Long Question for Doctors, Preferrably Near Montana… but It Doesn’t Matter…?

Question by Chris: Long question for doctors, preferrably near Montana… but it doesn’t matter…?
[rewrite]Hi this is a serious question so please spare me any insults or rhetoric because I’m not here for that. I have used marijuana regularly,
and responsibly (not a single drug related arrest or charge in my life)
since I was 13 years old. I am now 19, soon to be 20, and have had a pretty bad addiction to painkillers since about mid-2007. Allow me to elaborate. I used to drink quite a bit and was into coke for a little while, and I was addicted to methamphetamine for a few months as well. However, I ate and slept regularly and didn’t become an entirely tweaked out loser… I decided to put it behind me, as with alcohol, cigarettes, and coke, I just stuck with pot. I still haven’t indulged…
My ex-girlfriend whom I broke up with just last week has a prescription for amphetamine salt, and though I had been offered many times, never once took it. At any rate, near the end of 2007, I was introduced to hydrocodone by a friend who also had no idea of it’s powers.
I began to snort them, and clean my house, do the dishes, etc…
I was living with my grandmother then, and shortly after my introduction to painkillers, she died in October of 2007, leaving me completely alone to keep the trailer and pay the bills. I dropped out to try and keep myself afloat. Things had become very depressing.
I had been in a horrible relationship that ended in the worst possible way next to death, I missed my grandma, and I missed my childhood.
But I didn’t start shooting up, or robbing people, or anything like that.
I would just spend many a day chasing vicodin or percocet, snort them, be high for a little while, feel better for a fleeting hour or two, then wake up and do it all over again. Pot wasn’t even the same without pills. It got to the point where my brain would hurt if I went without them. It kept going and going… Eventually, I lost my place,
lost my job, but met a girl I hadn’t seen in years, whom I began to date and live with, just me and her, in a home her mother paid for. Obviously, the lack of impending bills gave me time to search for pills unencumbered. She liked speed and had a prescription, I was hooked on painkillers and had to cop them on the street…
On and on it went. I also began taking lorazepam, not so much to get high, but because it killed my anxiety and went with the pot and opioids very well. Even at this point, however, I never went over 20 or 30 milligrams of percocet or vicodin a night. I’ll cut to the chase-
My mom died of sirrhosis last March, and it didn’t help me at all.
It wasn’t like Eric Clapton devoting his sobriety to the loss of his son,
in fact, I did them even more to take away the pain.
I finally lost my girlfriend, I’m basically homeless, and I still have to have pills constantly. Yet I still won’t put a needle in my arm, not that it makes a huge difference. I have an oppurtunity to go and start anew with a relative a few hundred miles away from all this, and here’s my question-

To someone my age and in my situation, how feasible would it be for me to see a doctor and possible talk about getting on the Suboxone program? Please don’t think of this as an excuse or copout,
I’ve tried the depression pills, I’ve thought of rehab, I’ve tried cold turkey… It seems hopeless. I honestly think I would kill myself.
Suboxone has been a miracle for me. I take a quarter of one, orally, and I’m fine for a whole day, feeling happy, productive, hopeful.
It sound like one frying pan into another, but I honestly can say that if I was prescribed and treated with suboxone, I might be able to kick this addiction in a year or two, maybe less… I’ve heard it can be prescribed for depression, so, what I’m asking is would they laugh me out of the doctor’s office? Would a doctor even consider a case like mine?
I wake up and don’t even want to face the world when I am without opioids… It’s pathetic. I truly think if I was prescribed Suboxone and moved to my relatives, I could start a new era in my life. Please don’t think I’d be using this drug as a crutch… I believe it may be the only way… Rehab doesn’t work for some people, and I wouldn’t be selling or abusing it. I’m at the end of my rope, and thought maybe some doctors could give me their input or opinion on this situation.
Your time is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
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Best answer:
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Answer by MeMD
Hi Chris,

Well first I’m happy that you realize all of this and are wanting/willing to help yourself.

Suboxone SL (Buprenorphine) is used to treat narcotic (opioid) dependence as you already know. It works by preventing withdrawal symptoms, since the buprenorphine is actually a type of narcotic (opioid) itself. It should be used as part of a complete narcotic dependence treatment plan.

Buprenorphine/naloxone is usually given daily during your medical treatment maintenance period, after a short period (induction) of using buprenorphine.

Also, if used for an extended period of time, do not suddenly stop using this drug without your doctor’s approval, or withdrawal symptoms may occur.

You are supposed to use this medication regularly in order to get the most benefit from it, so if you are just getting them off the street every now and then, this is not going to help you long term. Also, There are other reasons you should possibly not take this certain medication. There are several, such as lung disease, liver disease, serious head injury or brain diseases (lesions), low thyroid problems (hypothyroidism), adrenal problems (Addison’s disease), psychiatric problems (toxic psychosis), difficulty urinating (enlarged prostate or urethral narrowing), acute alcoholism (with or without delirium tremens), spinal problems (kyphoscoliosis), gallbladder (biliary tract) disease and other abdominal conditions.

This drug may make you dizzy or drowsy. Do not drive, use machinery, or do any activity that requires alertness until you are sure you can perform such activities safely. Avoid alcoholic beverages.

To minimize dizziness and lightheadedness, get up slowly when rising from a seated or lying position

Just wanted to give you all of that information on this medication.

I personally think that rehab (facilities) do nothing more than “Keep you sober” while you are there. Yeah, they educate you about how bad everything is for you, but you already know that. If you do not want to quit, your not going to. You can decide/do this in or out of a rehab facility yourself.

And, I don’t want to hear you say that you would kill yourself. I’m not gonna lecture, because I can tell that you are intelligent enough to know what I would say anyway….So, just think about that 🙂

I’m glad that you have not used needles. And yes, it is a huge difference. You know, the diseases and such. I know, you don’t want lectures and I know that you already know all of this stuff. Maybe you just need to hear it from someone else that cares about you every now and then….I do!

Stop getting pills off the street! (Sorry, I had to throw that in there!) Ha!

I lost my Grandmother when I was 16, I am now 38. This was absolutely the worst thing in my life. I still miss her to this day.

I do think that it is great that you have a relative that you can go to. It will also help that it is hundreds of miles away. You will be away from the far too many “Bad people” and “Drug spots” that you are familiar with where you are now. I do suggest going to your relatives. Be honest with them about everything so that they will better be able to understand and help you through this.

A Doctor had better not laugh you out of the office for this! And yes, if you explained everything to them as you have explained here, and be honest, they absolutely will help you or find someone that will in one way or another, weather it is with Suboxone or something else. There are several options for your treatment medically. You need a physical and some tests anyway.

And as far as your age, I think it is great that you are doing this now, because you are young. Very young to have had gone through everything that you have. Yet, still smart enough to know that you need to do something about it. I’m proud of you! And at 19/20….Man, you have so much /many more great things you could be doing.

I’m gonna give you this information to help you out. Maybe you already know about it? This program will help you out with food, money (Yes cash!) and….Even medical help!

Go to – dphhs.mt.gov

Click on – get public assistance

Then, I want you to apply for SNAP and TANF

You download these applications, and I believe that you qualify for both. Check out the other things they offer as well.

Took me a while, I was doing a lot of searching to find this program for you in Montana. I went there so I would know all of the steps for you to take. I could have given you their address and phone number as well, but I did not know which city/county you are in, and there are 60 different offices. But, like I said you can do it online. So, apply for this aid, it will help you out. At least I know you will be getting food to eat.

When you move to your relatives, you may have to reapply in that county.

Well Chris, I do think that it would be feasible for you to see a Doctor, move to your relatives and start anew. You are absolutely thinking the right

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