Answered questions(7)
Substance Abuse Treatment
I am a cocaine addict and I am a daily heavy drinker. I do not think I am an alcoholic but I think I am physically addicted to alcohol. I tried to stop on my own last month and I had to stop when the shaking got so bad I realized I was in danger. I tried to wean myself off alcohol but this was hopeless. I am on a waiting list at the county medical detox and I am supposed to go in next week. They are strongly recommending that I do their intensive outpatient program after. I am not sure if I can stay clean on my own. I can manage to stop drinking but I cannot stay off cocaine and then when I do cocaine I always drink. I do not have health insurance so I would have to find some free rehab somewhere like maybe at the Salvation Army. Do you recommend that I do the intensive outpatient program or the free rehab?
Read answer →Marijuana Withdrawal
Will a doctor prescribe marinol for someone who has difficult marijuana withdrawal issues. I read about this but my doctor said she couldn’t prescribe a controlled substance like that for marijuana withdrawal. Do you know if some doctors will prescribe this? I know you can't comment on specifics...but in general, have you ever heard of doctors using this in America?
Read answer →Weed Withdrawal: Reducing Anxiety and Agitation
Do you know much about L-Theanine. It’s supposed to be this supplement that induces alpha waves in the brain and makes you feel calm and not anxious and from what I heard it helps reduce anxiety and irritability and insomnia that come when you quit marijuana. I am a long time smoker, frequent quitter and unfortunately equally frequent relapser so I know what to expect when I try to quit again by Mother’s day. It seems safe enough but I can’t get much solid info on whether it actually makes a difference for weed withdrawal. Do you know?
Read answer →Support for a Friend in Rehabilitation
I'm not hearing from my good friend who was just court ordered into a free California drug rehab facility for a year. I'm trying to discover what full time residents are and aren't allowed to do. He's angry with me but not enough to stop all communication....but I really don't know this for certain. I'm having difficulty getting any info out of the main office running the facility/home he's staying at as far as his freedoms are concerned, if he's allowed to go somewhere within reason. If there's a curfew it says to me that he is. How are these freedoms monitored? Can he visit other people who are in his program? Can he use a public telephone while he's away from the house? What are typical rules/regulations at state run houses for full time residents? I basically understand his daily curriculum but on Sundays I believe he has a free day. What's he allowed to do on those days? Does he have access to a phone or computer? I don't want to feel angry he's ignoring me only to discover he has no way to contact me other than writing me letters. On the other hand I don't want him eventually blaming his silence on "rules" when the truth was he just didn't want to talk to me. I cannot discover these answers anywhere. I hate to keep calling their main office and asking more questions when they're not very forthcoming to begin with. I miss my friend very much. Any information you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Read answer →28 day Rehab
For privacy reasons I would prefer not to have an insurance record of my drug addiction treatment. I would like a 28 day rehab program. I do not need anything fancy but I would like quality care and I would like to get into a program within a couple of weeks to coincide with downtime at work (so no waiting lists). What is the minimum I should expect to pay for this. Is $8000 going to be enough to find what I need? Can you recommend any programs, preferably in California but nearby states are also OK?
Read answer →Trying to taper down from Tramadol
I am addicted to Tramadol. I am trying to taper down. I am down to 300 mgs a day. I used to be doing 800 mgs a day which is twice the recommended daily max and well into the seizure risk zone so I dodged a bullet in never having a bad effect over the last 5 years that I was taking them I guess. I was always taking the instant release IR 50s. I am trying to taper down by 5% a week. I know this is slow but seriously any faster than this and I really feel messed up. Last week I couldn’t get the 50 ir capsules and I picked up some 100 mg extended release tablets instead. This is the first time I ever tried. The ers are supposed to last for 24 hours and the irs are only about 6 hours or so. The experience was quite different. The irs definitely give a better buzz and warm happy feeling but the ers give me a much more stable, generally feeling OK feeling all the time (but I am always sort of waiting for that feeling of them kicking in…and it never really comes). I was thinking that I might be better off tapering off the more stable ers rather than the more up and down irs? Does this make sense? Also because the ers don’t give me a buzz and I guess this is something I need to learn to live without if I am going to be able to live without tramadol at all at some point. But I am having trouble finding out if you can cut an er table in half without then dumping all the drug into your system at once (once you have ruined the exterior coating). Can you recommend a way to taper using the ers?
Read answer →Opiates and breastfeeding
If a mom takes norcos while breastfeeding all the time will the baby get addicted to opiates? If the baby is already addicted to opiates what is the best way for this baby to stop being addicted without having to go through bad withdrawal pains. If the mom slowly lowers the amount she takes over a month or two months until she is not taking any anymore will the baby slowly get off the opiates without feeling the withdrawal pains? I am asking for a friend of mine who relapsed after she had her baby and she is too scared to tell her doctor because she thinks they will probably take her daughter away from her. She doesn’t know what to do and she is so upset about it.
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