1/Suicide is being noticed as a component of opioids both in addiction and in the fate of some patients being cut off. Let me stare something I hope will be practical wbur.org/commonhealth/2…
2/I am not here to speculate “why” here save to note that pain, addiction & opioid taper/discontinuation all have correlations with suicide, and that means we have many many people at risk right now
3/and I am not a Suicide expert and this is not medical advice but here is the Suicide Prevention line as one option: 800-273-8255 suicidepreventionlifeline.org
4/If you are suicidal in context of opioids being stopped, none of us have “sure and certain solutions” but I am going to suggest standard and nonstandard things to consider
4/Consider calling friends. turning your guns & ammo over to others for safe keeping. Hospital Emergency Room.
5/You may not have addiction or you may not know if that word applies but it is still OK to go to a doctor who prescribes buprenorphine/Suboxone & ask for evaluation. Not saying this is best for all. It is an option samhsa.gov/medication-ass…
6/Say you disagree with the doc who stopped opioid Rx. You may have a weak relationship or none. It is okay to write a note or make a call & let them know that you are suicidal & ask for help or a referral.
7/US veterans please note that the Veterans Crisis Line includes Phone, Web chat and text message options veteranscrisisline.net/ForVeterans.as…
8/If you are suicidal and have survived a bout of this same suicidality before, ask yourself “how did I actually get through this the last time?” Think. Would that tactic be safe and workable now? Sometimes it will.
9/these are just spitball tips from an internist, offered because I am seeing/hearing a lot out there. There are psychiatrists & mental health professionals who make preventing suicide their vocation. I would urge trying to seek one, and let them help
10/The paradox of suffering is that it is often ours alone, and yet the sufferer is also connected to every other who has born the “mark of pain”, as Dr Albert Schweitzer phrased it, a Fellowship not to forget 
11/Alas there’s a typo in Tweet 1 “state something” not “stare something”. Oh well. Please share & use or add your suggestions
