Take-home Naloxone Kits

I'm a Journalism student from Western University writing a story about take-home Naloxone programs. Wondering if anyone here has used a Naloxone kit and what your experience was like?

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I am 35 years old and I am percribed 90 10mg oxycodone. I've been on and off of pain meds since I was 16. I was having a lot of back issues since the birth of my oldest 3 children so at that time a friend referred me to a pain clinic in the great state of FLA during the "pill mill" epidemic. My Dr. here in MD agrees with me in saying that I was totally mismanaged being perscribed in 2008 thru 2010 with 30mg oxycodone / 240 a month as well as 90 2mg of xanax. I very soon became addicted but when I found out I was 3mo pregnant I never showed back up to the Dr office again. I weined myself off the meds for fear of issues with my unborn son. I never found out what happened to my Dr or thier office. I just heard it was shut down or moved to a different location. Once I was totally finished with building my family I decided to return to pain management because of another accident involving my left arm and my back issues. The only thing that seems to work for my pain is oxycodone. My Dr was very hesitant to perscribe it to me because of my young age and my small children. He knows that being on pain meds for as long as I have been I have a high tolerance for pain meds and met me half way with perscribing me a lesser dose as well as a lesser monthly amount. He also stated the risks of taking the meds and randomly has me take drug panels. Which I totally understand.

This last month he told me he was also going to perscribe a take home kit incase of accidental overdose. I was confused at first until I asked around to other people taking opoid meds. I filled it with my regular script at a Harris Teeter. I was happy to fill it because what I dont tell people including my Dr is that I have family members on opiates and a couple friends on it as well. I didn't and will never discuss that with my Dr. bc it makes me look like I may have some issues with Drugs as well. I been surounded by drug use my whole life. Its rampid in my family and old friends I grew up with. However, as a young child I watched the suffering and pain it causes as well as a lack of respect from others as the drug user is shunned away in hopes it will make them quit. It never worked for anyone I knew. It almost pushed the user farther into the drugs they use to feel better. That all being said I am very responsible with my medication and keep it away from everyone including my small children. I dont let anyone know about my meds bc I have made that mistake before and found people stealing from me. Once I got the Narcan script, (08/25/2017) just last mo. I set it ontop of my tallest dresser still in a brown bag with the kit inside and showed my fiance where it was never thinking I would need it but just so he knew where it was.

On this past Friday 09/08/2017 I was an hour away from my house at the movies with my teenage step-daughter and a cousin for the new "IT" movie. The Movie just started and my daughter handed me the phone in the theater. As soon as I got on the phone I heard my boyfriends frantic voice saying "THIS STUPID MOTHER F****R OD'D. WHERE IS THE S*** TO BRING HIM BACK". I ran out of the theater yelling "it's on my dresser" and "Who?" thinking back to who was at my house when I left; it was either a long time friend/ex boyfriend of my teenage years that now is friends with my fiance or my 5-year-old son. Knowing myself and how I keep Meds or other harmful s*** away from my children, I quickly deduced it was a good friend of mine for over 30 years who was dating a woman who has an opiate addiction. We knew he'd been trying it out with her because he told us. I knew he was high when I left... I could see it all over him that he was on something. My fiance kept freaking out as he was turning blue screaming on the phone to me..."He's F****ING DYING, HE'S F***ING DYING... GUESS I GOTTA CALL 911 AND WATCH HIM DIE BC I CANT FIND IT." I started to shake and all of my memories of my friend rushed thru my head as he lay dying on my bed. I yelled at my fiance to shut up and listen to where I had it sitting. He found it, put the phone down and shortly after picked it back up saying IT'S NOT WORKING. I then told him I was hanging up to call 911.

He told me to wait just a second and to tell him how to use it to make sure he did it right. Never using one I frantically told him to read the directions. He put the phone down and read them out loud and told me there was one more and he was going to use it on him. I sat and listened as my fiance called him every name in the book then started to ask my friend if he could see him. Then I heard my friend speak. "I'm ok, I'm just tired." My fiance replied "NO MOTHER F****R YOU ARE NOT OK. I WANT TO SEE YOU SIT UP ON YOUR OWN YOU GOT TO GET THE F*** UP." Once our friend got up he realized something was very wrong and started to apoligise about what just happened. My fiance got bk on the phone with me and said "WE'RE OK" and hung up the phone. When I got home my fiance said as soon as he realized he Od'd he reached into his pocket and pulled out a very small amount of opiates and gave it to my fiance to flush down the toliet. The next day I called him to tell him I loved him and I wanted him to NEVER take opiates again and I could care less about my family being subjected to such a crazy tramatic event. He says all he remembers is talking to my fiance then waking up on my bed with my fiance in his face. I let him know that he almost was a lost cause.

My fiance's phone was completely dead and died as he tried calling 911 before he called me. He had to find a charger that worked then turn it back on and if he hadnt called me to find the kit and called 911 instead he would NOT be here. I live in a remote area down a mile long dirt road with no numbers on houses and also out of order. I called an ambulance once and I had to talk them back here which took over 10 min. He was out before my fiance called and it took 7min for him to find the kit and administer it. I want another one to keep at my house for when my cousins come visit. I agree with my fiance when he says it should be free and offered to anyone. It saves lives. I am thankful to whoever made the decision to prescribe them to people taking opioid meds, because I promise 2 out of 3 people with that type of script knows someone who they may need it for, if not themselves.

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Re: JankJ (# 1)

I'm not sure what state you live in, but in a lot of states it is now available to be purchased over the counter at a pharmacy. Just FYI, so you can replace the one you used without asking your DR to write another script.

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Re: JankJ (# 1)

I just wanna say i had something kinda similar happen but i did not have a naloxone kit. My ex bf does tattoos. We were at a house doing tattoos one night and these two 20yr old's were administering opiates intravenously. I didn't say anything. One guy sat down & got tattood and the other guy fell asleep. Well the tat got done so it was time for the guy who was asleep to get tattood. He woke up got in the chair. The other guy (i will name tom) talked to me for about 15mins, then sat down beside me. I was playing a game on my phone when i happened to look over and i thought he looked a little pale. I stood up so i could get closer and better see him. I then noticed his lips were almost purple. Scared the living F*** out of me. I started yelling his name and got no response. (Now this happened about 6 yrs ago when idk if naloxone kits were even a thing. But i had been prescribed suboxone which has naloxone in it. And this happened the night before my drs appt.)

I instantly remembered i had a tiny piece of a suboxone strip in my wallet from earlier that day. I should of been out since i went to my dr the next day. But something told me to save that 1/4 of a strip. Anyways i run to get it and administer the suboxone to him and within seconds he was gasping for air and puking everywhere. He asked wtf was going on. I said sorry man but i believe you just almost died on us. He wouldn't go to the hospital or anything.
So now if i see or suspect someone abusing opiates i try to not associate with them. But since then i have wanted to be a substance abuse counsellor. I was in counselling at the time. And just got on suboxone so i knew suboxone would throw you into withdrawals and bring you back if overdosing. I know someone was watching over both of us that day.

Thanks for sharing your amazing story!

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