PedroDaGr8
09-25-2015, 01:33 PM
We all know what is going on right now across the eastern half of the USA with the Heroin addiction. Just like the meth epidemic before it, it is hitting the rural parts the hardest. It is a direct result of the crack down on prescription opiates, opiate withdrawals are the second worst withdrawal you can go through (after benzodiazepams, where the withdrawal can actually kill you). Anyways, getting to the point, previously in a thread about a year ago I mentioned Narcan (Naloxone). It is a drug that reverses opiate overdose by preferentially binding more strongly to the opioid receptors in the body (without activation). In a sense, it acts like a padlock on the receptors allowing the body to clear the opiate from the system. Because this drug does not activate the receptors, it poses no risk of addiction nor does it provide any sort of "high". In response to the heroin outbreak, fourteen states have now made this drug either OTC or given the power to prescribe to the pharmacist instead of a doctor.
How does this lady fit in? Tracey is a former heroin addict who has been clean since 1997. She has begun sending out Naloxone and clean needles to addicts in need in states where they can't get Naloxone. She first advises them to look for one of the 700 centers across the USA currently distributing it but if they live to far away from a center or from medical help (as many rural addicts do). She will send them naltroxone. While the article discusses 110, according to a thread on Reddit, she just had her confirmed 132 save. That is 132 people who were overdosing that a vial she sent revived from the dead. These are just the ones that report back to having used the naloxone either on a friend or someone else using it on them. She insists on using her real first name and the handle traceyh415 across every single platform as an means of accountability and as a means of showing the addicts that you CAN come back from the dark side. She now has a bachelors and masters degree, plus a certification in addiction support. She has a family and a good life. She said she wants to be a role model and give back to the addicts without hope, hoping that one day she can save some of them and give them the ABILITY to come back from addiction. Meaning, they are alive long enough to make that decision for themselves. She wants to give them hope that they can recover when they reach that point, in the mean time she wants to keep them alive.
She has been taking donations and said she and donations split the costs of the stuff she sends out 60/40 (though she didn't say which side was which). She said it took her 10 tries before she was able to actually kick the habbit for good, but she said she is even more lucky that she ever had that chance. She overdosed before and if I remember correctly, the doctors used naloxone on her. For her, this is giving back. Sending clean needles, encouraging needle exchanges, naloxone for overdose, etc.
https://medium.com/backchannel/the-heroin-heroine-of-reddit-a2fffcc2a25b
For me, it was a very interesting read.
How does this lady fit in? Tracey is a former heroin addict who has been clean since 1997. She has begun sending out Naloxone and clean needles to addicts in need in states where they can't get Naloxone. She first advises them to look for one of the 700 centers across the USA currently distributing it but if they live to far away from a center or from medical help (as many rural addicts do). She will send them naltroxone. While the article discusses 110, according to a thread on Reddit, she just had her confirmed 132 save. That is 132 people who were overdosing that a vial she sent revived from the dead. These are just the ones that report back to having used the naloxone either on a friend or someone else using it on them. She insists on using her real first name and the handle traceyh415 across every single platform as an means of accountability and as a means of showing the addicts that you CAN come back from the dark side. She now has a bachelors and masters degree, plus a certification in addiction support. She has a family and a good life. She said she wants to be a role model and give back to the addicts without hope, hoping that one day she can save some of them and give them the ABILITY to come back from addiction. Meaning, they are alive long enough to make that decision for themselves. She wants to give them hope that they can recover when they reach that point, in the mean time she wants to keep them alive.
She has been taking donations and said she and donations split the costs of the stuff she sends out 60/40 (though she didn't say which side was which). She said it took her 10 tries before she was able to actually kick the habbit for good, but she said she is even more lucky that she ever had that chance. She overdosed before and if I remember correctly, the doctors used naloxone on her. For her, this is giving back. Sending clean needles, encouraging needle exchanges, naloxone for overdose, etc.
https://medium.com/backchannel/the-heroin-heroine-of-reddit-a2fffcc2a25b
For me, it was a very interesting read.