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Sample00 · 07-09-2009, 01:27 PM

I have a good friend that is an Addictions Counsellor here in town.
This is what she has had to say in regards to the closing of this clinic in Calgary..

"
Yes, I find it very sad. Methadone is designed for people addicted to anything of the opiate family; heroin, morphine, percocet, Oxycontin and Tylenol 3. The withdrawal from these agents is absolutely horrific - it will not kill you but in the throes of it you will wish you would die. Sometimes people are even put into a medically induced coma in order to get them through the withdrawal which can be described as projectile vomitting & diarrhea, a headache like an axe has been driven into your skull AND the sensation of paper cuts all over the entire surface of your body. Horrible stuff and a key contributor as to why people go back to using when they try to quit.

On the methadone program, recipients are given a substance that looks a whole lot like Tang. They drink it and it keeps their blood level of opiate at a number that does not throw the body into this terrible withdrawal. They are able to function and lead normal, and often productive, lives. It is an intensely scrutinized program too; no one is allowed what's called 'carry-outs', meaning they cannot stock-pile their 'scripts of methadone (for possible resale or to take more than necessary and thus get high). Instead they MUST drink their Tang in front of the pharmicist.

I too am baffled as to why Calgary would shut the door on this program which in theory is exactly the same prinicple as the nicotine patch."

07-09-2009, 01:27 PM	#71
Sample00 Sleazy Banker Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Cold Lake Alberta Canada Exp:	I have a good friend that is an Addictions Counsellor here in town. This is what she has had to say in regards to the closing of this clinic in Calgary.. " Yes, I find it very sad. Methadone is designed for people addicted to anything of the opiate family; heroin, morphine, percocet, Oxycontin and Tylenol 3. The withdrawal from these agents is absolutely horrific - it will not kill you but in the throes of it you will wish you would die. Sometimes people are even put into a medically induced coma in order to get them through the withdrawal which can be described as projectile vomitting & diarrhea, a headache like an axe has been driven into your skull AND the sensation of paper cuts all over the entire surface of your body. Horrible stuff and a key contributor as to why people go back to using when they try to quit. On the methadone program, recipients are given a substance that looks a whole lot like Tang. They drink it and it keeps their blood level of opiate at a number that does not throw the body into this terrible withdrawal. They are able to function and lead normal, and often productive, lives. It is an intensely scrutinized program too; no one is allowed what's called 'carry-outs', meaning they cannot stock-pile their 'scripts of methadone (for possible resale or to take more than necessary and thus get high). Instead they MUST drink their Tang in front of the pharmicist. I too am baffled as to why Calgary would shut the door on this program which in theory is exactly the same prinicple as the nicotine patch."