MovieChat Forums > Drugs, Inc. (2010) Discussion > Heroin/opiates

Heroin/opiates

posted 12 years ago by shadier_than_shady
19 replies | jump to latest

This epidemic pisses me off to no extent. "Why?" you may ask - well, in June 2006 I was seriously injured (broken neck, fractured skull, everything from my right elbow down crushed) and I indeed needed pain relief. I had taken Percocet before for the extraction of my wisdom teeth. It worked wonders. I could take it when the pain came, skip a dose when the hurting was bearable. I told my doctors this, but NO, they insisted on the Fentanyl patch for around the clock pain management. Fentanyl is 80 times more potent than morphine and usually given to terminal cancer patients for relief. Long story about to get short, I no longer wanted the daily withdrawals and did some research. I found a drug that I was skeptical of, but when you're in serious withdrawals, you would agree to having a voodoo priestess rub a chicken egg on you if you thought it would help. The drug I eventually took is called SUBOXONE. You go through two days of severe withdrawal, then go to the doctors appointment where the doctor begins giving you low doses of SUBOXONE until you eventually feel better. I started my treatment in July 2008 and was off the medication by the end of September 2008. Granted I felt drained and not myself, but I was on NOTHING. It takes awhile for your brains chemistry to get back to normal. SUBOXONE works, with the right doctors care and for a person who really doesn't want the drugs anymore. My question is, why aren't clinics working to get this incorporated in recovery systems. Fentanyl is synthetic heroin, same effects on the body and brain, and SUBOXONE worked miracles for me. We need to get the word out. It's even used for methadone abusers. Dave Chappelle was right, there's no money in the cure (even if there is one out there with minimal pain involved).

If I wanted your two cents, I'd rob you.

[–] sturmv 11 years ago

Because getting the patients hooked on legal drugs is a great way to make money.

[–] NickCuccaro 11 years ago

Kratom

[–] christopherhaze 11 years ago

The word IS out, Suboxone/Subutex is very commonly prescribed nowadays for opioid dependence. Also, fentanyl is stronger, effects wise, compared to oxycodone but they are both potent opioids but being dependent on either one is hell. Heroin IS heroin a.k.a. diacetylmorphine, no other opioid is heroin, it's so annoying when someone says 'synthetic heroin' or 'heroin in pill form'. All these drugs are a class of drugs called opioids, which are narcotics (actual narcotics), pain-killing chemicals which mimic endorphins in the brain.

You don't technically have to wait 2 days to take suboxone after a regular full agonist opioid (heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine) but usually at least 24 hours to be safe, so as to not trigger a precipitated withdrawal syndrome (horrible). Now suboxone is mixture of the opioid drug BUPRENORPHINE & NALOXONE, but since bupe has a much higher affinity for the mu opioid receptors, you might as well consider it inactive. The reason suboxone takes away withdrawals is because it is an opioid itself, only it is a partial agonist so it fills your receptors but doesn't really get you high, especially with high tolerance, like other full agonists do, but it can.

I agree suboxone can be a miracle medication for one dependent on opioids but remember it is a very addictive opioid itself and must be treated as such and SHOULD DEFINITELY be used on a short term basis for coming off other opioids, as some people stay on this indefinitely and should not.

[–] Dragon000 10 years ago

I work in recovery and thank goodness, Suboxone is more available now then it was when this was initially posted. The biggest obstacle is the cost, though with Medicaid assistance expanded since January 2014, more people are able to get it now.

[–] saltnurwound 9 years ago

Fentanyl is very potent. But those patches also release amounts measured in micrograms, not milligrams. A drugs potency is somewhat irrelevant. The dosage is just made smaller for Fentanyl, so you're ending up with the same therapeutic effects and in the end, your dependence is not really any more or less.
Things that matter much more when comparing drugs are the half-life, bioavailability, and class of drug.
Also, Suboxone is no secret. I don't know a single opioid user who hasn't heard of both methadone and Suboxone. Subs just cost way more money, and usually by the time someone is ready to try to quit using, money is very much a factor.
Very happy to hear you've kicked, though. That was no small feat and it's something to be proud of.
Way to go!

[–] Dragon000 9 years ago

Fentanyl is scary and very dangerously potent/addicting. And it falls into the frightening category of "it's available via prescription, so it's okay for me to take ..." as well.

[–] hitnwalz 9 years ago

Suboxone works for some, not all. You did it the right way, congrats! Beating those little devils is a huge triumph. However, so many recovering opiate addicts never get off the SUBs, and it's just the same dependency all over again. Pharm is eeeeeeevil

[–] joana-pedroso15 9 years ago

Doctors prescribe you opiates to teeth pain in the US?! LOL Maybe that's why you have an epidemic...

Here in the real world where corporations don't rule (Europe), you don't even have opiates selling in the pharmacies, you only find them at hospitals and they are used in people with terminal diseases or cancer. If you have pain after you remove your teeth just take ibuprofen and maybe do a course of corticosteroids before the removal to keep it from swelling so much after the operation. That's how we do in the sane world...lol

[–] justanicknamed 8 years ago

Sh!t you are a moron. He had his wisdom teeth extracted. That isn't "teeth pain", that is - if he's lucky - just having the dentist or orthopedic surgeon yank them out with 'pliers.'

Most likely, there will be cutting of the gums and nerves, the tooth might break and not come out in one shot, and quite often when extracting lower wisdom teeth a patient's jaw gets broken.

[–] joana-pedroso15 8 years ago

I had to get a wise tooth extration and my dentist only suggested a course of corticosteroids before the surgery to fight inflammation better. Then after sugery I'd continue with corticosteroids and antibiotics. I didn't do it for other reasons, but my friend did and in no moment was she prescribed with opiates. I am not even sure dentists are allowed to prescribe opiates here.

[–] justanicknamed 8 years ago

Great. So your country is fu*ked up that they'd rather have patients in pain than resting comfortably and getting better.

I had a couple of teeth extracted and an hour later was at basketball. I had a wisdom tooth cut out and couldn't eat for a day plus had a major headache. I didn't get "opiates" for the first one, but was glad I did for the second.

It was the same dentist both times, and he recognized that the wisdom tooth extraction was kind of brutal.

[–] sandifay62 7 years ago

It's funny how every now and then someone brags about how perfect their country is when they clearly show in this show and the news how every country has a drug epidemic.

Don't they know that a lot of the hardcore drug addicts don''t even bother with the doctor prescriptions anymore? They get them on the street, through theft, and from friends and neighbors. Lol

[–] mzndmx 8 years ago

there is no way you got FENTANYL for a tooth extraction.

[–] WeebyWilly 8 years ago

Can you read?

[–] nutmustardxx 8 years ago

They have suboxone available at all the methadone clinics. Fentanyl lollipops..those 800mcg ones used to be pretty tasty. My friend is hooked on the 100 mcg patches.. she goes down to TJ and gets them almost every day. I have her get me some 30mg oxycodone when I'm out of my own , dr only example 210 a month down from 360. Guess theres new max limits of 8 per day...not sure it's true or just the drs excuse to be cutting us down.

[–] dddddeadpool 8 years ago

So could potentially a say friend of mine( not me of course) go to Mexico on vacation and go to a clinic and come out with fentanyl or other such evil things?

[–] dddddeadpool 8 years ago

If you have any patches left over PM me.

[–] NutMustardx 7 years ago

Patches suck. I liked the 800mcg lollipops years ago. But the 30mg oxycodone is my choice. Blues.. but I need 15 a day just to get by, and street value is 20 bucks a pop. So i went to the methadone clinic and that works great, but no fun. I still pop 3 or 4 of the 30s to catch a good little bizz. My dr cut me down to 120 a month, all the way down from 360 2 yrs ago. Those were the good ole days. Anyway, there's no easy way. Methadone rotted my teeth and weakened my bones. Stuff sucks

[–] dddddeadpool 7 years ago

I never minded the patches. That was when I was younger tho. You're right they hardly even tickle me now.