“C’mon chickens, here you go, there’s corn in this one,” D said as he scattered feed to the chickens on his land in Ninilchik, on the Kenai Peninsula. We’re just using D’s first initial to protect his privacy.
D doesn’t take even the simple things, like household chores, for granted. He’s a fisherman and artist and has been in recovery for more than a year. But for more than a decade, D struggled with an active opioid addiction. It all started when he fell off a ladder and got injured.
“Before 2012 I didn't know what ‘dope sick’ was. I drank beer and smoked pot like the good Lord intended. And when I got hurt, I started taking those pills,” he said.
D said his doctor put him on 80 milligrams of OxyContin a day to manage the pain – a high dose.
“I thought that I wasn't addicted to them until I didn't have no more,” D said.
When D’s doctor wouldn’t prescribe more pain pills, he went through withdrawal, sometimes called being "dope sick."
“It's like having the flu, the worst part of having the flu,” he said. “But it don't go away. I've never had the flu last over 24 hours, but dope sick just keeps going on and on and on and on.”
D isn't alone. His story follows a common pattern in Alaska and the rest of the country. In the past decade, the state has lost about 2,000 Alaskans to drug overdoses, many involving opioids. Like D, many became dependent on opioids after being prescribed them following an injury. When those prescriptions ran out, some turned to heroin and, more recently, fentanyl. Addiction medicine experts now say medications like methadone and buprenorphine can treat opioid addiction long-term and prevent overdoses before they happen.
D said when he couldn’t get another opioid prescription from his doctor, he found heroin, and it took over his life.
“Virtually every dime I was making, I was just spending on heroin,” he said. “But if you're spending that much money on one thing, you can't do nothing else. It's not good for your relationship. Believe that. And my woman put up with it for 10 years.”
He said the damage to his relationship with his partner eventually pushed him to get treatment. He’d tried an oral medication for opioid use disorder but he didn’t stick with the treatment. But about a year ago, he decided to try buprenorphine injections, which last for a month. That’s been a game changer for him because it's reduced his cravings and need for street opioids.
Dr. Sarah Spencer, his provider and an addiction medicine specialist working on the Kenai Peninsula, said buprenorphine is the most widely used medication for opioid use disorder and she’s seen it transform the lives of her patients.
“One of the things people say that they like the most about the medication is that they just wake up feeling normal every day,” Spencer said. “They don't wake up feeling like they're sick and in withdrawal.”
And she said that means they can spend their time on other things, not just finding and using opioids.
D said that’s been true for him for the year he’s been in recovery.
“This saved my relationship, definitely,” D said. “It saved my life, period. I still have a relapse now and again, but for the most part, I don't even think about it.”
Spencer said returning to illicit opioid use like D described is common, and doesn't mean the treatment is a failure. She said the medication both reduces cravings for illicit opioids and makes using them less pleasurable.
Medication also dramatically reduces the risk of dying of overdose.
D said he’s grateful that he has survived his disorder so far.
“I could see how you could die, really easy,” he said. “I'm so sick of people dying. It's not even funny. I look at my Facebook and all the people are dead, all from fentanyl. I don't want to do that to my kids or my woman. So that's why I'm trying. Yeah, that's why I'm trying.”
He said now he’s grateful he doesn’t have to waste his life trying to find opioids and he encourages more people who have a problem with opioids to seek out help.
Alaskans who want help for substance use can talk to their health care provider or call 2-1-1 to be connected to community resources.
