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New moderator

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hi, thought I should introduce myself. I have been asked to help moderate the drugs board on a part time basis, so I guess you'll be seeing a bit of me about on here... I am a nurse consultant in a substance misuse NHS trust in London. please be nice, I'm new to this!!!!!

Comments

  • JadedJaded Posts: 2,682 Boards Guru
    Welcome :wave:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hello!
    I don't frequent the boards very much, but welcome :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    so if you are invovled in substance mis-use;

    in your experience what percentage of occasions that someone does ecstasy, does it have any negative affects whatsoever?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    phoenix24 wrote: »
    so if you are invovled in substance mis-use;

    in your experience what percentage of occasions that someone does ecstasy, does it have any negative affects whatsoever?

    Interesting question. i guess i'd need to know what you meant by any negative effects whatsoever. there are many people who suffer from negative physical and psychological symptoms, both whilst under the influence of ecstacy and in the days that follow. check the boards. at the very least people feel lethargic and a bit low, whilst others get extremely low, paranoid and anxious.
    in terms of physical effects, symptoms can range from feeling "toxic" and nauseous right on through to full on heart problems, arrhythmias, kidney problems etc etc etc

    all in all, ecstacy is starting to be seen as one of the less harmful drugs. in a recent advisory council for the misuse of drugs (ACMD) study, it put ecstacy near the bottom of the 20 most dangerous drugs (19th i believe, above Khat, but i might be wrong). however, all drugs carry some risk. i cannot think of any substance that, if you do too much of it, will not do you some form of harm, including water.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You're very welcome.

    Out of interest do you try and seperate out the effects that poly-drug use have had on a user? Or do you just treat them as a whole.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote: »
    You're very welcome.

    Out of interest do you try and seperate out the effects that poly-drug use have had on a user? Or do you just treat them as a whole.

    always as a whole personally, although many of the systems in place tend to force you to treat each substance individually. there are some combinations ( like opiates alcohol and benzodiazepines for instance) where it would be way too risky to treat individually. in my experience, it is almost pointless to treat just one symptom of a much wider issue!

    on the other hand (and i risk appearing like i'm sitting on the fence here) it is also important to treat what people want treating. it is a bit shortsighted to take a whole systems approach to a user's use when they want to continue using one drug, whilst stopping another.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That'n'also the dual diagnosis problem, particularly in relation to some GPs from the subcontinent who are unfamiliar with British patterns of consumption and mental health (and BEFORE anyone jumps on me this is not a dig at Asian or migrant doctors, it is an issue of training and cultural awarenes that is being addressed at present).
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