WTF is Watts the Fix?
In 2023, what I can only describe as a pretty normal climbing fall (falling is extremely common when bouldering) left me with a cervical spinal cord injury. The talented neurosurgery team performed a C5/6 fusion, and I was sent on my way.
Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of what would quickly become the most difficult couple of years of my life. Chronic pain alongside a number of neurological issues — neuropathy, fatigue, imbalance, and clonus, to name a few — derailed my plans and ability to enjoy my usual occupations.
The opioid medication prescribed for pain quickly started to serve another purpose. It blunted emotions, providing a warm, comforting blanket that made my lack of progression feel not only acceptable, but nice. While I knew I had a problem, the longer time ticked away, the harder it became to quit. The road back became longer and harder — and why bother even trying, when all you need to feel satisfied is another hit?
At the end of 2024, my addiction took a turn for the worse. I’d been ordering painkillers from the dark web on top of the normal prescriptions, but this time, it wasn’t what it said on the tin. Instead of Oxycodone, I received something few of you may have heard of: Nitazenes. These synthetic opioids are up to 40 times stronger than Fentanyl, and hundreds of times stronger than Heroin, two substances I’m sure you will have heard of.
The next thing I can remember is waking up with two paramedics over me. It had taken four doses of Naloxone (the miracle opioid agonist that, if delivered in a timely fashion, can reverse the respiratory depression caused by high-strength opioids). To explain just how strong Nitazenes are, I overdosed again while in hospital. The Naloxone had worn out, and the synthetic buggars had made their way back into receptors, necessitating a further couple of doses of the miracle drug.
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