Methadone Victims Support Forum

This forum has been created for the people that have lost a loved one due to the drug methadone or for anyone that has been negatively affected by methadone.

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One Pill can Kill
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story...

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Please watch these videos…
http://www.nopetaskforce.org/popups/news12_12...
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main5...

Please sign the petition for tighter regulations:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/472...

Shared Grief

The Houstons are not alone in their sorrow.

Three other North Carolina families have lost loved ones to accidental methadone overdoses.

Eddie Ellis' brother, William Ellis, and Darlalu Craanen's husband, Robert Craanen, both died within a week of starting new methadone prescriptions.

Linda Simmons also lost her daughter, Ronda Wilson, a 34-year-old nurse, who was taking methadone for a bad back.

Simmons says the medical examiner called her to tell her that methadone poisoning had caused her daughter's death.

"One pill can be lethal," said methadone expert Lynn Webster, the president of Utah's Academy of Pain Medicine and a practicing pain-management doctor.

Webster analyzed methadone deaths nationally, and he says that the main problem is with new users.

The drug doesn't kick in right away, so new users are more apt to take more and overdose.

So, Webster says, doctors need to strongly warn patients not to soothe their pain with more amounts of the drug.

"If a doctor prescribes too much medicine, you may not wake up two or three days after you start your prescription," Webster said.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story...

ZachsMom wrote:

Shared Grief
The Houstons are not alone in their sorrow.
Three other North Carolina families have lost loved ones to accidental methadone overdoses.
Eddie Ellis' brother, William Ellis, and Darlalu Craanen's husband, Robert Craanen, both died within a week of starting new methadone prescriptions.
Linda Simmons also lost her daughter, Ronda Wilson, a 34-year-old nurse, who was taking methadone for a bad back.
Simmons says the medical examiner called her to tell her that methadone poisoning had caused her daughter's death.
"One pill can be lethal," said methadone expert Lynn Webster, the president of Utah's Academy of Pain Medicine and a practicing pain-management doctor.
Webster analyzed methadone deaths nationally, and he says that the main problem is with new users.
The drug doesn't kick in right away, so new users are more apt to take more and overdose.
So, Webster says, doctors need to strongly warn patients not to soothe their pain with more amounts of the drug.
"If a doctor prescribes too much medicine, you may not wake up two or three days after you start your prescription," Webster said.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story...

Hey Carla did you get that other news article I sent you?

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mjhaynes@ctc.net. i have a few interested already and also have a petition started calling for tougher sentencing for drug dealers. much love to you all. mary haynes

Melissa...I think I got it.:)

Mary....I've had a bad week, also. Zach's birthday is in 5 days. He would have been 20.

By looking at the petition signatures and stories this problem is much bigger than I could ever imagine.

From a Utah Paper:

Prescription narcotics, or painkillers, are the leading contributor to fatal drug overdoses in Utah. The single most lethal: methadone, which caused no deaths in 1995, but was tied to 113 in 2005.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4611950
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This is what I am trying to point out. There were ZERO deaths in 1995. I want people to realize there is a definite PROBLEM. I am just using Utah as an example.

Now, do the math. 113 X 50 states = 5,650

I believe the number is MUCH, MUCH higher than this in 2006. The coroner in my area says he sees methadone deaths daily. North Carolina is reporting one death every other day.

People, say methadone has been around for years...but it was used responsibly...now they are lax on the prescriptions and the clinics are NOT as strict.

Hey Mary and Carla ...did you guys see this link I posted it has all the drug interactions and how they effect the metabolization of methadone. Even grapefruit interacts with methadone. This is truly an unpredictable drug!

http://www.atforum.com/SiteRoot/pages/addicti...

Melissa
www.renato-capozzo.memory-of.com

I posted in here earlier and my post is gone, I didn't say anything bad I just posted a link. This is the link http://www.atforum.com/SiteRoot/pages/addicti...

and I said even grapefruit juice interacts with methadone, how scary is that?

Melissa
www.renato-capozzo.memory-of.com

I truly feel for you all. I could have been one of those statistics and done that to my family. It fills me with guilt.

But it was I who would have been at fault. Isn't it possible that something else had been being prescribed more often in previous years, then there was such a backlash that MDs got afraid and started prescribing methadone, then you'll scare them to prescribing something else, and so on? Can you at least see were this is possibly what is happening?

It would seem to me that education and awareness are the only real answer. Otherwise you are trying to deny tens of thousands relief in order to protect many less who could be protected in other ways.

I have daughters who are entering that wonderful, scary time of their lives. I want them to be safe also.

Rich...

Tiny babies to chaplains are dying from methadone. This drug is not just about "drug addicts". The labeling is vague...the drug is unpredictable...and it's deadly. Up to 50% of the people that die from methadone have a prescription.

Your children could be given this drug by a doctor and be gone 3 days later. Just do some research and you will see what I mean.

This is just ONE part of the problem:
http://www.wvgazette.com/webtools/print/serie...

ZachsMom wrote:

Rich...
Tiny babies to chaplains are dying from methadone. This drug is not just about "drug addicts". The labeling is vague...the drug is unpredictable...and it's deadly. Up to 50% of the people that die from methadone have a prescription.
Your children could be given this drug by a doctor and be gone 3 days later. Just do some research and you will see what I mean.
This is just ONE part of the problem:
Yes u are right!!! In oregon last 3 months almost 400 people died and 45% of them were taking it as prescibed
http://www.wvgazette.com/webtools/print/serie...

ok

ZachsMom wrote:

Melissa...I think I got it.:)
Mary....I've had a bad week, also. Zach's birthday is in 5 days. He would have been 20.
By looking at the petition signatures and stories this problem is much bigger than I could ever imagine.

, i live in porter county indiana. we have more opiate overdoses in the country then anywhere else and after all the sensless deaths and poisoned heroin we are finally getting a methadone clinic. most opiate addicted people in my county have to drive to Gary Indiana to get methadone which ironically is the murder capitol of the world. to get the help they need. i have been on methadone for 4 years and it has saved my life. i use to have to find it on the street so i would not be dope sick because the clinics were to far. and with methadone 90 percent of the time now in liquid form you never know what your getting on the street or really how much you are taking. there were times when i would wake up at red lights in my car after taking methadone off street. there are users who have to find methadone on the street just so they are not sick so they can function. after i finally found a clinic my life made a totally and complete 180. tight restrictions means more methadone on the street because users wont put up with all the red tape. and street methadone that usually comes from a methadone patients take home bottle will be an even more attractive to sell.

Eric...have you ever tried to be clean? I'm not trying to sound rude...but wouldn't being free from any drug really be the answer? This way you don't have to drive anywhere to any clinic. You don't waste your money. Also, you don't have to find drugs on the street. I have friends that used heroin for years and years and are now completely free from any drugs. It can be done. What a wonderful feeling to not be a slave to anything. Let me know if you need help. Good luck to you. You sound like a wonderful person. I hope I didn't offend you.

Also, up to 50% of the people dying have presciptions for methadone. There is a problem. Your body apparently can tolerate it pretty well...some people can't handle it at all.

Take Care

what makes methadone dangerous is that people unknowingly thinkyoutake it to get high right away like a vicodin. but with methadone thats not the case because it is a very slow acting opiate. and people on the street thinkthey have not taken enough or are expecting some quick high and end up taking another pill lilke xanax or something and that is what kills. methadone is a very dangerous and toxic drug and over 50 percent of people who die from methadone were taking the drug as prescribed as found in there sereum level after they die. but over 80 percent of those deaths another drug had played a roll like xanax or valium . because once person is on methadone for awhile it begins to block the euphoric effect of other opites. so the drug addict will begin to take a non- opiate to find a high like benzos and tranquilizers and this is what attributes to 75 percent of overdose deaths in our area with methadone.
I also truly believe that most clinics are not doing enough for their patients. they tell their patients an their family that they offer this array of help with counselor sessions and drug screens. and the truth is that all these places do is just check to see if you are physically stable . they do not focus at all on the mental or cerebral part of addiction and what is actually taking place. and its a shame that good doctors cannot prescribe this to their patients like suboxone because methadone can be very effective. but most people end up going to these clinics that all they care about is if your paying your weekly fee on time. and if your not passing your drug tests they increase your dosage and obviously if the person is using and on a high amount of methadone there is a potential for that person to sell that methadone for drug money on the streets killing the 17 year old who got it from a friend of a friends older brother or whoever that goes to a clinic and ends up putting the kid in a coma or worse and this what happens all the time. i truly believe from experienc that these methadone clinics need to have psychiatrists on staff and mandatory group therapy sessions also with the one on one sesssion so the patients can be audited better. i am forunate found such a clinic.
and in cocnclusion the price of attending these clinics are rediculous a and most don't except medicaid!! in my county there are three clincs all in gary indiana a city that has a terrrible drug problem that is 95 percent black, and being a white person i find it very sickening and sad that the people who live in this town and need methadone the most cannot even afford it. all you see in these clinics are young whte men and women from the outer suburbs who have family who can afford to pay for their treatment. while the people of gary in ghettos and the poor that can't pay 65 bucks a week . end up looking to the street for methadone.

Eric...that was a very good post. I believe you are telling it like it really is. I wish I had a solution. I just know it's ending up in the wrong hands...and the problem didn't exist ...or least to this extent 10 years ago.

Eric,

Great post!!! Now how do we get the changes made???

Melissa
www.renato-capozzo.memory-of.com

victims of methadone

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/472...