Something needs to be done regarding health services here at USP Atwater. The BOP is trying to save money and so is taking everyone off the Sublocade injection (for addiction treatment) and placing us back on the sublingual strips. That’s fine with me, if I could at least get the strips in a timely fashion. The problem is that now we can’t see the doctor to get the strips on a timely basis, and so everyone is going without the medication.
For example, this morning I was on the callout to see the MAT provider, but it was very foggy outside so they didn’t have any inmate movement. Why can’t they do a count, pull us all out who are on the schedule and get us to our appointment with the doctor? It’s foggy here all the time, so this happens a lot! Fog should NEVER stop us from getting health care, but that is exactly what’s happening. We are all going days without our medication and thus going through withdrawals. My meds help me cope and keep me grounded. I’m starting to feel withdrawal effects, including sleepless nights, loss of appetite, and hot and cold sweats. Plus my anxiety is through the roof!
In addition, the days when we can see the doctor are limited. For example, if I was due to get my injection today, I wouldn’t get the strips until at least Thursday (since the doctor only sees people on Wednesdays).
And then there is a supply problem. There’s about 80 guys who just started the MAT program and are right now going without their strips for the second week in a row because staff aren’t keeping enough inventory in the pharmacy. There are guys who were due for their injection 10 days ago!! If they decided to change our medication BOP-wide, then it should have been planned a lot better.
Update (1/15): I finally saw the doctor today. I had been on the highest-milligram shot and she is starting me on the lowest milligram strip. What sense does it make to switch a person who’s been on 300 mg of Sublocade a month for two years to 2 mg of suboxone strips? The doctor justifies it by saying I have seven months of Sublocade built up in my body. But my body eats that shit up very fast. But after being on the injection for awhile, I have a higher tolerance than someone just starting the program. A 2 mg strip is nothing compared to what my body has been getting the past two years. Are these people trying to make me flip out and start cutting my wrists? Because that’s what’s about to happen. I’m not eating or sleeping.
I’m in prison for robbing CVS pharmacies for OxyContin and I was using 25 oxy 80s a day. I have a very high tolerance. I researched this and she could have at least started me at 4 mg. I have no energy. I’m not working out. I have no appetite. And there are still guys going without right now.
Update 1/18: Everyone is withdrawing and some have started using again. I didn’t get the first strips until late last night. I can’t believe that I’m having to resort to using fentanyl just to control my urges.
Update 1/25: The doctor told me that everyone’s starting out on the 2 mg strip, no matter how long a person has been on the MAT program. But today, I watched a guy go from the 300 mg shot to an 8 mg strip…Why didn’t I get that???? I want to kill myself.
Update 1/31: I was finally raised to 4 mg, and on Monday I will transition to 8 mg. Last night was the worst night I’ve had yet: throwing up, tossing and turning, hot and cold sweats. I had to change clothes twice during the night. When I got up this morning, I did my best to find the energy to clean the showers, which I did with a lot of determination.
2/10: I’m on the 8 mg strip now. It works, but for a short time only. I really need 16 mg I think. But I don’t know when my next doctor’s appointment is because they all were cancelled last week, once again due to fog!
Note: This is the fourth day that they have been out of the 2 mg strips, which is the starting dose for people new to MAT. There are also still a few guys who were on high-dose injections who have been left on the low-dose strips.