Originally Posted by archer295

I've been an addict for 40 years.
I was clean for about 7 of those years after I was born-again.
Living in Detroit at the time, I had heard that you could get codine w/asprin, or tylenol without a prescription by driving 35 miles to Canada.

I had some back problems and justified doing this because of some pain.
It started me on a slippery slope, though.
I started using street drugs again, and nearly lost my wife and daughter who was 3 yrs old.

When I moved to the other side of the state, I had an MRI and found I had a bulged disk, and started using vicodin.
I was getting a prescription for 120 tabs a month from one dr and 50 from another of 750mg vicodin.

In August this year I woke one morning and couldn't get out of bed. The MRI didn't confirm this, but I'm sure I ruptured the disk.
I was now using more narcotics, including mainlining oxycontin and was in a great deal of horrendous pain.

Still, I was abusing them and running out of meds to face the pain alone and go thru withdrawls at the same time.

In Oct. I finally got my insurance in place and got into a hospital for the operation.
When I arrived they did another MRI and found I had an infection at the base of my spine along with a disk the consitency of snot (to quote the dr).

The dr told my wife after the operation that if I'd waited a few more days I would have been temporarily, or permanatly parylized, or dead.
I was in pretty bad shape.
It also became pretty obvious I had a serious problem.
I would watch the clock for my shot of diladed, and the other narcotics I was to receive.

When I got out I had all kinds of prescriptions, several dr's prescribing and I was trying to OD.

Well, having said all that, on Dec. 26th, 2006 I checked into detox, and when W/D started they started me on Suboxone.
I had virtually no effects from withdrawing. The dr wrote me a prescription for Suboxone 2MG/.5MG with a program to taper off it.
I'm down to 1/2 tab a day, and feel at this time it's a waste. I'm seriously thinking about just stopping.

Here's the way this stuff works in layman's terms;
Opiates will stick to receptors in your brain causing the euphoria. Suboxone will do the same without the euphoria.
While using it if you do use opiates you'll feel no effects or euphoria.
Today is Jan. 18, 2007 and I'm doing and feeling great!

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!