Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sorry--have BTDT. Have been with my child seizing while heart rate dropped to ten beats a minute wondering if the EMTs would ever make it in time with their Narcan. This may not have been your absolute low point, but it was mine.
I have told no one about this or the addiction problem other than immediate care providers. Child has made excellent recovery and is in college getting nearly all As with heavy STEM course load. The planned career path would be challenging with a history of drug use.
I suppose I could have unloaded on everyone I know that but for Narcan I would have a dead child or some of the worst of the addiction period but it would have been profoundly unproductive.
I would have lost my child's trust--which ultimately, as child liberally acknowledges, allowed me to pull child out of addiction. Think about it--this is your child's health problem; it really isn't yours to share. Beyond that, what good would it have done? There are way too many people out there just dying to hear the worst about your child so they can feel better about theirs and you can bet none of them believe in redemption, of which my child is living (emphasis) proof.
PP I know this is an old post so you might not even be around. But if you are: can you please share what you did to help pull your D.C. Out of this?
Surprised to see this thread on which I commented multiple times come up again. I also did the post on the previous page about myths. Child used off and on for some time without getting physically addicted. One of these incidents involved the OD. I instituted a program of twice weekly drug tests at a set time (earlier random drug tests were an abject failure). Refusal to take the test it was made clear was the same as a positive. The consequence for a positive was outpatient rehab. I went to the rehab to line up things in advance so I could be ready to act immediately if needed.
I was out of town for eight days and child used multiple times. When I came back child knew I would do a drug test first thing. She turned herself in and said she needed help because she had become physically dependent. Took her to the rehab to register. Detox was in order but child couldn't face being on a locked ward, so our only option was at home detox. I used the Thomas Recipe, which gives advice on how to do this. There are medications that can help--we had Klonipin and used that with various supplements. It is not pleasant and I took time off work to monitor, but in retrospect I highly recommend. A lot of detox is quite pleasant because people are heavily medicated on benzos. Most places put people on suboxone, which is addictive. so a person has to go through a second detox. DIY detox is rough and more of a deterrent to further use.
Child went a couple of times to the outpatient rehab, but the stress of everything brought on seizures (epileptic) so the outpatient place kicked her out because of her health issue. I arranged individual therapy instead. All of this accompanied by a lot of NA, which child had attended off and on before. The detox experience made it more serious and child starting doing a lot of NA service, something strongly encouraged because it helps keep people bought in. NA is a very no excuses place; if you take on a responsibility like making the coffee and show up late you can't do the coffee making for a couple of weeks. I continued the twice a week drug testing for a number of months until it became clear things had very much turned around.
In sum, child had history of occasional heroin use that I very ineffectively tried to stem. OD made me realize how ineffective. So what worked: learning how to successfully institute boundaries and consequences, doing regular drug tests, planning ahead for failure (the relapse and ensuing physical dependence), DIY detox, therapy, and NA, lots of NA. Rehab was not particularly useful though lining it up as a consequence was helpful.
What still amazes is that treating the drug problem successfully was pretty much free--biggest outlays was for drug test kits (much cheaper off the internet than at the CVS) and ingredients for cookies child baked for NA. This doesn't include the individual therapy which child insists was helpful, although NA seemed more to do more from my perspective. I gladly would have paid for inpatient rehab but frankly I don't think it would have worked better than DIY and may well have led to less good outcomes.
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