The power of seduction and the terror of heroin addiction are close together. Andreas von Burg has experienced it himself and talks impressively about his many years of heroin addiction, which he successfully overcame. He has been clean for 25 years and has supported the OPIOSTOP team for several years by contributing his experience as a former addict. He is convinced that withdrawal with OPIOSTOP offers addicts a real chance to start a new life.
Heroin addiction: heaven and hell
Heroin triggers a sense of euphoria. A feeling of greatest well-being, increased joy of life, carefree confidence and optimism. Fear disappears, problems fade and recede into the distance. Heroin relaxes and makes you tired. Andreas von Burg knows and describes these feelings very well:
«Heroin has a characteristic that other drugs do not have. It replaces all the most important human needs. Namely, those for communication, social exchange, sexuality. It even replaces hunger and thirst. That felt great at first. But when those needs are all met at once, humans can't handle it.»
On the edge of society
Even today, he often thinks back to the darker side and how his drug addiction had left him on the edge of society.
«I was a part-time delinquent for a long time during my heroin addiction. My social environment fell apart during that time. I lived in the streets and could no longer hide my addiction. Of course, you still try to maintain a facade. You're afraid of rejection. It makes you deny everything.»
Back to life after withdrawal
Andreas von Burg was able to overcome his heroin addiction in 1997. At that time, however, there was no OPIOSTOP treatment. He had managed it with conventional withdrawal back then. If withdrawal under anesthesia with OPIOSTOP had been available, he would have immediately opted for it, Andreas von Burg emphasizes. Today he lives in the Bern area and works as a computer scientist. He enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife Grada and their dog Lancelot.
Helping other heroin addicts
Andreas von Burg learned about OPIOSTOP withdrawal some ten years ago, when he was already clean. At that time, he was asked by medical professionals to support the project and to contribute his knowledge from his self-experience. At the beginning, Andreas von Burg was skeptical. He had heard of other treatments in the past that offered withdrawal under general anesthesia. And he had often not heard much positive about that. Nevertheless, he was interested in this new treatment method. And he agreed.
He found the teamwork with Dr. Patricia Manndorff in particular to be very good and convincing. Andreas von Burg quickly realized that it was a real concern for Patricia Manndorff to be able to help addicted people. So it was for him, too.
OPIOSTOP helps even with a long-term addiction
Over the years that followed, he was able to experience and learn in many conversations with patients how successful treatment with OPIOSTOP can be. What convinced him the most: even those people who had been addicted for decades and were considered "untreatable" could actually be helped by OPIOSTOP treatment.
Withdrawal from heroin: OPIOSTOP is a real opportunity
For Andreas von Burg, it is clear that when it comes to withdrawal, the individual must have a strong will. You really have to want to get better. Withdrawal is always accompanied by major changes in lifestyle habits that were in alignment with the addiction, von Burg says. But he is convinced that with OPIOSTOP all patients have a real chance. The treatment is suitable for both addiction to drugs and addiction to painkillers.
«To this day, I know of no other treatment that shows such great success as OPIOSTOP. Withdrawal with OPIOSTOP is a REAL chance to start a new life.»