Gledwood Vol 2 (Main blog): Bird Flu Crisis Hits Britain

DIARY OF A SLOWLY RECOVERING HEROIN ADDICT

I used to take heroin at every opportunity, for over 10 years, now I just take methadone which supposedly "stabilizes" me though I feel more destabilized than ever before despite having been relatively well behaved since late November/early December 2010... and VERY ANGRY about this when I let it get to me so I try not to.

I was told by a mental health nurse that my heroin addiction was "self medication" for a mood disorder that has recently become severe enough to cause psychotic episodes. As well as methadone I take antipsychotics daily. Despite my problems I consider myself a very sane person. My priority is to attain stability. I go to Narcotics Anonymous because I "want what they have" ~ Serenity.

My old blog used to say "candid confessions of a heroin and crack cocaine addict" how come that one comes up when I google "heroin blog" and not this one. THIS IS MY BLOG. I don't flatter myself that every reader knows everything about me and follows closely every single word every day which is why I repeat myself. Most of that is for your benefit not mine.

This is my own private diary, my journal. It is aimed at impressing no-one. It is kept for my own benefit to show where I have been and hopefully to put off somebody somewhere from ever getting into the awful mess I did and still cannot crawl out of. Despite no drugs. I still drink, I'm currently working on reducing my alcohol intake to zero.

If you have something to say you are welcome to comment. Frankness I can handle. Timewasters should try their own suggestions on themselves before wasting time thinking of ME.

PS After years of waxing and waning "mental" symptoms that made me think I had depression and possibly mild bipolar I now have found out I'm schizoaffective. My mood has been constantly "cycling" since December 2010. Mostly towards mania (an excited non-druggy "high"). For me, schizoaffective means bipolar with (sometimes severe) mania and flashes of depression (occasionally severe) with bits of schizophrenia chucked on top. You could see it as bipolar manic-depression with sparkly knobs on ... I'm on antipsychotic pills but currently no mood stabilizer. I quite enjoy being a bit manic it gives the feelings of confidence and excitement people say they use cocaine for. But this is natural and it's free, so I don't see my "illness" as a downer. It does, however, make life exceedingly hard to engage with...

PPS The "elevated mood" is long gone. Now I'm depressed. Forget any ideas of "happiness" I have given up heroin and want OFF methadone as quick as humanly possible. I'm fed up of being a drug addict. Sick to death of it. I wanna be CLEAN!!!

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Bird Flu Crisis Hits Britain

IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME ... BIRD FLU has hit Britain WELL AND TRULY.

2,500 turkeys died of the deadly H5N1 strain in a shed at Bernard Matthews' (UK's most famous Turkey producer) Norfolk farm. H5N1 is the strain that most easily passes to human beings. And as far as the media seem to know, ALL 2500 BIRDS died NOT from being culled but from avian influenza itself!

Although the flu is not currently able to pass from human to human, it CAN pass from bird to human.

I always had a funny feeling that when the disease finally did kick off, it would do so here.

So that's the news. UK death toll = birds: 2500 ; humans: 0.

Let's hope it stays that way.

PS I've been advised (see the comments box for the post before this) that codliver oil helps prevent infection. I'm out to get a tin of sardines right now!! The lady who told me also gives some sensible advice to avoid infection. All I could add is that the common cold (which is spread pretty much like the flu) is most easily contracted through the eyes. Yes! If someone sneezes, a droplet gets on your hand and then you rub your eyes, that is how a cold is most likely caught. So the best advice for that is wash your hands frequently. And don't rub your eyes!

PPS I've slapped up some bird flu links to media stories (BBC etc) top right ...

4 comments:

RUTH said...: There's been talk of some here in Suffolk and Norfolk is only just up the road from us. All very worrying....that sounds a bit of an understatement ...but you know what I mean.
Take care
Rx
p.s. staring at this computer screen so much is doing my eyes in...I'm forever rubbing them!!!!
p.p.s. Please wash your hands after reading this comment..LOL; 3 February 2007 at 22:58
Wayward Son said...: There is passion in your words and remedy (prevention) on your mind. You have found your purpose my friend. Bravo!; 4 February 2007 at 04:12
Deb said...: try and hang in there guys, i'm sure things will turn out alright. Just be careful and don't worry (too much - I know it's impossible not to worry)....but we all know what stress does to the immune system, right? Just take it easy and be sensible about it all, that's all.; 4 February 2007 at 07:45
RUTH said...: Hi GW Can you do me and Elsie a favour and try and get into her recipe blog... http://ezi-edible-gifts.blogspot.com/
I can only see 2 posts; none of her older ones. Can you leave a comment to let her know what YOU can see then we will know if it is just a problem for me or whether the problem is her end.
Ta
Rx; 4 February 2007 at 10:01

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Christiane F

"Wir, Kinder vom Bahnhoff Zoo" by "Christiane F", memoir of a teenage heroin addict and prostitute, was a massive bestseller in Europe and is now a set text in German schools. Bahnhoff Zoo was, until recently, Berlin's central railway station. A kind of equivalent (in more ways than one) to London's King's Cross... Of course my local library doesn't have it. So I'm going to have to order it through a bookshop and plough through the text in German. I asked my druggieworker Maple Syrup, who is Italiana how she learned English and she said reading books is the best way. CHRISTIANE F: TRAILER You can watch the entire 120-min movie in 12 parts at my Random blog. Every section EXCEPT part one is subtitled in English (sorry: but if you skip past you still get the gist) ~ to watch it all click HERE.

Drugs Videos

Most of these come from my Random blog, which is an electronic scrapbook of stuff I thought I might like to view at some time or other. For those who want to view stuff on drugs I've collected the very best links here. Unless otherwise stated these are full-length features, usually an hour or more.

If you have a slow connexion and are unused to viewing multiscreen films on Youtube here's what to do: click the first one and play on mute, stopping and starting as it does. Then, when it's done, click on Repeat Play and you get the full entertainment without interruption. While you watch screen one, do the same to screens 2, 3 and so on. So as each bit finishes, the next part's ready and waiting.

Mexican Black Tar Heroin: "Dark End"

Khun Sa, whose name meant Prince Prosperous, had been, before his death in the mid 2000s, the world's biggest dealer in China White Heroin: "Lord of the Golden Triangle"

In-depth portrait of the Afghan heroin trade at its very height. Includes heroin-lab bust. "Afghanistan's Fateful Harvest"

Classic miniseries whose title became a catchphrase for the misery of life in East Asian prison. Nicole Kidman plays a privileged middle-class girl set up to mule heroin through Thai customs with the inevitable consequences. This is so long it had to be posted in two parts. "Bangkok Hilton 1" (first 2 hours or so); "Bangkok Hilton 2" (last couple of hours).

Short film: from tapwater-clear H4 in the USA to murky black Afghan brown in Norway: "Heroin Addicts Speak"

Before his untimely death this guy kept a video diary. Here's the hour-long highlights as broadcast on BBC TV: "Ben: Diary of a Heroin Addict". Thanks to Noah for the original link.

Some of the most entertaining scenes from Britain's top soap (as much for the poor research as anything else). Not even Phil Mitchell would go from nought to multi-hundred pound binges this fast: "Phil Mitchell on Crack" (just over 5 minutes).

Scientist lady shows us how to cook up gear: "How Much Citric?" Lucky cow: her brown is 70% purity! Oddly we never see her actually do her hit... maybe she got camera shy...

And lastly:

German documentary following a life from teenage addiction to untimely death before the age of 30. The decline in this girl's appearance is truly shocking. "Süchtig: Protokoll einer Hilflosigkeit". Sorry no subtitles; this is here for anyone learning German who's after practice material a little more gripping than Lindenstraße!