Thanks for keeping this thread goin......this is pretty important to me....

The thought of going into a rehab/psych.....yikes. Not that there is anything WRONG with it of course......some folks here may even have done it and if that's what ends up happening then i'd humbly ask for support

But - the politics behind the procedure i'm probably gonna have to do --spinal cord stimulator -- would most likely 'deny' me as a potential candidate with the 'drug dependency' tag pinned on me if that were to be in my med record history.
Plus, if all else fails and i just need to stay on the meds indefinately, then...well.....see where this goes? I'd forever be tagged with the 'drug' thing.
That's why i started a thread down the list called "Naltrexone Anyone?"
I wonder if this med is in the same family as the one MrsD is talking about.
Haven't been able to access the site u provided (yet) having problems with my phone and internet lines (snowstorm)......but thank you and i will check into it!

Those 'rapid detox' places claim to be very discreat and private so as not to have it accessible by medical record personnel...... ?
But whatever. Other people have had to deal with this and i'm no one to get any 'special' treatment....but just want to check out the options and try to do this as 'responsibly' as possible.... ? My Pain doc has been wonderful and i WILL be talking to him about all this, but i'd like to know what's out there B4 i jump into tapering the meds..... I'll ask to see if he is specially licensed to prescribe as MrsD suggests...

Thank you all SO much! This forum is all i have

Rae

Naltrexone is a drug used to curb addiction (craving).
Its brand name is Revia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naltrexone

Naloxone is:
http://www.drugs.com/mmx/naloxone-hydrochloride.html
This is a true antagonist and added to opiate drugs so they cannot be dissolved and injected/snorted. It is used in emergency situations for overdoses.

High dose Revia used to be used for alcohol addiction, but it caused liver damage, and now is not commonly used for that reason. (50mg doses).

But LDN, low dose naltrexone is getting alot of attention for many things, as the Wiki article explains at the end.

The usefulness of Suboxone is that its dose can be titrated down, more easily than fentanyl patches.

with the advent of electronic recordkeeping for medical records, i wouldnt count on the fact that you were treated for an addiction in a mental health facility remaining private. There are already currently clearances that you cannot get if you have been treated for alcoholism or drug addiction or admittance to a mental health facility. Many states also deny pistol premits or the ability to buy a firearm if you have been treated for a drug or alcohol addiction. Who knows what future restrictions will be put in place.

I think it is possible to come off fentanyl without going into a rehab. Talk to your doc and get patches that cut your dose by whatever your doc thinks is reasonable....or what you feel is tolerable.

I have gone off fentanyl more than once and had no real issues....just the usual stuff, restless leg, sneezing and flu like symptoms over a few days.

I don't want to advise any one, since, we are all different.

Klonopin is another story. That withdrawal truly makes on feel like one is dying and it lasts a very long time.

I want to know how they would know if you'd been in a mental facility or rehab?
Those are private records, and they can't get those accessed.

Even if you've been taken to court, and labeled mentally ill, it doesn't show like if you have a parking ticket, or other "law problem"..

So.. buying a gun for say hunting.. not an issue.
Buying a gun for say.. suicide.. well.. I'd hope you'd not get that far.

didn't quite know how to respond to the 'gun' thread.....but u did a pretty good job.......
Actually, i'm way too classy for suicide.....i had planned to hire a 'hit-man' to do it FOR me.

But in all seriousness, don't mean to make a 'joke' out of it.....chronic pain can and certainly HAS led people to do it.
Thanks to forums such as this one, however....at least a person has a fighting chance against the all-empowering cloud of hopelessness and DOOM... years back (before the cyber era hit) MANY people DID do the deed and/or get 'put away' and written off... Diagnosis such as 'depression' & neuropathy hadn't been put into a term yet. Or at least not openly shared.....

So glad i found you guys....

actually there is a national data base of people who have been adjudicated to be mentally ill or who have been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. Its a fact. Recently the federal government has been leaning on the states to get that information reported. Some states had not been reporting it, they are now.

Who said anything about suicide? I was giving an example of how a data base can be used. Security clearances are another example. I really dont know how the fact that you have been in rehab would become known under the present system. However with electronic medical records it will be on the record. Also if you lie and say that you have not been to rehab on an official form, you could be prosecuted for perjury.

Creepy as it seems, it IS the hardcore truth! "Big Brother" indeed! I think that was Orsen Wells back in 1984 ..... ?
I bet we'd be completely freaked out if we only knew the half of it!!

I do appreciate your imput ! Keep it comin......

One thing that I should mention is that you can use oral medication to step down from the fentanyl.

I went off my meds for lots of reasons, one was to keep my present treatment infusion....I figured if we did not know how I responded, they were not going to keep it going. The downside is, yes, I am in pain, but, I can feel exactly where the pain originates, versus when on the meds, pain came from everywhere.

Your insurance company has access to all records for services they pay for.

Wow, and national data base for people treated for mental illness issues??? Half the country will be in it.

That's EXACTLY what i was lookin/hopin for.....to have something to use while 'stepping down' from the Fentanyl - thank you for giving me a good way to word that to my pain doc.....
but see, shows what a wimp i am - always thinking there is SOME 'magic pill' to help me get away from the OTHER 'magic pill'....
Hats off to you Cyclelops for enduring the pain to see where your TRUE pain is originating.......that's pretty darn tough. And i thought i knew 'tough' (i have 3 kids from 2 pregnancies to prove it!) ha.

YOU are doing what i WANT to accomplish....finding the 'base' as you put it.
5 yrs goes by and the pain thing gets all mixed up into one big batch of poop stew. Ain't this a dandy

The main reason i'm goin on and on about this is mainly cuz of the SCS implant i'm probably gonna end up doing (pending Ins approval)......
Just need to first make sure i know what i'm dealing with (painwise).....
Neuropathy is such a ....... mystery.
Fragmented information from the medical community is the best i've got to work with.... I'm gettin WAYYY more info from you guys!

Hope you're doin ok with your ordeal . How in heaven do you deal with this MENTALLY....i mean...doesn't it just 'get the best' of you at times ???