drug interactions with sub?

[4afriend]

I learned that my ex's girlfriend (doesn't have medical insurance) it having to pay $350 a month for a shot to help with her back pain.  He said that the pain in her back causes her arms to go numb so she takes the shot once a month to be able to work. I may be looking to far into the situation, but I am very confused and worried.  She in the past year also had an opiate addiction in which she did a three day detox (she lost touch with my ex after due to the fact he found out she had a fiance on the side, but a four months ago, she and my ex, reunited.  He has said that she is fine now.  No drugs, expect she is now according to him taking her lithium as she should due to her bipolar.  He said she is like a new person now - He didn't know she was bipolar until the drug addiction came to the for front, but it did explain all of the behaviors/issues.  I'm asking this question here for many reasons 1) I know many people here have pain issues which helped lead them to this forum in the first place, have any of you had back pain which caused your arms to go numb?  My experience has been is the arms are going numb is tends to be a neck issue vs. a back issue.  2) I'm not sure as to what kind of shot they are giving her, only that she says its once a month and is $350 to get.  I would assume that if they knew of her past issues, they wouldn't give her pills to take, but I honestly don't know is she would have told them.  She's always said that since her drug detox that she wasn't an addict and that my ex was the one who got her turned on to them.  Her DOC was varied from xanax, valium, percs but she told my ex that she couldn't get any more perc's at the time in which she had wanted them so she turned her last $1000 from a trust she had to get oxys, that was what she was using and ran out of by the time she made it to the detox hosp.  3) my concern is that she maybe using again, my ex said she can't use anymore and it's a nonissue because she doesn't have any $ to do so.  However, she and her children live with her parents rent free, she doesn't pay child care because her mom watches them for free, she has no care payment because my ex fix up his extra car for her to use and she just filed bankrupcy last year, so she shouldn't be having any old debt over her head.  I know she works 40 hrs a week and has a cell phone, but wheres the rest going? I'm a single mom raising three kids so I know exactly how expensive they are, I don't recieve child support and she does on both her children, and her ex covers their medical as well.  I just can't help but think she should have some money....although I just learned about the $350 going out for the shot she's getting.  4) My ex came to get the kids yesterday and wanted to borrow my computer, he got on here and should me a site to look up drugs for work if I ever needed to (we are both nurses)  what caught me off guard was the fact that the drug he put in to show me was subutex/subotone..he said "this probably wont be available on here"...it wasn't.  I guess out of all the drugs he could have typed in, I don't know why he typed in that.  We both know what it is, how it works and some of the side effects, his brother has been on it for a year now, due to his addiction.  I know sub is expensive without insurance and I wouldn't be upset to learn she was on that at all so if she was I wouldn't understand why he wouldn't mention it to me, I would be happy to know that she's seeking help.  My fear now is that she is using and telling him she's getting pain shots. Him doing that made me almost wonder if he was looking it up to see if it could be given with lithium..for his girlfriend.  That neither of us would know.  When he was here he got a call from his girlfriend, who should have just started working her shift an hour before hand.  I only heard him answer with a "hey whats up, I'm hear getting the kids"  then heard a "REALLY??  wha, wha, wha whats going on? what happened?" and as he was saying that he walked on out the door and left.  My concern increased when he called me about 5 hours later just to ask me if I had gotten a strange phone call.  I told me that I don't answer when I don't know the number (his girlfriend has been known to call me during her episodes and say very mean and cruel things to me so I avoid unknown #'s)  I had an hour or so before, but he was curious if I had just gotten one just before he called.  He had me tell him the number of the weird call anyway, just to check.  I asked him then if I should be gettting a phone call from someone and he told me "not that I know of"  and then hung up..

[4afriend]

P.S.  I guess I'm hoping that some of you could give me some incite here.  I didn't mean to cut off my post without a thanks and best wishes to you all, but I realized how lengthy and winded I was with my post and was like..."oh good grief!"  so I just hit send.  best wishes to everyone!

[avisg]

you got me very confused ...LOL ok yes there are back problems that can make your arms go numb .There is no shots I know of that you can get once a month that with control pain .I suppose she could be getting a steroid shot ...(not addicting ) I believe there is a shot that was coming available for addiction that you got on a monthly basis or a semi monthly I for the life of me don't remember what is was maybe someone else will.

[4afriend]

So sorry to confuse you, I knew when I went on and on I would probably be doing that.  I had thought of the steroid shot and the fact that could be what it was since its not addicting, but didn't realize it could be so expensive to get.  Thanks for your imput.

Since I did run off at the mouth, would anyone know if sub can be used with lithium?  I'm thinking since lithium isn't an oppiate, that it should be fine, but would rather know for sure from anyone who may have personal experience with that.  I know there are mixed reviews about sub, it has helped my brother in law tremendously thus far and he does take an anti anxiety med and hasn't had any problems with it not working.

[NickyBones]

Sub and lithium is compleltly acceptable, i know becuase i was perscribed both and took them together for nearly two months. I am currently still taking the sub but not the lithium because i decided that me having Bipolar disorder was the incorrect diagnoses. I want to help in anyway so let me know if you ever need anything. Im here to help because people helped me and i care about everyone that is in situations that relate to my own.

[4afriend]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with me.  I appreciate that so much.  I'm very glad that you know longer need the lithium or need to deal with some of side effects it can cause, I can totally see that can be misdiagnosed wrong under certain circumstances.  (my mom is bipolar and has to use the lithium and she hates the side effects, but it does keep her pretty stable, so she deals with it)I was just getting ready to put up a congratulations to you on your seven months clean, so I will just add that here.  I hope you have a very very happy birthday and that you get to celebrate all your other birthdays with as much passion and great outlook as you do on this one! Keep up the great work...

[marcatj]

yes, my left arm and fingers goes numb from my back issues, this is very common.  sometimes alot more severe than others.  it is a very real issue.

the shot likely is cortisone - a steroid that is used to bring down the inflamation where the back issue/nerve stuff is going on.

i've had to do it too. as have many others i know.

very, very common for this issue.  her symptoms and the way the doctor is addressing it with the shots. did you ask him whats in the shots?  it should be cortisone...

[4afriend]

thanks for explaining your back issues to me, I have been around alot of back problems with my work and hadn't seen many react that way, so your info helps alot.  She is also in my field and so I know that can take a huge toll on it.  I did suggest that she take a break from that line of work because there is no getting out of the physical labor with it.  He did tell me that she has an interview at hooters this week.  I know it won't be helping with the insurance issues(she was suppose to be eligeble by her current emp this month, but was told she had to wait another month), but hopefully will take a bit off of her back.

No I didn't ask what type of injection it was that she was getting.  I immediately thought of the cortisone injections used, but he didn't use that term.  I guess I thought he would have because we are both nurses so medical terms, drugs, diagnosis etc tend to just get thrown out there.  I guess that's why I posted my question on here.  He was so vague that something just felt "off".  I hadn't realized that a cortisone inj could cost so much without insurance.  It's just a shame...

[paaddict]

My daughter is on sub's, & lithium , she is bi polar, she is doing very well. She has been on this for 4 to 5 months.She is not as depressed as she was, less anxiety. SHe started a job after 20 months,( she had a baby.),. She had worked before, now somewhere different. I don't think with out the proper medication she would be able to do this.
I have a bum back also, although I personally have not had my arms numb, I did get shots in my back every 6 wks. It was coritsone.It was about 125.00 buks but that was 8 years ago. Can't you check out prices of medical procedures where u work?
My friend has plate in her neck from a car accident yrs ago. She gets numb arms when her neck hurts, like when it's cold. But she has had a severe injury.
Remember, addicts, me included will lie to anyone to get their doc. no matter what, that is the main thing the brain wants, everything else is what ever...a total lie, part of one, a mixed up one.
I am on suboxine also. of course it didn't take a genius to figure out why my daughter was an addict. although she hasn't been doing it long enough. She did a 3 detox and eventhough she felt better she wasn't mentally ready, and she relapse. We don't have na meetings in my small town, hard to find good after care, The suboxine program requires who attend drug counsling. We both do.. Until the sub's. she was a mess. During that time she called me a "functioning addict" b/c I have always worked, kept house, raised her and stepson. etc, that my pills mostly were from doctors. When she said that I had to stand back and agree with her. So I stopped, the hardest was the morphine, that I didn't get from drs.
As with my daughter my concern was always her child when she was high. How many kids do you have that she watches? That would be something I would want to know.
Phone calls, who said what, it's all the addicts game, don't feed into it.
Good look to you
paaddict

[paaddict]

opps, good LUCK to you,
hope you got a laugh out of the  "look to you"

[triedeverymed]

The shot could be a nerve block, but why she has no money is a very odd thing. I would be very concerned based on what you've said. It all points to addictive behavior and I would ask her staright up what's going on and let her know if she's addicted you want to help her get help because you care about her.
If she gets mean and defensive, she could be an addict but aside from asking there isn't much you can do. Just be there for her and try to find out the truth of what's really going on.
Good Luck!

[4afriend]

Unfortunatley, no, I don't have ability to look into the cost on that procedure where I work.  I work in a rehabilitation/long term care facility.  We send our patients out for those types of procedures.  However, if it was costing you that much 8 years ago, I can't say it wouldn't be possible for it to be $350 now.(everything is outragous anymore)  I don't want to hope that she has such a difficult injury at 30 years old, but I'd hate more to think that she is using again.  I know she did a 3day dexox in Aug last year and they had recommended another center, but she didn't like it, said it wasn't the right kind of place for her and what she needed.  The after care went out the window after that.  My children are 11 and 12, so they are old enough to tell me if anything happens. (I have a 15 year old as well, but she quit visiting my ex a couple of months after they got back together)  The biggest worry I have with that is the fact that when they are with him they don't have access to a phone when they are at his house, only if he's there with his cell.   I haven't had any phone calls the past few months since they hooked back up...which is very nice, so I was kind of sick when he called asking me if had gotten any.  I guess a little to sick to even ask him, who what or why would I be? And well...he didn't offer.  I try hard not to worry, but as my divorce became final, he finally admitted to me that he had a pill addiction.  No I was dumb and I didn't see it.  His brother was an addict, we had helped him get clean many years ago, but he had a relapse and so it was easy for him to explain things away to me...I had no clue that he was using with him.  He quit on his own, and had been off a couple of months when he had finally told me.  He was an addict and had all the emotions/behaviors of an addict while I was there and I didn't see it...just thought it was another affair...just had no idea that the affair was with a pill and not another woman.  So you see...I fear