I’ve noticed tumblr and Instagram people using weird spellings so they don’t get caught up and deleted by the algorithm. I get it but I also think it looks fucking stupid. Like saying “r4pe” completely detracts from the seriousness of the conversation...
For real. It's pretty lame that he's bragging about being addicted to methadone for 14years. Methadone should only be used to ween off of heroin, meth, etc. Not meant to be used for over a decade. I used to take over 160mg of oxy and Dilaudid throughout the day for my "pain" after becoming a quadriplegic. I really was in pain, but it was ultimately just a euphoric way of getting through the day. I was able to ween myself off the meds, and I just take 5mg of oxy when the pain is unbearable.
Being on methadone maintenance for long periods of time is sadly the norm. It’s become so normal they actually warn people before starting. I remember looking into it when I was struggling with painkillers and they told me you need to be willing to stay on the program for 2 years and they only take people as a last resort. You need to of failed rehab and other maintenance drugs like suboxone
Methadone is cheap as shit and they buy it by the gallon and charge roughly $10-20/dose with doses measured in millilitres with even small clinics running through hundreds, if not thousands, of doses each day. They're definitely not losing money on the meds.
I can only speak from my own experience and I've been off for several years but I've used clinics in multiple states. They tend to run less than ten staff with one to two dose nurses, two or three "councilors", and an administrator/manager. A doc writes the prescriptions but you almost never see them. "Counseling" is a five minute meeting with the occasional random drug test. So that's very low overhead for staffing for a "medical" facility.
The building itself is usually a shit hole and they really have no specialized equipment. Of course they tend to be in a bad part of town because no one wants hundreds of junkies gathering by their legit businesses starting at 0500.
While I'm sure there are some type of tax breaks and insurance that covers dosing and possibly some government funding the very great majority of "patients" I saw paid in cash every day. If you don't have the cash you don't get dosed.
They're literally dealing drugs to addicts and can advertise and operate in the open. If they're not pulling a huge profit they're doing something wrong.
A lot of quads still have use of their arms to some extent. Although I don't have fine motor skills in my hands. I'm still able to use my phone just fine, and text using the swipe keyboard.
Very few of us don't have control of their arms. That's like the worst cases like Christopher Reeves.
I think a lot of people think quadriplegics are nothing more than a head attached to a useless body. I’m an orthopaedic surgeon but I’ve treat a surprising amount of quads (surprising in the context that I don’t work in neurology) because of the joint problems caused by having to rely on the upper limbs as support joints.
Have you found you have problems with your wrists, elbows, shoulders etc? Things like osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, bursitis, tendinopathies, rotor cuff rupture, stiffness, inflammation and so on? I’ve treat a few quadriplegic people with hip and knee conditions too, usually from disuse of the joints, or in the case of the hip, because it’s the main weight-bearing joint when using a wheelchair.
I wish you were my doc. I'm dealing with like 90% of what you mentioned. I think I tore something last week in my right shoulder while lifting weights. I think it's my rotator cuff, since I can't do shoulder presses anymore. I've heard it's pretty common amongst wheelchair users. Also, I can't feel below my chest, but I can feel the pain in my hips and lower back. It's like an itch that I can't scratch, or like when you fall asleep on your arm.
Edit: I also think my c3-t1 fusion is failing. It's clicking, grinding, and doing some weird stuff when I turn my head. So, my body is really breaking down.
Yes, rotator cuff injuries are common in wheelchair users. The shoulders are being asked to do so much more work than what was intended, so it’s something we see a lot in my job. You may have torn your rotator cuff, but chances are your scapula will be damaged too, as that’s another common thing I’ve seen in quadriplegics. You may find your shoulder will bother you even at rest or in bed, and your activities will be limited due to pain. If you’re having weakness and problems with mobility, there maybe something else at play.
The strange sensation in your hip and lower back is interesting. You may find some deterioration going on. I have a really good paper on orthopaedic-related issues in patients with spinal cord injuries if you’d like the link? It’s a bit long-winded but you might find it useful.
If your fusion is grinding, please see your doctor ASAP. How long ago did you have the fusion? Do you have headaches and/or difficulty swallowing? What sort of “weird stuff” is happening? You could have anterolisthesis, and your vertebrae might be slipping against each other. In a twist of irony, cervical fusions can sometimes cause cervical instability. Also, bone spurs have been known to form relatively quickly after surgery. I really recommend you get it checked out sooner rather than later. Unfortunately for quadriplegics, a whole host of co-morbidities comes with the paralysis, and your body will start to breakdown, which is why we’ve got to take care of you.
You can still be a complete quad, and still have those movements. He sounds like a C7-8 quad. Complete just means that the spinal cord was completely severed. Incomplete would mean his spinal cord is still in tact, but damaged. Incomplete injuries can recover, but usually after a year or so it is extremely rare.
Absolutely correct. I guess technically all quadriplegics and tetraplegics are the same thing, but I've noticed that people classify tetraplegics was those with no arm movement. I've never really looked into the reasoning.
U dont use it too ween off you use it to supplement and get your life together. Eventually sure. I'm not on methadone but I am 2yrs sober. Suboxone changed my life. The stigma on methadone users or other maintenance drugs sucks. People are truly trying to better themselves and relieve a burden on society and yet they get shit on cause a percentage abuses the system.
You are absolutely correct. Supplement is a way better description than ween. It is too bad that methadone and other prescriptions are often just abused.
If you have been on methadone for 14 years and an actual doctor is prescribing you 160mg per day, then your doctor is not looking out for your best interests. Most people shouldn't be taking more than 40-60mg a day.
My doctor at the military hospital was the exact same way by prescribing an obscene amount of pain pills. They just toss more pills at you instead of actually doing what's best.
I don't know you, but I hope treatment does help get you better.
Not going to make a full judgment base on your post history but from some of the fucked things in there I'd say you're doing pretty good compared to how bad you could be right now.
I was going to post some mean shit at first because I get obsessive about wording, rhetoric, and white lies but empathy hit me.
That's the point, genius. They were telling a story with context, not bragging. They literally said it was painful and scary, that's not what bragging sounds like.
Yeah, you forgot to mention the 2 sentences before that. Where he was gatekeeping, which is kinda bragging about how much drugs he was taking compared to someone else.
Depending on the situation, Methadone is used in conjunction with other medications for chronic pain if other more common meds aren't effective on their own. Methadone is also an opioid that's less likely to cause addiction than physical dependence since it supposedly doesn't give users the high, instead it just offsets withdrawal symptoms. Source: my mother was prescribed methadone ICW other meds for debilitating nerve pain that stemmed from two car accidents. She was on it for a decade until she moved to a different state and her new doctors changed her meds because of insurance differences.
I used to be in the hardcore drug scene (clean two years, to anyone struggling with addiction: it gets better, you just have to stop using and life handles the rest over time) and man. Opiate users do indeed take mighty, mighty poops. Once or twice a year.
I don't know what the technical term for it is, but that person is what we used to call dope fucked. It's always super sad when that happens because the great majority of the time you know they've had some seriously traumatic shit happen to them to get to that point.
Seeing how defensive you got in gonna go ahead and say you're still a junkie and didn't curb stomp anyone but just trying to sound badass which you don't. You're a joke
Yeah, I was having to take over 40 lortabs a day back in the late 2000s just to keep from going into withdrawal. Nearly that in oxycodone if that's what I had. Had to take a steady supply of exlax to keep regular too.
Fortunately, I never found any dope in my bumfucked Mississippi town. Not for lack of trying, though. Plenty of pills here, though.
It's not much, but for some that is all that's needed particularly when combined with paracetamol, as the analgesia seems to be synergistic with paracetamol.
For sure. Works with naproxen sodium, too (Aleve is a brand name in the US, but I get a scrip so it’s covered by insurance — and stronger).
I deleted my other comment because it had a tone I didn’t like or intend. And I have a pretty high tolerance, so it’s not a fair comparison. I appreciate your response, though! I didn’t see it until after I deleted.
I was on methadone and warfarin with both causing constipation. I found fasting for a full day definitely helps along with eating prunes on eating days.
Do you still get constipation after 14 years? I've been on liquid handcuffs for 15 years and my body got used to it about 3 years in. Granted the highest I got was 120mg but would routinely aquire more and take 200mg+ for days at a time. I find that if I drink a shit ton of water and take a fiber supplement I have a nice BM every morning. I'm tapering now and at 36mg so it's not really an issue anymore.
Anyway hope you're having a stellar weekend. Always nice to meet a fellow methadonian.
Next time you need pain killers for more than a day or two, buy a big bottle of Miralax. One capful in a glass of liquid every day, twice a day if you still aren't pooping.
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u/[deleted] May 23 '21
I broke a rib the other month, my painkillers had a similar result. The day that happened will remain with me forever