Hello, Everyone!
I have never tried Suboxone but I did listen to enough of your reports about what a wonderful medication it was that it made me want to construct a website to let others know all about it. I certainly have seen the interest and the lives it has changed and made a difference in and I am glad I could be a part of your recovery.
Suboxone did not exist when I needed medication to help me. We only had three methadone maintenance treatment programs in the state of Georgia. I was a Pharmacist but I didn't know much about methadone because we never dispensed it. I did enter orders for the medication when I worked at Emory University Hospital Pharmacy but it was for the heroin addicts. Not me. I wasn't one of them and I never even thought it might help me. I still had three surgeries left to go and many more years on pain medication before I seen I was no better than they were.
I tried Inpatient Rehabilitation more than once and it just didn't work for me. I did have legitimate pain and I needed to take medication for it. I had developed such a high tolerance by then and the medication just no longer seemed to work for me. Then I heard about methadone from a patient and when I was released I started trying to locate one of their programs. Luckily, I lived in Atlanta because all three of them was in Atlanta. I made the appointment and off I went. I knew the first day I went it would work for me. It changed my whole life and career. I thank God I found it and for the people who discovered it. I could write much more but I have an early morining appointment for a Peak and Trough.
Methadone Saved My Life!
1. Methadone stopped my drug cravings.
2. Methadone stopped my withdrawal symptoms.
3. I no longer had a one track mind of how I was going to get enough for today and I was able to think about other things important to me.
4. Methadone made me feel normal.
5. Methadone stopped my depression.
6. Methadone gave me energy.
7. Methadone stopped my pain.
8. Methadone gave me my life back.
Methadone made me a prisoner of Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs.
1. I had to go every day for three months to dose. You had to gradually earn your take-homes-they weren't considered a privilege. If you relapsed then you would have to start back coming every day. They punished you if you had a relapse. I totally disagree with the concept. Research has proved Addiction is a Disease. They would not think of holding back a Diabetic's insulin. What if she ate too much of the wrong foods? I don't believe they would say," You didn't stick to the diet we gave you therefore we are going to with-hold your insulin. It is no different because their pancreas doesn't make enough insulin therefore we have to give them exogenous insulin to make up for the deficiency. If you have a problem with substance-abuse there is genetics involved just like Diabetes. If you take opiates for long period of time then it can really stop endorphin production altogether. You need the endorphins released for they are responsible for all the good feelings and to help relieve pain. If your body is no longer producing them -then you will be more sensitive to pain than others. I can tell you all the counseling and abstinence you can produce will not make your body start producing them again. You will always have to take exogenous (outside the body) opioids because you have endogenous (within the body) deficiency. They don't seem to acknowledge this in Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs.
2. You have to take drug tests every month. Many have gone back to observed urines. I don't really mind these but it doesn't make you feel good about yourself. It is saying the same as punishing you when you relapse-we don't believe it is a disease. Would they give a Diabetic a drug screen?
3. Most of the Medical Doctors at Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs are really not educated about methadone, nor Addiction, especially "Addiction As A Disease." They are not compassionate and tend to see us only as junkies looking for a fix. I believe they have been given too much power over one's dose. They are not God but humans as we are and I believe there should be a way to disagree without having them retaliate against you. They know you need your dose and they wield alot of power over you. Power corrupts!
4. There are many who work at Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs as counselors, nurses, and even receptionists who I feel should never be employed to work with substance abuse. They are not educated about methadone and many believe it is substituting one drug for another. Many do not believe it is a disease and they treat us accordingly. They should not be treating us when they have these beliefs because I feel as if it does harm the patients. They can't identify with what we have been through and I would prefer counselors in recovery if possible. If they can't provide counselors with experience then at least provide ones possessing empathy and belief in the medication they are giving.
5. Many people employed at Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs get off on power trips. They get off on the power they wield over you and the only way some of them can feel good about themselves is to make us feel bad about ourselves. I must say we deal with people like this no matter where we go in the world today but there it is different because what they say about us counts and can make the difference in whether we receive and increase or take-homes.
I want to end by saying there are but a few good Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs but they are some. We do have some good Medical Doctors, Nurses and Counselors at some of them. I have met them and I know they exist but after all the complaints I received today after opening up e-mails, I can say many patients attending them would totally disagree with me. Power corrupts just as "Money is the root of all evil."
Pardon me. "It is the love of money is the root of all evil!"
Thank You.
We can all ask questions so if any of the patients have any they would like to have people respond to then jump right in. It's agreat way to find out what you believe and hear others viewpoints at the same time. How about participating? It's called "Group Therapy." You get to choose what to talk about.
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