It warms my heart when friends or strangers or people in-between email that they enjoyed reading, and wish me peace. THAT has been the best part of writing over the last 6 weeks. If you go back to the start of this blog in 2008 or so, you will likely Read more…
I will share a post from 2009. It was one of my first, about 13 years ago, when I first started treating psychiatric conditions. I have always been interested in addiction as well as other conditions, but I resented employers’ efforts to pigeon-hole me because of my ‘history.’ Oh, that Read more…
The FDA stated last week that transmucosal buprenorphine has been associated with dental problems, including tooth loss. The statement was based on 305 reports to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database since buprenorphine was approved 20- years ago. Many of my patients on buprenorphine medications have had dental Read more…
I’ve been writing longer and longer posts on SuboxForum so maybe I need to write more here. This blog archives twelve years of frustration over the ignorance toward buprenorphine, at least until I ran out of steam a year ago. I grew used doctors refusing to treat people addicted to heroin Read more…
A couple comments for regular readers… first, watch for an upcoming change to a new name. For years I’ve debated whether to adopt a name centered on ‘buprenorphine’, rather than the more-recognizable ‘Suboxone’. I believe that time has come. Second, I’m going to ‘reset’ with some introductory comments about the Read more…
I’ll share an interesting story about the data used for the prescription drug database in Wisconsin and other states. I’ve been holding back on writing about this issue in hopes that the reason for the story would be corrected, and I would have no story to tell. But that hasn’t Read more…
A quick note tonight, hopefully with a longer post to follow this weekend… 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 Read more…
Today on SuboxForum people were writing about their experiences with different buprenorphine formulations. Doctors occasionally have patients who prefer brand medications over generics, but buprenorphine patients push brand-loyalty to a different level. The current thread includes references to povidone and crospovidone, compounds included in most medications to improve bioavailability. Some Read more…
I was reading more about Obama’s executive order over at Dr. Burson’s blog. I guess she is a ‘competitor’ in the blogging world, but I have to admit that her blog has a lot more detail about the issue than I do. If you haven’t been there yet, check it Read more…
I just read an article in the Daily Beast that reads like a better version of something I would write about the value of medication-assisted treatment of opioid dependence. I appreciate Christopher Moraff telling a story that has been untold far too long, and I hope the story raises questions Read more…
One of the links from this page connects to the ‘OD Report‘. I set up the connection to highlight the epidemic of overdose deaths, not to sensationalize the issue. But the Prince story is sensational and tragic at the same time. And the connection to buprenorphine only magnifies the tragic Read more…
Today on SuboxForum members discussed how long they have been treated with buprenorphine medications. Most agreed that buprenorphine turned their lives around, and most are afraid they will eventually be pushed off the medication. Most buprenorphine patients described a reprieve from a horrible illness when they discovered buprenorphine. But most Read more…