To those who follow this blog, I apologize for taking a bit of a breather from posting. I’m stll here, but my energy for late-night arguments over the disease nature of addiction has dropped a bit– at least for the time being.
I have talked for some time about putting together a book about opioid dependence that combines scientific principles and subjective experience… I’ve completed that project, and I’m not quite sure what to do with it. I am thinking about selling it as an e-book, and using proceeds to rationalize time away from my practice spent here on the blog. I have plenty of plans, but like many people I struggle to complete the things I envision. My goal for some time has been to seek support for the blog and forum from pharma, and to work with a group of people to create a resource for those with opioid dependence. If someone out there has experience with grant writing or with running web-based businesses, and has the patience to rein my wild ideas, drop me a note sometime.
Finally, you may notice, from time to time, posts that first appeared a year or two ago. I would like to clean up some of the older posts and re-address the topics– for example speak about buprenorphine during pregnancy, using an old post as a springboard for the discussion.
Thank you for your continued support,
Jeff J
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6 Comments
thankfulmom · October 7, 2010 at 7:51 am
I have been reading your posts for 18 months and I would like to thank you. Soon after we discovered my son’s addiction we were looking for information every where we could find it. Most of it was anti-Suboxone. This is a bias that I hope will fade as more people experience success with it. I think the one message I would give to everyone in recovery and their families is to be very patient. It was several months before my son healed enough to not think like an addict. His anxiety has been severe at times. His sleep has been erratic. But over time these things are all improving. Sometimes from day to day I get discouraged and sad, but when I think of where he was 2 years ago and where he is now, the difference is tremendous. He is coming back to me a better person that he was before. For that I am so grateful.
SuboxDoc · October 7, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Thank you– and my best wishes to you and your son.
JJ
thankfulmom · October 8, 2010 at 10:50 am
I keep hearing, “Trading one drug for another does not make sense”. That is not exactly what is happening. Suboxone blocks the receptors and stops the cravings. It does not impair the addict. My son can get his life back together without dealing with the constant cravings. He can function like a regular non-addicted person. Sure, it would be great if he did not have to take any medication, but he does. He has learned so much about himself, I think he is making up for lost growth.
Doctor, you make sense. The information we have gotten from you is exactly the way it has been. We have had such a hard time finding therapist who are not 12 steppers. There is nothing wrong w/ the 12 steps, but this philosophy that you must be completely drug free is not for everyone. I think they have so much at stake that they cannot open their minds to something new. I don’t even think most doctors have taken the time to learn how Suboxone really works. They think it is just another methadone and everyone should work toward getting off of it. If taking a pill (or a film) every day let’s him lead a productive, happy life, then I want him to have it.
recoveryhelpdesk · October 8, 2010 at 5:01 pm
This is a great site and I will be reading whether you post once a day or once a year.
Tom
retiringpharmer · October 11, 2010 at 2:42 am
Dr. J., I just purchased your book for my iPad, and read it cover to cover. I have been on subutex for 8 months and cannot believe how different my life has become. I neither seek nor crave, and feel confident enough after reading your book that I don’t need to rush to wean off. Thank you for the time and effort you’ve obviously put into the service of others by writing this book. I highly recommend it! I know I should have concluded my post on that note, but I have to ask…have you any anecdotal experience with patients like me who sleep so deeply on subutex that they literally can sleep for eight hours without moving a muscle? Should I be concerned? I often wake with a very sore hip or the imprint of my wedding ring on my cheek… Face, that is. My sleep isn’t that weird!
Again, many thanks on what is obviously a labor of love!
SuboxDoc · October 12, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Thank you very much! As for the sleeping issue, yes– I know one person who cannot take buprenorphine because she sleeps SO deeply that she wakes with numbness from nerve compression, and worries that she will have permanent damage from compressing a nerve too long. I’m not sure why some people are affected that way– anyone else care to comment?