Anyone else

[kevin]

Anyone else go through two sub docs before they found one that was worth a damn? I swear, my first doc always prescribed the wrong amounts and would only see me for 15 minutes (for which he charged me $250) once a month and any time you tried to contact him he was a cunt about it. The second doc, well, he got arrested for "penetrating" a woman at his office two days before my initial appointment, so obviously I got screwed there.

Now, I've got a doctor about thirty minutes a day who fucking rocks. She actually takes time to talk to you, listens and is flexible about suggested dosages, and is accessible almost 24/7. Actually, she insists new patients call her every day to check in until they're stable. She also offers counseling(she's a psychiatrist) and seems to actually give a damn about her patients.

So, does anyone else notice the high volume of sleezy sub docs out there? They can charge whatever they want and don't have to take insurance and are cunts and we take it cause we need our medicine. It's lame, I'm just grateful I finally found a good sub doc.

[robotears]

I don't have too much experience with different doctors but I really like my sub doc. I think if you actually respect your doc and think he or she is " a cool person" it makes all the difference. I get nervous to go in and get my monthly drug tests from him, yet I'm always happy just to talk to him cause he's so awesome.:)

[mikells43]

i went thru exactly 2 docs until i found the one i liked. the first one wouldnt write more than 8mg a day and his first fee was high(i got it back cause of a call from my 2nd doc to him threating to turn him into the pa medical board). and my 2nd doc kicked me out for taking 32mg a day and not 24 and cause i was smarter than him(he was a pain magm. doc and it was tough to see people carrying in narcotics and seeing all kinds of narcotic things like oxy pens and fentora clocks, shit like that, he turned out to be a doosh) his nurse was nice. now my doc is 7 miles form me. shes great easy to talk to, i used ot go to her for drugs to be honest lol. but now things are diff. and its good. so yea we have similar stories about past experencces with doctors huh.

[kevin]

Yea, when I tried to go back on subs I thought the first doc I saw was the only game in town, he wouldn't even talk to me because he had discharged me for a dirty UA. If you don't even have the courtesy to turn down a patient in person you don't rank high on my list. That and he was just a cunt, as was his son who once shoved a gun in SWIM's face and robbed him of about 4g's. SWIM should have beat the fuck out of him and his son when he had the chance. Oh well, water under the bridge, now I've got a great doc and I don't have to deal with that assface.

[mikells43]

yea i dont even have to pee in a cup for this doc(im honest and i dont use eather ) but she dont make u take drug tests. my other 2 did. dooshes

[Tea Time]

Yeah I know exactly what you mean. When I got on bupe about two and a half years ago, I tried to find a good doc to start. That actually proved to be rather difficult. For starters, I did ALL of the research that I could so that I knew the ins and outs of the bupe program.

Then I made appointments for a consultation with three doctors in my area. The first two were the "money hungry douche bag types" that you mentioned dealing with. The first doc seemed almost perturbed that I was asking questions about the program and just was an all-around asshole. He also charged an arm and a leg. And then on top of that, I found out how judgmental he was towards addicts in general. I observed him interact with a patient on the phone and after slightly raising his voice, he said something to the effect of "Well that's your fault and you're going to have to deal with it." Even though this guy was supposed to be treating addicts, I could tell right away that he still thought that opiate addicts were the scum of the earth. I could definitely tell that it wouldn't be a good fit for me at all.

The second guy had probably just done the bare minimum in order to be certified for the bupe program. He was unable to answer a couple of my questions (which weren't that difficult either) and then I asked him how long I needed to abstain from opiates before starting treatment. He actually told me that we should start today. I then said that I had used opiates this morning less than 6 hours prior to this appointment and he said that it "wouldn't be a problem." I then said hold on a second and said that all of the research I had done said that I needed to be in wd's and have somewhere around 24 hours between bupe induction and last dose of a full opiate agonist. He then said that it wasn't too big of a deal. He told me that I would take my first dose of suboxone in his office and then he would send me to the Walgreens across the street with a prescription for suboxone. He said that "if" (he did say "if" too, not "when") I were to have precipitated wd's, then I could just keep taking suboxone until they went away. I had of course read about "pushing through" precipitated wd's and I know it is possible, but that is not how the bupe induction is supposed to go. And even if you are able to "push through" the precipitated wd's it is supposed to be a very unpleasant experience. When I objected, he told me that most of his patients had taken bupe shortly after their last dose of their drug of choice and almost none of them had any trouble at all. This is when I knew this guy was shady as fuck and would say anything in order for me to pay him and start treatment today. So I bailed the fuck out of there because I knew this guy couldn't give a shit whether his patients get clean or not. The only thing he cared about was getting paid.

So I met with my third doctor for the consultation. As you can imagine, I wasn't very optimistic at this point. But I was dead wrong. This third doc was awesome. He answered all of my questions and I could tell this guy knew what he was talking about. I also got a chance to talk to another patient of his while I was in the waiting room and she said that he was a great doc and he was very understanding. I ended up going with him and I am glad I did. He was available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He allowed me to schedule my appointments at any time. Seriously. He would ask me what would be most convenient to me and that is when the appointment would be scheduled. When I started, I was having some problems sleeping. Over easter, he actually called to check on me to see if the new sleeping medicine that he prescribed had helped. He also did counseling since he is a P-doc as well. I am serious...this guy did anything and everything that he could do to help me get clean. Just a couple months in, I was having some financial problems because I had to pay to have my mom and youngest brother moved and get into an apartment, but that's a whole different thread so I won't get into that now. But anyway, I wasn't able to afford to pay for my appointment and my prescriptions both. He let me keep both of the appointments without paying him. I couldn't believe it. After a short time I paid him what I owed him, but that is when I truly knew that this guy really cared. Not just cared a little bit, but would do just about anything to help me get clean.

Sorry for writing so much, but I know exactly what you are talking about as far as dealing with shady bupe docs. The reason I wrote so much is so that anyone who is stuck with a shitty uncaring bupe doc should keep looking. After all, YOU are paying HIM to help you get clean. HE/SHE works for YOU. If HE/SHE is not helping you out, then you have to go to someone who will. Just keep looking because there are some really good bupe docs out there. It might take some time to find them, but trust me it is worth it in the long run.

[GoddessofRATs]

Yea, seems from what I've read that some sub docs are highly under qualified to treat addicts, it's like they are just doing this job because they couldn't get anything else, which is ridiculous. For a doctor to treat an addict and act as if addicts are the scum of the earth is just unbeleivable, it's horrible.

A doc should WANT to treat addicts before getting a job and/or qualifying for job, and do it because that is what they set out to do- treat addicts. It shouldn't be some asshole doctor who couldn't get any other job for the time being and gets a job as an addiction specialist.

I am sure there are so many addicts out there who honestly want to quit and are doing their best to quit and than get treated like shit, that actually brakes my heart.

One of my Pm docs (there are two that work together at my pm docs) is also an addiction specialist. He treats people for chronic pain but also treats addicts. They also told me if i ever wanted to get off of my pain meds i would switch doctors. The main doc thre is the addiction doc and a pain doc and the other doctor is just a pain doctor, i see just the pain doctor. If i ever want to get off my meds I'd
switch to the main doctor and get on a sub-program or whatever it is they use to wean people off of their pain meds. I think that is great because i won't have to worry about going out and finding a sub doctor/addiction specialist, i already have one basicly. All i have to do is call and say i want off and they make me an apt to see the main doc. But, that being said i ain't planning on quiting anytime soon.

Anyway, it's just so sad that addicts are treated this way. Sometimes i can't believe what i am reading when i see posts like these above and about how some of you have been treated. It angers me so.

GOR

[LorTabitha]

The second doc, well, he got arrested for "penetrating" a woman at his office two days before my initial appointment, so obviously I got screwed there.

Sounds like all his patients got screwed.... one way or another! ;)

[Duckfeet]

I found a great doc, right across the way, on NAABT.org...and he had no problem prescribing subutex, and saw me once a month for fifty bucks a pop...and the other two docs near here also called back, very friendly, so again, I"m a fan of their wibsite doc=finder...

My problem ain't w/the docs, it's w/the drug itself, sadly...

[kevin]

I can understand that DF, the side-effects this time around are really getting to me. That and it's requiring a lot more sub to keep me well than it did last time. Sounds like you got some pretty cool docs around you, that's lucky. Yea, NAABT is a wealth of information on sub, I post on the forum every once in a while, they're good people.

[Duckfeet]

Yep: I put a lot of money, time, and hope, into subs...but I just had to face the fact that they didn't get rid of the cravings for me, and the side effects, like constipation and evening "speediness" weren't for me...and, of course, I found that detoxing off them, was a lot like methadone: right about the time u think yer over it...it begins...

Always wish the best to others so: some people they work good for...