San Luis Obispo
Addiction Recovery
Center
Compassionate Treatment of Substance Abuse
Treat Addiction -- Save Lives
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Compassionate Treatment of Substance Abuse
Treat Addiction -- Save Lives |
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SLOARC Patient O
I am a 43 year old man working as a furniture maker. I love my job. One day in 2002, I woke up with pain in my neck. I went to work with my head tilted way over. After a trip to Med Stop (an urgent care facility) I was prescribed muscle relaxers and pain pills. These worked well enough that I was back to work the following Monday, but the pain continued to be a huge problem. To make a long story short, I was diagnosed with deteriorating disks (C-6, C-7). Five years of high school and college football had taken their toll on my body. I saw pain specialists and had injections in my neck with limited success but it didn’t give me lasting pain relief, Eventually the volume of prescribed pain meds became totally unmanageable. Several times I started increasing my dose beyond what I was prescribed. I would run out of pills early and get overmedicated, but it still didn’t really treat my pain adequately. I took myself off pain meds once, because my life was hard to manage and I was no longer in control of the medications. The withdrawals were terrible, but at least, I could work at the job I love. I was only able to stay off medication a relatively short time because I could not manage my pain. After several years of needing (or wanting) higher and higher doses of opioids, it was clear that a change was needed. It seemed that the real battle became fighting withdrawal, more than fighting pain. One day, my life totally changed. Doctor Howalt told me about a new medication he was using to treat opiate addiction that also worked as a pain medication. I underwent withdrawal for a very short time and at Doctor Howalt’s office I was given a dose of Suboxone. I felt normal (not high, not in pain) for the first time in years! This shit works! I take Suboxone three times a day now and don’t think about my pain at all. No counting pills, no early refills. This medication is a miracle. Thank you Dr. Howalt! |
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