There are two excellent blogs out there run by a rad lady in recovery named Erin. One is What Winners Do and the other is her latest addition to the recovery blogging family, The Suboxone Help Spot.

Even though Erin does not take Suboxone personally as a part of her recovery process, she catalogues her personal experience with recovery in What Winners Do and has also started a support forum called a blog designed for anyone associated with Suboxone. She defines anyone associated with Suboxone as including “active addicts who are contemplating beginning Suboxone treatment, those recovering addicts who are currently in Suboxone treatment, Methadone patients who are trying to make the switch over to Suboxone treatment, and also those who have loved ones that are on a Suboxone treatment program.”

Erin further goes on to describe how she came to be a part of the online Suboxone support system. Relating how she had purchased Suboxone on the street when she was living the life of an addict and abused the drug, she wrote about the potential problems that those who take the drug to detox off of other opiates might experience. She got such a large response, that she decided to be a part of the solution instead of just defining the problem.

She says: “The Suboxone Help Spot is a place where those who have opted for a medically assisted recovery program can come and be completely open and honest about their recovery without the fear of being judged by those who do not agree with this type of recovery approach.”

If you are currently taking Suboxone to detox off of opiates or treat an prescription painkiller addiction or if someone you are close to is taking Suboxone, then check in with Erin from time to time or subscribe to her feeds. She’s raw, she’s honest and so much of what she has to say is relevant in the lives of those who are dealing with addiction and recovery on a day-to-day basis and through the forums, you might find the answers you’re looking for and a place to share your own experiences.

So this week on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab, it was family day and, as Dr. Drew points out, addiction is a family disease so if an addict is going to succeed, the family needs to be involved in drug addiction treatment. To demonstrate that point, all the recovering celebs came to a big support group/therapy meeting whether or not their family members showed up, and it was surprisingly honest despite the cameras. The range of statements made, from disappointment to love to support to ambiguity, were all incredibly indicative of what anyone recovering from drugs and alcohol would experience in a family support group setting.

One woman was focused on her partner’s ability to father consistently, another devastated by watching her sister make the same choices as their mother, who had recently died of an overdose. Children expressed their happiness that their mother was no longer drinking and irritation that she had lied about it when her using was so obvious. A wife wasn’t sure if there was a future for her and her addicted husband, and a girlfriend didn’t think she’d be able to give up alcohol to help her man in recovery. A husband said he felt like a police officer in his own home when it came to regulating his wife’s lying and using.

All of these expressions are common among those who are living with, related to or close to someone who is an addict or alcoholic. If you are taking Suboxone for a prescription painkiller addiction that has severely impinged on the lives of your family and friends, consider taking them with you to Narcotics Anonymous meetings so that they can see what you’re doing or entering into family counseling  or couples counseling. This will help you build a healthier relationship, rather than allowing resentments and guilt to sharpen and slice up your chance at reconciliation. If you need assistance finding the right therapist and you are undergoing Suboxone treatment with Meditox, the clinical team is available 24 hours a day to assist you. 

So to continue this string of posts in my self-proclaimed Overdose Awareness Week, today we are going to tackle the topic of risk factors. Knowing the risks that you are taking is crucial when it comes to preventing an undesired outcome, and with opiate overdose, there are 5 specific things that are red letter risks. Want to avoid an opiate overdose? Then pay attention.

1 – Chronic Illness. Do you have diabetes? HIV/AIDS? What about liver disease or heart disease? If you do, then you have a lower immune system than someone without these conditions and this lowered immune system is tricky. It changes your tolerance for a drug without notice. You could use the exact same dose every day for years and overdose, seemingly, without cause. The extra trouble here is that if you are using and not taking care of yourself, you may not know that you are developing one of these silent and deadly diseases. Liver disease and heart disease are especially dangerous, so get to the doctor for exams and pay attention to your body, noting any changes that could signify that something else is going on.

2 – Other Issues of Lower Tolerance. If you haven’t been taking pills (or insert your opiate of choice here) for awhile for whatever reason and suddenly decide to again, your tolerance is going to be significantly different than the last time you used. Expecting to “pick up where you left off” and taking the dose you were at when you quit can land you smack in the middle of an overdose. This is why people who are just out of jail or who relapse after detoxing or trying to get clean are common victims of opiate overdose.

3 – Mixing Different Drugs. If you are currently taking a prescription for opiate painkillers and do other drugs on top of it, even in small doses, you are raising your risk for an overdose. For example, one dose of a benzodiazepine like Xanax may be relatively mild but take it on top of a dose of methadone or codeine and you’re going to find it difficult to keep your eyes open. Or breathe.

4 – Depending on the Strength of Street Drugs. The bag of heroin you bought yesterday will most likely not be the same quality or strength of the one you buy today. Contrary to what many think, the more pure or uncut it is, the more dangerous in terms of overdose. Different parts of the country, different cities, different dealers all offer something different so the same size shot from any one of them will be largely different from another.

5 – Doing it Alone. Take any one or combination of the above risks and do it without someone else around and you’ve just compounded your risk for overdose. With someone else there, you can have (and be) a voice of reason. And if things get out of hand or dangerous, then one of you may be able to call paramedics in time to keep the situation from turning deadly.

Want to completely wipe out your risk for overdose? Get clean, safely and on your own terms, with Suboxone. Follow the treatment plan that you and your Meditox doctor come up with together and let someone else know what you’re doing so that they can keep you accountable. Take responsibility for yourself. No high is worth dying for.