Real time recording of codeine in Australia

Hope all goes well for you today with the appointment.

Well today's appointment was pretty good. I will type up something more detailed later. I have however been prescribed something which I hope help. Just don't like how I have to get it from a pharmacy. Will explain later

Just came on to see how you went. Look forward to the update.

Hi everyone,

So I had my appointment with the specialist today. From what I've read he's one of the most senior doctors in South Australia dealing with addiction and pain medication.

He was so damm good. I left there thinking why aren't other doctors like him.

The appointment was for 60 mins and we discussed every medical issue I've ever had going back to my teens.

He spoke for about 15 minutes just on the topic of codeine, what it does to you, how people process it differently and how it is actually one of the hardest addictions to beat because even if your liver doesn't convert it efficiently into morphine our brains process it slightly different to other opioids and addiction can based on brain chemicals and physiologically more so than something like heroin which gives more physical rewards. I.e, codeine is just as addictive but without the amount of pleasure. Some people are addicted to it without the feeling I (or,) we get which makes us feel good.

He said it is one of the worst and dirty (chemically) to be addicted to. I'm not sure if I agree with this 100% but it was interesting to hear anyway.

He was not the slightest bit judgemental, or condescending in any way and by the way he spoke and showed interest I genuinely felt he wanted to help.

Almost straight away he took the lead to discuss options (normally it would be me asking about something like codeine phosphate and feeling like I'm drug seeking)

Codeine phosphate was ruled out straight away as he doesn't believe there is any long term benefit on it and someone like me who has been struggling with addiction for years probably wouldn't stick to a short term tapering plan. I agree with this assumption, I would probably end up taking way more than the daily dose.

Next we went onto Methadone and Suboxone. I know this will probably worry a lot of people but these are long term solutions (for me in particular) so I can stop destroying my stomach with Nurofen Plus.

I've seen 4 doctors in the last month and asked for Suboxone but they all declined saying I don't meet the criteria even though DASSA has told me on 5 occasions that I do.

Personally for me, starting on suboxone gives me the opportunity to move up to small dosed of methadone if the suboxone doesn't work. The doctor left this decision to me. He knew I am a senior IT specialist (and said he thought I was intelligent) and put a stack of information in front of me about suboxone and methadone and asked how I want to start getting my life back on track.

I took the suboxone option. I won't go into detail about it here ATM but will if someone asks me to.

The only downside to this I see at the moment is that not all pharmacies will dispense it and as we were a bit rushed at the end he wrote a script for a pharmacist he knows deals with it.

Wow, this is another story in itself. But when I went to the pharmacy today (I have to go in everyday and take my suboxone in front of the pharmacist) I got a rude shock.

Apparently now, according to the pharmacist. I have to line up alongside heroin, Cocain and meth addicts to take my daily suboxone. This means I have to walk around the back to the loading dock, ring a bell and wait in a small room with 20 or more other addicts (not judging them) have my photo taken and wait my turn to be dispensed my new medication.it will cost me 5 dollars per day to line up.

This is my only concern. I dont trust myself around other people who have access to far more drugs than I do.

Luckily today I found another chemist who will give me my daily dose descretely without bouncing around 200 other clients

More to come

Suboxone is a lot going term solution. I expect to be taking it for more than a year. While this is going on the doctor though is was extremely important for me to see a neurologist in regards to my headaches which are severe. Imagine a migraine then adding to the the feeling like you have bursted blood vessels in your lungs brain and eyes. These headaches put me out for at least two days and the only thing that has ever helped was 50mg of methadone which my neighbour used to give me when I was in agony.

I'll get a referral to a neurologist in the next few weeks when we have established a plan for my codeine addiction.

He'll also be setting me up with a mental health plan and Medicare funded visits to a physiologist as part of me healing from addiction.

Surprising he wants me to continue with my complaints against the 4 doctors who have e been unwilling to help me recently and offered his support with that. It is discrimination in his opinion and doctors shouldn't be able to get away with that.

Overall I'm extremely happy with the outcome. I've taken my first dose of suboxone and I feel good. Really good. If I take codeine now it would take do anything, the suboxone is more powerful and codeine will not remove it from the opioid receptors in the brain.

Briefly, suboxone is a partial opioid agonist, it works in a similar way to full opioid agonists without the same level of euphoria. I'm still feeling very content though. To the best of my knowledge the dose of suboxone I've taken is approximately the same as 100 mg of morphine which lasts about 48 hours

Tomorrow morning I will just have to toughen up and sit in the line waiting. After next Monday my script will go to the pharmacist of my choice but until then the loading dock secret entry (covered in graffiti) will be my daily chemist trip. I guess that's better than having to drive to multiple pharmacies for N+ though. It will certainly be better for my stomach which has been extremely uncomfortable for the last few days

Oh and also, if anyone is interested, I'll post my complaint letters here first (names removed for obvious reasons) so you all can see what I come up with

Wow, you've had a huge day. I don't know a lot about suboxone, but I do know that people are on it for many years in order to reclaim their lives after taking other drugs.

It sounds like a good way to go from here. I dislike the way they treat you with regards to taking it (the dodgy room out the back). They should stop treating people with addiction like second class citizens. It's horrible. I can understand the need for discretion, as people taking it may not want others to know their business (totally understandable). But there is a clear distinction between discretion and shaming.

Good news about the neurologist as well. Those headaches sounds awful and I hope they find an answer for you.

Like you said, this way will be much kinder to your stomach, as well as no longer having the stress of constant chemist shopping. Congrats on being brave and doing what you needed to do.

Thanks ellenbe,

It has been a big day. I've thought I know this particular pharmacist fairly well when he told me of the "dosing room" I was a bit taken aback. When I finally found my way there through a maze of tunnels I wasn’t feeling so good about it.

Then he pulled out a camera phone to take a picture of me and I freaked a bit thinking "I can't be doing this, my security clearance will be toast if they found out" I had to ask him who's phone it was as I don't want my picture on random peoples phones. He assured me it's a work phone but I'm still really uncomfortable about the whole process. There were documents laying around (I couldn't see any names or pictures) but it just didn't seem secure to me. That's why I went straight to another pharmacy and asked if they will do it.

I will try and have my prescription transferred tomorrow but of that doesn't work then I have 6 more days at this pharmacy before I can move to the other.

The specialist actually mentioned that this pharmacy is not a good place for me to go due to the number of other people they dose daily but we were out of time. He strongly advised me to find somewhere else

Yep, I'd be asking the same questions regarding confidentiality. I wouldn't want any of my details being left around for others to see.

If it's only another 6 days, then you can do that. Not nice, but definitely doable.

Oh ellenbe I feel for you, any yet here you are giving me positive words of encouragement.

It sucks so much, I've been taking 30 a day for the last 4 days even though my stomach has been so painful. Last night I almost had a panic attack because I thought I had done so much damage again I would have to call an ambulance.

I know you're struggling, do you think you you need additional help like I've had to resort to?

I would be more than happy to research good doctors in your area.

Thanks for your kind words and support Wilro. For now, I think I'll just continue to try to stay off codeine. Too early days yet for me to decide if it's a lost cause yet.

If I continue to really struggle, then I will have to consider other avenues.

One day at a time at the moment. I'm ok, just a tough day. Hopefully tomorrow is a little brighter.

I really hope you find a way that works for you. It's taken me so long to find a doctor that is willing to genuinely help me I really hope something positive happens for you soon to get you to a place you want to be

Hi Wilro, how did you go with the suboxone:

Sleep?

Thoughts about codeine/cravings?

Other symptoms/side effects?

Just curious, you don't have to disclose if you don't want to.

Hi ellenbe,

I'm actually feeling really good. I didn't get much sleep but then I don't tend to sleep well either way.

Overall I honestly haven't thought of codeine (as in wanting to get or take some) since an hour after I started the suboxone yesterday.

I went and got my second dose this morning and I'm feeling really content and motivated now.

I'll keep on updating as the days go by but I'm feeling really good and confident that this may actually work for me.

How are you today? Good/bad/worse?

At this stage I don't want to declare the path I'm on as being successful as there's a long way to go and lots of negative opinions out there regarding Suboxone however based on how I feel at the moment and the fact that my dose will probably double from next week it at least (to me) feels like there will be some solid improvements.

Eventually I'll need to taper of the Suboxone but if I can get a year of recovery to my stomach and break the physical addiction to chemist shopping everyday I think I'll end up in a much better position. It's also been fairly effective in managing my back pain (although it's not considered a great pain management drug) over the last 2 days. I haven't noticed the pain like I usually would.

I spoke to my sister yesterday and she reminded me that I told her over a year ago when I moved back to Adelaide that "I wanted a doctor to take me seriously and put me on Methadone to manage pain" it's take over a year now to find the right doctor a D although I'm not taking Methadone back then I didn't know about Suboxone so for me at the moment, having a doctor who listens and is 100% genuinely interested in helping me whether it's through Suboxone or Methadone is a total win.

I was going to say a God Send but I'm not religious so that would be weird for me to say.

The reality is that for 6 years I've struggled, self medicated and been told by doctors "I don't have a problem, it's all in my head" finally someone has listened and been proactive in his approach to dealing with it.

It's not just the codeine addiction stuff for me, it's the real severe headache pain, mental health issues i.e depression and anxiety and an overall lack of interest in life.

This doctor has re-ignited my desire and motivation to completely change myself for the better.

Last night, as I was lying in bed trying to sleep I became really emotional and had tears thinking about how far I had fallen (according to my own personal standards) and the shame I felt about having to line up in a dirty little room to get my medication. It just hit me, I mean far out, my kids couldn't even come with me for a ride to the chemist because daddy has to sneak in the bac way with all the other people the pharmacy doesn't want in their store.

It's a harsh reality check and hopefully enough to keep me working towards improving myself. I am extremely grateful that as of next week I can go through another pharmacy where like everyone else, they will hand me my daily dose over the counter

Hi Wilro, totally understand when you look around and wonder how on earth you got into this position. It's very confronting.

I guess you need to take comfort knowing that the Suboxone will probably save your life by preventing any more damage to your stomach, as well as giving yourself a fighting chance to adjust without the pills. Your kids may not be able to go with you to the chemist, but they also don't have to see you in hospital with a perforated stomach or kidney/liver damage.

You've taken control of this, and that's all that can be asked of you. Your post reminded me to get onto making a psych appointment. If I can't tell my husband, then I need to talk about it with someone. Do you think you will you see a psych? Hope you're well.