I just found out my live in boyfriend is addicted to heroin. how can I help him?

I think the first question should be does he want to be helped? It sounds like it if he has been doing the thomas recipe, but I have been addicted to heroin myself, and the only way I could quit was because I decided to. I had tons of pressure from other people to quit, and knew that I "should," but I didn't stop until I wanted to myself. My boyfriend was still doing heroin even though he knew he would get kicked out of his house if he kept doing it, which meant he had to move in with his mom in another state, and eventually that's what happened. Even though he'd been clean for a couple weeks by that point it was too late. He wanted to quit but couldn't do it. I have known a lot of people who are/were addicted to heroin and it's similar in most cases I've seen. At first they love it and don't want to quit.

Expand this post...

Once the withdrawls set in and you question whether the good effects outweigh the bad and are considering quitting, you feel like you can't.

So basically, I'd say there are 3 factors you should think of:

Firstly, does he want to quit? Because if not, then there's nothing you can do. If he does then ask him specifically what he wants you do to help, and be willing to do it. Let him know you care about him a lot and would do anything to help him out. If it's something you don't think you can handle alone, then get pro help like rehab or a doctor that specializes in this type of thing.

Secondly, he might think he's not be able to quit. At least not without tons pain from withdrawls, and the pain will make him want heroin more since that's the only thing that will cure it. And quitting might not happen right away. It's a process. I would recommend you be very sympathetic and caring toward him since during withdrawls he'll likely be very sick and irritable. I would also recommend that he takes methodone or suboxone to help out with withdrawls.

Thirdly, why did he start using heroin, and why did he continue? (Other than that we was addicted). I tried heroin because I was impulsive, and I loved it. My body was so relaxed, and I didn't have anxiety. Then it became a habit, it was something to do, and I liked the effect. Even though I was starting to get addicted, I continued with heroin because I have post traumatic stress disorder, which makes me feel a lot of negative emotions that I felt like were taking over and heroin numbed out my emotional pain, plus back pain. Basically I was self-medicating. Thankfully somehow I forced myself to quit before I was having severe withdrawls. Since then, I have relapsed for short periods of time, and I think about it all the time. Find out what the underlying problem is (numbing out all emotion in my case but it could be something totally different for him). Even if he quits heroin for awhile, if the underlying problem isn't solved then he could easily relapse. I think it's best to solve this from the inside out, because then the change is an internal decision, not an external change on the surface.

Also, I would try to withhold any harsh judgements and criticism (especially if he's having really bad withdrawls) since I've noticed that most people in this position (including me) already know what they're doing is bad for them but do it anyway because they feel like they can't quit, or just don't want to quit. Either way, criticism will make him feel worse, and if he feels worse, then it will be harder to quit. Focus on the positive, that you care about him and want to help, and you can help him get through it. Good luck!