Cheat code for getting benzos from your psychiatrist.

[jaders]

I don't know how this turned out for the original poster (TLDR) but I do know one thing based on years of working with harm reduction drug programs, specifically methadone clinics:
The "nurse" at this poster's clinic should have been disciplined and fired immediately for communicating this misguided advice to any addict being treated there. The combination of benzos with a strong, long-lasting opioid such as methadone is not medically allowed in a clinic protocol for fairly obvious interactive reasons. Every methadone facility I have been involved with over the last 20 years has routinely performed prescription drug screening and evidence of benzo use, for example, has typically resulted in either serious warnings from administrators or abrupt discontinuation of treatment. Something you REALLY don't ever want to experience.
I believe the "nurse" described by the original poster should find some other area to practice.

Interesting and I see the issue you refer to, yet there are several folks on PR who are on MMT and also take benzos.

Just pointing that out as it’s obvious that it can be done safely.

 

[Deanzer]

@jaders That’s the problem with being on a MMT if you do take a few tablets they stay in your sample sooo long that you’ve to plead with them that your telling the truth and you’ve maybe taken once or twice in a month!.
It’s so hard to get them to believe it is just the once or twice after all if you take diazepam daily unless you REALLY need it it’s a waste of time as tolerance builds SO QUICKLY.
Deanzer….

 

[alumni]

@jaders
Understood. However, if someone is undergoing treatment in a methadone clinic. they have basically made a deal with the administrators: regularly scheduled dosing subject to abiding by the rules.
This is often a very contentious balancing act evidenced by the many posts here including the one preceding.
My response to the original poster was not a criticism related to the clinic's clients. I've worked with both sides.
My point was that it is hard enough to administer a methadone program without having a medical staff member advising clients how to manipulate doctors into prescribing some benzos.
That's not acceptable...full stop.

 

[jaders]

@jaders
Understood. However, if someone is undergoing treatment in a methadone clinic. they have basically made a deal with the administrators: regularly scheduled dosing subject to abiding by the rules.
This is often a very contentious balancing actdouble evidenced by the many posts here including the one preceding.
My response to the original poster was not a criticism related to the clinic's clients. I've worked with both sides.
My point was that it is hard enough to administer a methadone program without having a medical staff member advising clients how to manipulate doctors into prescribing some benzos.
That's not acceptable...full stop.

The thing that I dislike so much about the attitude around folks on methadone is that it has such a punitive feel. If a diabetic doesn't follow the "dietary guidelines" or rules related to their insulin treatments, no one cuts them off of their medicine. Why is it acceptable to treat folks who are in treatment for a substance disorder differently? And if the whole point IS harm reduction, it makes sense to me that someone at the clinic might actually want to help/advise someone how to obtain the meds they feel they need so that they can continue to stay in treatment. The nurse who was telling folks how to approach the prescribers, didn't advise that they lie to anyone.

I get tired of the double standard that exists for different parts of medicine and their treatments. As long as we continue to have this double standard, a lot of folks aren't going to be seeking help for the same reason folks self medicate. Groveling to "professionals" as tho we're children just isn't inviting at all..

 

[HostToast]

on the subject of MMT and benzos my clinic just asks me to bring in my script every 3 months so its in their system and its been that way for the past few years since they were bought out by a national chain of treatment centers so I'd imagine that's fairly standard practice.

 

[jaders]

on the subject of MMT and benzos my clinic just asks me to bring in my script every 3 months so its in their system and its been that way for the past few years since they were bought out by a national chain of treatment centers so I'd imagine that's fairly standard practice.

You must have a very enlightened MMT clinic AND benzo prescriber - that's for sure. This idea that they cannot be taken together is sort of ludicrous, imho. Usually folks who are dealing with substance issues have plenty of anxiety to deal with as well. Glad you found a true harm reduction place!

 

[seashells]

I have been on MMT for almost 20yrs, and it 5 different clinics. Now I have been in clinics that allows you to have prescription for benzos and stay at 120mg of done. Some will bring you down to 90mgs.
The clinic Im in now, which this is my third time back at it, is awesome.
You can smoke pot and still get a weeks take home. Now as if 3 months ago, you can fail for xans or any benzos and get 4 take homes up a week, which they are closed Sunday so you really get 5.
They make sure you pass your bottle counts, etc. This surprised me!
Methadone saved my life, I hate it but love it. It's a double standard on this med. Damn if you do and Damn if you don't.
At the end of the day, I'm going to do what works for me.
I have been through hell and back, I may fall again. I will pick myself up, dust myself off and walk my walk.
PS, there are no cheat codes to benzos, you gotta find a writer, period.

 

[jaders]

I have been on MMT for almost 20yrs, and it 5 different clinics. Now I have been in clinics that allows you to have prescription for benzos and stay at 120mg of done. Some will bring you down to 90mgs.
The clinic Im in now, which this is my third time back at it, is awesome.
You can smoke pot and still get a weeks take home. Now as if 3 months ago, you can fail for xans or any benzos and get 4 take homes up a week, which they are closed Sunday so you really get 5.
They make sure you pass your bottle counts, etc. This surprised me!
Methadone saved my life, I hate it but love it. It's a double standard on this med. Damn if you do and Damn if you don't.
At the end of the day, I'm going to do what works for me.
I have been through hell and back, I may fall again. I will pick myself up, dust myself off and walk my walk.
PS, there are no cheat codes to benzos, you gotta find a writer, period.

My housemate used to be a nurse at a MMT clinic almost 30 years ago and she said the requirements to be on methadone were so stringent that very few "normal" folks could manage to stay within the rules.

I'm very happy to hear that there seems to be a more flexible attitude towards this therapy. If they want to encourage folks to come in, they need to not come across as nazis. Can you imagine a person on insulin having to undergo testing for what they ate? We would think that was ludicrous...

 

[Deanzer]

@seashells Yeah I agree 100% with you there your VERY lucky to get on what I call (The green handcuffs) MMT program and get a script for Benz.
At least in the uk anyway although I have heard people that get methadone from a clinic and there doctor prescribes Benz but that’s happening less and less theses days!.
Just trying to get a doctors appointment is hard enough without asking for sleepers or Benz
Deanzer…

 

[HostToast]

You must have a very enlightened MMT clinic AND benzo prescriber - that's for sure. This idea that they cannot be taken together is sort of ludicrous, imho. Usually folks who are dealing with substance issues have plenty of anxiety to deal with as well. Glad you found a true harm reduction place!

It's had ups and downs in the several years I've been there, and to be fair when I first started I didn't always follow the rules. I came to the clinic with a benzo script because by chance the person who first gave it to me either didn't read my history, didn't care, or perhaps he saw I needed the help and was willing to take the legal risk. I started at 80mg and they moved me up to 130mg with permission from my previous benzo provider after failed screens and me telling them it wasn't enough. I've worked my way down to 30mg but ever since I dropped below 60-70 I'm noticing the pain that started it all more and more and even though MMT helped me out a lot I'd really like off of it at this point since even if I don't take any other meds it makes me super tired.

@seashells
weed isn't legal in my state and I'm grandfathered into getting a up to a full month at a time but often its 2 weeks at a time per pickup because of their scheduling and the way they drugtest, I talked to my counselor about what would happen if I tested positive for mj and she said I'd lose my status as grandfathered in and would only be eligible for 1 week at a time, then she paused and said "now don't go out there and be smokin any of that loud dispensary shit"
I'm lucky to have a counselor there who cares and listens, my previous one didn't care at all and I failed weekly screens for like 18 months straight before anyone even mentioned anything

 

[HostToast]

@jaders also the new owners despite being a chain that increased the price they do much better working with insurance, the biggest thing I noticed was when it was independently owned they had way more people coming and going and realized it was because the old owners didn't care if you weren't passing your drug tests, they started to care when you got more than 2 days behind on your payments and started kicking people out then which is so disgusting to me. I knew someone who was granted free care according to state law because they couldn't remove care from a pregnant woman and they'd make her do random pregnancy tests and it infuriated me
I think the owners of the clinic have a lot of say in how much respect the patients get at least in my state

 

[seashells]

@HostToast Weeds illegal in my state too, that's the reason I guess you can only have a week. Im monthly, or 27 bottles, funny I never knew a month was 27 days. They just started the benzo project which it is dangerous but people are going to do it anyway.
What makes me mad is there's 6 other clinics that I know of in my state that will not allow what my clinic does. They scream it's state policy and they are lieing. I know there are more than 6, but thats the only ones I've ever heard of because of the area Im in. I drive almost 2hrs to the clinic because this one does not observe. I only take xans, it's hard to get a script. So, I carry in and you know what Im doing. No shame . If I lived a few mins away even 20, things might be different.
I have 2 clinics within 20 mins of my house, but Im not jumping threw hoops plus the watch you on a camera pee if its observed! Women nurses watch the men!
I think that's crazy.
If your on 30mg your doing great, I have been on it to long. I stopped cold turkey twice off 160 and thought I would die.
If you have pain, try 40mgs. 10mgs could make a difference. Good luck hon.
@jaders hello my friend .

 

[HostToast]

@seashells I'm glad you found a place though it sucks you have to drive so long, at least it's not daily. My clinic is basically a 3 way tie for closest to my house via google maps and I almost transfered to one until my old councilor left and when my new one looked at my chart they suddenly started giving me takehomes instead of me driving there at 4:45 am so I could make it back to work on time

also in the years I've been at this clinic I've heard a lot of "state laws" that were never consistent until I started working with my current councilor, I had some good care with one person I briefly saw before my current counselor and I'm still upset that they fired him just before the clinic got sold to it's current owners. As far as I can tell they fired the person who was briefly in charge of my treatment plan for less than 2 months because he cared too much and invited me and one other patient to play music with him at an open mic at a cafe that didn't serve alcohol and had the 12steps on the wall next to their menu... apparently encouraging people to enjoy hobbies they lost to abuse was beyond their treatment plan because they booted him out.
It made me so mad and it still upsets me because between my social anxiety and history I never planed to play music again because I didn't know how to approach it while sober and he introduced me to a community of people who have similar experiences and it inspired me to start work on an album that I'm still working on to this day.
The fact that him recommending a sober place to play music was out of bounds is so frustrating to me, before that I had gone at least 2 years without playing any music let alone writing and playing in front of a small crowd.

MMT clinics can be great but sometimes it's a crapshoot

 

[phatboy]

the ER will usually prescribe benzos to people in withdrawal as long as you don't like an all out drug zombie.. it's a liability issue too since benzo detox is dangerous and they will try to point you to some doctors and psychiatrists that will probably prescribe a reasonable dose

 

[lana887]

Here in the UK I find it odd because if someone comes into hospital for a drug detox they get a gmaws scale done every 4 hours and if showed withdrawal symptoms gets either lorazepam or diazepam but then are shoved out the door after a week

 

[Babygoats]

I work in the medical field and I don't find this to be true. Maybe it's where you are in country. Where I live. Honesty is not helpful.

It's weird, however, cause some folks get crazy stuff and don't need it. While others who suffer don't. Hats off to those who have the cheat code.

 

[lana887]

I work in the medical field and I don't find this to be true. Maybe it's where you are in country. Where I live. Honesty is not helpful.

It's weird, however, cause some folks get crazy stuff and don't need it. While others who suffer don't. Hats off to those who have the cheat code.

I’m in Scotland.

 

[BMC24]

I'm looking for some advice regarding managing night-time anxiety that's been triggered by my tinnitus. I’ve found that my anxiety tends to ramp up as I'm trying to sleep, and it's affecting my rest.

I’ve heard that both Alprazolam and Diazepam could help with anxiety, but I'm not sure which would be better specifically for night-time anxiety. Has anyone had experience using either of these medications for this purpose?

 

[jaders]

I'm looking for some advice regarding managing night-time anxiety that's been triggered by my tinnitus. I’ve found that my anxiety tends to ramp up as I'm trying to sleep, and it's affecting my rest.

I’ve heard that both Alprazolam and Diazepam could help with anxiety, but I'm not sure which would be better specifically for night-time anxiety. Has anyone had experience using either of these medications for this purpose?

I only know that diazepam is quite a bit longer lasting than alprazolam, so that might help you decide - depending on if you just want help getting to sleep or need it to last awhile thru the night.

I've had tinnitus pretty much since my late 20's (so alot of years) and it was definitely a part of a three year panic attack stint when it first got bad. I did and still do find that the less I can pay attention to it, the less it causes anxiety. One effective way for me is to listen to audiobooks as i drift off to sleep. The book keeps my mind occupied and of course drowns out the ringing. I can set a timer on the audiobook too so it stops playing after a certain number of minutes so that my sleep is not disturbed once I'm out.

I've also come across a new possible treatment that's being offered in my city. Here's the article that got me interested and I was waiting until summer was over to investigate (just too busy.) Maybe this will interest you?

Breakthrough Tinnitus Treatment Device Lenire Expands Clinics in Spain

The breakthrough tinnitus treatment device, Lenire, is now available in four clinics in Spain – Barcelona, Malaga, Seville, and Granada. In Lenire’s second clinical trial, TENT-A2, 91% of patients reported long-term relief from tinnitus that sustained for at least 12 months. Lenire has been...

www.audiologyonline.com

 

[seashells]

@BMC24 Benadryl is your best friend, I would think anyone on benzos or pain meds would have Benadryl on hand day and night. No, I won't keep you from being sick but it sure helps.