Welcome to the Recovery Connections Network .We have spent the last ten years collecting resources so you don't have to spend countless precious hours surfing the Web .Based on personal experience we know first hand how finding help and getting those tough questions answered can be. If you cant find what you need here, email us recoveryfriends@gmail.com we will help you. Prayer is also available just reach out to our email !
- SRC Scottish Recovery Consortium
- Suicide Prevention GODS helpers
- PAIN TO PURPOSE
- Journey Pure Veteran Care
- Sobreity Engine
- Harmony Ridge
- In the rooms Online meetings
- LIFE PROCESS PODCAST
- Bill and Bobs coffee Shop
- Addiction Podcast
- New hope Philly Mens Christian program
- All treatment 50 state
- Discovery house S.Ca
- Deploy care Veterans support
- Take 12 Radio w Monty Man
- GODS MOUNTAIN RECOVERY CENTER Pa.
- FORT HOPE STOP VET SUICIDE
- CELEBRATE RECOVERY
- THE COUNSELING CENTER
- 50 STATE TREATMENT LOCATOR
- David Victorious Reffner Podcast
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Ibogaine Hits Mainstream TV | The Fix
Friday, December 13, 2013
Boston Mayor Spills the Beans
Newly elected Mayor of Boston Marty Walsh made no secret of his recovery from addiction during his election campaign. Could this be a refreshing trend of political transparency, or an appeal to a growing voter base? Or both?
By Meg Williams
11/26/13
On November 5th, Boston elected a new mayor named Martin J. Walsh. Formerly a state senator from Dorchester, Walsh is a progressive Democrat with strong ties to labor unions. He’s also a recovering alcoholic.
Marty Walsh acknowledged that some people might not have voted for him as a result. But these people were clearly in the minority. In one interview Walsh explained, “I don’t really care who knows I’m an alcoholic because if it helps someone else .., then they’ll ask me for help if they need it.” He even shared some unsavory details about driving drunk and getting thrown out of a Bruins game.
While campaigning, Mr. Walsh answered calls from addicts and alcoholics looking for support. In his time in the state senate he advocated for increased funding for human services and stricter regulations on “sober houses.” With 18 years of sobriety, he still attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly and helps those still suffering from addiction to find beds in detoxes.
Just days before Walsh’s election, a drug scandal erupted surrounding Toronto’s Major Robert Ford who was video taped smoking crack while extremely intoxicated. The conservative mayor had been elected with a campaign that emphasized his role as a “family man” and “authentic everyman.” George Smitherman, Ford’s openly gay liberal opponent, admitted to past drug abuse up front. The Ford campaign used this, as well as Smitherman’s sexuality, against him during the mayoral race. Now that Ford’s drug use has come to light, the situation seems pretty ironic.
Walsh’s opponent, Boston City Councilor John R. Connolly, thankfully didn’t stoop so low as to run a similar smear campaign. Although that might not have worked anyhow; Walsh’s campaign adeptly spun his “story of redemption” to highlight the candidate’s altruism and sincerity.
During his campaign, Mayor-Elect Walsh explained his appeal in an interview, “I think the people of Boston are going to elect a mayor who they can best relate to, they can trust, and they feel will represent their best interests. If you have a family that is being devastated by substance abuse, I don’t think it matters whether it is old Boston or new Boston. If you have economic problems and you are about to lose your house, I don’t think it matters whether it is old Boston or new Boston.”
Marty Walsh’s personal stake in these issues created a strong campaign and a believable commitment to progressive policy.
But all the publicity regarding the new mayor’s status as a recovering alcoholic and A.A. member has raised questions about the idea of anonymity.
Although Mayor Walsh did not use his A.A. membership as part of his political platform, it is known through interviews that he is a member. Other A.A. members have broken their anonymity to the press to come out and advocate for him.
According to reports, a great deal of the people who volunteered and work for his campaign were A.A. members themselves, including the campaign's policy coordinator, Brendan Little. The campaign has also seen support from Kennedy and addiction memoir writer Christopher Lawford.
But in a social climate where being an alcoholic in recovery is no longer a hindrance, what are the dangers that come along with public figures associated with A.A.?
David M., a New York A.A. with 27 years of sobriety, explained that while he doesn’t wholeheartedly disagree with Mayor Walsh’s decision, it might pose some problems: “We are all prone to relapse. If a public figure [known to be in A.A.] has a slip, people might look at that and say the program doesn’t work.”
Though Marty Walsh does not, himself, bring up his sobriety in interviews, he has acknowledged it when asked. He has also spoken of his fear of what people “in the program” would think of his membership becoming known. And he has been sure to draw the line insisting, “We’re not organizing in the halls of A.A. That’s not appropriate.”
A.A.’s break their anonymity in their personal lives at their own discretion. The best way to attract would-be A.A.’s is to show them the transformative power of the program through their interactions with current members. This often calls for a break in anonymity at the “person-to-person” level.
In the formative days of A.A., Dr. Bob explained there were two ways to cause trouble with one’s anonymity: “The A.A. who hides his identity from his fellow A.A. by using only a [first] name violates the Tradition just as much as the AA who permits his name to appear in the press in connection with matters pertaining to A.A.”
Of course, those were different times, when both alcoholism and membership in A.A. were viewed as moral weaknesses. The majority believed that alcoholism was a sign of a deficient character - that the alcoholic could stop drinking as soon as he wanted to. As an extension of this view, the recovering alcoholic’s further dependence on a society of mutual support for his sobriety seemed equally absurd and weak.
Today, the climate surrounding addiction and recovery is starkly changed. During the 1980’s, the American Medical Association officially established alcoholism as a disease in their treatment policies, and today, most treat it accordingly. Many fear if a public figure gets too personally tied with A.A., opinions surrounding him could be conflated with opinions surrounding A.A.
A.A.’s most notable public figure was co-founder Bill Wilson, who became widely known before much about anonymity was established or understood. Fortunately, Wilson stayed sober until his death; however, some still point out his personal faults to discredit AA as a whole.
While this may be true to some extent, in America today Alcoholics Anonymous is synonymous with recovery from alcoholism. Doctors refer people to the program and courts even mandate people to meetings as a part of sentencing. A.A. is a veritable and powerful institution with wide public support.
If a public figure known to be an A.A. member were to “have a slip,” it would not bring the same disaster on the program, as it would have in even the 1950’s or 1960’s. Now the public has a better understanding of the disease of addiction – its recurring and cyclical effects.
Let’s say a person has a friend in recovery, and this friend relapses after being sober in A.A. This could discredit A.A. in this person’s eyes as much as, if not more, than a public figure’s relapse. Both situations can do harm. The most important difference is that a public figure is, well, more public. More people would be affected.
On the other hand, a public figure who is in recovery could also show people that there is hope for those afflicted with addiction. Mayor-Elect Walsh has in no way sought to represent A.A. as a figurehead nor to turn his campaign into a crusade for the fellowship. His mere presence in the public spear could give hope to many.
Several Boston A.A. members have also broken their own anonymity to the press to come out in support of Mayor Walsh. They see the recovery community’s new role as a “demographic” as exciting and empowering. Though Marty Walsh has seldom reached out to these folks, they were attracted to supporting him because of his own service in the fellowship. They know Mayor Walsh is sincere because he played a personal role in their “second chance at life.”
Peter Barbuto, an A.A. member and Walsh advocate, said during an interview, “Like the blacks and gays are now -- they didn’t have any power and then they came out, and now politicians say, ‘We have to get the blacks and the gays.’ One of these days they’re going to be saying, ‘We’ve got to get the recovery community.'”
With the increase of visibility and understanding of addiction recovery, the idea of the recovery community as a “demographic” is new and untested. This community is in no way homogenous in politics, race, or religion. Those in recovery are not categorically Democrat or Republican, pro-big business or pro-labor, pro-gay marriage or against. They may don’t even have the same views on how to treat substance abuse in the first place.
On the other hand, in close races where undecided voters make the difference, appealing to the “recovery” demographic may be an effective strategy. In Boston’s first contentious mayoral race in several years, this “demographic” certainly helped Walsh gather volunteers to back his campaign and perhaps gave him an edge over City Councilor Connolly.
As one Connolly campaign official commented, “[Walsh] had more money. He had more bodies. And he had more power.”
In the case of A.A., politics is decidedly an “outside issue.” The 10th A.A. Tradition states that “Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.” This affords the fellowship a protection from going the way of the Washingtonians, a 19th century temperance movement which dissolved because of its involvement in the larger temperance movement, abolition, and other political issues.
The argument could be made that A.A. and the “recovery community” are two distinct entities, however closely tied. On the other hand, perhaps this heterogeneous “demographic” would be better viewed as a set of potential advocates rather than a singular voting block.
As far as the results of Mayor-Elect Walsh’s anonymity being broken, only time will tell. Anonymity is an evolving concept. New challenges are certainly ahead, but a sober person in a respected office could well lessen the social stigma of alcoholism.
There are always personal risks when running for political office—Marty Walsh managed to turn his biggest liability into his biggest asset. It is actions like this that are changing the face of addiction in America.
Meg Williams is a regular contributor to The Fix. She last wrote about the shrinking Big Book.
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December 13 v 18 POWER IN THE PROVERB
Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction,
But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.
But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.
STEP 10 : Continued to take personal inventory and when we were
wrong promptly admitted it.
Disdain - the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one's consideration or respect;
Rebuke - an expression of sharp disapproval or criticism.
I posted the definition of these two specific words so I could be sure I understood whats trying to be said in the Proverb. Poverty and shame, well we can be poor in other ways not just finicial and I am sure we all know what shame is and how it makes us feel. The Proverb is telling us if we think we are too good for someone elses opinion or correction then we are still hard headed and not ready for Step 10. Step Ten should come easy for us, we got some good clean time, we have gotten most of the skeletons out of the closet, mended our relationshops and when our sponsor yells and rebukes us we dont hang up on them anymore. We realize rebukes are not for tearing us down, but to help us see our mistakes so we can make change in our lives, if we can do that then pride is defeated opening the door for honor peace and recovery.
I posted the definition of these two specific words so I could be sure I understood whats trying to be said in the Proverb. Poverty and shame, well we can be poor in other ways not just finicial and I am sure we all know what shame is and how it makes us feel. The Proverb is telling us if we think we are too good for someone elses opinion or correction then we are still hard headed and not ready for Step 10. Step Ten should come easy for us, we got some good clean time, we have gotten most of the skeletons out of the closet, mended our relationshops and when our sponsor yells and rebukes us we dont hang up on them anymore. We realize rebukes are not for tearing us down, but to help us see our mistakes so we can make change in our lives, if we can do that then pride is defeated opening the door for honor peace and recovery.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Smokers Addicted to Stimulants Can Quit Smoking Without Impacting Treatment
By Join Together Staff |
December 11, 2013 |
1 Comment | Filed in
Drugs, Research, Tobacco & Treatment
A new study finds smokers who are addicted to
methamphetamine or cocaine can stop smoking while they are being treated
for their addiction to stimulants, without adversely impacting their
addiction treatment.A previous government study found 63 percent of people with a substance use disorder in the past year also reported current tobacco use. While tobacco use causes more deaths among patients in substance abuse treatment than the substance that brought them to treatment, most substance treatment programs do not address smoking cessation, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“Substance abuse treatment programs have historically been hesitant to incorporate concurrent smoking cessation therapies with standard drug addiction treatment because of the concern that patients would drop out of treatment entirely,” Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a news release. “However, treating their tobacco addiction may not only reduce the negative health consequences associated with smoking, but could also potentially improve substance use disorder treatment outcomes.”
The study included patients dependent on cocaine and/or methamphetamine who were in substance abuse treatment, ScienceBlog reports. Some patients were randomly assigned to also receive smoking cessation treatment, which included weekly counseling sessions and extended-release bupropion. Patients also received a nicotine inhaler and prizes meant to encourage smoking cessation.
The study found smoking cessation therapy significantly increased smoking quit rates, both during treatment and afterwards, without negatively impacting participation in treatment for stimulant addiction.
The results are published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
“These findings, coupled with past research, should reassure clinicians that providing smoking-cessation treatment in conjunction with treatment for other substance use disorders will be beneficial to their patients,” said study author Dr. Theresa Winhusen of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
States With Stronger Alcohol Policies Have Lower Rates of Binge Drinking
By Join Together Staff |
December 11, 2013 |
Leave a comment | Filed in
Alcohol, Community Related, Legislation & Prevention
Researchers gave scores to states based on how they implemented 29 alcohol control policies, HealthDay reports. States that had higher policy scores were one-fourth as likely to have a binge drinking rate in the top 25 percent of states, compared with states with lower scores. Binge drinking rates were 33 percent higher in states in the bottom quarter than those in the top quarter of policy scores.
States with larger increases in policies had larger decreases in binge drinking over time, the study found. Binge drinking is responsible for more than half of the 80,000 alcohol-related deaths in the United States annually, the article notes. It is generally defined as having more than four to five alcoholic drinks in a two-hour period.
“If alcohol policies were a newly discovered gene, pill or vaccine, we’d be investing billions of dollars to bring them to market,” study senior author Dr. Tim Naimi, Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University Schools of Medicine and attending physician at Boston Medical Center, said in a news release.
The researchers report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that alcohol policy scores varied by as much as threefold between states. “Unfortunately, most states have not taken advantage of these policies to help drinkers consume responsibly, and to protect innocent citizens from the devastating secondhand effects and economic costs from excessive drinking,” Naimi said.
While previous studies have investigated the effect of individual alcohol policies, the researchers said this is the first study to look at the effect of the overall alcohol policy environment.
Exposure to Alcohol Before Birth Linked to Social Skills Problems in Childhood
By Join Together Staff | December 12, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol, Mental Health, Parenting, Research & Youth
Children whose mothers drank during pregnancy are more likely to have problems with social skills, compared with their peers whose mothers did not drink while pregnant, according to a new study.
A mother’s drinking during pregnancy was also found to be associated with significant emotional and behavioral issues in their children, according to HealthDay.
The study, published in Child Neuropsychology, included 153 children ages 6 to 12. Of these children, 97 had a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The researchers evaluated the children’s thinking, as well as their emotional, social and behavioral development. They found children whose mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy had more social problems, even after their IQ was taken into account. They were less able to connect past experience with present actions, or understand why people do what they do. They received lower scores on tests of planning and organizational skills, attention and working memory.
Parents of children with prenatal alcohol exposure said the children showed more inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. These children were more likely to have symptoms of depression.
The researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, said their findings indicate a great need for early detection and treatment of social problems in children that result from prenatal alcohol exposure. Intervening early is important, they said, because children’s developing brains have an ability to change and adapt as they learn.
HHS Provides $50 Million to Expand Treatment for Substance Use, Mental Health
By Join Together Staff | December 12, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol, Community Related, Drugs, Funding, Government, Mental Health & Treatment
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced its plans to provide $50 million to expand treatment for substance use disorders and mental health. The funds will be used to hire staff, add services and employ team-based models of care.
The funds will go to approximately 200 community health centers, UPI reports.
“Most behavioral health conditions are treatable, yet too many Americans are not able to get needed treatment,” Health Resources and Services Administration Administrator Mary K. Wakefield said in a news release. “These new Affordable Care Act funds will expand the capacity of our network of community health centers to respond to the mental health needs in their communities.”
The president’s fiscal year 2014 budget also includes $130 million to help teachers recognize signs of mental illness in students and refer them to services, and to support innovative state-based programs to improve mental health outcomes for young people. It also provides funds to train 5,000 more mental health professionals.
The number of people seeking addiction treatment could double under the Affordable Care Act. Under the new law, four million people with drug and alcohol problems will become eligible for insurance coverage. How many new patients will seek addiction treatment will depend in part on how many states decide to expand their Medicaid programs.
Attorneys General of 28 States Urge FDA to Reassess Zohydro Approval
By Join Together Staff | December 12, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Advocacy, Government, Prescription Drugs & Prevention
The attorneys general from 28 states are asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reassess its decision to approve Zohydro ER (extended release), a pure form of the painkiller hydrocodone. Earlier this month, four U.S. senators told the FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg they disagree with the agency’s decision to approve the drug.
In a letter to Commissioner Hamburg, the attorneys general said they believe the approval of Zohydro ER “has the potential to exacerbate our nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic because this drug will be the first hydrocodone-only opioid narcotic that is reportedly five to ten times more potent than traditional hydrocodone products, and it has no abuse-deterrent properties.”
The attorneys general said they hope the FDA either reconsiders its approval of the drug, or sets a rigorous timeline for Zohydro ER to be reformulated to be abuse-deterrent while working with other federal agencies to impose restrictions on how the drug can be marketed and prescribed.
The FDA approved Zohydro ER in October for patients with pain that requires daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment that cannot be treated with other drugs. Drugs such as Vicodin contain a combination of hydrocodone and other painkillers such as acetaminophen, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
In December 2012, a panel of experts assembled by the FDA voted against recommending approval of Zohydro ER. The panel cited concerns over the potential for addiction.
Zohydro is designed to be released over time, and can be crushed and snorted by people seeking a strong, quick high. The opioid drug OxyContin has been reformulated to make it harder to crush or dissolve, but Zohydro does not include similar tamper-resistant features.
Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said in a news release, “Zohydro ER has the potential to exacerbate the prescription pill epidemic and given that abuse-deterrent properties are capable of being developed and required, the FDA’s decision to approve the drug doesn’t make sense.”
An Addict In Our Son’s Bedroom: Talking to Students
An Addict In Our Son’s Bedroom: Talking to Students: Talking to students is easy. There is nothing to it when all you do is recount stories and the horrors of parenting and loving and addict. ...
Good Morning Readers,
I was taking a look at all the helpful links we have on our blog and thought how often they go unnoticed. So I would like to take some time and give you a chance to take a look at some of these wonderful resources. Today I chose one that is close to my heart. Addictions Victorious!
Addictions Victorious helped me to grow into the person I am today. Whether your someone in addiction, enabler or co dependent you will be welcome at their meetings. I would imagine like any meeting you may have to visit more than one to find the place you feel most comfortable, although for me the first one was perfect. I was able to heal through sharing, encouragement, support and also most important, learned that our Savior Jesus Christ loves us regardless of our past and He is waiting with open arms for us to come home. In these meetings I found so much comfort in the stories, struggles and victories of others. I am forever thankful to AV and also to those that shared those seats with me in the room down the hall. I ask you to Visit the Link below and learn a little more about Addictions Victorious and I couldn't end this with out giving thanks to Dan and Rosemary Gavin. Thank you for your wonderful heart of service!
December 12 v 20 POWER IN THE PROVERB
Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil;
joy fills hearts that are planning peace!
STEP 5 : Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being
the exact nature of our wrongs.
Their is a peace that transcends all understanding. I have that , it is a gift from above.How did I attain it ?Working step 5 holding nothing back! Realizing that lieing only hurt me and caused all kinds of chaos in my life.There is no such thing as a little white lie it is still lieing it will still steal your peace and joy . The Truth Will Set You free !
For More Power in The Proverb and the latest recovery news and events.
Visit : www.joseph-recoveryconnections.blogspot.com
Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil;
joy fills hearts that are planning peace!
STEP 5 : Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being
the exact nature of our wrongs.
Their is a peace that transcends all understanding. I have that , it is a gift from above.How did I attain it ?Working step 5 holding nothing back! Realizing that lieing only hurt me and caused all kinds of chaos in my life.There is no such thing as a little white lie it is still lieing it will still steal your peace and joy . The Truth Will Set You free !
For More Power in The Proverb and the latest recovery news and events.
Visit : www.joseph-recoveryconnections.blogspot.com
Demi Lovato Opens Up About Cocaine, Alcohol Abuse
Demi Lovato, once a child actress who appeared on Barney & Friends, has offered the first detailed look at her past with substance abuse in an exclusive interview with Access Hollywood. “I had all the help in the world, but I didn't want it," she said.
Lovato
admitted for the first time her problems with alcohol and cocaine abuse
in the interview, stating that drugs were “no longer fun” and became so
problematic that she even hid her use from her sober living companion.
"Something I've never talked about before, but with my drug use I could
hide it to where I would sneak drugs,” she said. “I couldn't go without
30 minutes to an hour without cocaine and I would bring it on
airplanes.”
The star also admitted to drinking
Sprite bottles filled with vodka at 9 a.m. and throwing up on her way
back to her sober living house in Los Angeles, one of several moments
she hit on her slide to rock bottom. "I think at 19 years old, I had a
moment where I was like, ‘Oh my God…that is alcoholic behavior,'” Lovato
said. “[I]t was, wow, I'm one of those people…I gotta get my shit
together.”
Lovato has stated in the past that she suffered from bipolar disorder, which she learned about in treatment, and admitted to cutting
as a means of coping with her problems. But since completing treatment
in January 2011, she has been opening up more in interviews about her
past issues with mental health, eating disorders, and substance abuse,
and in November she published her memoir, Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year, that alludes to her struggles.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
POWER IN THE PROVERB
December 11 v 2 POWER IN THE PROVERB
Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
STEP 1 :We admitted we were powerless over our dependencies
And our lives had become unmanageable.
Pride can do a lot more than bring disgrace. Pride can put you into an early grave. My pride left me homeless blaming everyone in the world for my messed up life. Step one will save your life but pride does not want that. There were so many people in my life who wanted to help me, but I knew all things so they were just trying to control me. Pride blinded me to the fact that my life was out of control. Alone and desperate is where it left me.There is a saying that is true.Pride comes before the fall. Pride can kill you or save you and in my case during the fall is where I found the Step (1) that saved me.
For more Power in the Proverb and all the latest recovery news.
VIsit :www.joseph-recoveryconnections.blogspot.com
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Trapped on Suboxone
Suboxone, touted as a miracle drug to help ease addiction to heroin, does not need to become your next addiction
Out of the frying pan... Photo via
By Jennifer Matesa
12/02/13
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Addicted to Suboxone
Meet the "Robin Hood" of Suboxone
Reckitt Pulls Its Suboxone Tablets From the US Market
Video: Kristen Johnston's Gutsy Suboxone Admission
The Truth About Suboxone
You got a problem with Vikes, Oxys or heroin? Go ahead, find a doctor to script you Suboxone. Or look on Craigslist for somebody selling their surplus.
But watch out, you might never get off.
The recent New York Times investigation into the “miracle-drug” that’s “saving” addicts finally began to expose something that many of us who have taken Suboxone have known for years: its manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser, has employed aggressive tactics to find physicians interested in making loads of cash by turning the growing pool of painkiller addicts into Suboxone Lifers. And Reckitt also tries like hell to manipulate the FDA approval process, just so they can hoard the painkiller-addict market for themselves.
Reckitt can get away with convincing doctors that addicts need to be maintained on Suboxone because—as the Times story notes—common belief holds that painkiller addicts can never be drug-free. We’re told we’ve permanently screwed up our neurology. Popular thinking goes: Once you junkies take drugs, you might as well stay on drugs for life.
Today I’d rather have a good orgasm with someone I care about than all the Oxy or Sub in my local Rite Aid.
To support this belief, Reckitt and its growing army of reps offer twisted interpretations of research studies and anecdotal evidence about addiction and Suboxone. They claim studies “prove” that replacing painkillers with buprenorphine (the opioid drug in Suboxone) helps us stay “clean.” Ditch the old drug for the new drug and we stop shooting, snorting, stealing, doctor-shopping, tricking.
Same logic pharma used in the late 1800s when heroin was promoted as a “safe” replacement for alcohol and morphine.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying drugs are inherently bad, and buprenorphine has a place in the ever-expanding American drug arsenal. That place is primarily as a detox tool—the purpose for which the FDA originally approved the drug in 2002. Suboxone saved my life when I used it this way. In 2008 a family physician licensed to prescribe Suboxone managed my detox from the fentanyl I’d been given for more than three years for migraine and fibromyalgia, despite studies showing opioid painkillers aren’t the best treatment for these disorders. Given my genetic history and psychological profile—which were not documented as part of my medical history: in other words, the pain specialists didn’t screen me properly for risk of addiction—repeated exposure to these drugs flipped the addiction ON-switch. By the end I was changing dates on scripts (a felony each time) and being picked up for petty crimes like compulsive shoplifting.
After watching my 68-year-old father die of cirrhosis and cancer, my desperation to live drug-free increased even as my addiction flushed me further down the sewer. I knew that if I were going to try to detox, I’d have to hire yet another doctor; my pain specialist was awesome at getting me on drugs, but she hadn’t the first clue how to get me off.
If my “Sub doc” had believed—as so many doctors do—that somebody like me could never be drug-free, I’d without a doubt still be on drugs today. Hell, which of us inside active addiction believes we can do without drugs? I’d also be experiencing nasty side-effects for which people who read my addiction-and-recovery blog write in asking for help. Long-term Suboxone “therapy” can shut down the endocrine system and cause thyroid dysfunction, low testosterone, and premature menopause, leading to a cascade of other health problems including infertility and osteoporosis.
Oh yeah, and say sayonara to sex! I feel for the folks who tell me they can no longer get it on or get it up. I was on Suboxone for just two months and it killed off my sex-drive the way all the other opioid drugs did. And quite frankly that’s saying a lot, because I have a strong sex-drive. But in order to feel that part of my life, I have to be off drugs. Today I’d rather have a good orgasm with someone I care about than all the Oxy or Sub in my local Rite Aid. I cannot have that connection while I’m on drugs.
Read the comments section of the Times story and you’ll see people believe you can’t use Suboxone to get high. This is bullshit: you can. I have in my files emails from people who are in prison and abusing Suboxone; people who started using Suboxone while in rehab and discovered they could get sky-high; suburban American college kids who chip Suboxone because it numbs out their self-doubt; ordinary folks who have asked their doctors for help with a 50 or 60 mg Vicodin or Percocet habit and were kicked into Suboxone programs, where their little baby drug-habits and relatively unscathed nervous systems were bombed out with 16 to 24 mg of Suboxone—the equivalent, in binding power (not analgesic power), to upwards of 800 mg of morphine. These are the stories that piss me off, and they are not being represented in the press.
It’s damn hard to get off Suboxone. It dissolves in body-fat and sticks to the body’s painkiller receptors like Liquid Nails. For many people it’s hell to scrape off without professional management and a social support system. After quitting, it can take months for the drug and its metabolites to leave the body. I’ve spoken to heroin addicts who would feel better within two weeks of kicking smack who, after doing time on Suboxone, have never felt normal again. I know some doctors who, based upon vast anecdotal evidence, think this drug—an opioid partial-agonist, a substance that does not occur in nature—does special kinds of harm to the body that researchers haven’t yet discovered.
Just like doctors who can’t detox their patients off painkillers, most doctors who prescribe Suboxone don’t know how to help their patients quit. So the patients wind up asking me to be their doctor. One woman recently begged me to manage her detox in exchange for payment. I declined, but I was left shocked at the desperation of some folks out there to live a drug-free life, so much so that they will contact a total stranger and offer cash for an amateur detox. This speaks to the sorry state of treatment (not to mention the general health-care system) in this country.
These folks read my blog, they know I got off drugs including Suboxone, and they can see I’m living a productive drug-free life. I write them back, but I can’t be their doctor. The best I can do is keep writing stories like these, and letting policymakers, researchers, and practitioners know that they need to open their minds about how well most addicts can live, how much we can heal.
Jennifer Matesa is a Voice Award Fellow at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is the author of the blog Guinevere Gets Sober. Her forthcoming nonfiction book about physical and spiritual fitness for living clean and sober is due out Fall 2014.
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FOR MORE ARTICLES AND INFO PLEASE VISIT: http://www.thefix.com/content/trapped-suboxone
December 10 v 24 POWER IN THE PROVERB
What the wicked dread will overtake them;
what the righteous desire will be granted.
STEP 2:Came to believe that God, a Power greater than ourselves,
could restore us to sanity and stability.
The Proverb makes it simple and clear !A relationship with GOD is a two way street .He wants us to change our wicked ways and in return our desire for sobriety will be granted.Start small instead of stealing to feed your addiction try earning your money.Show him your sincere in your relationship. Somewhere deep down inside of me was a tiny desire too stop living the way I was living .That tiny desire was a seed of faith we have inside all of us. I started with telling the truth The Proverb brings it home for me ,there are a lot of brothers and sisters of mine who have been consumed by the wickedness of addiction , too many. Realizing you cant do it on your own is not weakness it is STRENGTH and COURAGE . Please make it to step 2 and put an end to the wickedness. Change your behavior show GOD your willing to put and end too the wickedness and your desire for sobriety will be granted.
For more POWER IN THE PROVERB ,all the latest recovery news and other resources.
VISIT: www.joseph-recoveryconnections.blogspot.com
what the righteous desire will be granted.
STEP 2:Came to believe that God, a Power greater than ourselves,
could restore us to sanity and stability.
The Proverb makes it simple and clear !A relationship with GOD is a two way street .He wants us to change our wicked ways and in return our desire for sobriety will be granted.Start small instead of stealing to feed your addiction try earning your money.Show him your sincere in your relationship. Somewhere deep down inside of me was a tiny desire too stop living the way I was living .That tiny desire was a seed of faith we have inside all of us. I started with telling the truth The Proverb brings it home for me ,there are a lot of brothers and sisters of mine who have been consumed by the wickedness of addiction , too many. Realizing you cant do it on your own is not weakness it is STRENGTH and COURAGE . Please make it to step 2 and put an end to the wickedness. Change your behavior show GOD your willing to put and end too the wickedness and your desire for sobriety will be granted.
For more POWER IN THE PROVERB ,all the latest recovery news and other resources.
VISIT: www.joseph-recoveryconnections.blogspot.com
New Silk Road Operator: Illegal Drug Website Has Backup Locations Worldwide
By Join Together Staff | December 9, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs & Marketing And Media
The operator of the new Silk Road website, which sells illegal drugs, says he has distributed encrypted portions of the site’s source code to 500 locations in 17 countries. He claims this will allow the site to be relaunched immediately if law enforcement shuts it down again.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down Silk Road in October, and arrested the operator in San Francisco on narcotics and money-laundering charges. Silk Road could only be accessed by using encryption software called Tor, which shields computers’ IP addresses, allowing people to make purchases anonymously. Silk Road facilitated more than $30 million in sales annually. It had been online since February 2011.
In November, a new online marketplace that sells illegal drugs opened. It also calls itself Silk Road. The new website looks the same as the shuttered Silk Road. It lists hundreds of ads for drugs including marijuana, cocaine and Ecstasy, and uses bitcoins, the anonymous digital currency used by the old site.
The new site says it includes measures to keep users from losing bitcoins if the site shuts down. Like the old site, the new Silk Road can only be accessed by using Tor encryption software.
Last week, the new Silk Road operator said the new backup scheme also includes distributing portions of the site’s cryptographic keys, to decrypt pieces of the site’s source code, to locations around the globe. According to Forbes, “the backup system may be a first step towards a decentralized system without a single point of failure for law enforcement to attack.”
Senators Tell FDA They Disagree with Decision to Approve Pure Hydrocodone Drug
By Join Together Staff | December 9, 2013 | 2 Comments | Filed in Government & Prescription Drugs
Four U.S. senators told the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) they disagree with the agency’s decision to approve a pure version of the painkiller hydrocodone, Newsday reports.
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg that the decision “will only contribute to the rising toll of addiction and death” caused by the prescription drug epidemic.
In October, the FDA approved the first pure hydrocodone drug in the United States. The drug, Zohydro ER (extended release), was approved for patients with pain that requires daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment that cannot be treated with other drugs. Drugs such as Vicodin contain a combination of hydrocodone and other painkillers such as acetaminophen.
In December, a panel of experts assembled by the FDA voted against recommending approval of Zohydro ER. The panel cited concerns over the potential for addiction. In the 11-2 vote against approval, the panel said that while the drug’s maker, Zogenix, had met narrow targets for safety and efficacy, the painkiller could be used by people addicted to other opioids, including oxycodone.
The agency will require postmarketing studies of Zohydro ER to evaluate the known serious risks of misuse, abuse, increased sensitivity to pain, addiction, overdose, and death associated with long-term use beyond 12 weeks.
Zohydro is designed to be released over time, and can be crushed and snorted by people seeking a strong, quick high. The opioid drug OxyContin has been reformulated to make it harder to crush or dissolve, but Zohydro does not include similar tamper-resistant features, the newspaper notes. The senators said it was irresponsible of the FDA to approve Zohydro without similar safeguards.
In an email to the newspaper, FDA spokesman Morgan Liscinsky said “abuse-deterrent formulations” are not available for some extended-release painkillers.
Monday, December 9, 2013
POWER IN THE PROVERB
December 9v6 POWER IN THE PROVERB
Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live ; learn to use good judgment.
STEP 3 : We made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God.
How long is gona take to realize life was not meant to be lived this way.Looking back I was a rebel without a clue wreckless and senseless.Hopefully those of you who are still struggling listen to the Proverb and take that step before its too late.There are way too many who leave this world way too soon.
For more Power in the Proverb and other great recovery resources Visit www.joseph
-recoveryconnections.blogspot.com
STEP 3 : We made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God.
How long is gona take to realize life was not meant to be lived this way.Looking back I was a rebel without a clue wreckless and senseless.Hopefully those of you who are still struggling listen to the Proverb and take that step before its too late.There are way too many who leave this world way too soon.
For more Power in the Proverb and other great recovery resources Visit www.joseph
-recoveryconnections.blogspot.com
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Ken Seeley
Founder at Intervention911
Calling All Treatment Professionals ,
Intervention 911 is excited to announce two upcoming events:
Our next Intervention Training will be held in
Delray Beach Florida January 30-Febuary 1st 2014
We are proud to announce that this training has been approved by the Pennsylvania Certification Board and attendees will receive 28 CE hours specific to intervention that will qualify for the 80 CE hours required for the new Certified Intervention Professional (CIP).
Don’t miss the opportunity to be grandfathered in (NO TEST REQUIRED) and secure your CIP prior to April 1, 2014.
For more information please see the link below
http://thetreatmentcommunity.com/training/interventionist/
________________________________________________________________________
Our Next Treatment Center Seminar
will be held at The Hardrock Hotel Palm Springs California
February 7- 8 Working With Difficult Clients
Sponsored by: Alere & Sovereign Health
This two-day seminar gives you the opportunity to reach out and explain to your colleagues what you do and what your facility is about – to meet, dine and socialize with like-minded professionals to learn from each other and – to grow our outreach together to reach more of those in need then just doing it alone.
For more information please see the link below
http://thetreatmentcommunity.com/training/treatment-centers/
For further information on attending any of our events please email Chelsea@intervention911.com
Just a sneak peek at what we have going on in 2014:
Treatment Center Seminar 2014
Feb 7-8: Working With Difficult Clients
May 2-3: Dissecting The Family Systems
Aug 1-2: Aftercare: How Long & Best Practices
Nov 7-8: Marketing Strategies For A Changing Landscape
Intervention Training 2014
March 25-28: Atlanta
June 20-22: San Francisco
July 30- Aug 1: (TBD) Nashville- Memphis- DC
October 17-19: Palm Springs
Reply to Ken
TIP You can respond to this message by replying to this email
Founder at Intervention911
Calling All Treatment Professionals ,
Intervention 911 is excited to announce two upcoming events:
Our next Intervention Training will be held in
Delray Beach Florida January 30-Febuary 1st 2014
We are proud to announce that this training has been approved by the Pennsylvania Certification Board and attendees will receive 28 CE hours specific to intervention that will qualify for the 80 CE hours required for the new Certified Intervention Professional (CIP).
Don’t miss the opportunity to be grandfathered in (NO TEST REQUIRED) and secure your CIP prior to April 1, 2014.
For more information please see the link below
http://thetreatmentcommunity.com/training/interventionist/
________________________________________________________________________
Our Next Treatment Center Seminar
will be held at The Hardrock Hotel Palm Springs California
February 7- 8 Working With Difficult Clients
Sponsored by: Alere & Sovereign Health
This two-day seminar gives you the opportunity to reach out and explain to your colleagues what you do and what your facility is about – to meet, dine and socialize with like-minded professionals to learn from each other and – to grow our outreach together to reach more of those in need then just doing it alone.
For more information please see the link below
http://thetreatmentcommunity.com/training/treatment-centers/
For further information on attending any of our events please email Chelsea@intervention911.com
Just a sneak peek at what we have going on in 2014:
Treatment Center Seminar 2014
Feb 7-8: Working With Difficult Clients
May 2-3: Dissecting The Family Systems
Aug 1-2: Aftercare: How Long & Best Practices
Nov 7-8: Marketing Strategies For A Changing Landscape
Intervention Training 2014
March 25-28: Atlanta
June 20-22: San Francisco
July 30- Aug 1: (TBD) Nashville- Memphis- DC
October 17-19: Palm Springs
Reply to Ken
TIP You can respond to this message by replying to this email
December 7 v 2 v 3 POWER IN THE PROVERB
Obey my commands and live!
Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.[a]
Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.
STEP 11 :Sought through prayer and meditation on God's word to increase our Fellowship with Him, praying continually for the knowledge of His will for us and the power of His might to
accomplish it.
Living sober and sane is His will for us.We were created with the ability to choose.What GOD seeks is a personal relationship with us HIS children.My choices kept me far from HIM because my choices were wrong and sinful. Some people rebel against their heavenly father like they do with their earthly father.That does not make us bad kids , it makes us human .GOD wants a real relationship with us and step eleven helps us develop that. GOD has dreams for your future and wants you to reach your maximum potential. That's why the Proverb is so important .GOD is not telling you what to do ,but showing what to do in order to reach your maximum potential. Next time you walk pass a cemetery take a moment to think that each one of those stones is a story . How many never made it to step eleven and are forever separated from HIM. GOD loves us so much not only did HE give us HIS only SON to die for us ,HE wrote us a one thousand page plus instruction manual ,now that's love.
For more of POWER IN THE PROVERB and other great recovery news ,events and free resources.
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