Get Clean. Stay Clean.

Thanks for the comment. This is a difficult and co...

2010-03-07T13:58:15.635-05:00

Thanks for the comment. This is a difficult and complex topic and situtation.

In general Methadone is a powerful and long lasting narcotic. As such, its strengths are that it has fewer ups and downs and supplies more consistent pain relief. It may be less abuseable because there are less ups and downs. The negative is that it takes a lot longer to detox off of - if you have to detox - which is another complex decision.

Our experience with chronic pain is that most people do better off all narcotics because then their brain endorphin system goes back to normal - they still have some pain but they can handle it and they stop having narcotic pain medicine side effects.

I am more than happy for you to call me at our office to discuss the issues involved - 804.353.1230

Dr Coleman

Hi Doctor C, I'm not sure if an earlier posting go...

2010-03-06T21:52:17.550-05:00

Hi Doctor C,
I'm not sure if an earlier posting got through to you. My name is Bill McNiff, a.k.a., Bill W, on stage only. I wrote and made the cd you heard in 1995 and it was later copied and went out as Bill W. without my permission. If you go to my website www.iconsanonymous.com you will see more on the performance and my other efforts on Lois, Dr. Bob and my latest, Genesis, the first meeting between Bill and the Doctor.

Thought this was very insightful and hopeful for t...

2010-02-28T23:19:56.594-05:00

Thought this was very insightful and hopeful for the parent of a teenager abusing drugs who is in treatment

Chronic pain. My spouse is prescribed narcotics fo...

2010-02-21T23:49:37.091-05:00

Chronic pain. My spouse is prescribed narcotics for severe and degenerative back disease. There was some talk of using methadone. I am a bit anti methadone due to it's difficult detox. I prefer he stay on his meds and stay on minamal dose he is not an addict and dose not abuse his meds. Are there new bennifits to methadone? Its lck of convience and stigmatism is poor. He goes to pain clinic does shots accupuncture physical therapy. Responce? KT

I HAVE THE POWERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-19T21:43:36.589-05:00

I HAVE THE POWERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so happy that this is happening. Although we ...

2010-01-29T11:03:37.115-05:00

I am so happy that this is happening. Although we just received our final implant we will now be able to refere others from our group Parents Against Addictions to your new location which is approx 30 min away from us.

I am curious about the AAHistorylovers site. I was...

2010-01-25T23:38:55.819-05:00

I am curious about the AAHistorylovers site. I was unable to find it or a link to Bill M. I am sure the CD I listened to was Bill W because he told his whole story and I can't imagine any one else would tell it quite like that.

I too have that CD of Bill W...the way he explains...

2010-01-22T19:24:45.589-05:00

I too have that CD of Bill W...the way he explains his new found friend he met on the bus looking at him after he took that drink on Armistice Day and saying to Bill something like…”Mr. you must be completely insane to take that drink after all alcohol has done to you” The way Bill explained that on the CD, the insanity of the first drink has made a big impression on me to think before I drink. Get the CD...It's Great Stuff!!!

Sober & Clean

This sounds like the presentation given by Bill Mc...

2010-01-22T07:13:56.448-05:00

This sounds like the presentation given by Bill McNiff called: "The day Dr. Bob Died." You can search for the explanation on the web. This was not Bill W.
You'll find Bill M.'s explanation dated Dec 21, 2002 posted on "AAHISTORYLOVERS" site. You can verify this by sending an email to him at the address listed on his post.

unfortunately naltexone implants, while they do bl...

2010-01-19T20:32:41.676-05:00

unfortunately naltexone implants, while they do block the effects of opiates, do not cure the disease of addiction nor treat it. Opioid addiction causes a shutdown in the brain's ability to produce natural endorphins--sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. Many doctors believe that some opioid addicts may have had abnormally low production of endorphins to begin with, thereby predisposing them to opioid addiction and causing a very different response to the drug than most people would have. Methadone serves to stabilize and normalize the brain chemistry of the patient, in much the same way that long term testosterone replacement therapy is sometimes required for those who have abused anabolic steroids, etc, or diabetic patients whose pancreas no longer produces insulin.

The answer for these patients is not to simply block the effects of opiates. This still leaves the patient severely depressed, anhedonic, exhausted, irritable and at risk of relapse or trying to overcome the blockade, or even using other drugs NOT blocked by Naltrexone in a desperate bid to self medicate this condition. This solves very little and does not help the root of the problem--brain chemistry alteration.

In addition, it is not correct to state that the babies are born "addicted" to methadone. The correct term for infants is physically dependent. The medical definitions of addiction and physical dependence are very different, and addiction involves not just dependence but also a series of behaviors of which infants are incapable. For this same reason, methadone patients who take their medication as directed and who are not using other drugs do not meet the definition of being "addicted" to methadone, though they are physically dependent. Though most lay people are not aware of these definitions, those in the medical professions must try to make themselves aware of this, as much misunderstanding, prejudice and false and inflammatory rhetoric springs up around the misuse of these terms.

Naltrexone is an FDA approved drug. Delivery as an...

2010-01-12T08:23:09.972-05:00

Naltrexone is an FDA approved drug. Delivery as an implant is not approved by the FDA, but is by the pharmacy compounding regulations which allow a Physician / Pharmacist to delievr drugs through alternate mediums as they determine is necessary for the treatment of their patients. In this instance teh FDA approved delivery mechanism of a pill is felt to be inadequate because of the challenges of compliance and the additional burden placed on the patient.

Is implantable naltrexone FDA approved?

2010-01-11T17:21:37.572-05:00

Is implantable naltrexone FDA approved?

Anything new in making the process of withdrawl ea...

2009-12-26T01:08:02.275-05:00

Anything new in making the process of withdrawl easier? Fear of the horrors of withdrawl keep me from getting clean. Adderal 120 mh QD Methadone 90mg QD Klonopin 8-10 mg QD. CHRIS ESSER.

I just wrote a response directly to the e-mail add...

2009-12-19T00:34:33.075-05:00

I just wrote a response directly to the e-mail address, and I don't know who, if anyone, reads it, so I thought I would comment here.
Everyone at the institute was amazing, and I hadn't dreamed that I would feel this good. I wish to God (or Santa or whatever higher power you believe in), that I had known about you guys in August. I could have saved myself 12 days of misery trying to detox by myself.
Thanks for everything. You guys rock.
xoxo,
Kristyn

Thank you for sharing that. I have almost 60 days ...

2009-11-21T12:57:04.080-05:00

Thank you for sharing that. I have almost 60 days clean now :) ~Christine S.

Thanks Peter, We have much in common and that is ...

2009-11-20T20:32:27.856-05:00

Thanks Peter, We have much in common
and that is a good thing. Love Craig Duro

I used to refer to hydrocodone as "the love of my ...

2009-10-16T12:25:01.628-04:00

I used to refer to hydrocodone as "the love of my life" because it was the only thing I felt like I could count on to get me through the night...and the day...and everything in between. I didn't realize the abuses that I was suffering at the hands of this lover until it was almost too late. When I was in treatment and the fog started to lift, all emotion seemed very sensitive and painful - much like when the blood starts flowing again through a limb that has fallen asleep and the sensation is almost unbearable for a brief time. I had to learn to breath through it, cry through it, write through it, talk through it - whatever was necessary to move me through it without taking a pill. It is always temporary, and there is peace on the other side of it. I have also learned, over time, that the way I talk to myself is key. "I can't take this" has turned into "this is going to be ok, I just have to wait it out." "I can't do this" has turned into "This is nothing, I have done WAY harder than this." I have been clean now for 6 years - I have bad days...but they are the exception rather than the rule. Once, I believed that "feeling good" meant feeling nothing. Today I know a very different kind of feeling good. You may not feel pain when you are numb - but by definition, you will not feel joy either. Frankly, I would rather have both than neither :)

www.egetgoing.com is one organization that offers ...

2009-08-22T19:04:26.096-04:00

www.egetgoing.com is one organization that offers online therapy for addicts in recovery- also there are several examples of aftercare counseling being done in virtual worlds like second life.