My Brother Is a Heroin Addict.. Please Help Posted: 06-03-06 17:47pm
My brother has had an addiction problem
since he had a car accident and almost
lost his arm, well his addiction was
probally before that, but this is when it
got bad. He went from percocet to
oxycotin to heroin. The heroin addiction
is ruining me and my families lives. He
steals constantly, gets into trouble with
the law (just recently beat a huge
courtcase that would have put him in ail
for 5-10 years) and now we just found out
he had an overdose. He was found on the
street with no id and woke up in the
ambulance, in the er they shot him up, got
him up and running and sent him on his
way. No social worker, no contacting the
family, no nothing. I guess they assumed
he was homeless.
He spent the last 2 days detoxing at home
and is now at this moment back out with
his friends. He has been in and out of
methodone clinics, long term rehabs, and
aa/na meetings. There seems to be nothing
else we can do. I dont know what his rock
bottom could possibly be other then
death.
My question is does anybody know of any
in-voluntary rehabs? Ones you cant check
yourself out of? Or any other
suggestions?
We as a family (well the immediate
family.. Me, my mom and dad) arent
perfect and there are times we "enable"
him, (lending him a few dollars, bailing
him out of ail) but all and all we all
admitt he has a problem and dont deny it.
My mom cant thro him out because she is
afraid the next phone call she gets will
be from a morgue.
Can anybody relate or help?
Thanks
|
cosmicheidi
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 4 Location: connecticut
Posted: 06-27-06 13:09pm
My dear,
i have a great history with addicts and
alcoholics. Unfortunately I must tell you
that there is no way to make someone want
to get well. Thousands of dollars have
been spent on people I know, because their
families sent them to rehab.. All they
are is a sober addict.. Waiting for their
next moment with the drug.
Enabling the addict prolongs the amount of
time it will take to hit his/her bottom.
That is when he and she decide to get
sober: when the amount of uncomfortability
is just too much. Until then, they feel
like they have more "research" to do.
There is no need to bail him out of jail..
That is a safe place for him.. Also if
he needs money, just buy him the thing he
needs.. Any cash is going straight to the
dope man.. I urge you all to go to an
al-anon meeting.. Most cities have them.
They are support for families of an addict
or alcoholic (same thing). They are so
helpful, and I have gone before. You will
see, you do not have to re-invent the
wheel in order to learn how to deal with
certain situations.
Good luck.. Let me know what you decide
to do, if anything..
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thatoneguy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 2 Location: ohio
Posted: 06-28-06 00:42am
Wait till you are sure he has the smack
and turn him into the fuzz. He might go
to jail but you might be able to coerce
the judge into sending him to rehab. And
from the sounds of it jail might no be too
bad for him. And if you really want him
to stop being addicted now break his back
at the base of the spine. He will be
instantly unaddicted.
|
xojenniexo
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 38
Posted: 06-28-06 01:23am
thatoneguy
wrote:
wait till you are sure he
has the smack and turn him into the fuzz.
He might go to jail but you might be able
to coerce the judge into sending him to
rehab. And from the sounds of it jail
might no be too bad for him. And if you
really want him to stop being addicted now
break his back at the base of the spine.
He will be instantly
unaddicted.
???? Break his back? Please tell me ur
kidding.
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cosmicheidi
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 4 Location: connecticut
Posted: 06-28-06 12:14pm
Jokes or not, a broken back has been the
beginning point for so many addicts..
They get pain patches, pills, endless
amounts of powerful narcotics.. How
silly
also, if you decide to call the cops when
you are sure he has dope, he will figure
out who told, or at least have a good
guess.. I wouldn't recommend it!
The benefits of rehab for someone who
hasn't hit bottom yet are, I would guess
(i was never forced to go to rehab, I just
went once by my own decision, but I know a
lot of people who were forced to), are
that the seed of idea to get sober, the
principles of aa (where most addicts end
up for support), they are all started..
Just the idea, even if the person goes
right back to using. Although, I have
heard of people being sent to rehab 10,
20, 30, 40 times.
How old is he?
My experience of getting sober was to go
to an out-of-state rehab center, for 6
weeks (my decision), and then took their
suggestion - (doing it my way never worked
before!) - I went to a sober house, in a
city called new haven, connecticut.. It
is a city overflowing with young people
getting sober.. There are so many
meetings.. So many young people.. It is
hard for young people to get sober
sometimes when "everyone else" is
drinking, smoking, using, etc.
See what you can find online in ways of
al-anon material.. Become familiar with
the 12 steps and traditions.. (same
material more or less for aa or al-anon)
.. Try to find an al-anon message board..
I guarantee there are people who have
gone through the same things..
Good luck
|
xojenniexo
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 38
Posted: 06-28-06 13:00pm
Thanks for the comments and support... It
was reassuring to see that people have to
gone in and out of rehab before becoming
sober.
Calling the police was my first instinct
but my fmaily made it clear that if I did
I would be the "bad guy'.
I am no strnager to addiction
unfortunelty... My father has 15 years
clean my mother is an alcoholic and now my
brother... I seem to be the only one not
using. But I am very familiar with aa and
alanon. My problem is they dont seem to
be working. My brother has been sober
before but it seems to get worst with
every relapse. And like I said before I
really dont know what could be his rock
bottom outside of death.
We were thinking about out of state rehab
being the best bet but they wont take
him... Actually no rehab will take him
because he has been detoxed 2x already.
Beinging to feel desperate.
|
Jaleigh
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Oct 2005 Posts: 34
My Brother Is a Heroin Addict.. Please Help Posted: 07-26-06 00:41am
xojenniexo
wrote:
my brother has had an
addiction problem since he had a car
accident and almost lost his arm, well his
addiction was probally before that, but
this is when it got bad. He went from
percocet to oxycotin to heroin. The
heroin addiction is ruining me and my
families lives. He steals constantly,
gets into trouble with the law (just
recently beat a huge courtcase that would
have put him in ail for 5-10 years) and
now we just found out he had an overdose.
He was found on the street with no id and
woke up in the ambulance, in the er they
shot him up, got him up and running and
sent him on his way. No social worker,
no contacting the family, no nothing. I
guess they assumed he was homeless.
He spent the last 2 days detoxing at home
and is now at this moment back out with
his friends. He has been in and out of
methodone clinics, long term rehabs, and
aa/na meetings. There seems to be
nothing else we can do. I dont know what
his rock bottom could possibly be other
then death.
My question is does anybody know of any
in-voluntary rehabs? Ones you cant check
yourself out of? Or any other
suggestions?
We as a family (well the immediate
family.. Me, my mom and dad) arent
perfect and there are times we "enable"
him, (lending him a few dollars, bailing
him out of ail) but all and all we all
admitt he has a problem and dont deny it.
My mom cant thro him out because she is
afraid the next phone call she gets will
be from a morgue.
Can anybody relate or help?
Thanks
i'm so sorry to hear that your family is
going through this terrible ordeal. I
know it's very stressful for you and
parents to sit back and watch your brother
self destruct like this. Unfortunately,
if you do happen to find a involuntary
rehab clinic, that's still not going to be
the answer to your brother's problem by
any means. If anything, it may make him
do the exact opposite once he finally gets
released from the clinic. Noone is going
to get off of drugs unless they really
want to get off the drugs. Not because
mom and dad wants him too or you his
sister. Not even his own wife and
children (if he has any). This is a very
strong drug that grabs a hold to the
person and it won't let go unless that
person is dedicated to making it stay away
forever. It doesn't sound like your
brother is ready to take it that far right
now. From what i've learned and heard
from other "users", the methadone clinic's
are the best type of help that is
currently out there for heroin addicts
and/or people addicted to pain pills.
Methadone has a very high success rate and
it does work. It stops the withdrawals,
which is why so many people go right back
to using again........Because they can't
stand the withdrawals or the drug when
they are off of it. But, the methadone
takes care of all of that and makes the
person feel like their old self again.
It sounds like your brother isn't ready to
get off of the drug at this time. It
sounds like he is still enjoying the act
of doing the drug, verses other people
that just want to get off of it, but can't
without help. Those people will benefit
from the methadone, but if the person
doesn't want to stop the act of doing
drugs, then they are not going to get any
better and they are not going to take the
methadone seriously. When a patient is
on methadone, then if they do any heroin
or take any pain pills, it's just all a
waste of time and money, because the
methadone blocks the effects that the
drugs offer to the addict. They can not
feel any of the euphoric feelings that
they like so much when they take the
drugs. That's why they do the drugs to
feel "good" off of them. The methadone
prevents that from happening. Once on
the methadone program for awhile, the
patient starts to forget how that euphoric
feeling feels and they start enjoying
feeling like their "old self" again.
It's not going to happen over night. It
does take time to get your mental state
where it needs to be. The physical
craving and addiction is only 50% of the
problem. The other 50% is the mental
cravings and addiction the patient goes
through, which is sometimes more powerful
than the physical cravings. It just
takes time and a lot of support from the
patients family and friends. It's
important that the person stays busy as
much as possible while on the methadone
program. Free time is the last thing a
person in this situation needs. The more
time they are not thinking about the drug,
the better they are getting on the
program. If he starts the methadone
program again and stays on it and sticks
to it religiously he will over come his
addiction. That is only if he wants to
do it for himself! Until then, there's
nothing anyone can do to help him. Many
people also need the support groups which
are offered at the methadone clinics.
Sometimes it helps to talk and be around
others that are in the same situation that
you are in. Then again, there are some
people that can't talk about it with
anyone. Usually men feel this way. For
some reason they think they don't need any
help and they won't ask or accept it from
anyone. Regardless, he can over come
this addiction with a lot of commitment on
his part. I don't know if ya'll are
religious people or not, but if so prayer
helps a lot. Ask god to help your
brother see the way and ask him to help
him gain the courage to get help and stick
to it this time. Good luck to you, your
family and of course your brother. I
hope he makes it out of the rut that he's
currently in. He can make it, but he has
to want to do it for himself first.
