I want to know how NA members feel about MMT patients
Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: houston, tx
Posts: 42
"I was on anti-depressants for almost 3 years in early recovery, but I rarely shared about it nor did I consider myself not clean (wellbutrin, zoloft, & prozac)."
IMO and experience, there are certain meds that people have to take in order to be healthy. I would never tell someone with high blood pressure and taking medication that he wasn't clean, and would certainly never tell someone on anti-depressants that they weren't clean.
I have battled severe depression and bipolar disorder my entire life. Last time I went off meds, (anti depressants) three years ago, I attempted suicide (and nearly succeeded.)
Depression and mental illness are real medical problems. I'm not willing to risk my life to see if I need them anymore or not. I am proud of my clean time- part of my recovery is accepting that I need these medications and am responsible for taking them. I always had an issue with mood stabilizers- they had a stigma that I didn't want, so I refused to take them. Again, part of my recovery is taking care of my health as a responsible adult would do.
I hope no one would ever feel ashamed of taking antidepressants. I think the concept of "no meds, period" is rather ignorant, and incredibly risky.
I also wonder if any of our fellow members who tout this idea are smokers...
On another note, I was an opiate addict. I was given a script for suboxtone, and used it for 2 days. It made me feel out of my mind high, and that was the feeling I was trying to get rid of. I did the rest of the time cold turkey. I would imagine that it would feel completely frustrating to get off one drug only to find yourself addicted to another.
Again, JMO and my experience.
IMO and experience, there are certain meds that people have to take in order to be healthy. I would never tell someone with high blood pressure and taking medication that he wasn't clean, and would certainly never tell someone on anti-depressants that they weren't clean.
I have battled severe depression and bipolar disorder my entire life. Last time I went off meds, (anti depressants) three years ago, I attempted suicide (and nearly succeeded.)
Depression and mental illness are real medical problems. I'm not willing to risk my life to see if I need them anymore or not. I am proud of my clean time- part of my recovery is accepting that I need these medications and am responsible for taking them. I always had an issue with mood stabilizers- they had a stigma that I didn't want, so I refused to take them. Again, part of my recovery is taking care of my health as a responsible adult would do.
I hope no one would ever feel ashamed of taking antidepressants. I think the concept of "no meds, period" is rather ignorant, and incredibly risky.
I also wonder if any of our fellow members who tout this idea are smokers...
On another note, I was an opiate addict. I was given a script for suboxtone, and used it for 2 days. It made me feel out of my mind high, and that was the feeling I was trying to get rid of. I did the rest of the time cold turkey. I would imagine that it would feel completely frustrating to get off one drug only to find yourself addicted to another.
Again, JMO and my experience.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: houston, tx
Posts: 42
Forgot one other thing- As for pain management, my sponsor has told me that I have the same right to be pain-free as a "normie." I used to have the grin-and-bear-it mentality until I couldn't function due to a chronic illness. I handle as much as i can handle, and then on occasion, as a last resort, take pain relief. I have a healthy fear of it, and always tell my husband and sponsor if I take it.
While I have the same right to pain relief as the next guy, I bear a greater responsibility in taking it. I have to be gut-level honest about my motives, and continue to work a rigorous program. I tend to feel guilty when I take it, as though I'm weak and should be able to handle the pain without anything, but I have to remember that just because I'm in recovery and have made great strides within myself doesn't mean that I am super-human.
While I have the same right to pain relief as the next guy, I bear a greater responsibility in taking it. I have to be gut-level honest about my motives, and continue to work a rigorous program. I tend to feel guilty when I take it, as though I'm weak and should be able to handle the pain without anything, but I have to remember that just because I'm in recovery and have made great strides within myself doesn't mean that I am super-human.
Obsessed Pug Momma
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Probably at Wal-Mart
Posts: 1,331
I was an opiate addict and kicked it without medical assistance, which I wouldn't recommend to anyone who has severe withdrawals like I did. In fact, I had to kick the opiates, and other stuff, at least 8 or 9 times, due to repeated relapses. Withdrawals were always rough. These relapses I speak of were due to NOT following the NA program. EVERY time I got desperate enough to work the program, I stayed clean with NA, nothing more. Each time I tried to stay clean without NA, I failed.
My little brother was hooked on the same drug as me. He was unwilling to try NA. Instead, he went straight to a doctor and got on Suboxone which he has been on for a solid year now and though he tries to wean himself down, he never can because of the withdrawals. Inside of a week he was back on weed because he still had a living problem. Suboxone doesn't take that away. He is still just as trapped in addiction as he was a year ago and has paid his doctor enough for a new sports car by now.
I am not knocking anyone who tries Suboxone. My opinion is that the doctors and manufacturers lead clients to believe that Suboxone, Methadone, etc, will take away their addiction and keep them clean, so of course people are going to try it. But in reality I believe it is merely a substitute that one has to stay on forever or detox from. Where I live, we rarely hear about anyone on Methadone, occasionally suboxone, but the people I see come in and commit themselves to the NA program have a deeper and longer-lasting solution in the spiritual program of Narcotics Anonymous and they don't need a pill to get it. I for one am thrilled that I did not pay a doctor hundreds or thousands of dollars to get me hooked on another drug.
The opinions expressed above are mine and do not include a request for anyone to pick them apart. Thank you.
My little brother was hooked on the same drug as me. He was unwilling to try NA. Instead, he went straight to a doctor and got on Suboxone which he has been on for a solid year now and though he tries to wean himself down, he never can because of the withdrawals. Inside of a week he was back on weed because he still had a living problem. Suboxone doesn't take that away. He is still just as trapped in addiction as he was a year ago and has paid his doctor enough for a new sports car by now.
I am not knocking anyone who tries Suboxone. My opinion is that the doctors and manufacturers lead clients to believe that Suboxone, Methadone, etc, will take away their addiction and keep them clean, so of course people are going to try it. But in reality I believe it is merely a substitute that one has to stay on forever or detox from. Where I live, we rarely hear about anyone on Methadone, occasionally suboxone, but the people I see come in and commit themselves to the NA program have a deeper and longer-lasting solution in the spiritual program of Narcotics Anonymous and they don't need a pill to get it. I for one am thrilled that I did not pay a doctor hundreds or thousands of dollars to get me hooked on another drug.
The opinions expressed above are mine and do not include a request for anyone to pick them apart. Thank you.
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