getting through the work day, but I'm definitely taking more than I would like and its becoming a tad more compulsive, and also just not really having the full effect I would like. so i'd like to try and go a weekend without it or something, or try and limit it to the work week.

 

[deficiT]

just realized i made it 18 months without drinking any alcohol as of this week.

i've been doing a cali sober type thing, and had some slipups with other substances that are terrible for me, ie. meth, but I was at least able to shelve that shit as well, haven't touched it in, idk 4 or 5 months or something, so thats good, and my slip only lasted a couple months thankfully before I regained sanity.

idk, my relationship with substances has definitely improved, i no longer have crazy impulsive behaviors that would accompany my drug use, mentally and emotionally i'm feeling much more stable. I still trip, roll, stuff like that, occasional bit of coke, but its very much occasional and I don't find myself falling into cycles of compulsive use or becoming too unchained.

I mean, its not something I even feel great patting myself on the back for, since I dont really have my shit totally together and my life still isn't where it should be and i still use other drugs, but shit, I'll take what I can get. Alcohol was never my primary DOC, but its the first drug I abused, and I did so for a long, long time off and on. And more than any other drug I've taken, alcohol absolutely taints every molecule of my brain, destroying my judgement, and it just makes me a different person. i mean it can definitely be a fun person, but thats often accompanied by the inner fucking slob and degenerate. alcohol is just the ultimate release of the id.

Obviously, that was the great thing about it for me, I was able to loosen up and be a little more comfortable socially, be kind of the life of the party type thing. But, eventually it just got to the point where I was making a fool of myself, constantly, every weekend, sometimes every day. I was sick all the time, drinking vodka like it was water, just housing cases of beer, every day or two. I was a fucking wreck, throw benzos on top, and I blacked out for an entire year, essentially. I do not remember 2023 at all. I was so dysfunctional, could not hold down a job, anything.

anyway, whether I'm totally sober or not, I think no alcohol for 18 months is a pretty strong achievement for me, considering alcohol basically ended both my father and his father, and that it's so baked into society and my own dna like that. These past 5 years have really just sucked fucking ass, but I can only imagine how much worse every single thing would be in my life if I had not quit drinking when I did.

I have *mostly* lost all desire to drink. I find myself getting cravings very seldomly, and when they do, they pass right by. I just have a strong desire to better my life, and I don't think I will let myself cave to the fickle and fleeting intoxicant that is alcohol.

if anyone has any doubts about their ability to limit consumption of a problem substance, I'll just say, dude if I can do this, you definitely can. I was beyond lost, but, things are improving and I actually have really good days now, that have nothing to do with drugs. It's incredible.

 

[lolis my thesis]

18 months is amazing!
When I went on pain meds, methadone, clonazepam, pregabalin. I was 30; haven't had a drink since since minus a few per night while getting divorced.
Now I am 57; miss the bar scene just a bit cuz I don't get alot of success with online dating so quaffing a pint while listening to some music does sound fun.
But I couldn't go to that atmosphere and not at least have a few pints; but haven't done it yet!
Although those meds plus cannabis equals less than Cali sober; which for me means mostly just weed with the occasional drug use, but not drinking or taking too much anything, including pot which has easily cost me the most over a lifetime and has always been my DOC.
Particularly when I get extra benzos and raise my tolerance to 3 or 4 mg/day
Methadone I have made another cut to 10mgs/day; as some kind of accomplishment while I ponder how to lower the benzos with least pain
I have clonidine and pregabalin but not so much self control

 

[AngelsandFairiesarereal]

I hope this doesn’t sound corny but I hope this year 2025 can be a healing year for a lot of us. I know I need more healing .. it’s hard to know what you ‘should’ be doing sometimes… Do any of you guys know what I mean

Anyways sending lots of love to everyone

 

[paltatomate]

it’s hard to know what you ‘should’ be doing sometimes… Do any of you guys know what I mean

I know what you mean.
Though "should" sounds like something that's being kind of imposed upon you. A general advice that may apply for many, but maybe not for one's special circumstances.
In that case I learned to listen to my body and also to my mind and then determine what is good for me, and what I need to change.
In that last case it's then try & error mostly (while always listening...)

 

[AngelsandFairiesarereal]

I know what you mean.
Though "should" sounds like something that's being kind of imposed upon you. A general advice that may apply for many, but maybe not for one's special circumstances.
In that case I learned to listen to my body and also to my mind and then determine what is good for me, and what I need to change.
In that last case it's then try & error mostly (while always listening...)

Damn chica that’s some good advice!

I’m going to have to come back a couple times and read that again
Gracias
Abrazos

 

[LucidSDreamr]

I know this is probably just PAWS but goddamn. Over one month clean from methadone and I still feel….its a feeling that’s hard to describe. Overly caffeinated without any caffeine; body made of lead; a feeling of wanting to literally escape my own skin; tightness in the throat; grinding my teeth. Lack of motivation; extreme boredom and disinterest in tasks.

I almost feel normal after I take a shower; for 15 minutes after I feel normal. During weight lifting I don’t feel it but wouldn’t say I feel good during it.

Is this just what non drug users always feel like? I don’t even remember.

 

[thatmf]

How are we all doing?

 

[paltatomate]

How are we all doing?

I didn't get enough sleep, though I don't feel it right now. Otherwise pretty good for several reasons.

How about you?

 

[thatmf]

Yeah I'm alright cruising along

 

[ageingpartyfiend]

I hope this doesn’t sound corny but I hope this year 2025 can be a healing year for a lot of us. I know I need more healing .. it’s hard to know what you ‘should’ be doing sometimes… Do any of you guys know what I mean

Anyways sending lots of love to everyone

The 'should' is always problematic eh - usually implies an external coda that we've internalised.

Question people around "why should you...)" and the considered response is often "well, because my family / the church / politics / my social group / society etc etc think it's the best way"...etc. As opposed to us really believing the 'should'...which is why we rail against it

Or something

 

[LucidSDreamr]

How are we all doing?

It’s possibly the hardest year of my life so far. Lost my job; having new serious health problems I can’t afford; had to cut off my parents from contact because they are just so ignorant and hurtful to me - they kick me while I’m down; my poor wife is being affected seeing me fall apart; I’ve gained weight and getting fat; the country is falling apart before our eyes and half the country is cheering its destruction; my hatred for my countrymen is at an all time high; I’ve thought more about suicide than ever; the only positive thing is that I have quit opioids for one month but this only happened because everything else has fallen apart and I am shell shocked and inactive.

 

[paltatomate]

Focus on the things that you can change.
Which is your recovery, and your wife if she's good for you.
Then start looking for a new job, and apply even if you will discarded anyway. Buy at least you stay active and you learn to get better at the job hunting thing.
Why did you gain weight? What can you do to avoid it?

Forget about your parents for now, if you feel they aren't helping your situation. There will be time to address that issue when you feel better.

And forget about your country and people you don't know, unless it affects you directly (in which case you should look for a personal solution). You can't change how other people behave or what they think.