Monday, 4 February 2008

Diary: Update on Morphine vs Methadone

DIARY:
I went to see the specialist the other day. Before you get to take up the valuable time of the Chief Witch Doctor Voodoo God, you must travel through the spirituality cave. Here you encounter the great shaman of chatalot and you must pass his acceptance trials. Very cunning yet wise is the deceivingly young looking shaman, alert and relaxing, probing but not intruding, all the signs of a Hmadas are cleverly interwoven with generality and emotional exploration. To put it another way, It was the usual mumbo jumbo from the D & A counsellor who asked about my general family history, the reason for my addiction and the compulsory recording of my drug history. His role was to sift through the junkies and drunks who had mental problems. Only those with genuine physical problems that had a chance of achieving a positive outcome got to see the main specialist. These specialists are highly regarded doctors in their fields and would cost a fortune . The D & A guy had his own agenda as well. He offered counselling and most people who get referred there probably needed some form of counselling anyway. He was very welcoming and had a knack for making you feel comfortable so I guess he nabbed quite a few clients. As usual though, I spent most of my time preaching about heroin trials and drug laws etc. I'm sure he laughed quietly to himself at the audacity of a junkie preaching drug policy to a professional drug & alcohol counsellor. Oh well. I told him straight out that I wasn't interested in counselling and it hadn't really worked before. I was there for an alternative to methadone but agreed that if I got a sufficient substitute treatment, I would attend his sessions. The result was that he booked me an appointment. There were no promises or even an indication that the Chief Witch Doctor Voodoo God would give me what I wanted. I am sure he must know that methadone and buprenorphine are the only opiates available for addiction. I therefore assume he would know if the Chief Witch Doctor Voodoo God has ever prescribed something else especially slow release oral morphine. So in a few weeks, I will know for sure if I am able to receive appropriate treatment for my illness.

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