Quick question
Jake, 19
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Devon, England
Posts: 212
Quick question
I've been considering opening inquiries about maintenance programs for a while now, but i'd like to ask a few questions.
A bit of my background; started using opiates a couple of years back, became physically dependent in early 2011 after 5 weeks on ~40-60mg of oxycodone insufflated daily. After that supply dried up I started doing cold water extractions on co-codamol tablets (paracetamol&codeine) to keep me out of WDs, as well as buying subutex (buprenorphine minus naloxone) to self medicate. Then I went to Asia and my tolerance shot up after 11 weeks of stupidity; daily codeine, dihydrocodeine, tramadol and heroin (less often, and never intravenously) use.
Now, i'm currently trying to discern whether my desire to look into maintenance programs is simply my addictive side not wanting to let go of my addiction, or whether or not it would be a viable course of action. I thought i'd actually broken the physical addiction to opiates recently - I went through the acute stage of withdrawal on 9th of this month, but today despite getting over the majority of the dopesickness successfully I ended up dosing with about ~200mg of codeine to get rid of the unsettled feeling, insomnia and restless leg syndrome. I felt immediately 100x better after dosing, which indicates i'm still physically addicted. Anyway, onto the questions:
- Would joining a maintenance program have an impact on future career prospects? I'm currently aiming to be a solicitor and i'm roughly one year off applying for vacation schemes/looking into which firms to apply to for training contracts. I'm worried that if I have "methadone/buprenorphine maintenance" on my medical record, even if only for a short period, it will ruin my career prospects. Does anyone have any advice on this?
- Am I being foolish to even consider it? I've never used drugs intravenously and my withdrawals, although unpleasant, have never seemed too bad (except for tramadol which thankfully i'm over now). My worry is that I seem to have become a habitual user of opiates and I am risking very harmful behaviour to maintain my habit (extracting the codeine from co-codamol carries the inherent risk of paracetamol related liver damage, which obviously in combination with alcohol is likely to land me on the transplant list). I'm fairly sure i'm not likely to go out looking for street heroin or anything, since I (sadly) have fairly easy access to codeine and much stronger prescription opiates when the fancy takes me (up to fentanyl, excluding the "morphones"). I am however worried that one day my fairly crude chemical extraction is going to fail and i'll end up dying of a paracetamol overdose, or my overuse of codeine cough medicines will lead to poisoning from the chloroform/parahydroxybenzoates in the medicine. Would anyone consider this suitable criteria for considering a maintenance program?
Thanks for any and all help given. I feel perhaps i'm being a bit silly, but my body is definitely showing signs of the abuse and I feel now is the time to either quit altogether (which seems virtually impossible, despite constant attempts) or get some medical help.
A bit of my background; started using opiates a couple of years back, became physically dependent in early 2011 after 5 weeks on ~40-60mg of oxycodone insufflated daily. After that supply dried up I started doing cold water extractions on co-codamol tablets (paracetamol&codeine) to keep me out of WDs, as well as buying subutex (buprenorphine minus naloxone) to self medicate. Then I went to Asia and my tolerance shot up after 11 weeks of stupidity; daily codeine, dihydrocodeine, tramadol and heroin (less often, and never intravenously) use.
Now, i'm currently trying to discern whether my desire to look into maintenance programs is simply my addictive side not wanting to let go of my addiction, or whether or not it would be a viable course of action. I thought i'd actually broken the physical addiction to opiates recently - I went through the acute stage of withdrawal on 9th of this month, but today despite getting over the majority of the dopesickness successfully I ended up dosing with about ~200mg of codeine to get rid of the unsettled feeling, insomnia and restless leg syndrome. I felt immediately 100x better after dosing, which indicates i'm still physically addicted. Anyway, onto the questions:
- Would joining a maintenance program have an impact on future career prospects? I'm currently aiming to be a solicitor and i'm roughly one year off applying for vacation schemes/looking into which firms to apply to for training contracts. I'm worried that if I have "methadone/buprenorphine maintenance" on my medical record, even if only for a short period, it will ruin my career prospects. Does anyone have any advice on this?
- Am I being foolish to even consider it? I've never used drugs intravenously and my withdrawals, although unpleasant, have never seemed too bad (except for tramadol which thankfully i'm over now). My worry is that I seem to have become a habitual user of opiates and I am risking very harmful behaviour to maintain my habit (extracting the codeine from co-codamol carries the inherent risk of paracetamol related liver damage, which obviously in combination with alcohol is likely to land me on the transplant list). I'm fairly sure i'm not likely to go out looking for street heroin or anything, since I (sadly) have fairly easy access to codeine and much stronger prescription opiates when the fancy takes me (up to fentanyl, excluding the "morphones"). I am however worried that one day my fairly crude chemical extraction is going to fail and i'll end up dying of a paracetamol overdose, or my overuse of codeine cough medicines will lead to poisoning from the chloroform/parahydroxybenzoates in the medicine. Would anyone consider this suitable criteria for considering a maintenance program?
Thanks for any and all help given. I feel perhaps i'm being a bit silly, but my body is definitely showing signs of the abuse and I feel now is the time to either quit altogether (which seems virtually impossible, despite constant attempts) or get some medical help.
Resident Alien
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 198
As to whether you are being foolish to consider a maintenance program? I don't think its foolish to consider it, given the usage history you stated. I was a pretty hardcore user for 10 years or so, and never used IV.
I can't speak for the UK, but here in the states I've done both a methadone program and a suboxone program, both for multiple years, and never had it come up with my employers and never had an affect on getting a job.
Key things you mentioned that would suggest, to me, a layman, you might want to consider getting into some sort of recovery program, whether it be maintenance or detox/rehab. You mention that it seems virtually impossible to quit altogether. You are kind of playing with fire with your extraction method there, and realize yourself this is dangerous behavior. So, I don't think you are being foolish at all to try to end this cycle, fwiw.
Best wishes friend! One way or another, you can do it!
57 days no opiates.
I can't speak for the UK, but here in the states I've done both a methadone program and a suboxone program, both for multiple years, and never had it come up with my employers and never had an affect on getting a job.
Key things you mentioned that would suggest, to me, a layman, you might want to consider getting into some sort of recovery program, whether it be maintenance or detox/rehab. You mention that it seems virtually impossible to quit altogether. You are kind of playing with fire with your extraction method there, and realize yourself this is dangerous behavior. So, I don't think you are being foolish at all to try to end this cycle, fwiw.
Best wishes friend! One way or another, you can do it!
57 days no opiates.
Jake, 19
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Devon, England
Posts: 212
Originally Posted by dragonfire613 
As to whether you are being foolish to consider a maintenance program? I don't think its foolish to consider it, given the usage history you stated. I was a pretty hardcore user for 10 years or so, and never used IV.
I can't speak for the UK, but here in the states I've done both a methadone program and a suboxone program, both for multiple years, and never had it come up with my employers and never had an affect on getting a job.
Key things you mentioned that would suggest, to me, a layman, you might want to consider getting into some sort of recovery program, whether it be maintenance or detox/rehab. You mention that it seems virtually impossible to quit altogether. You are kind of playing with fire with your extraction method there, and realize yourself this is dangerous behavior. So, I don't think you are being foolish at all to try to end this cycle, fwiw.
Best wishes friend! One way or another, you can do it!
57 days no opiates.
I can't speak for the UK, but here in the states I've done both a methadone program and a suboxone program, both for multiple years, and never had it come up with my employers and never had an affect on getting a job.
Key things you mentioned that would suggest, to me, a layman, you might want to consider getting into some sort of recovery program, whether it be maintenance or detox/rehab. You mention that it seems virtually impossible to quit altogether. You are kind of playing with fire with your extraction method there, and realize yourself this is dangerous behavior. So, I don't think you are being foolish at all to try to end this cycle, fwiw.
Best wishes friend! One way or another, you can do it!
57 days no opiates.
Also - massive congrats on nearly 2 months clean!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 304
Here in the States, there are Patient Privacy and Security rules. 1996 and improved 2005.
I work in the medical field, but easy info obtained googling. I think that's a new word added to the dictionary this year. My point being, I've never had an issue involving my work.
Of course I'm going to recommend a recovery program as well, having read your post.
I will say this though. I'm older and have known some IV users. One thing for sure. They are still active and cannot quit, or there dead. Best to you.
I work in the medical field, but easy info obtained googling. I think that's a new word added to the dictionary this year. My point being, I've never had an issue involving my work.
Of course I'm going to recommend a recovery program as well, having read your post.
I will say this though. I'm older and have known some IV users. One thing for sure. They are still active and cannot quit, or there dead. Best to you.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 304
I've known 6 people that wound up IV users. 3 have been in methadone clinics, back to
IV use. A cycle that's been going on a long time. 3 are no longer here. That's the blunt truth.
That's 6 people I've known. That's not to say there are not success stories as well.
IV use. A cycle that's been going on a long time. 3 are no longer here. That's the blunt truth.
That's 6 people I've known. That's not to say there are not success stories as well.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: parkersburg, wv
Posts: 178
I was a heavy opiate user since 98-well I can say that by 2000 I was in full blown addiction-I got clean in late 2001. I had wrestled around trying methadone/sub-Even ended up at a methadone clinic in 2006 to have the doctor turn me away (because he knew me since childhood and said he wouldn't sleep at night if he gave me methadone)-Anyway, for me-I am so glad I did not do maintenance. I am not saying it's not a good thing for some, but I wanted free of everything. I didn't want to go to the clinic every morning to get methadone-I didn't want it to control whether I could take trips and spend a few weeks away if I desired. Subs I thought about-but the cost I couldn't handle.-It was awful for about 2 months.-But now, I feel 90% normal..I never shot up, but was a very heavy pill user.
Whatever you decide-I do think a maintenance program is better than the iv route or going through illegal means to get the drug. It does improve lives when taken properly and monitored. I just didn't want to become a slave to another drug-even if I was getting it legal. I don't know if that helps, but it is something to consider.
Whatever you decide-I do think a maintenance program is better than the iv route or going through illegal means to get the drug. It does improve lives when taken properly and monitored. I just didn't want to become a slave to another drug-even if I was getting it legal. I don't know if that helps, but it is something to consider.
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