One friend of mine — it makes her puke violently.

And yes, House is fiction…and also so is Avatar — which *totally* blew my vacation plans to Pandora when I found out…

I mean at all. Barely any somatic effects. I walked away from my gallstone attack in August ’09 with a full bottle of the shi’ite by prescription, and it’s still sitting on my medicine shelf, untouched.

But … wait … are you suggesting that House is fiction or something?

Damn you for shattering my illusions!

1. NO ONE can maintain just a Vicodan addiction for years — it’s called tolerance. After a while — your couldn’t take enough to feel an effect — except death from liver failure caused by APAP (Tylenol) toxicity.

&

2. Suboxone withdraw is not some horrible thing that gives you the DT’s and sweats and horrific vomiting — that’s caused by *cold turkey* quitting — suboxone is a “soft landing”.…hell, most people don’t even have to take a day off work to do it…that’s the *point*

Also…

3. Sometimes it *is* Lupus!!! Lol.

And the got *much* harder stuff — like oxycodone…fentanyl…Dilaudid (hydromorphone — which is like dozens of times more potent)…

Do yourself a favor — stay away from Vicodan or Percocet & Oxycontin (the latter two both being oxycodone based) — even if you are in pain…the “rush” isn’t there with pills — the effects kick in slower (and last longer) — but the bliss, the bliss…

And if you are depressed a lot…stressed…have an anxiety disorder…have OCD (opiates suppress the part of the brain responsible for anxiety and obsessions-compulsions) …*that’s* why people get hooked.

I wish they’d never given me that first damn Vicodan. It hit me like a freight train…and I didn’t even know I was *on* the tracks…

It’s like Soran going into Nexus after his family and world were destroyed by the Borg (crappy movie, but the analogy fits)…it’s takes away the pain. ALL THE PAIN.

Until it wears off.

Now mix *THAT* with the fact that it’s actually chemically — not just psychologically — addictive…your body WANTS IT…NEEDS IT…WILL MAKE YOU *HURT* IF YOU DON’T GET IT.

In fact — withdrawal is the *negative* of a high…it’s PAIN…anxiety…fear…depression…warm fluffy clouds turn to sharp cold blades…

That’s why people get hooked — not because they wake up one day and think “Hey, I think I’d like to flush my life down the toilet, what they fuck!?”

Also…there was a reason Sherlock Holmes (yes, fictional) made a realistic junkie…people with higher IQ’s and great artistic talent tend to get hooked easier…because it stimulates the brain…

Thankfully they have newer treatments like suboxone — like methadone but without the high (and without the deadly overdose potential) — blocks the (physical) cravings, doesn’t get you high — and kicks any *other* opiates you try to take off the receptors (think “instant withdrawal” it you try to use)…and you can get it prescribed in a (specially licensed) doctor’s office and filled at most pharmacies (no seedy methadone clinic visits…)

Yes, I’ve had some experience…now I resign myself to the fact that I stay on the wagon more than off it…