IF ANYONE HAS A SIMILAR STORY PLEASE LET ME KNOW, I FEEL VERY ISOLATED AND ALONE AND SCARED. METHADONE IS A SERIOUS MEDICATION AND MUST BE TREATED AS SUCH. I REALIZE I WILL PROBABLY BE A LIFER DUE TO MY HISTORY, MAYBE NOT. BUT I WILL BE HONEST. SCREW WHAT OTHERS THINK ANYMORE. I WILL NEVER SUFFER LIKE THAT AGAIN.

To the Aussie M.D. (Byrne I think): Please write to me with your thoughts and feelings. I like what I have read of your responses. Please keep it confidential. Just send it to my email: byteme@softdisk.com

Please read the following:

To all concerned,

I must tell you a story and ask you if you have ever experienced it or talked with someone who has. As I have told you before I suffer from migraines and I would say 85% of the time Imitrex works. I had to go to a hospital the other day when the injection did not work. I have been using this small country hospital for years and usually they gave me Demerol and Phenegren. I had been warned about Nubain, Stadol, Narcan, and others I can't think of at the moment. Because I was most often given Demerol, I did not tell them about being on 99 mgs of methadone daily. BIG MISTAKE... The nurse told me she was giving me Nubain (10mgs). My husband and I looked at each other and quietly decided to go ahead with the shot. BIG MISTAKE.. You see, I thought being thrown into withdrawal instantly was what I had experienced before which naturally was a gradual onset of withdrawal symptoms. Never in all my years could I have imagined what was fixing to happen to me. It took about 10 minutes for the burning on my back and the vomiting to begin. 5 minutes later, 15 minutes after the shot, I was in full ACUTE OPIATE WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME. There are no words in our vocabulary which can describe what ensued after.

Apparently (my memory is not so good after the 15 minutes) the whole ordeal lasted only about 2.5 hours to get me semi stabilized. I was given Visteril first. When the doctor finally came (I swear it seemed like hours but was only minutes) he looked at me and then knew this was no picnic. He told my husband that in his 20 years of practice he had never seen it that bad. He said he had heard of it but had not witnessed it. I was given an IV, then 5 mgs of Valium and a total amount of 22 mgs of morphine, 2 mgs at a time, then about 10:30 pm he gave me a shot of Demerol. I was out cold at that time. It started at 7:30 pm. He admitted me to the hospital and until I showed no more signs of withdrawal for 4 hours could I leave. My husband and I left about 4 a.m. and of course went directly to the clinic at 5:00 a.m.

Has this happened to you or anyone else you know? My God I can't tell you how horrible it was, it was as if I was a rabid wild animal (my husband’s description). I convulsed, purged out of every orifice of my body. I was able to control my bowel because at the beginning I could still walk and went to the toilet. I jerked, I kicked, I vomited, I screamed, I was hot, then cold, then hot. I pulled my clothes off. My back would arch and my mouth would yawn so wide and I would jerk forward. My legs and arms would stretch and extend way out ( all out of my control). I hit people ( accidently). My body was on FIRE. My eyes turned yellow, blood pressure went crazy, and my skin was ice cold to touch yet wet.(my husband said). I felt like I was on fire. I kicked uncontrollably. In fact, everything was uncontrollable. I remember grabbing my husband and saying "I am still in here". You see, it didn't look like me, act like me and I could see it in my husband’s eyes. I had to tell him I was still in my body. But I must say, me, myself, felt very small in my body. The rest was as if I was possessed.

Oh, it was hell. Please tell people to get med alert bracelets or necklaces. Also tell everyone it is absolutely critical that they be honest and up-front with hospitals, doctors etc... Regardless of how they know they will be looked at or treated, it does not compare to the way they will be looked at (disgust describes it at best). At least normally its just a disapproving look.

Please write me back. I really need a response and some definite support. I am scared at what I feel I have become. I know I will be ok; its just so fresh right now.

EVERYONE MUST TELL THEIR DOCTORS OR HOSPITALS THE TRUTH NO MATTER WHAT.

BUT MOST OF ALL NEVER NEVER NEVER TAKE ANY ANTAGONIST MEDICATION. THIS CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH. NEVER NEVER..........

A lot wiser,
Annette

[Readers - If you haven't already done so read, then download or copy the Dear Doctor Letter by J. Thomas Payte. It contains information for doctors about how to treat methadone patients, including cautions on the use of agonist/antagonist drugs like the ones mentioned above. - Eric]

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