I’ve been frustrated by the people behind the Wisconsin PDMP, or Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, for their mistakes related to buprenorphine. Whoever came up with the numbers made a rookie error when calculating the equivalent morphine dose of patients taking buprenorphine products. The error is easy to notice by anyone Read more…
The safety of buprenorphine when not combined with a benzodiazepine has been twisted to suggest buprenorphine is uniquely dangerous when combined with benzodiazepines, which is not true. I’ve heard more and more from insurers, regulators, and well-meaning agencies about the dangers of combining buprenorphine and benzodiazepines. Some insurers protest paying Read more…
A post on the Forum asked about the best remedies for opioid withdrawal. I will review the medications and other treatments for opioid withdrawal that I have heard discussed by physicians or by people on the internet. Hopefully readers will leave comments about medications or approaches that they have found Read more…
Anxiety is one of the most common presenting complaints for people who come to my psychiatric practice. By the time people with anxiety visit a psychiatrist, they have usually discussed their symptoms with friends and family members, and some have been to their family care physician. And as a result Read more…
I was never a huge Whitney fan, but nobody can debate the beauty and power of her voice. Also beyond debate is that she deserved a better ending than the one she found, alone in a bathtub, while ‘friends’ were partying a few floors away. Xanax and other benzodiazepines, combined Read more…
Last night I came across a medical student web site that included a link to a post of mine from a couple years ago, that described my feelings about Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, and other benzodiazepines. The people commenting at that site appreciated my comments, and my comments were ‘seconded’ by Read more…
I have written about the sleazy actions of health insurer Humana. Today I filed a formal complaint with the Wisconsin Commisioner of Insurance regarding their practices. I’ll copy my letter below, rather than take the time to write everything over again. If there is an attorney willing to work the Read more…
I’ve been posting more lately, but I’m hoping to slow down by the end of the holidays to let everyone catch up. I’ve also mentioned ‘my book’ several times in the past year, promising to myself and to others deadline that comes and go. I wish I could take a month Read more…
A note of follow up: According to TMZ, a variety of medications were found in Brittany Murphy’s apartment under her name and under the name of her husband and mother. Of course it is possible that the medications actually belonged to her husband and to her mother– but as you read Read more…
One of the primary insights that I want addicts to gain from reading this blog is the similarity between their own thoughts, feelings, and pattern of use and the thoughts and patterns of use of other opiate addicts. We are all dealing with the same beast, we have all felt Read more…
I wish I had more time to devote to this topic right now, but I am on my way to a short vacation… so I will not be available by e-mail for at least a few days. Everyone is pacing around the house right now, waiting for me to finish Read more…
A comment on my old blog referred to a discussion about the withdrawal from Xanax, or Alprazolam, a short half-life benzodiazepine: Clonazepam (Klonopin) actually is not the drug of choice used in benzo withdrawal, rather it is diazepam (Valium). Clonazepam It is not a very long-acting drug, with a half-life Read more…