A Mom's Thoughts on Heroin Addiction

The day I found out my daughter was a heroin addict was the day I thought I was going to lose my mind. I'm pretty stable, I can usually make decisions pretty quickly without much thought or stress. That day, my mind was racing around out of control. I would cry and then I would just stop...and focus on the situation...then I would get anxious....they I would cry...this went on for hours. I had to talk myself out of this emotional roller coaster ride...telling myself that everything would be okay and truly believe myself...It was horrible. I didn't really know how to help her but I knew I couldn't help her until I could straighten myself out. Finally, I started making calls to addiction clinics and mental clinics. She had been seeing a psychiatrist for a couple of months to deal with her mood swings. I had no idea she was an addict I thought she just had problems dealing with life in general. Her psychiatrist was named as someone who could help her. So I immediately called and they immediately told me to bring her in. He prescribed suboxone. She seemed to do very well and I could see a change in her almost immediately. I watched her go through the daily ups and downs...the temptation to go out and use again. The everyday drama was just about to cause me to have a nervous breakdown. If she went out I would stay up. If she was home I would stay up. I was not sleeping well at all. Heroin was taking its tole on me too...I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was obsessed with its hold on my daughter. I found it very helpful to talk with her counselor but I found it the most helpful to read others posts about addiction and the problems and solutions they had found. She's been heroin-free for 4 months now. I'm sleeping now. I feel great. There are several things I learned as a parent of a heroin addict. If they want to use they will use. Just keep talking to them. Tell them the people they thought were there friends were not friends. Tell them to stay away from them because they only want you to get high with them. They want you to fall back into the clutches of heroin so you can be just like them...addicts. The more people that tell them this over and over again the more it starts to sink in and they will begin to believe what you're telling them. My daughter has told me that she knew that using was not good but she didn't care. The seboxone will take them to a place where they begin to care. When they care they have strength. So if you're reading this tell them you love them and care about them and get them into a program that prescribes suboxone and counseling. Learn everything you can about heroin. Learn everything you can about suboxone. Then start asking anyone that knows them and truly cares about them to tell them the same things you're telling them. The more people that tell them, that they care, to stay away from the friends that use, and how proud they are of them, the better. In my daughter's case it took just about 4 months for this to actually sink in. It is a very difficult road. I don't mean to sound like its a cake walk believe me its not. Just talk to them. Expect that they will become very irritated with you. Just walk away. Just keep talking to them. If you tell them, the counselors tell them and their friends tell them at some point they will believe. And one more thing- It's not your fault! You can tell your teens everyday about the dangers of drugs...many times they don't listen because they don't believe it can happen to them.

My Daughter Woke Up in a Different Place Today

One day she was a 17 year old heroin user...then she was tired, sick and frustrated...then she was scared, really scared. Scared of where she'd been, what she'd done, the friends she'd lost, the lies she told. She's been using seboxone for almost two months now. Today, we had a real conversation. She sat down at the bar in the kitchen looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm really scared. I've been in a dark place and I'm scared". Her eyes welled up. I asked her what she meant and she said "I'm not in that place anymore and I feel scared and sad." We talked for an hour or so about her feelings, what made her scared, where she wanted to go from here. She wants to go to college next year. She wants to continue her seboxone and counseling and she never wants to use heroin again. What bothers her the most is that she doesn't know who she is anymore. She said she felt as though she just woke up in a different place, as a different person. Someone she doesn't really know. I know that person. That person is my daughter.

Suboxone-Information

Visit http://www.suboxone.com for information about suboxone and to find a physician.

http://www.myspace.com/addiction411
Addiction 411 was launched in August 2007 by Reckett Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc. This MySpace site was developed to educate the public about dependence on opioids. Opioids include commonly prescribed painkillers such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and methadone as well as heroin. To receive a free education Resource Kit on opioid dependence treatments, visit TurnToHelp.com or call 1-866-455-TURN, both provided by Reckett Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Additional websites such as the non-profit patient advocacy group NAABT-National Alliance of Advocates for Buprenorphine Treatment website is http://www.naabt.org or Substance and Mental Health Services Administration http://www.bueprenorphine.samhsa.gov are wonderful resources.

Just a note, the 2mg tablet per day is still working for my daughter. She's been clean for almost a month now.