What medicine would cure an 18 year opiate addict? Will I have to maintain forever?

If you have to maintain forever, that is ultimately your decision. What can you do?

As far as what drug to take now to treat addiction, you may be out of luck. I've been addicted to something for about 10 years now and I'm 63. I think I'm in the same boat and, from my seat, the boat is not going to stay afloat much longer.

You could taper slowly or in a detox center and get off Suboxone. Your honesty about being irresponsible is a good thing. Honesty has to be in the foundation of getting off drugs. Our addict brain mixes truth and lies to manipulate for the next high, and soon we don't know a lie from the truth. But you didn't say you want to stop. You gotta wanna.

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I've heard from my Suboxone doctor that Suboxone is going generic ... maybe in a matter of months. I haven't heard that anywhere else so it may not come about soon. If Suboxone works for you, maybe you can find a way to hang on. Do you have a plan to get off Suboxone? It's critical that you taper and not stop cold. This addiction is life and death. So many of us die. I'm no professional or statitician, but common sense tells me it's overdoses and suicides.

It helps to be sober and clean, have you tried 12 step meetings? The only requirement to attend is that you want to stop your addiction. AA is filled with drug addicts now. Try it just for today, or just for this hour. If you tried it and didn't like it, try again; that's very common. Each group dynamic is different, each meeting has a different purpose. There are also speaker meetings in AA where only the speaker talks. You don't have to talk. Listen. For pete's sake, try to hear how you are the same as Them, and not count the ways They are different and full of it. I promise, you will take some tidbit home with you that is helpful, and maybe find someone who is like you.

Honestly, I have issues about going to these meetings because I'm on prescribed medication, not clean and sober, but I did make a promise to myself to go to a meeting tonight. In larger towns there are also SMART RECOVERY meetings, which is the one I'm going to try. www.smart.recovery.org is the website, if anyone is interested. Not connected with Their literature says "Many have begun attending SMART recovery meetings while engaging in addictive behavior and chosen to quit their habit later." (It's a self-help group for individuals who want to abstain from addictive behavior such as gambling or drugs ... )

Since I'm new to this site, I'm not sure if I've said something that will be considered inappropriate for the members. I tried to be helpful and say it like it is. I hope someone finds something helpful in here. Hang in there.