 Greetings! Most all of
you know who I am but
those of you not familiar with Medical Assisted Treatment of America, I will introduce myself to you. My name is Deborah Shrira and I worked as a Pharmacist. Now, I write and publish articles to educate people about addiction and of course, methadone. If you would like to know if I have ever had addiction problems,
I have. I am no different than any of you. I am a methadone patient! I deal with pain like many of you but if you would like to know how I ended up here, I became very upset with the injustice occur- ring in methadone main-tenance treatment facili-
ties. I could not just let it slide without trying to help the people in the same boat I was in. My whole life changed when I began taking methadone for the better. Many years I had tried and tried every thing to stop using but I was not succeeding and I had reached the point I was beginning to believe I was a total failure and would certainly be better off dead. It was about that time someone told me about methadone. I was there the very next day and I had my doubts as to whether it would work but I had tried everything else so I seen no reason not to give it a chance, I had nothing to lose. I knew the very minute after I dosed it was going to work and it did change my entire life. It lifted me out of the depression I had dealt with all my life, stopped the craving, withdrawal symptoms and even changed my career.
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Greetings! I am hoping all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving... It tends to get very busy here around the Holidays but we really don't mind. If I can make the day better for just one person, then I feel like I have accomplished something. To me,
"Success" means effectiveness in the world, that I am able to carry my ideas and
values into the world ...that I am able to change it in positive ways.
If we really take the time to look at out lives, I am sure we take for grant it many
things we should not. I'm hoping all of you will try and take the time out of your day to let someone know how much you appreciate them. We all assume others know how we feel about them and yes, it's possible they do know but they need to hear it from you. We all need the assurance we are loved and appreciated. I don't believe any of you will argue with me here.
I want to take the time to let all of you know I am thankful for the opportunity to
be available for you. I do sincerely care about all of you and I understand just how agonizing it can be for you if you are battling an addiction. It's like all the
world is against you. You try, but then you relapse. We are not here to condemn you but to support you and if you need us during Christmas, we will be here to answer your crys for help.
I am going to share an article with you I found very interesting. I would really like to hear your thoughts. Can any of you relate? Give me some feedback, please?
If you or anyone you care about is tormented by clinical depression and none of the medications seem to help, you need to read this.
Widespread ignorance regarding Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome, combined with the ruthless drug prohibition laws, sent me on a trip through hell and back... This ignorance also came within an inch of ending my life... If I can save people from going through this hell by just explaining a few scientifically proven facts, I need to do it.
Tormented by depression and nothing seems to help? You're not alone. Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Cymbalta... You've tried two or three of these. They were supposed to help you feel better- but you just didn't! Sound familiar? Did you happen to notice that opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone are the only substances capable of making you feel normal?
If you’re suffering from treatment resistant depression, the following criteria should help you to determine whether an endogenous opioid deficiency is at the root of your problem:
|  Hypersensitivity/sensory defenseness - This could be hypersenstivity to
touch, sound, light, temperature, etc.You're easily made uncomfortable by slight disturbances in your surroundings. | | |
| Weak immune system- You don't know of anyone who catches nasty
colds as much as you do. Perhaps you were even diagnosed with an
autoimmune condition or two. | | | | |
| You've never in your life experienced runner's high. | |
| You're easy to bring to tears, or at least you were that way
through your teenage years. | | |
| Pollen allergy/Hay Fever -This often comes with a chronic runny
nose and possibly other allergies as well. | | |
Did you answer "yes" to at least of the above five criteria? Did reading this stunningly accurate description of yourself make your heart skip a beat?
I’ve been told that happens quite often to readers. The above five traits are not an authoritative diagnostic criteria for Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome, since no such criteria exist. While medical orthodoxy freely admits the fact that endorphins (naturally occurring opiate-like peptides in the human body) are responsible for both emotional well being and stimulating the body to produce disease-fighting antibodies, they’ve yet to draw the obvious conclusion that endorphin deficient individuals are therefore highly vulnerable to depression and sickness.
Here are three more common traits of Endorphine Deficiency Syndrome. These three traits aren’t quite as common as the first five, yet appear frequently enough to warrant mentioning:
1) You're introverted, and annoyed by crowds. This may have something to do with trait A, above.
2) Your motor coordination skills developed slowly as a child. Your training wheels stayed on your bike for longer than normal. You were also lousy at sports.
3) You have a 'Cluster B' personality disorder. These are Narcissistic personality disorder, Histrionic personality disorder, Borderline personality disorder, and Antisocial personality disorder.
Reardon Metal© http://www.prohibitionkills.blogspot.com
If you think you have Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome, I would like to hear from you. Do any of these symptoms apply to you? I will be sharing more each month about Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome. I think most of you are going to enjoy the articles and find they apply to you.
Every thought seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind,and to take root there,
produces its own. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.
A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers
and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts.
By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances
and destiny.
Source: As A Man Thinketh© James Allen
I see the frustration and agony we face every day in our quest to be normal. A little true story that may drive the point home of how programs can control and affect our lives.
The Program Director in a certain state had promised me over the phone many weeks in advance of moving my family from New York to there that he would secure a once-a-week methadone pickup for me. He did tell me a few times on the many calls that there should be no problem.
With that verbal promise, I moved to Florida. Mind you, I was getting twice-a-month take outs from the NYC clinic before I moved. They were approved by
Federal, New York State and New York City authorities. It was well documented and in my file when I started on the new program.
When I arrived for my first pick up, to my surprise, the Program Director had done nothing. So he, called the State Methadone Agency without any look at the facts or preparation for his conversation to see if they would approve a once-a-week pickup schedule. The person on the other end of the phone either got up on the wrong side of the bed or did not get his the night before and denied all but a twice-a- week pickup.
I then asked the Director about what he had told me and said that I was in deep trouble as I counted on him and his word. I travel for work all the time at a moment's notice -like midnight, the night before pickup day.
So we were off to a bad start. For the next few months, I had three counselors in three months; they were not helpful. I arranged not to travel. This did not give me good status at work. The fourth counselor was able to help me secure emer-gency bottles to keep my job.
Then she left, and I got the "Counselor From Hell." She had a chippy all the time. I needed the emergency takeouts almost every week now. By the way, I substanti-ated my travel in triplicate, so there was no doubt where I was and for what pur-pose. However,, she started to question me and said that the doctor could get in trouble for all the special takeouts I needed.
The new Director who was married, and my counselor were caught in the car around back of the clinic doing their nasty deed. Well, they decided to get me a special exemption to allow me six takeouts at a time again. The dynamic duo decided I knew too much and only got me five bottles at a time, which still made me come to the clinic two times a week. It was easier for them to get me an exemption than ask the doctor for the special take outs. State law usually allows
as many bottles as needed up to two weeks at a time or more, depending upon the situation as long as it can be substantiated. I had checked this out before I went on to the Florida program.
The company I was employed with spun off from their main company, and I had only a company name change on the check (we have to substantiate employment
every month). On a Sunday, with my plans to travel to Atlanta in my pocket, the counselor from hell and her director lover said that the Special Exemption was no longer good and took my bottles. I pleaded to show that this was not true and that only the name changed, not the company.The same person signed the check, my employer number was the same, and all my other information did not change. Their decision was that I had to pick up two times a week.
Again, I had to put my job in jeopardy because of not being able to travel and meet my promised job responsibility. So I got a letter from my boss after telling him another story as to why I needed it. This was the third letter I had asked for. They lost the first, and I had to get another one as the date needed to be different
by the time they procrastinated.
I asked every other pickup day as to the status of the request and was told a lie by the duo. This added great amounts of stress, and I almost lost my job, as I had no way of arranging a guest pickup at another clinic die to not having advanced warning and notification all the time.
So I had to do what was necessary to cope (if you get my drift). I tried very hard not to relapse, but that even came close after 20 plus years of being clean. I have been stalled in airports, and bad weather interrupted my being able to return on time on many occasions.
So, I finally called the Senior Vice President of all the clinics, and He was appalled at their behavior, plus the fact I had spoken to the Head of the State Methadone Authority to try and see if I could get a sane resolution to the matter. The State Methadone Authority Director called the Senior Vice President of the clinics. The end was at hand for the duo, as they were both fired for immoral behavior and endangering my safety, health, anonymity, and well being.
Their negligent behavior and lack of judgement was negatively affecting many other patients as well. Many a warning and threat was issued to the facility ; the DEA, FDA, and other state authorities were after them, and the Methadone Facility was threatened with closure.
I was then assigned a new counselor (angel Head Nurse). It was for many apparent
reasons, and my health was not good (Hepatitis C and Cirrhosis). She called and made an appointment to have a special meeting with Florida's State Methadone Administrator as He has the authority to grant "Special Exemptions." She drove all the way to our State Capital to meet with him, as face to face, is the best way, and she secured a once-a-week take home exemption for me which is still in force.
Note: Old "Counselor From Hell"; had added many incorrect lies to my file which I did not know about, and it was signed by both the Old Counselor and Director. I had that stricken from the file and corrected.
The moral is that sometimes counselors and directors make up restrictions on the fly. You need to know what your rights are and how you can protect yourself from this happening. If I had this information either at the clinic or on hand, I would have been much wiser. A knowledgeable patient is a wise patient. Information
rules!!! This is one of the reasons that others in our position need to have availa-bility to the real truth and not a made up set of rules that change to meet the counselor's or clinic's needs. Our right to anonymity and safety of our health is not to be compromised.
This is a true story, and it could have been avoided by having this information nearby and being told the truth by people who (in some cases) are out only to burn certain people. We are entitled to be treated like human beings and not subjected to endangering our health and well being by a bad counselor whose ambition for power over you can affect you to your very human core.
Regards, and I hope some others will learn by the injustice done to me by the people who run our daily lives.
Name Withheld By Request
If you are having any difficulties with your Methadone Maintenance Treatment, I'm
asking you to please fill out a report. There is no need for you to leave your name but we want to hear about the nature of your grievance. If you would include the name of your Methadone Maintenance Treatment Facility along with the name of the city and state, then it would be much appreciated.
http://www.medicalassistedtreatment.org/434136/277599.html
-- As we mature our social environment including choice of friends is influenced by our genes far more than what most may expect, finds a new study. Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University believe this insight may help determine which individuals may be at risk for future substance use or other externalizing behaviors such as conduct and antisocial personality disorder.
“As we grow and move out of our own home environment, our genetically influenced temperament becomes more and more important in influencing the kinds of friends we like to hang out with,” said Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and human genetics in VCU’s School of Medicine and lead author on the study.
“The study shows how genetic and family environmental factors influence the ways in which we create our own social environment as we grow.”
In the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers reported for the first time the degree to which genetic factors impact how people choose their social environment.
From a developmental perspective, Kendler and his colleagues examined peer group deviance among approximately 1,800 male twin pairs from mid-childhood to early adulthood, between 1998 and 2004.
Through a series of interviews, researchers found that genetic factors increasingly impact how male twins make choices as they mature and develop their own social groups.
“The road from genes to externalizing behaviors like drug use and antisocial behaviors is not entirely direct or biological,” Kendler said.
“An important part of this pathway involves our genetics influencing our own social environment, which in turn impacts on our risk for a whole host of deviant behaviors.”
“Our results demonstrate clearly that a complete understanding of the pathway from genes to antisocial behaviors, including drug abuse, has to take into account self-selection into deviant versus benign environments,” he said.
“The effects of peers in adolescence can be quite powerful, either encouraging or discouraging deviant behaviors. Peers also provide access to substances of abuse.”
Source: Virginia Commonwealth University Rick Nauert, Ph.D.
Recently, national media has created widespread exposure for the increased use of replacement drug treatment methods such as Methadone and Suboxone.
The "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" and USA Today have both touched upon some of the dangers these replacement methods present, which include new dependencies and death due to overdose.
With prescription drug abuse rates now surpassing those of marijuana, it has become increasingly important to develop new methods for treatment. However, is the simple replacement of one drug for another the answer?
The increase of prescription medication dependency in America has created a greater need for the introduction of alternative methods of treatment to address the issue. Ultimately, the goal of any treatment method is long-term abstinence, and the necessary initial step to achieve this is the elimination of all opioids from the body.
The absolute detoxification from opiates is prevented by the use of Suboxone and Methadone, as they work by filling receptors with opiates of a different form.
"Drugs like Methadone and Suboxone only mask the typically painful withdrawal symptoms, because they simply continue to feed the dependency," explains Dr. Clifford Bernstein, Medical Director of The Waismann Method, a world-renowned Opiate Dependency Treatment Center."Patients seeking detoxification from opiates take these drugs as advised by their physician."
"Unfortunately these patients are unknowingly utilizing an opiate-based drug in an attempt to cure their existing dependency, without realizing that these replacement therapies merely block cravings.
Suboxone and Methadone do not treat the root of opiate dependency; they solely maintain the opioid levels within a patient's receptors, thus preventing physical withdrawals."
According to a recent study conducted by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NIDC), Methadone related deaths increased by 390 percent from 1999 to 2004; with the age group of 15 to 24 seeing the largest increase.
This increase is principally due to the unsupervised prescription of Methadone and the lack of education surrounding the danger of this drug.
Unfortunately, Suboxone (a 50 percent opiate-based drug) is most often used as a drug replacement therapy, but it only serves to suppress cravings. It works by taking the place of the opioids in the receptor - preventing a patient from experiencing physical withdrawals - therefore giving the false impression that Suboxone has treated the initial dependency.
However, it is important to note that the absence of withdrawal symptoms does not mean the absence of dependency.In a survey conducted by The Waismann Method in in 2007, an alarming 87 percent of respondents said they experience withdrawal symptoms if they missed a dose of Suboxone.
As medicine has evolved over the years, we now have the ability to medically reverse opiate dependency.Since 1999, the Waismann Method, based in California, has performed more than 2000 anesthesia-assisted opiate detoxification procedures and has demonstrated that the method is both safe and humane, in addition to being an effective method for reversing individuals' opiate dependency. One year after opiate reversal, approximately 70 percent of Waismann Method patients remained opiate free, per Waismann patient self-reporting by telephone or email.
"A number of studies have proven that there is a significant dropout rate for traditional methods of detoxification because abusers are afraid of the unpleasant withdrawal experience," said Bernstein. "In fact, it has been reported that up to 50 percent of individuals utilizing inpatient methods and as many as 70 percent of individuals utilizing outpatient methods will fail to complete their given program."(1)
For more information about the Waismann Method, visit http://www.opiates.com.
About the Waismann Method
Drs. Clifford A. Bernstein is the medical director of Anesthesia Assisted Medical Opiate Detoxification Inc. (A.A.M.O.D.). A.A.M.O.D. uses the exclusive Waismann Method of Neuro-Regulation to treat opiate dependency. Performed in a hospital intensive care unit, the Waismann Method involves cleansing opiate receptors in a patient's brain of the narcotics while the patient is under anesthesia, reversing the chemical imbalance. During the procedure, the patient will experience minimal conscious withdrawal, and will be able to return home within days. Over 65% of the patients who are treated with the Waismann Method remain drug free after one year. The Waismann Foundation, founded by Clare Waismann, is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.
Reference
1.) Cheng SK, Cheung BK. Psychometric Properties and Factor Structures of 2 Chinese Opiate Withdrawal Rating Scales. Hong Kong J Psychiatry. 2004;14(1):2-9.
If any of you have tried the Waismann Method? If you have, I would like to hear from you. I am interested in knowing if it worked for you? Maybe I am leary of new methods but I find it almost impossible to believe it can deliver what it claims.
I would like to advise all of you not to believe all you hear. If it sounds too good to be true then it usually is. If you are interested in hearing more about methadone, then we are here to answer your questions. We are not here to condemn you, but to share parts of our life with you and let you know how methadone gave us a second chance.
Yes, there have been deaths from methadone and most of them occurred from lack of knowledge about the medication. I am not going to deny, it is not a lethal drug, but if you are opiate-tolerant then it could be the medication you need to move the mountains in your life. We are here twenty-fours every day to answer any questions you have about methadone and to assist you in determining the best treatment for you.
If you are interested in learning more and/or changing your life then please give us a call any time. We can be reached at: Office 770.428.0871
770.527.9119
If you can't afford to give us a call then just send me an e-mail to:
deborahshrira@gmail.com Please send me your name, number and the best time to call you and I will call you at my expense. I want you to understand we care and we know everyone can't afford long-distance calls. We have made the phone
accessible to everyone needing help. We are available around the clock for you.
Young people whose mothers drank when pregnant may be more likely to abuse alcohol because, in the womb, their developing senses came to prefer its taste and smell. Researchers with the State University of New York Developmental Ethanol Research Center have found that because the developing nervous system adapts to whatever mothers eat and drink, young rats exposed to alcohol (ethanol) in the womb drank significantly more alcohol than non-exposed rats.
These findings, covered in two related studies, appear in the December issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association (APA). The studies contribute a critical biological piece to the complex puzzle of why teens with a family history of drinking may themselves drink more.
Lead author Steven Youngentob, PhD, observes that a biologically instilled preference for alcohol's taste and smell can make young people much more likely to abuse alcohol, especially in light of social pressures, risk-taking tendencies and alcohol's addicting qualities.
These more subtle consequences of fetal alcohol exposure come on top of the potential for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which leads to profound neurodevelop-mental problems including mental retardation.
In one study, infantile rats exposed to alcohol (ethanol) in the womb drank significantly more of it in youth but not in adulthood. They were the offspring of dams, or mother rats, from one of three experimental groups: ethanol-exposed via the mother's diet at levels simulating moderate to heavy drinking; pair-matched controls that ate the same amounts as ethanol exposed-dams to control for any effect of under-nutrition; and controls that ate freely.
The offspring were studied at Day 15 after birth, still infants, or Day 90 after birth, fully mature. Adult rats chose to drink ethanol or non-ethanol solutions, both from bottles. Rat pups were presented with ethanol solutions through tubes implanted in their cheeks; they could either swallow to accept, or reject it by shaking their heads, licking the chamber walls or floor, or letting it drip out.
The ethanol-exposed animals drank significantly more ethanol than both groups of control animals. The authors cite their finding as evidence for ethanol preference resulting from maternal use or abuse of ethanol during pregnancy.
 The authors put forth the idea that when the developing nervous system senses ethanol in amniotic fluid, it adapts without awareness of which chemicals will help or hurt the organism. It could be alcohol; it could be carrot juice; the adaptation is the same. Given the former, the olfactory system of a developing fetus becomes attuned to ethanol's chemosensory attributes. It "likes" the taste and smell, two big factors in the flavor of alcohol. However, Youngentob further suggests that if the nervous system has no further experience with the drug by adulthood, ethanol loses its chemosensory allure.
The related study found strong evidence of the role of the olfactory system. As in the other study, the researchers exposed the rats to ethanol by giving it to preg-nant mothers. Control mothers just ate chow, and the offspring were tested either at 15 or 90 days after birth.
When exposed to ethanol odor, the prenatally exposed young rats sniffed it significantly more than control rats. To heighten ethanol's sensory impact, the odor-responsive cells in their nasal passages also became tuned. This altered odor response predicted the sniffing response of the animals. Again, these effects faded by adulthood, the rat equivalent of 30 to 40 human years.
The authors wrote, "From a clinical perspective, an enhanced preference for ethanol odor may be an important contributor to the risk for an enhanced postnatal avidity for the drug." That finding addresses a central goal of the State University of New York Developmental Ethanol Research Center, where Youngentob and his colleagues aim to define the factors that contribute to the perpetuating cycle of abuse from fetal exposure to adult abuse and back again.
Given the concern about young people who may not even know that they are entering a high-risk period for alcohol abuse, Youngentob's message for prevention is clear: "Keep kids away from alcohol, especially those that had fetal exposure." There is particular concern about the alcohol industry marketing flavored alcoholic beverages to youth as fun drinks similar to soft drinks, given that for some potential drinkers, the strong positive preference for alcohol won't subside until well into adulthood.
"The even more basic message is that there is no time during pregnancy when it is safe to drink," adds Youngentob.
Articles: "The Effect of Gestational Ethanol Exposure on Voluntary Ethanol Intake in Early Postnatal and Adult Rats," and "Experience-Induced Fetal Plasticity: The Effect of Gestational Ethanol Exposure on the Behavioral and Neurophysiologic Olfactory Response to Ethanol Odor in Early Postnatal and Adult Rats," Steven L. Youngentob, PhD, SUNY Upstate Medical University and SUNY Developmental Research Center; Juan C. Molina, PhD, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Binghamton University, and SUNY Developmental Ethanol Research Center; Norman E. Spear, PhD, Binghamton University and SUNY Developmental Ethanol Research Center; and Lisa M. Youngentob, BS, SUNY Upstate Medical University and SUNY Developmental Ethanol Research Center; Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol 121, No. 6.
American Psychological Association (APA)
750 First St., NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
United States
http://www.apa.org
Patients taking powerful painkilling drugs known as opioids are often advised not to operate heavy machinery bacause of the sedating effects of the medication. But a new study finds that people who take opioids regularly for chronic pain drive as well as most others on the road.
The researchers arrived at their findings after asking two groups of about fifty volunteers each to use a driving simulator for 12 minutes. The members of one group were regular users of oral morphine; the other group took no pain medication at all.
The study, presented to a recent conference of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, used the driving simulator to measure weaving, reaction time and accident rates, and found little difference between the groups.
The lead researcher, Dr. Asokumar Buvanendran of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said regular users of opioids like morphine might have developed tolerance to its side effects.
"If I suddenly took 30 milligrams of morphine,"he said,"I'd probably sleep for 10 hours, whereas someone who took it for the last two years is probably as alert as I am now."
Dr. Buvanendran said he began the study after a patient told him he had been turned down as a bus driver .
The findings, he said, suggest that some of the employment and other restrictions placed on regular opioid users should be revisited. If not, regular opioid users may be unfairly denied a chance to have a normal life.
There's no point in giving opioids to these patients of they can't return to functionality in society.
Source: Eric Nagourney
New York Times
Don't Ever Forget
Your presence is a gift to the world
You're unique and one of a kind
Your life can be what you want it to be
Take it one day at a time
Count your blessings, not your troubles
And you'll make it through what comes along
Within you are so many answers
Understand, have courage, be strong.
Don't put limits on yourself
Your dreams are waiting to be realized
Don't leave your important decisions to chance
Reach for your peak, your goal, and your prize.
Nothing wastes more energy than worrying
The longer a problem is carried, the heavier it gets
Don't take things too seriously
Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets
Remember that a little love goes a long way
Remember that a lot goes forever.
Remember that friendship is a wise investment.
Life's treasures are people...together.
Have health and hope and happiness
Take the time to wish on a star.
And don't ever forget for even a day.
How special you are!
I did include the opioid conversion chart. I believe it should give you an idea of how potent methadone is. There have been others asking and I finally found it with Santa's help. (LOL) If you have any questions, we are available.
We are here for any of you needing help through 'The Holidays.' If you are looking for information, we welcome your calls. If you find yourself alone, depressed, or in need of help then, take the time to give us a call. We never close and you are never alone. You have a friend through us at all times. We will never reject you.
Don't spend Christmas alone. People are here waiting to talk to you. Call! Meet a new friend. They have experienced life and can probably relate to what you are feeling. We know Christmas has a magic to it but you must reach out to others.
It's hard to experience the love all alone. Give us a chance? We will not let you down as others have.
Deborah Shrira
October 2007 "The Director's View" "Trick or Treat"
This afternoon, as I was walking down the lane to get the mail, I was thinking about a day some years ago, when my mother was looking out the kitchen window on a cool, fall day, like today. She was shaking her head as I came into the room. I could barely hear her say, "The older you get, the quicker it goes."
As I walked up behind her, I asked her, "Mother, did you say something?"
I knew what she would say before she opened her mouth to say it. "Don't worry, Deborah, you'll know soon enough."
I turned away, grinning and thinking sarcastically to myself, "Yes, whatever! I'd better quickly go write that down in my "What I'll Know When I'm Older" journal. It was getting pretty thick!"
So, here I am, years later, walking back to my home on this beautiful Autumn day. Looking around at the beautiful Fall colors, I thought about how I could hardly believe it was October already. I shook my head, looked around and then smiled, "The older you get, the quicker it goes."
Now, for all those who aren't quite as "mature" as I am, go out and buy yourself a journal you can write in. Now, write down all of those "sayings" that your mother or father have said to you as you were growing up. You know the ones. Those that you would swear that "When I have kids, I will NEVER say that to my child." Really, I know you remember them!
In a few years, pull out the book, and read those things that your mother or father said to you. See how many times you found yourself saying those same things to your own children. But do it quick, because there isn't half as much time as you think.
Because one day, you'll be looking out on a beautiful fall afternoon, looking at all the beautiful fall colors, shaking your head and thinking to yourself, "The older I get, the quicker it goes."
~Deborah~
I am sure you have all seen the different articles concerning Methadone and the numerous deaths it has caused especially when it combined with other various medications. We just recently discussed one serious interaction between Xanax® and Methadone. Now it is time to discuss ways to avoid drug interactions.
� Patients maintained on methadone should be cautioned to consult healthcare professionals before taking any OTC products, herbal remedies, or dietary supplements.
� Patients should provide to their healthcare providers and pharmacist an updated list of all medical products used.
� Patients should understand their prescriptions and the dosage, and be able to cross-check what was prescribed with what they receive from the pharmacist.
� For each prescribed medication, patients should be verbally instructed on what the drug is used for, how to take it, and how to reduce the risk of side effects or drug interactions. It cannot be assumed that patients will read or understand product labels or written information provided with medications or other healthcare products.
� Compliance with prescribed medication regimens should be emphasized. Patients need to understand the importance of taking all medications exactly when, how, and in the quantities specified.
� Patients should be educated on the hazards of taking excess medication or sharing medicines with anyone else. They should be reminded about safe storage of medications and proper disposal of unused portions.
� Patients should be counseled on the importance of quickly reporting any sudden or unexpected signs/symptoms of either methadone withdrawal or overmedication, as this could indicate a potentially hazardous interaction with another drug or substance.
� Special consideration and instruction will be required for patients with physical conditions that may cause or exacerbate drug interactions, such as: liver or kidney disorders, pulmonary or heart ailments, pregnancy, etc.
� Patients taking multiple medications should be assisted in keeping a journal or chart listing the name, purpose, and dose schedule for each drug.
� Patients should be instructed in advance on what to do in the event of an emergency if their supply of methadone and/or other medications runs out and they do not have access to their usual source of supply. Ideally, such instructions also would be provided in writing.
Adapted from: FDA/CDER 2000; NCPIE
Life is short.....break the rules, love truly, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance!
The National Center for Health Statistics reports 3,849 poisoning deaths, involving methadone, in 2004. ----- Eliminating S methadone, from the mixture of R and S methadone, used in the United States, could reduce deadly cardiac arrhythmias and decrease the dangerous, unpredictable variations, in methadone therapeutic dose, between individuals. The therapeutic methadone dose is dangerously close to the fatal dose, partially due to the huge methadone half life variation, between patients. Replacing the racemic methadone mixture, used in United States, with pure R methadone, used in Germany, could reduce the United States methadone death epidemic," explains Rick Sponaugle, MD, Medical Director of Florida Detox.
Racemic methadone prescribed in the United States , is a 50 percent mixture of the active R methadone.with 50 percent S methadone, which are mirror images, of each other. R methadone is 50 times more active for pain control and binds 10 times more strongly to opiate receptors, than S methadone. According to a Swiss study of 179 patients, S-methadone causes cardiac arrhythmias or an irregular heartbeat, but provides little pain relief or opiate craving decrease. Swiss researchers determined S methadone was 3.5 times more likely to cause prolonged QT interval arrhythmias, than R methadone. Approximately 6 percent of patients metabolize or detoxify S methadone more slowly, due to decreased levels of the CYP2B6 enzyme. The Lausanne researchers determined these individuals were 4.5 times more likely to suffer dangerous prolonged QT interval arrythymias.
Inactive S methadone contaminates racemic R/S methadone mixtures, and increases the methadone dose needed to provide pain relief or prevent opiate craving. A Swiss study of 180 methadone maintenance patients, in 2000, found R methadone serum levels of 250 ng/ml prevented unprescribed opiate use as effectively as serum levels of 400 ng/ml of racemic R/S methadone.
The same study found racemic R/S methadone doses varying from 55 mg/ day to 921 mg/day were required to produce a 250 ng/ml R methadone serum level, in a 70 kg patient. These huge variations in individual patient response to methadone dose demonstrate the unpredictability of the safe, effective methadone dose for a particular patient.
For many methadone patients, the fatal and therapeutic methadone doses are almost the same. Methadone patients are 7 times more likely to die from a methadone overdose, during the first two weeks of methadone treatment, while their individual response to methadone is determined. Eliminating cardiotoxic S methadone, from R methadone would decrease the methadone dose needed to control pain and opiate craving and reduce the total methadone dose required.
"The cost factor is not very important. Methadone is a very cheap drug. It only costs around SFr0.80 [$0.65] a day per patient and would rise to around SFr2.5 if we just use R-methadone," explained Hugues Abriel, MD, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Most methadone clinics could easily absorb the increased cost of pure R methadone, since they report profits, from 16 to 50 percent of revenue, after taxes.
CRC, treating over 20,000 United States methadone patients daily, reports daily profits per Methadone patient of $10.91 to $11.07.
"Since replacing R/S methadone with safer R methadone would reduce methadone cardiotoxicity and dangerous methadone half life variations, the FDA should expedite any approvals required for R methadone to be prescribed, in the United States.
United States methadone patients deserve treatment with the safer R methadone, used in Germany. Physicians should also be required to obtain additional training and certification, before they are allowed to prescribe methadone, which is killing more Americans, than heroin," said Dr. Sponaugle, who is Board Certified in Addiction Medicine and Anesthesiology.
Written: StevenSponaugle Tarpon Springs, FL September 2007
|  The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery,
but the process of creation.
You are discovering yourself, creating yourself anew.
Seek, therefore not to find out who you are,
seek to determine who you want to be. | | |
 A complainant testified Wednesday that a St. John's physician touched her sexually in his office while she sought narcotics for what she admits were phoney claims of pain.
Dr. Sean Buckingham
A woman who says she had sex with a St. John's physician in return for prescription drugs has testified Sean Buckingham would pick her up after Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
The woman, the third to testify at Buckingham's trial in Newfoundland Supreme Court, testified Tuesday that she was addicted to painkillers.
The woman, whose name is protected under a publication ban, is one of seven complainants in Buckingham's trial on 23 counts of sexual assault and drug trafficking.
The woman, who said she never required the drugs for medical reasons, testified that she began having sex with Buckingham when she was 19, only a few months after giving birth to her second child.
To feed her addiction to drugs like OxyContin and Percocet, she told the jury, she agreed to oral sex and intercourse with Buckingham in exchange for prescriptions.
The woman told the court that on several occasions, Buckingham picked her up after Narcotics Anonymous meetings before heading to his house to have sex.
In return, he would write prescriptions for Percocet several days later, she testified. On one occasion in Buckingham's office, she testified, Buckingham demanded oral sex from her while she was holding her seven-month-old daughter on her knee.
The woman also told the jury a harrowing account of what life can be like with a powerful addiction.
The woman testified that she temporarily lost custody of her infant daughter. After she got her daughter back, she had to persuade child protection authorities that she was clean.
But when she went to St. Clare's hospital, near downtown St. John's, she was still using drugs. To beat tests, she brought someone else's urine with her to hand over as a sample
The woman testified that after she regained custody of her daughter, she received a threatening call from another woman. She said the other woman told her that she had complained to the police about Buckingham and that she wanted her to do the same.
If she didn't, she said she was told, child protection officials would be told that the witness was using drugs again.
The woman testified that she did not at that point go to the police, and eventually told social workers about Buckingham. She lost her child to foster care.
She testified that she recently had another child and is receiving methadone treatment for her addiction to prescription drugs.
Reference: CBS News Dated: October 18, 2007
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) has declared 2008 the Global Year Against Pain in Women to draw attention to the significant impact of chronic pain on women and the need for more effective care. Lack of awareness of pain issues affecting women and gender disparities in treatment and research contribute to the suffering of millions of women.
"Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of women than men, but unfortunately they are also less likely to receive treatment compared to men due to various cultural, economic and political barriers," said Troels S. Jensen, MD, President of IASP, Professor of Experimental and Clinical Pain Research, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark. "IASP hopes to provide a voice to these women by drawing attention to this global issue as a first step towards reducing pain and suffering of women around the world."
 Real Women, Real Pain
Research has shown that women generally experience more recurrent pain, more severe pain and longer lasting pain than men. Chronic pain conditions which affect women more than men include fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, chronic pelvic pain, temporomandibular joint disorder (i.e., TMJ) and migraine headache.
Women appear to experience pain differently than men, although the reason is not entirely understood. We believed this difference is due to numerous biological reasons including genetic, hormonal and pharmacological factors/influences. In addition, psychosocial and cultural disease factors/influences play an important role in how women experience pain.
Over the next year, the 'Real Women, Real Pain' campaign will educate the public, healthcare providers and government leaders/agencies about the lack of diagnosis and adequate treatment of chronic pain in women. This will help to:
* Increase awareness of pain conditions predominantly affecting women and help women and healthcare providers recognize signs and symptoms.
* Raise awareness of disparities between female/male pain issues.
* Empower women to become advocates for themselves and others, by encouraging them to affirm their pain is real and seek proper treatment.
* Increase female-specific research .
* Encourage the development of new female-specific treatment options.
To further these objectives, IASP will initiate a number of national and local activities in conjunction with their 69 local chapters worldwide. A special issue of the IASP journal Pain will be dedicated to pain in women in November 2007. The IASP website will also feature campaign information including local IASP chapter initiatives.
Certain pain conditions commonly affecting women often do not receive adequate attention as historically medical research has heavily relied on male populations and conditions affecting them. The result of this male-centric research approach is that women continue to be treated based on studies in which they may not have been adequately represented.
Access to healthcare services, particularly in poverty stricken areas of the developing world, can act as a barrier for women seeking help for pain conditions.
Cultural factors also influence a woman's likelihood of seeking treatment for medical conditions, including pain. For example, in many cultures, women believe that their suffering is part of their role in society. Additionally treatment by a male healthcare provider may also bring shame to a woman's family, forcing her to go without treatment. Women may also encounter situations where physicians do not believe their pain is real.
"In order to promote change around the world, we need to raise awareness of pain disorders predominantly affecting women, increase research into these conditions and effective treatment options, as well as improve access to needed therapies," said Beverly Collett, MBBS, FRCA, IASP Council member and Consultant in Pain Medicine at Leicester Royal Infirmary, UK.
 With one of the toughest times for addicts coming soon, I seem to always think of the Serenity Prayer, as of late. I truly doubt if any one of us has a home without it there. I want you all to know that the compassion we feel for every one of you is real. The caring comes straight from the heart, and we want nothing more than for every one of you, for every dream you have, to come true. That is truly the reason we are here. If
you need help, support or
encouragement then we
are waiting to hear from you.
Well, another chapter is closed. Another summer is gone. And another fall is upon us.
And still, the older we all get, the quicker it goes.
deborahshrira@gmail.com
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