[Jamie Zadrozny]

I'm a 6 year heroin addict who needs help finally getting off. Are there any medicines or treatments anyone would recommend as a starting point? I shoot about 3 bags a day, but my husband Jon doesn't know.

[Robert_325]

Jamie,

There are only a few options if you are ready to do this and you can't tell your spouse. That makes it harder, you should try to work that out. It would make your recovery easier.

If you really have to keep this detox to yourself your best bet would be suboxone. You just have to be in moderate to severe w/d from the heroin when you begin. You stay on it long enough to positively get past the opiate w/d and then you taper off. It works great. You can check out local drs at www.suboxone.com or www.naabt.org. Let us know what you do. Good luck.

[jennmkillgore]

Jamie,
Please, Suboxone is only good for people with a mild habit. I have done TONS of research on this. I have been clean for six years with the help of Methadone. YES, I know, people are going to say horrible things about this medication, but when used right, it can give you your life back. It's a starting point. Then once you get on a low enough dose of the Methadone, you can switch to Sub to come totally off. If you need ANYTHING, please call me. My number is 806-577-6378 I have been where you are. There is hope and there is help. You just have to be willing to do whatever it takes and it sounds like you are. Take care and I do answer my phone 24/7. Anytime, day or night, no problem. I'll talk as long as you need it. I have worked with other addicts for a long time. Hope to hear from you.
Jennifer

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by jennmkillgore

Jamie,
Please, Suboxone is only good for people with a mild habit. I have done TONS of research on this. I have been clean for six years with the help of Methadone.............................. once you get on a low enough dose of the Methadone, you can switch to Sub to come totally off.
Jennifer

Jennifer,

What do you consider a "mild" habit to be??? I am curious. I know what my opiate habit was and what several other people's habit was. It was FAR from being "mild" and suboxone worked pretty well. Not questioning your research but a few of us have done quite a bit of research. There are actually very few times that buprenorphine is not a viable option for treating addiction where methadone would be. I do understand that in some really extreme cases using methadone first and later switching to suboxone is probably the best realistic choice. But those instances are not common at all.

I am very careful about choosing methadone as the first choice of the options for treating opiate addiction. Methadone does have lots of great benefits. It is a great medication for treating addiction long term and also for long term pain management . It also has serious minuses if done for a short term. It's just not a short term medication, wasn't designed that way. It becomes a way of life. Nothing wrong with using it for life if necessary. I just think it should be prescribed when other options are exhausted.

Methadone and subutex/suboxone have become the "gold standard" for treating opiate addiction. I totally believe in Opiate Replacement Therapy with methadone and buprenorphine. W/D symptoms during opiate detox should become a thing of the past as more people (both patients and doctors) become more informed as to how to use buprenorphine most effectively. Take care.

[ClareK]

Dear Jamie,

Try looking into opiates.com.....If you really want to put this behind you..If you are planning a replacement drug like Methadone or Suboxone, it will probably be safer then Heroin but you eventually will have to detox from those that are still opiates...

[bev49]

I agree with Robert 100%. My "mild" habit was 10 years of shooting heroin followed by 33 years of methadone maintenance. Methadone did save me but i would not recommend it as the first choice. I got myself down to 20 mgs. methadone for the last 3 years and the switch to suboxone went seamlessly. 3 bags a day is really not that severe a habit. I believe suboxone was made for someone like that. The problem with methadone is that it is EXTREMELY addictive. You do not get off of it that easily. It would be much easier to switch from 3 bags a day to suboxone than from a methadone habit. Take my word for it. I had to go 72 hours with no meth before I could start the sub and it wasn't fun. Sub would be my first choice in a situation like this.

[nichole123]

Hi. I do not reccommend either suboxone or Methadone. You will have to withdrawal from both of these and It will not be fun nor easy. If you have the resources, check out www.opiates.com. Really amazing place. Good medicine.

Best of Luck-

[starryeyed]

i had a 3 gram a day habit and did the rapid detox over 12 hour which was hell then had a naltrexone implant put in my stomach apparently it can be administered orally but in your tummy it slow releases over 6 months so no opiate or drink will have any affect on you in this time and the only was anyone will know is by a tiny scar on your tummy.

[sisterwin2]

Originally Posted by starryeyed

i had a 3 gram a day habit and did the rapid detox over 12 hour which was hell then had a naltrexone implant put in my stomach apparently it can be administered orally but in your tummy it slow releases over 6 months so no opiate or drink will have any affect on you in this time and the only was anyone will know is by a tiny scar on your tummy.

Can you elaberate a bit more on teh naltresone implant. Cost.. who to go to etc.. side effect. I am currently on sub and now down to 12 mg per day. I will hopefully be complete wean off that in about the next 3-4 weeks. LOVE THE SUB,, by the way. I am worried about if I am ready in 3-4 weeks to be without a crutch though.

ty
Sister.

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by sisterwin2

Can you elaberate a bit more on teh naltresone implant. Cost.. who to go to etc.. side effect. I am currently on sub and now down to 12 mg per day. I will hopefully be complete wean off that in about the next 3-4 weeks. LOVE THE SUB,, by the way. I am worried about if I am ready in 3-4 weeks to be without a crutch though.

ty
Sister.

If you want to try the naltrexone you do not have to do an implant. Naltrexone is available by prescription. I guess this is one of the costs of the Rapid Detox program that I don't understand. Why go the extreme of an implanting a drug that you can dose daily as a normal prescription? Seems like a money gig to me. The naltrexone works the same by taking it orally on a daily basis.

[sisterwin2]

Originally Posted by Robert_325

If you want to try the naltrexone you do not have to do an implant. Naltrexone is available by prescription. I guess this is one of the costs of the Rapid Detox program that I don't understand. Why go the extreme of an implanting a drug that you can dose daily as a normal prescription? Seems like a money gig to me. The naltrexone works the same by taking it orally on a daily basis.

well.... to be honest I fear that I may not take it. Right now I could but on the sub. I have had many relapses and just not sure I have another in me.
If I cant get the inplant then I will take it po. With the implant than it buys me more time to get my head on straight. I dont trust me anymore. Esp. now that I know there is a easy way out like the sub. I have been doing so well and feel so much better about my self. I am not 100% back to myself. I know I am not and not just talking about the sweats and lack of sleep. I am talking about knowing how to live without narc's. I attempted to go back to NA but just not buying into it now. I really am not sure that this is a diease but a choice that I have made out of weakness and just like the high. I still can not picture myself living without dope. I have only been clean maybe 12 yrs of my whole life. Started very young. Was forced to be clean back in the eighties but even then I found a way to beat urines. I had 4 yrs clean when out to sea on a 38 foot boat....... I cant run from it in that capacity .... cant afford that. It may change as I stay clean for the duration of the sub. Right now, tonight, I just dont see it. I am not having craving or should I say strong cravings that I would stop the sub. Do you see what I mean?

[sisterwin2]

Originally Posted by jennmkillgore

Jamie,
Please, Suboxone is only good for people with a mild habit. I have done TONS of research on this. I have been clean for six years with the help of Methadone. YES, I know, people are going to say horrible things about this medication, but when used right, it can give you your life back. It's a starting point. Then once you get on a low enough dose of the Methadone, you can switch to Sub to come totally off. If you need ANYTHING, please call me. My number is 806-577-6378 I have been where you are. There is hope and there is help. You just have to be willing to do whatever it takes and it sounds like you are. Take care and I do answer my phone 24/7. Anytime, day or night, no problem. I'll talk as long as you need it. I have worked with other addicts for a long time. Hope to hear from you.
Jennifer

Well Jennifer..... too many people on this forum alone to prove u wrong. I am not a "mild" addict by any means. Not sure what a "mild" addict is. It is working for me and I do not have to give my life over to a clinic. I am not saying Meth is not for some. It is....... but Suboxone is for many also. What.... you own a meth clinic?