[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How Many Do You Personally Know (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 3/6/2013 7:01:48 AM EDT
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That have died abusing Oxy or other similar drugs?
Do you consider it suicide? |
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I know of several older people that have medicated themselves to death on pain meds. Not intentional, they just lose track of what they have taken. Fentanyl patches for example. Put one on, forget to take the old one off.
I'm on a steady regimen these days, I have to use a dry erase board to track it and the wife double checks. . (Took one at 2pm, oh, right.) 
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My Grandmother swallowed a bottle of adavan (probably didn't spell that right) and chased it with Captain Morgan.
I found her next to her bed in a pool of blood. She hit her head on the way down and spilled the rum. Blood and spilled rum mixed looked like it was more blood than it was. Called 911. They sent an ambulance and pumped her stomach. She's fine now. |
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Quoted:
My Grandmother swallowed a bottle of adavan (probably didn't spell that right) and chased it with Captain Morgan. I found her next to her bed in a pool of blood. She hit her head on the way down and spilled the rum. Blood and spilled rum mixed looked like it was more blood than it was. Called 911. They sent an ambulance and pumped her stomach. She's fine now. Damn. Benzos and alcohol will usually put people to sleep quick. |
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That's a semantics debate.
I personally don't believe it to be a suicide. I don't think that as a general rule, people who become addicted to drugs do so as a really long and drawn out way to commit suicide. ETA: I personally know several people who became addicted to various drugs. All have destroyed their lives but none have wound up dead yet. I suspect that's just a matter of time though. Quoted:
That have died abusing Oxy or other similar drugs? Do you consider it suicide? |
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Quoted:
Selective elimination. 
Many of these people were suffering REAL pain and were prescribed meds over enough time that they got hooked on them. Opiates are POWERFUL drugs. I've been dealing with back pain for years. Had surgery two years ago. It's been a rough ride and I still suffer daily sciatic pain that gets REAL old. I've had a lot of percocet and hydrocodone over the years and thought that it meant little to me and I could take it or leave it without a second thought. But I stopped taking it a while back and found myself "missing it". Missing the feeling of not giving a crap about the daily, chronic pain that I'm in. But I didn't like the fact that I "yearned" for the "percobuzz". So I determined to NEVER take it again. I've been to see my regular doc twice since then and haven't asked for any opiates, nor have I been prescribed any. I recognize that i have weakness there and don't want to indulge that any more. I have a former coworker (who was a police sergeant) who threw away his job, his family, and everything else due to such an addiction. He just got arrested again recently in fact. Very sad. I am lucky. Lucky that I didn't get addicted. Lucky that I have the will power to avoid pills that I really do LIKE how they make me forget my pain... if even for a short time. Lucky that I recognize that drug highs aren't worth throwing everything away for. But I have a new prespective on prescription drug abuse. Not all of these people are silly teenagers who were just seeking new ways of getting high. Most were people who are in chronic pain and just got hooked. I don't condemn them. I pity them and hope they can find it in them to kick the habit and repair what has been broken in their lives because of their addiction. For me... my doc is currently trying anti-seizure type meds on me. We're trying Gabepentin/Neurontin right now. Not sure if it's working or not. We'll keep trying. I'm committed to not feeding the beast and going back to opiates though. I've only ever taken 1-3 percocet/hydros a day of up to 10mg each -- so thankfully there never was an 80mg oxy demon on my back to try to get rid of. Whenever the docs said "take two if you need 'em", I passed. Two never did anything for me that one wouldn't. I was LUCKY. But don't judge everyone addicted to pain meds so harshly. Many smug finger-pointers may be one bad, disabling accident away from the beginnings of such a monkey on their back. |
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One guy. Bad home situation growing up, could have turned things around mutliple times but decided that he was giong to stay the path. Got cleaned up for a while and then fell in with a woman who would eventually become his wife. He loved her and they both loved drugs more than anything else. Only good part to the story was the lack of involvement of children. |
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At this particular moment, I can't think of any I know of who have abused and/or died of oxy. I do, however, know of one guy who died as a result of an auto accident and it was later found out that he had some cocaine in him at the time of the accident. He was in a coma for several weeks after the accident and, for a while anyway, there was some (faint) hope that he would eventually survive and heal up. However, that didn't happen and it was regrettable because he came from a good family and he never struck me as a coke user. |
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Lost my best friend three years ago... I miss him terribly.
Great guy, bad crowd. I was living out of state working a contract. I beat the shit out of myself for a couple of years thinking "if only I had been there it would not have gone down this way". RIP Brother. |
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One person I know that died from Oxy. VP of Mortgages for B of A Just graduated with her 2nd BS degree Taught piano lessons on her weekends Friend talked her into trying it (smoke) Dead next morning, office co-workers called police when she didn't show up for work and she didn't call her staff. Police ruled accidental OD, no investigation. She was my little sister. |
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one friend died from a oxy OD 3 years ago, his mother found him, he had drowned in his own vomit
another died last year with a needle in his neck, heroin addiction started with the Oxy pills Ive had 3 other friend that have gone into rehab. Of those, two have relapsed and are in a bad way now, both have found heroin and I no longer stay in touch. The third cleaned his life up and is doing fantastic. That shit is bad bad news |
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Quoted:
One person I know that died from Oxy. VP of Mortgages for B of A Just graduated with her 2nd BS degree Taught piano lessons on her weekends Friend talked her into trying it (smoke) Dead next morning, office co-workers called police when she didn't show up for work and she didn't call her staff. Police ruled accidental OD, no investigation. She was my little sister. Holy crap!!! 
I'm SO sorry. Dayummm... 
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Selective elimination.
Many of these people were suffering REAL pain and were prescribed meds over enough time that they got hooked on them. Opiates are POWERFUL drugs. I've been dealing with back pain for years. Had surgery two years ago. It's been a rough ride and I still suffer daily sciatic pain that gets REAL old. I've had a lot of percocet and hydrocodone over the years and thought that it meant little to me and I could take it or leave it without a second thought. But I stopped taking it a while back and found myself "missing it". Missing the feeling of not giving a crap about the daily, chronic pain that I'm in. But I didn't like the fact that I "yearned" for the "percobuzz". So I determined to NEVER take it again. I've been to see my regular doc twice since then and haven't asked for any opiates, nor have I been prescribed any. I recognize that i have weakness there and don't want to indulge that any more. I have a former coworker (who was a police sergeant) who threw away his job, his family, and everything else due to such an addiction. He just got arrested again recently in fact. Very sad. I am lucky. Lucky that I didn't get addicted. Lucky that I have the will power to avoid pills that I really do LIKE how they make me forget my pain... if even for a short time. Lucky that I recognize that drug highs aren't worth throwing everything away for. But I have a new prespective on prescription drug abuse. Not all of these people are silly teenagers who were just seeking new ways of getting high. Most were people who are in chronic pain and just got hooked. I don't condemn them. I pity them and hope they can find it in them to kick the habit and repair what has been broken in their lives because of their addiction. For me... my doc is currently trying anti-seizure type meds on me. We're trying Gabepentin/Neurontin right now. Not sure if it's working or not. We'll keep trying. I'm committed to not feeding the beast and going back to opiates though. I've only ever taken 1-3 percocet/hydros a day of up to 10mg each –– so thankfully there never was an 80mg oxy demon on my back to try to get rid of. Whenever the docs said "take two if you need 'em", I passed. Two never did anything for me that one wouldn't. I was LUCKY. But don't judge everyone addicted to pain meds so harshly. Many smug finger-pointers may be one bad, disabling accident away from the beginnings of such a monkey on their back. You Sir have my respect and prayers. (I have never taken anything but I lost my best friend). |
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Quoted:
one friend died from a oxy OD 3 years ago, his mother found him, he had drowned in his own vomit another died last year with a needle in his neck, heroin addiction started with the Oxy pills Ive had 3 other friend that have gone into rehab. Of those, two have relapsed and are in a bad way now, both have found heroin and I no longer stay in touch. The third cleaned his life up and is doing fantastic. That shit is bad bad news Reminds me of another thing that I've learned about addicts over the years. They're NEVER fully-recovered (like an alcoholic). All it takes is ONE moment of weakness to fall right back into it. Talk about living life with a gun to your head!
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Quoted:
One person I know that died from Oxy. VP of Mortgages for B of A Just graduated with her 2nd BS degree Taught piano lessons on her weekends Friend talked her into trying it (smoke) Dead next morning, office co-workers called police when she didn't show up for work and she didn't call her staff. Police ruled accidental OD, no investigation. She was my little sister. Damn Brother... Prayers inbound. |
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You Sir have my respect and prayers. (I have never taken anything but I lost my best friend). Thanks bud. I appreciate that. I'm one of the lucky ones. Never went far enough down that hole to get truly hooked. But I've been far enough down there to see why/how people get that way. It's a scary thing once it dawns on you the kind of power those drugs have. I have way too much to live for and experience to throw it all away like that. But chronic pain wears you down. You justify after you suffer enough. For all of the tough, he-man talk around here about "sacking-up" and living with pain... actually DOING it isn't always so easy. I also have suffered from joint pain for years. I take glucosamin pills daily for that and so far it seems to help. But my mom died at age 52 of a heart attack because she'd been on prednisone for two years and her weight had ballooned. Despite KNOWING that... because of my constant pain... if I could get the docs to give me prednisone prescriptions on a regular basis, I'd DO IT. Because it's no narcotic, "get high" drug. It just takes away my pain (opiates don't take away your pain... they just make you not give a crap about it). |
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Quoted: Thanks heliboy and red label. It stung pretty fucking hard. You think about all the stupid shit you did and walked away unharmed and then someone you love makes a single bad decision and pays for it with their life. Needless to say I am not a fanboy of big Pharma and their legalized heroin for profit business model.Quoted: One person I know that died from Oxy. VP of Mortgages for B of A Just graduated with her 2nd BS degree Taught piano lessons on her weekends Friend talked her into trying it (smoke) Dead next morning, office co-workers called police when she didn't show up for work and she didn't call her staff. Police ruled accidental OD, no investigation. She was my little sister. Damn Brother... Prayers inbound. |
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Quoted:
2 of my good friends slowly killed themselves with pain killers, among other things. Another took his own life. In that case though, I think it was more to escape chronic back pain and a miserable life, than due to actual drug abuse. I remember such a dark time. It was Christmas time, several months before my back surgery. I was only 43 at the time, but the pain had beat me down to the point that I almost didn't care to go on anymore. Two epidurals and a nerve root block had done NOTHING to ease the pain. I found myself sitting in a chair while my wife and children ran around shopping, doing holiday stuff. I couldn't move. Couldn't go anywhere. Had to CRAWL out of bed and into the recliner. That was the extent of my ability to move around "freely". Luckily, the docs prescribed a heavy dose of prednisone for a short time to get me through that until I could have surgery. Had I continued to live that existence indefinitely... I'm not sure how long I could have taken it. Chronic pain has a way of "tenderizing" you and those who have not lived through it cannot understand it. Doesn't mean that there haven't been very strong, great human beings who've powered through it. But it's easy to look it it from the other side and underestimate the will it saps from many of those who suffer from it. |
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2 of my good friends slowly killed themselves with pain killers, among other things. Another took his own life. In that case though, I think it was more to escape chronic back pain and a miserable life, than due to actual drug abuse. I remember such a dark time. It was Christmas time, several months before my back surgery. I was only 43 at the time, but the pain had beat me down to the point that I almost didn't care to go on anymore. Two epidurals and a nerve root block had done NOTHING to ease the pain. I found myself sitting in a chair while my wife and children ran around shopping, doing holiday stuff. I couldn't move. Couldn't go anywhere. Had to CRAWL out of bed and into the recliner. That was the extent of my ability to more around "freely". Luckily, the docs prescribed a heavy dose of prednisone for a short time to get me through that until I could have surgery. Had I continued to live that existence indefinitely... I'm not sure how long I could have taken it. Chronic pain has a way of "tenderizing" you and those who have not lived through it cannot understand it. Doesn't mean that there haven't been very strong, great human beings who've powered through it. But it's easy to look it it from the other side and underestimate the will it saps from many of those who suffer from it. This is absolutely true. |
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2 of my good friends slowly killed themselves with pain killers, among other things. Another took his own life. In that case though, I think it was more to escape chronic back pain and a miserable life, than due to actual drug abuse. I remember such a dark time. It was Christmas time, several months before my back surgery. I was only 43 at the time, but the pain had beat me down to the point that I almost didn't care to go on anymore. Two epidurals and a nerve root block had done NOTHING to ease the pain. I found myself sitting in a chair while my wife and children ran around shopping, doing holiday stuff. I couldn't move. Couldn't go anywhere. Had to CRAWL out of bed and into the recliner. That was the extent of my ability to more around "freely". Luckily, the docs prescribed a heavy dose of prednisone for a short time to get me through that until I could have surgery. Had I continued to live that existence indefinitely... I'm not sure how long I could have taken it. Chronic pain has a way of "tenderizing" you and those who have not lived through it cannot understand it. Doesn't mean that there haven't been very strong, great human beings who've powered through it. But it's easy to look it it from the other side and underestimate the will it saps from many of those who suffer from it. This is absolutely true. 
It's funny... because chronic ANYTHING can do that to a person. I have also had bouts with insomnia and that'll make you crazy after a while too. I've been on Ambien for several years now. But I cut them in half and try to avoid taking them on the weekends -- preferring to just stay up late enough that I'm tired enough to fall asleep. Can't do that during the week because I'm up at 5:30 for work every day. |
| In my office it is not all that uncommon for me to see people who abuse drugs. not so much the RX kind anymore. Now it is more SPICE and BATH SALTS. mostly kids 18-24 yrs old who popped on a pee test. the other one that is growing dramatically since they legalized it is weed most clam it was "unknowingly" consumed. I have a sign on my office wall. It says beware of the brownies. |
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I've been on the heavy duty stuff before. I'm lucky enough to have medical people in the family so they kept a close eye on me and didn't let me get hooked. That stuff has some seriously shitty withdrawal effects even when taken for the right reasons. It's got to be damn frustrating to be a doctor anymore. KNOWING that a large portion of your "drive-thru" patients are just trying to use you to get high. I prize my 20+ year relationship with my doctor and the trust that's been built. I literally feel "good" when I leave his office, because he listened to me, because we worked together to try to find solutions to my pain, and because I wasn't just another "seeker" to him. As I stated earlier in this thread, the last two times I've seen him I didn't even leave his office with any kind narcotics and yet, I felt good and positive that we were making progress (or trying to) without having to resort to more of them. |
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Quoted: I won the "most fucked up bone I've ever seen award" and my prize was dilaudid, 6 months of rehab, TSA body scanner fun, nerve damage, and a nice assortment of metal bits. Quoted: I've been on the heavy duty stuff before. I'm lucky enough to have medical people in the family so they kept a close eye on me and didn't let me get hooked. That stuff has some seriously shitty withdrawal effects even when taken for the right reasons. It's got to be damn frustrating to be a doctor anymore. KNOWING that a large portion of your "drive-thru" patients are just trying to use you to get high. I prize my 20+ year relationship with my doctor and the trust that's been built. I literally feel "good" when I leave his office, because he listened to me, because we worked together to try to find solutions to my pain, and because I wasn't just another "seeker" to him. As I stated earlier in this thread, the last two times I've seen him I didn't even leave his office with any kind narcotics and yet, I felt good and positive that we were making progress (or trying to) without having to resort to more of them. |