- Signatures: 2,949
- Goal: 10,000
- Deadline: Ongoing...
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Methadone Patients receiving it for addiction treatment, Patients receiving Methadone for acute pain, Providers, Families & Friends Against Hysteria and Further Restrictions
| Number | Date | Prefix | Name | City | State | Tell us of Your Experience with Methadone for Opiate Addiction Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,974 | 3:46 pm PST, Nov 3 | Ms. | Jamie Lynne Sladewski | Wareham | Massachusetts | I have been clean for 5 yrs with Methadone maintenence along with couseling. Sadly everyone clings to negative information or just wont take the time to educate themselves on the subject of drugs, addiction, drug abuse, drug use, forms of drug rehabilitation (ex MMT), and drug prevention. For me I needed the combination of both treatments. I do see alot of people using the system but I see more normal people at the methadone clinic that some would never guess they had a problem. All Im asking is not to judge. Also for the state and fed programs to open there eyes too many people abuse welfare and disability. Those of us who need it for our health care fall through the cracks too many times. |
| 2,973 | 4:54 pm PST, Nov 2 | Ms. | Anonymous | FLORENCE | Alabama | Its working for me been 5 years |
| 2,972 | 11:42 am PST, Nov 2 | Mr. | Anonymous | Jupiter | Florida | I am a middle aged man in my fifties, fairly sucsesful in my life. Though I earn a good living and certainly appear to be normal man in my everyday life I have been as few others know... addicted to herion and opiates for over 40 years. When I think of the time wasted (Viet Nam was still a very real part of life when I began shooting dope and I feel I have very little left to give. I have tried close to EVERY type of rehab that there is I first used a methadone Maint. Program in 1972 when it was still new, while not a complete sucess, It worked however better than anything else I tried Now the rules and restictions are worse than they ever were. But other than going to a civilized country and getting on a herion Maint. program it is all I have left. I hope I can make it work as I don't wish to move and leave my family. Good luck to all. |
| 2,971 | 2:22 pm PST, Nov 1 | Anonymous | parkville | Maryland | Methadone matience 6 months and cdurrently on bupe matience | |
| 2,970 | 11:20 am PDT, Oct 31 | Anonymous | Charlevoix | Michigan | Gave me a life back. A quality life, a productive life. | |
| 2,969 | 10:42 am PDT, Oct 29 | Mrs. | Sheri Haba | Fredericktown | Pennsylvania | I read a few of the comments and I was surprised at the postive posts!! There is such a stigma with methadone patients in this area. I have been on it for almost 3 years now and can say without a doubt that it is saving my life! I have struggled with addiction since I was 11 years old. I am now 48. I also struggled with the stigma! I tried meetings for years and in my opinion, in this area, they are a joke. It's a meat market and if you relapse, you are blackballed. Methadone is considered using around here, but, I know how I feel! I do not get high on it, and I don't want to get high on it. I don't want to use today. That is a statement that I could not make for years. My problem now with it is that in 2004 I got caught driving on a suspended license, DUI related, and that is an automatic 60 to 90 days in jail. Pittsburgh will not provide the methadone, and I am scared. But, we will see what my attorney can come up with. Pray for me, my hearing is December 1, 2009. |
| 2,968 | 10:18 am PDT, Oct 29 | Ella johnson | richmond | Virginia | I have been battling with addiction for over 30 years and in the past 8 have achieved a quality of life that I never thought possible due to Methadone. I have had clean urines. volunteered in my community and have found a new sense of self, However I do feel stigmatized and frustrated as my provider sometimes is not very professional and since the clinic has a captive audience there is not much incentive to raise the bar on the care that is given. I receive 27 takeouts but still pay 400 a month for the meth as well as 389 for insurance coverage that does not cover my medication. My big concern is that at 47, I can do this for another 10 years but once I retire I am fearful of what will happen. We need to make sure that our voices are heard, thanks for the petition, | |
| 2,967 | 12:57 am PDT, Oct 28 | Victoria Lopez | salt lake city | Utah | saved my life, and my child | |
| 2,966 | 12:25 am PDT, Oct 28 | Mr. | Anonymous | Nanuet | New York | works |
| 2,965 | 12:46 pm PDT, Oct 27 | Cherie Bruckman, MSSW, LSW, CSW | New Albany | Indiana | I am a counselor at Southern Indiana Treatment Center. This is a methadone clinic that continues to save lives from drug addiction. | |
| 2,964 | 11:56 am PDT, Oct 27 | Ms. | Anonymous | Columbia | South Carolina | After years of car accidents and surgeries and irresponsible doctors prescribing me pain med's like crazy, I am thankful that I am finally able to live a normal life. If it were not for methadone therapy I don't know what I would have done. After the doctors had "fixed me" in their eyes, they cut off the pain med's that I had been taking EVERY SINGLE DAY for over 5 years....now that is irresponsibility by the doctors. |
| 2,963 | 12:14 pm PDT, Oct 26 | Ms. | Tracy Shannon | sault ste. marie | Michigan | I have been in & out of recovery from I.V. using for many years and recieved methadone for both mat & chronic pain, all I kno if I function like a normal citizen. And I can almost guarantee people who have o.d., it was from a cocktail. Benzos are the culprit. |
| 2,962 | 4:23 pm PDT, Oct 25 | Sarah Q | Savannah | Georgia | Oh my God. MMT saved me and my husbands lives.We were taking so many oxys a day that I caused myself slight liver damage and im in my 20's. It was scary and I did not know how I was going to get off the pills. We have children that do not need to know that they had drug addicted parents and this way we get our dose and counseling and we are doing great. We have not found the right dosage yet but when we do, we know that everything will be alright and that this is not the end for us, but the beginning. The program is not without its flaws but I am grateful for it. People have the misconception that MMT patients are trashy heroin addicts looking for a high when in reality we are just an average couple working and in college trying to continue our education. Again, this have saved our lives. | |
| 2,961 | 10:35 am PDT, Oct 24 | Mr. | Carlos Martinez | Lawrence | Massachusetts | I am on a methadone clinic and have been sober for over one year. I am a patient advocate at my clinic also. |
| 2,960 | 9:58 am PDT, Oct 24 | Mr. | michael lemay | baton rouge | Louisiana | Methadone has saved my life. I have been an addict for 10 years and I stopped using the first day of methadone treatment. |
| 2,959 | 1:46 pm PDT, Oct 21 | Mr. | Mark Cook | Bradenton | Florida | My mother has been using methadone for her chronic back pains for the past 7 or 8 years. I have seen the way methadone has changed her life. She has no insurance and she has severe chronic back pain and for years she struggled to get someone to help her with her intense pain. Doctors would not prescribe her anything long term and after a few surgeries which did nothing but give her more pain she realized she couldn't go under the knife again. I should state, she did have insurance from 1993-1997 which are the years she had her surgeries and in 1998 we lost it due to the price inflation of it. Basically methadone has given my mother a life again. Before methadone all she could do was sit in her recliner all day and read a book or watch television. She had too much intensive pains to begin to walk for a long period of time. It made me as a young lone child who was only 10 years old cry. I could do nothing to help my mother for the longest time. Everything changed when her brother told her about the methadone clinics. She felt like she was 15 years younger again. I saw my mom walk with me around the block for the first time. I felt like I was in heaven. I had my mom back. I just want to say, Methadone isn't only for ex-addicts. It's also for legit pain management and it has helped my mother and others for years and years. I can't imagine anyone who would wish to cause others to suffer by taking this drug out of the hands of decent suffering people who desperately need it. Please, it isn't Methadone's fault that people die from it. It's the fault of people abusing it for recreation or not reading the directions correctly. OR the medical staff for not prescribing it correctly. Anyways I just wanted to say my peace. I feel like I owe methadone and the people who make it possible for my mom to get it every week all my thanks and help. I am now able to enjoy life with my mom again and every child should have that. |
| 2,958 | 6:56 am PDT, Oct 21 | Mr. | marc j paglia | lowell | Massachusetts | it removed the gun from the side of my head |
| 2,957 | 6:39 pm PDT, Oct 20 | Ms. | Anonymous | Honolulu | Hawaii | |
| 2,956 | 3:47 pm PDT, Oct 19 | Mr. | Will Boyd | Quincy | Massachusetts | I became addicted after being prescribed percocet and oxycontin for "Lupus" pain. I was always fighting my doctors for adequate dosages to control my agony. I became frustrated and started forging prescriptions, tripling my dosages for ten years until arrested. I was charged with hundreds of counts of prescription fraud and had no pain medication. I then started heroin and drinking when they cut my prescriptions to ease the pain and dull my constant anxiety. I was absolutely terrified because I knew I was going to jail and was so suicidal. I had completely given up. I was constantly asking God to kill me. Finally a friend in recovery got me into a one year treatment center in NYC,"Su Casa" LESC (lower east side service center) a methadone assisted recovery program. It ABSOLUTELY saved my life and kept me out of jail, a complete miracle! It's now been over 5 years and my life is back on track. I've got my family back and am doing well. If it were not for Methadone I am sure I would be dead. After all this time I'm still haunted by thoughts of using and thank God for Methadone. Its enabled me to ward off such temptations and even help with the pain. If I were forced to give up Methadone it would be completely disastrous and would surely destroy all I've regained. Sincerely, William Boyd |
| 2,954 | 4:24 am PDT, Oct 18 | Mr. | William Robbins | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | Has saved my life! |
| 2,953 | 9:28 am PDT, Oct 17 | Ms. | Anonymous | Elizabeth | New Jersey | Dear Sir or Madam,I have been on MMT with success since 1982..These 27 years on methadone maintenance have significantly improved my lifestyle as compared to who/what I was before methadone treatment...The problem with methadone induced death is NOT the methadone medication itself,it is the recreational user of this drug who will obtain methadone without having an opiate addiction,as well as those people who decide to "mix" other medications with methadone,both resulting in death...It is the fault of the human being ingesting the methadone,not the methadone..Thank you... |
| 2,952 | 11:15 am PDT, Oct 16 | Mr. | Craig Baum | Phoenix | Arizona | This medication is Life Saving! Methadone does not get me HIGH. It allows me to be a productive member of our society. |
| 2,951 | 4:46 pm PDT, Oct 15 | LAURIE LINDNER | Wenham | Massachusetts | I had tried EVERY type of treatment possible...from the state run to Hazelton in Minnesota. In some cases I stayed through out the treatment and did well as long as I was in a halfway house,etc. BUT, I ALWAYS relapsed..sometimes in 3 months ,once almost a year later. I would feel SOOO terrible and depressed after coming off the heroin and I went to 2,sometimes 3 meetings a day. I did the steps, I did everything I was told ...BUT, I couldn't stay clean,until methadone. I am ,now, 10 years clean and methadone has given me back my life. I have my children in my life and I have my career back( and my sanity!). | |
| 2,950 | 11:25 am PDT, Oct 15 | Mr. | Anonymous | Blacksburg | Virginia | I have been addicted to opiates for most of my teens and early twenty's. I recently started my treatments and the Ronaoke Treatments Center. I am slowly regaining control of my life and it feels great. To take this opportunity away from me may as well be signing a death warrent for me. If you have never had to deal with this addiction then you have no right to assume you know what is best for me or anyone else. I think through my treatment and my support groups I can beat this thing and become a productive member or my community again. If this treatment becomes unavailable to me or others you will be making this worse not better. Try to imagine a life that isn't yours and you find something that allows you to safely control and support that helps you beat it. |
| 2,949 | 6:45 am PDT, Oct 15 | Mr. | edward j kennedy | wareham | Massachusetts | it has help me with my addiction i had /w opits witch was caused by my |
| 2,948 | 9:00 am PDT, Oct 14 | Ms. | Terri Bishop | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | I recently started counseling in a methadone clinic (June of 09) and can honestly say that the majority of people I see are making great progress in treating their addiction. Although we all have minor set backs in one from or another, those in treatment from addiction tend to really experience personal growth and true humility, Im proud to work in the field of addiction and I'm just as proud to have the opportunity to assist with the journey towards on going recovery! |
| 2,947 | 11:34 am PDT, Oct 11 | Mr. | Anonymous | Fresno | California | I have struggled with opiate addiction for 35 years. Ive had a year or 2 at times without using but never felt normal unless I was loaded. my latest relaps started after hernea surgury and pain meds. one thing led to another untill i was addicted again.thank god the methadone clinic was still there. I don't what i would have done if it had been closed. |
| 2,946 | 6:48 am PDT, Oct 11 | Ms. | tonya warren | sedgwick | Maine | I have been on Methadone for 2 years it has saved my life |
| 2,945 | 2:32 pm PDT, Oct 9 | dustin k | rogersville | Tennessee | methadone has saved my life i was once addicted to oxycontin for years i was losing everything i had and at the verge of going to jail i entered a mmp "methadone maintenance program" and it has turnedmy life around i now have money in my pocket and am no longer using illegal drugs if there wasnt methadone i would probably be dead. | |
| 2,944 | 6:52 pm PDT, Oct 8 | Anonymous | jacksonville | Florida | ||
| 2,943 | 1:24 pm PDT, Oct 7 | Ms. | Rebecca Dobert | Springfield | Massachusetts | I have been a patient on a methadone program for over 4 years. I currently have 6 takehomes and I am at a low dose of 12mgs a day. I have been detoxing for over a year and a half. If not for the methadone program I dont know where I would be today or if I would even still be alive. I have recently completed a coarse in the medical office field, and have just been hired at a great company for really good pay. I have a healthy, happy 6 yr old daughter, and i'm in a wonderful stable relationship. Before starting the methadone program yrs ago, my life was chaos. I was in a domestic violence relationship, couldn't pay my bills or feed my daughter. The methadone program has completely turned my life around. I have learned so much from this program, that I am looking forward to getting off completly. But I feel I am ready for this. If people are forced to stop taking Methadone because of the reasons listed on this petition, it is taking there chance to accomplish sobriety away from them, without them having any choice in the matter. |
| 2,942 | 8:17 am PDT, Oct 7 | Mr. | Tul Prasad Pun | kathmandu | Methadone is a lives saving medication for me...... | |
| 2,941 | 7:34 am PDT, Oct 6 | Anonymous | Alexandria | Virginia | I have been on Methadone for drug addiction for many years. During this time, I've had a great job with the Government, raised two children (not addicts, non-smokers, honor roll in school), owned two homes and lived a normal life. This would not have been possible if I was not on Methadone and still addicted to Heroin and Morphine. | |
| 2,940 | 3:16 pm PDT, Oct 5 | Mr. | Anonymous | Keene | New Hampshire | I am on methadone now for a 6 year addiction to Percocet and i am only 20 years old the methadone has kept me clean for 2 months now with no problems |
| 2,939 | 8:35 am PDT, Oct 5 | Mr. | Anonymous | elizabeth | Colorado | Methadone has changed my life for the good. Seems like they are making it harder to get/keep takehome doses, and making people jump through more and more hoops... methadone is supposed to help people not be a burden on their life and job by making you jump through so many hoops. |
| 2,938 | 10:29 pm PDT, Oct 3 | Mrs. | melissa K. Bosma | fairbanks | Alaska | I've been addicted to opiates for six years, within that six years, I've managed to destroy precious relationships and integrity that my father worked so hard to instill in me. I made a big mess. Since my treatment with methadone, my whole world feels like it's been put back on solid ground. All the things I want to do including taking a simple shower, are things that I can do happily and joyfully! I happen to like washing dishes now or taking my son to the park, or going to the store to buy toilet paper. I couldn't do those things before because ... I had no desire, I was hopeless and tired of the same chase day after day, just to feel normal for a few hours. It was insanity and I hated it! Being in treatment with the methadone program has given me my life back. Not only am I not using but I am no longer dealing with drug seeking behavior. I can actually pass by the hospitals everyday and not think twice. |
| 2,937 | 1:44 pm PDT, Oct 3 | Ms. | Kerri De Sandro | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | I am grateful for why and who I am today. That would not be possible without the help of Methadone. I have been clean for five years now. I am on a very low dose.Since then I became a Medicall asistant and a EMT. |
| 2,936 | 10:46 am PDT, Oct 3 | Mrs. | Abby Coulter | Morgantown | West Virginia | It's pretty clear cut. Methadone saved my life and my husbands life and the life of my son to be honest. My husband and I both started the methadone clinic shortly after we found out that I was pregnant with our first baby, our son Gavin who is now 6 years old. I was a pretty hard core addict. My drug of choice was oxycontin. I was an addict for 4 years until the day that I walked into the Methadone clinic. That day my life changed. Because of the methadone clinic, my son was born happy and healthy and without any withdrawl symptoms what so ever. Because of the Methadone Clinic, I have been able to be a productive member of my community and live my life the way that I'm supposed to be able to. Before we walked into that Clinic that day, we were living with friends, going back and forth from place to place, finding whatever means to get money to support our habit that we could and basically living on rock bottom. The day that we walked into the Methadone Clinic, our life literally changed. For the last seven years, we have maintained our sobriety and been able to live a normal life. It's easy to judge and criticize things that are different or things that you don't know about. It's easy for all of us to do that. I just ask those people who are lobbying for these new laws against MMT to sit back and think for minute, what if it was your daughter or wife or son or husband who desperately needed the help. What then?? Let's not be scared of the unknown, let's educate and learn. Addiction is a disease and MMT is one of many wonderful ways to treat this horrible disease. |
| 2,935 | 4:44 pm PDT, Oct 2 | Anonymous | allentown | Pennsylvania | for 20 years it has saved my life,let me tell you if it would not for methadone i b dead,know if is achoice keep killing yourself or save your life which way you go or better yet what would you do for a loved one.Another is i hear a lot patients that are for pain med it has made all the diference after they tried other meds,let`s remember is a medication not a drug | |
| 2,934 | 1:01 pm PDT, Oct 2 | Ms. | marybeth henderson-athey | chester | Pennsylvania | I am 26 years old with a 3 year old son. It is because of methadone that I have my son, my life and my sanity for tha matter. I was a sick and suffering addict, chasing the "death bag", Today I am okay. I am happy. I am alive. I am finally at a good clinic. My first clinic, Community Hopspital in Chester...treated clients like scumbags...we had to beg for our dose...I know things can be better than that today. Getting dosed shouldn't feel like copping. |
| 2,933 | 12:38 pm PDT, Sep 30 | Anonymous | maitland | Florida | im on MTD. it keeps me from using illicit drugs and has saved my life. | |
| 2,932 | 9:32 pm PDT, Sep 29 | Ms. | Carin Culligan | cornwall | New York | I was refused treatment 2 years (people like you don't stick with it). now i am in treatment 2 years NO dirty urines EVER. was denied my next take home bottle... since i am disabled & do online schooling (was told since i don't even have to bothe going anywhere for school & since schooling will only ordain me as a priestess of my chosen religion it just doesn't count as a sober activity anymore, even though school takes over 100 hours a week with homework and all...)?????? but somehow, methadone has helped my mental health state, changed me from violent to productive & improved my & my kids' quality of life beyond belief!! |
| 2,931 | 1:39 pm PDT, Sep 29 | Mr. | Marcus Hatcher | Murfreesboro | Tennessee | Just Done Failed To Many Drug Test |
| 2,930 | 8:41 pm PDT, Sep 28 | Mr. | Tom McGirr | Seattle | Washington | I have been prescribed methadone for pain for over three years. Methadone has given me a life that arthitis pain had taken away. please do not take this life saving medication away from me and my family |
| 2,929 | 11:35 am PDT, Sep 28 | yolanda slothower | northfield | Vermont | if it wasnt for methadone several of my friends would be dead already | |
| 2,928 | 2:19 pm PDT, Sep 24 | Mrs. | Lezlie Boman | Fort Worth | Texas | My husband takes methadone because of chronic pain, not really because of drug abuse. He is 55 years old, he was a bull rider and rodeo clown, Ironworker for 35 years and has broken most every bone in his body but especially his right anke which he has broken 4 times! All other pain meds had terrible side effects for him and still could not ease the pain. He has taken Methadone for 3 years now and he is doing wonderful |
| 2,927 | 10:36 am PDT, Sep 24 | Randy Hodges, M.S. | Las Vegas | Nevada | I am a program Director for Vegas Valley Treatment Center, there are to many hands in the regulations, to allow clinics to properly take care of these individua. Federal, State, Carf, then CSAT, and etc. all have different rules and requirement to document. They need just to have one set of rules. Cut the paperwork and more therapeutic support to the addict. | |
| 2,926 | 7:49 am PDT, Sep 24 | Robin May | Stratford | Connecticut | Ive been on methadone for 3 years, and it saved my life. I was up to sometimes 2 grams of heroin a day, I came close to dying from endocarditus (staph infection of the heart from needle use), and tried various inpatient and outpatient programs before methadone (including suboxone), it took me still a year on methadone to quit using heroin, but I did, and my life has never been better. Im even in school studying to become a drug and alcohol counselor. I don't know where I'd be without methadone, well yes I do, dead. Its unfortunate people overdose and die on methadone, but most of the time its because they didn't take it as prescribed, we must remember all of us who aren't dead because of methadone treatment, rather then those who abused it and unfortunately killed them. | |
| 2,925 | 6:09 pm PDT, Sep 20 | Benton Eubanks | Bainbridge | Georgia | ||
| 2,924 | 4:45 pm PDT, Sep 20 | Ms. | mary goldman | st. louis | Missouri | My husband and I were shooting dope for years, we had small children. Everthing we earned, went to buy dope. We discovered methadone and it saved our lives. Although we are divorced we are still close and on the methadone program. Our children are doing great and our lives have changed for the better. |
| 2,923 | 2:55 am PDT, Sep 20 | Ms. | Anonymous | Raymond | Nebraska | |
| 2,922 | 10:22 am PDT, Sep 19 | Mr. | bernie smaling | las vegas | Nevada | I HAVE BEEN ADDICTED TO OPIATES FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS AND METHADONE HAS BEEN A REALLY GREAT PROCESS IN MY LIFE. I'VE STOPPED USING DRUGS, AND I HAVE NEVER FEALT BETTER. I STILL HAVE A COUPLE MENTAL PROBLEMS BUT I'M WORKING ON THOSE AS WE SPEAK. THANK U FOR THIS MIRACLE DRUG. |
| 2,920 | 6:05 pm PDT, Sep 18 | Ms. | Rebecca Heffner | Augusta | Georgia | Honestly it was life changing and has taught me alot. I believe the Lord used this as a tool to ultimately draw me back to Him. And I know that through this drug (tool) I have been delivered of the lifestyle, slavery and paralyzing preoccupation that I lived in before I began methadone treatment. |
| 2,919 | 3:15 pm PDT, Sep 17 | Stacey Acevedo | Los Angeles | California | Because of MMT I am able to live a full life again. I am a mother of two young children under 7 and a caretaker to my husband who is battling cancer. I would not be here able to care for myself and my family without methadone. This drug has truly saved my life. Methadone for my opiate addiction is the same as insulin for diabetes. If I do not take it I would eventually die as a result of my opiate abuse. | |
| 2,918 | 5:41 pm PDT, Sep 16 | Mr. | Anonymous | ossining | New York | I was born 1953, that makes me 55 yrs old. The way I got addicted to narcodics was in 1983 I went into the hospital with ulcerative colitis- ulcers in the colon. I ended up staying ing in the hospital for over 3 months. While in there I got demeral every4hrs. I went from 160lbs down to 92 lbs. I had to get an illiostomy, a bag on my side to live with the rest of my life. I still have it. After surgy I got morphine for 3 weeks. They stopped the morphine and gave me tylox because I was now able to eat and the doctor thoutht I needed to decrease the strength of meds I was taking. This was the first time I felt what withdrawal was like. the pills didnt touch the morphine habit I had devaloped. I was dope sick for 3 days and then the pill took the edge away. I got out the hospital and for 4 months I was being cut in dosage. This is how my life of dope than methadone. the methadone helped with the dope, but I became a typical metadonian. Ihad a thing for the needle and the quick rush. I got int shooting coke. Before I went into the hospital I had 10 yrs building my own business. When I got I still had my business. Within 2.5 yrs of dope coke and methadone I lost everything MY business, my girlfriend and owed many people money. I finaly stopped the street thing and just worked with my couselor and the program. Life slowly got better, but a new thing started- xanax. I had 3 doctor writting for me. this is some where around 1988,1989. Ya know I lost my business but I somehow held a job. I went from making $6,000.-$8,000 a month to $9.06 an hr I'm gettihg tiered but I have another 20 years to go. I'm still on methadone, I have a job, I got married, I bought a house with my wife, and I've been deeply involved in AA for the past 2 years. Life is good. I'll be back I want to share the struggles and triumph i had from 1990-2009 yours truely, willing |
| 2,917 | 3:35 pm PDT, Sep 16 | Anonymous | Chicago | Illinois | I have been shooting heroin since I was 14 years old 1974. I loved heroin it did all the things to me that I needed it to do. But it made my life unmanageable because I had to buy it and it was expensive. Once you have a dealers habit you can never go back. In 1993 I went to a 6 month rehab. Detox was 10 days. It was an AA/NA program abstinance only!!!! I relapesed within 6 months. So I got on Methadone. I stayed on it for 10 years my life was finally manageable. Got a job raised my kids paid all my bills I did this all by myself no one helped me but the methadone helped me to keep level. In 2003 I moved to Michigan and I got married. My husband said you have to get off the methadone it is killing you. So we got addicted to heroin I lost everything I had and caught 2 different felony cases the first one I did 90 days in jail the second I got 2 years in Federal prison. I got out in 2008 and relapsed almost immediately. I talked to my probation officer and he got me on a methadone maintenance program. I am now on methadone again and being responsible. I go to chefs school. I am maintaining good grades I am now again level in my thinking and I am divorcing the asshole I married. I am so happy that I got a chance to get back on the program. I am a lifer. I take it like medicine. It helps me and I feel very content with my life again. Methadone is a lifesaver at least it is for me! | |
| 2,916 | 7:17 pm PDT, Sep 14 | Terry Cox | Lone Oak | Texas | ||
| 2,915 | 4:48 pm PDT, Sep 14 | Jill Sanders | Heath Springs | South Carolina | It has helped me very much to have a normal daily life without the pill search every single day. | |
| 2,914 | 3:05 am PDT, Sep 10 | Ms. | Anonymous | Tyler | Texas | i have been on Vic's,Lorcets,....hydrocodone in short for 14 years straight except when I got locked up.Because of my addiction I was sent to prison-rehab TWICE back 2 back.Then went back to useing hydro's until I was sent to prison.I KNEW there would never be ANY hope for me,as I felt my brain was not the same as others in alot of ways.So I decided to try methadone.After my first 3 months in the program I FINALLY had a good job,then a car,then my own home...but the most amazing thing was I had my kids back in my life.I have NEVER felt "high" on methadone,I feel like it just filled in the thing that was missing in my brain,causing me to crave drugs of ALL kinds.I call it my "anti-buse".My lifesaver |
| 2,912 | 6:59 am PDT, Sep 9 | Mrs. | Anonymous | lexington | Kentucky | The methadone program has SAVED MY LIFE!!! Without the supervised daily treatment and weekly counceling, I would probably be dead or in jail.Please do not place un necessary restrictions on methadone maintenance programs. The illegal use and sale should be punished but there are thousands of people who need this medication to function and thrive in society, including doctors, congressmen, laborers ,teachers and a variety of others. Please educate before making a mistake that could ruin thousands of lives! |
| 2,911 | 11:17 pm PDT, Sep 8 | Eric Henderson | Mebane | North Carolina | Methadone is a life saver for addicts and should be treated as such. | |
| 2,910 | 9:47 pm PDT, Sep 7 | Mr. | Anonymous | lafayette | Indiana | tremendouse help |
| 2,909 | 7:03 pm PDT, Sep 6 | marsha pearlstein | york | Pennsylvania | I've been going to a methadone clinic for 9 months for methadone maintenance. I can't stress enough, that it has absolutely saved my life and my families life. I meet with my counselor regularly and attend monthly groups, it is a god send!!! | |
| 2,908 | 10:36 am PDT, Sep 6 | chris siemion | Fruitport | Michigan | MMT WORKS!! | |
| 2,907 | 6:21 pm PDT, Sep 5 | libby bennion | raleigh | North Carolina | I have just started methadone treatment. It has been my 3rd day and I already notice I can give of myself to my family now instead of wasting time n money trying to find pills. I do however have great anxiety about it not being there or what would happen if I couldnt make it out there. I hope this anxiety subsides because have already seen a positive change in my moral characheter. Also..I have been taking xanax for years and I have anxiety about telling my PCP Im on the program because I feel he wont write them for me. The program is working with me for now soo basically I can take my benzos but I cant have take home if so. | |
| 2,906 | 9:52 pm PDT, Sep 4 | Bernd Hafer | Lawrenceeville | Georgia | Horrifying enslavement, sadistic 'treatment'; you'd not believe. | |
| 2,905 | 10:49 am PDT, Sep 4 | jeffrey gertz | germantown | Maryland | sucessfuly beat opiate/herion addiction w/ methadone and suboxone. | |
| 2,904 | 6:42 am PDT, Sep 4 | Mr. | Theodore Tridimas | Cary | Illinois | Methadone saved me and my wife's lives. We have been clean from illicit drug use for 8.5 years now!!! |
| 2,903 | 11:32 am PDT, Sep 3 | Anonymous | lebanon | Ohio | I have been on methadone for the last few months and have noticed a tremendous difference in myself.(For the better) It would be very detrimental,not only to addicts,but society as a whole if methadone was further restricted. | |
| 2,902 | 9:42 am PDT, Sep 3 | Anonymous | Whitehall | Pennsylvania | I am a counselor in a methadone clinic, and I have seen many people abuse the medication; however, I have also seen it change people's lives so that they can function normally and prosper in life. Any medication has the potential for abuse, but with proper monitoring and appropriate dosing, methadone can save lives. | |
| 2,901 | 8:56 am PDT, Sep 3 | Anonymous | Stoughton | Wisconsin | I have been MMT for 4 years, through 3 preganacies. It has saved my life!! I suffered from chronic migraines and after years of narcotic use became severly addicted. The narcotics I was using escalated, and totally took over my life. When my new MD recommended MMT I was offended, but he refused to prescribe for me so I had no choice! It was the BEST thing that ever happend to me. I have been free of all drugs since my first dose of methadone. Used correctly it is often what gives us a chance at a normal life again. |
Methadone Patients Against Hysteria and Further Restrictions
We are Methadone Patients, Providers, Families and Friends AGAINST the Hysteria which is calling for Further Restrictions on the Prescribing of Methadone.
There has been much written of late about the rise in deaths due to the abuse of Methadone. We lament these deaths, but feel that there has arisen an hysteria that proposes to restrict futher the prescription of this life-saving medication to the detriment of the 250,000 patients who receive this drug daily in addiction treatment programs across the United States. An overdose due to a person's recreational use of illicitly obtained methadone is NOT the fault of the drug, but of the person abusing the drug. Accidental overdoses by persons legitimately prescribed the drug for pain management purposes is again, not the fault of the drug, but of medical personnel who may not be educating patients enough to the dangers of such a long-acting analgesic. Deaths due to the recreational abuse of the drug lies with the abuser, not the substance.
Methadone when used correctly is an effective and inexpensive pain medication. In addiction treatment programs, methadone acts as endorphin replacement for the damaged brain chemistries brought about by long term exposure to opiates. It has been utilized safely and scrutinized closely for five decades, and has been declared the "gold standard" for opiate addiction treatment by our government's National Institutes of Health. It is also the most closely regulated drug in existance when used for this purpose. Investigations over the last three years by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration has shown that illicit methadone on the streets of America originates in pain management programs and NOT addiction treatment facilities.
Methadone SAVES lives! There are a quarter of a million patients receiving it daily in addiction treatment facilities across America who will attest to that fact. It is safe when used properly, and effective in the endorphin replacement therapy needed by these patients. We the undersigned wish to implore the Federal Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment(CSAT) to not fall victim to the hysteria presently surrounding this drug, and to make any changes where they belong -- in the pain management centers of America and NOT its addiction treatment programs.
An overdose death is always lamentable, but let's not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and keep any changes to the offending areas of distribution. That is NOT the opiate addiction treatment programs of America.
There has been much written of late about the rise in deaths due to the abuse of Methadone. We lament these deaths, but feel that there has arisen an hysteria that proposes to restrict futher the prescription of this life-saving medication to the detriment of the 250,000 patients who receive this drug daily in addiction treatment programs across the United States. An overdose due to a person's recreational use of illicitly obtained methadone is NOT the fault of the drug, but of the person abusing the drug. Accidental overdoses by persons legitimately prescribed the drug for pain management purposes is again, not the fault of the drug, but of medical personnel who may not be educating patients enough to the dangers of such a long-acting analgesic. Deaths due to the recreational abuse of the drug lies with the abuser, not the substance.
Methadone when used correctly is an effective and inexpensive pain medication. In addiction treatment programs, methadone acts as endorphin replacement for the damaged brain chemistries brought about by long term exposure to opiates. It has been utilized safely and scrutinized closely for five decades, and has been declared the "gold standard" for opiate addiction treatment by our government's National Institutes of Health. It is also the most closely regulated drug in existance when used for this purpose. Investigations over the last three years by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration has shown that illicit methadone on the streets of America originates in pain management programs and NOT addiction treatment facilities.
Methadone SAVES lives! There are a quarter of a million patients receiving it daily in addiction treatment facilities across America who will attest to that fact. It is safe when used properly, and effective in the endorphin replacement therapy needed by these patients. We the undersigned wish to implore the Federal Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment(CSAT) to not fall victim to the hysteria presently surrounding this drug, and to make any changes where they belong -- in the pain management centers of America and NOT its addiction treatment programs.
An overdose death is always lamentable, but let's not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and keep any changes to the offending areas of distribution. That is NOT the opiate addiction treatment programs of America.
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