Get well soon Mike Arnold

[turbobusa]

Get well soon . Hoping for a speedy and 100% Recovery...
Thanks, T...

 

[tattoo449]

damn bro that's intense... im really sorry you're in that much pain (



regarding calling 911.. when I called when I overdosed on DNP, I made sure to say "DON'T SEND COPS!"...

the dispatcher was like "okay...?" and i was like "SERIOUSLY, DON'T SEND THEM"... lol.


no cops showed up...as i understand it.. that's typically what happens when you say you don't need them.

I hope it heals up for you Mike. I get low back sciatic pain so i can relate, although mines no where near your pain. Feel better bro. On a different note I'm a first responder in a major city and as soon as you tell 911 overdose they're sending police no matter what.

 

[BigDM]

Get well soon big guy!

 

[DK0223]

Get well soon man! Let me just say Mike, while I haven't known him that long, is a truly standup guy. Get that back better brotha!

 

[Flexpack215]

That's a horrible story and it sucked to read. We hope you make a full recovery very soon. Your buddies on PM need you! Good luck brother!

 

[Ruger72]

Thanks for what you do Mike.

 

[Suffocation]

Get well soon brotha.... always enjoyed reading your posts.
prayers going your way..

 

[MightyJohn]

Get well soon Mike

 

[Gaintrain]

Get well soon! Wishing you a speedy recovery

 

[ape of god]

Good lord bro, that's fucked up.... but how'd it happen? Don't mean to be dumb, but having been off the vicodins for such a length of time lessen the withdrawal effects? Or would the withdrawal be from the buprenorphine? How about, what's it called? Syboxine? Forces a withdrawal, or something to that effect? Fuck me, you were shooting a gram of vicodens per day? I almost would rather have a broken back than that sort of addiction. Talk about up a creek without paddle..... at any rate, I do hope you get well, you're one of the most giving/sharing gurus around and always well said.

 

[Growman]

Thanks guys, and extra thanks to Knight9.

The muscle spasms, which lasted almost a week, were the worst part of it, as they caused 95% of the pain. Remember stories of Paul Dillet locking up back stage stiff as a board from diuretic use and screaming--that was me--at one point for about 6 hours before the ambulance arrived and jammed bunch of muscle relaxers in my back via injection (was home alone and it took 6 hours to crawl across the floor to the phone 2 rooms away). My entire back was blue and purple for almost a week due to the bruising, as a result of the super intense, non-stop muscle contractions.

The spasms didn't completely go away after this, but persisted for about a week at a set intensity level--enough to keep me in bed almost the entire time. At random intervals, maybe once every 30-60 minutes, they would lock up completely, as I just described above. During those moments it is absolute the worst pain I have ever felt. It's so damn agonizing you can't even yell while it's happening. It's only after it lets up a little bit that you can yell out.

My back is still in a constant state of contraction (mostly lower back), but it is much less intense now and the pain has subsided greatly. I had my wife go out and buy me a laptop so I could work from bed. I can get around on crutches most of the time now.

The real shitty part, as some of you guys know, is that I am a recovering addict (almost 10 years now) and take 24-32 mg of buprenorphine a day. this is a large dose--capable of keeping withdrawal symptoms away from someone shooting a gram of hydrocodone/heroin daily (=100-200 Vicodin). The point here is that no prescription pain killers will work for me. I would need to be prescribed about 2 grams of morphine daily to experience decent pain relief, but no doctor would ever prescribe that no matter what, as that kind of dose is literally 100's of times higher than what they are normally used to prescribing. So, I had to deal with the pain 100%, as the buprenorphine no longer does anything for me other than make me feel normal.

Anyway, 2 broken vertebrae. 6-8 week recovery time.

Oh, and while I was having that terrible 6 hour long spasm, the cops came in with the paramedics because I called 911. This is standard when entering someone's home. The cops saw a bag full of 100's of Xanax on the dresser that I hadn't used in 6 years (don't like the stuff). They asked me why I had it--while I am in excruciating agony and can barely speak--so I told them I had it for 5-6 years and was expired, but took a few the last day to try and help the spasm. When I got back home the next day the bag was fucking gone--cops snatched it for themselves. When I thought about it after, I remembered the cops staying back in my room after the paramedics were taking me downstairs and wondering what in the hell they were still in my room for, but I didn't think much about it until I got home and saw the bag was gone. .

Damn Mike sorry to hear that. I really hope you get well, you are one of the most knowledgeable guys on the board and always willing to help. Hate to hear you go through this...

I have also had my problems with opiates. Being stuck on that much suboxone is tough bro, the withdrawls from that can be terrible and last much longer than regular opiate withdrawls. You are 100% correct, on that much suboxone you wont feel any dose of opiate. A couple 80mg Oxy's would do absolutely nothing for you. When you get well you should really try to taper down on the suboxone dose, if you dont mind me asking why are you taking such a high dose so many years after you got off the opiates?

 

[Mike Arnold]

Unless the cops are charging you with something, I would think that taking somebody's personal property from within their home is blatantly illegal. Sorry to hear about the back, that sounds absolutely terrible. I hope you get some relief soon.

No, not being charged--they just took it for themselves, which of course, is illegal. I have respect for police officers--everyone should--but this was as an example of total hypocrisy. Not only are they breaking the same law I was by possessing benzodiazpenes without a script, but they are freakin' thiefs, as well. Now that, I don't have any respect for. I don't care who uses what, but stealing from another man just because you can--that is the sign of a low-life piece of shit.

 

[Mike Arnold]

I hope it heals up for you Mike. I get low back sciatic pain so i can relate, although mines no where near your pain. Feel better bro. On a different note I'm a first responder in a major city and as soon as you tell 911 overdose they're sending police no matter what.

Sure, but I didn't tell them anything about an overdose. I just said I broke my back and needed an ambulance to come to my house.

 

[Mike Arnold]

Good lord bro, that's fucked up.... but how'd it happen? Don't mean to be dumb, but having been off the vicodins for such a length of time lessen the withdrawal effects? Or would the withdrawal be from the buprenorphine? How about, what's it called? Syboxine? Forces a withdrawal, or something to that effect? Fuck me, you were shooting a gram of vicodens per day? I almost would rather have a broken back than that sort of addiction. Talk about up a creek without paddle..... at any rate, I do hope you get well, you're one of the most giving/sharing gurus around and always well said.

Buprenorphine, while it doesn't result in withdrawal symptoms as intense as most full opiate agonists, is still an opiate and can cause powerful withdrawal symptoms.

Buprenorphine is a partial opiate agonist; meaning it doesn't attach fully to the receptor, but it still attaches and produces an opiate-like effect, as well as opiate-like withdrawals. At the dose I am taking, it is strong enough to prevent withdrawal symptoms for someone with a gram a day heroin habit.

Basically, buprenorphine prevents withdrawal by attaching to and activating the same receptors as other opiates. It's just a replacement, so you experience withdrawal symptoms just like other opiates. However, unlike most opiates, which have a withdrawal period of about 3 days, buprenorphine's withdrawal period can last up to 2 weeks.

 

[Mike Arnold]

Damn Mike sorry to hear that. I really hope you get well, you are one of the most knowledgeable guys on the board and always willing to help. Hate to hear you go through this...

I have also had my problems with opiates. Being stuck on that much suboxone is tough bro, the withdrawls from that can be terrible and last much longer than regular opiate withdrawls. You are 100% correct, on that much suboxone you wont feel any dose of opiate. A couple 80mg Oxy's would do absolutely nothing for you. When you get well you should really try to taper down on the suboxone dose, if you dont mind me asking why are you taking such a high dose so many years after you got off the opiates?

I never attempted to taper down--just figured I would stay on for life. Prior to using buprenorphine, there was a period where I was clean for about 5 years without any chemical assistance--and I never went back to normal. Even 5 years later, my brain still craved opiates intensely and my sleep patterns were a mess. Basically, it was a constant fight against the addiction.

So, I figured I would rather just stay at a dose of buprenorphine that made me feel normal and deal with the physical side effects (which are non-life threatening), rather than spend the rest of my life fighting an addiction I don't want, but can't get rid of.

What was the alternative? Continue to wake up every 1-2 hours every night with chronic insomnia and fight my brain's now permanent requirement for opiates without ever attaining a full sense of inner peace? Research now shows that long-term opiate addiction re-wires the brain's hardware--changes the way it functions so that it requires opiates for proper functioning. It becomes a part of the individual's physiology...and it never goes away, even after long-term cessation of opiate use.

Personally, I would rather live my life on Buprenorphine and just deal with the sides. It's really no different than any other kind of medication. I don't get high, I don't feel anything, it just meets a need, so that I feel normal. It completely removes all cravings for any other opiates. I feel the way I used to feel before I got addicted to opiates.

To me, this is greatly preferable to a life-time of fighting against your own newly re-wired brain chemistry, requiring years of support groups and N.A meetings just to keep yourself from relapsing, all while fighting the ever-present temptation for opiates, for ever. Sure, after 5 years it is much easier to fight the addiction than during the first 30 days, but anyone who has been that heavily addicted, but is now clean, even 20 years later, will tell you that their battle never ends. Screw that.

I have known many, many addicts who, if they stay clean, end up having to do so much work just to maintain their sobriety (and often end up relapsing--usually multiple times), that their life is consumed by it. They are a slave to the fight for sobriety as much as they were a slave to the addiction.

So, I made a choice that I would I would rather put up with some moderate side effects than struggle all the days of my life against a battle that would never go away and from which I could never find true relief. Once your brain has been re-programmed for opiate addiction, you can never return to normalcy, so why fight a battle that can never really be won, when you can just contain it, end the fight, and live a productive, normal life?

 

[bignickp]

Damn Mike, hope you get better.



Side note, ever notice how many addicts are in bodybuilding, we are wired to be addicted to something and us lucky few use weight training to satisfy our addictive nature.

 

[Dezzy]

Get well soon Mike!

 

[panzerfaust]

Hey Mike, BTW I'm a recovering addict as well, I always wondered what would happen if you were on buprenorphine and something like this happened.Would Fentanyl work, I know people on Pain management that are given "a breakthrough" med". **broken link removed** I'm probably missing something as it's early but how did you break the 2 vertebrae? I had a friend who was on pain management and had stage 4 bone cancer, among other things,they gave him what the nurses called the VIP dose as they never saw anybody on such a high dose (not sure what and how much). BUT he was in the terminal ward in MT. Sinai hospital in NYC. Which thank God you are not, you will get through this and be stronger for it. I'm not a NA type of guy but if you need to talk to someone with that unique perspective only another addict can understand then by all means PM me, I'll give you my phone number if necessary to call at any hour. Stay strong this will pass.

 

[Queefer]

Buprenorphine, while it doesn't result in withdrawal symptoms as intense as most full opiate agonists, is still an opiate and can cause powerful withdrawal symptoms.

Buprenorphine is a partial opiate agonist; meaning it doesn't attach fully to the receptor, but it still attaches and produces an opiate-like effect, as well as opiate-like withdrawals. At the dose I am taking, it is strong enough to prevent withdrawal symptoms for someone with a gram a day heroin habit.

Basically, buprenorphine prevents withdrawal by attaching to and activating the same receptors as other opiates. It's just a replacement, so you experience withdrawal symptoms just like other opiates. However, unlike most opiates, which have a withdrawal period of about 3 days, buprenorphine's withdrawal period can last up to 2 weeks.

So its kind of like methodone? BTW, glad you are feeling better.

 

[notmyrealname]

Bup has the second longest half life right after methadone. Both are terrible to withdrawl from due to the long half life.

Best wishes in your recovery both physical and mental.