Suboxone

My son spent 3 years in prison for sale and possesion of drugs, his drug of choice was opiates. He went through a shock program in jail that is a type of boot camp, was released and started college and working full time. He was made to attend meetings where almost everyone was taking suboxone, and he started using also they offered it to him after being released from prison, but he refused it, now he spent time in an inpatient rehab and has been put on suboxone , I do not agree, but I was not addicted to opiates and I do not want to see him back in prison, he is doing well in school and at his job he says this makes him feel better, yet when he was released from prison he looked and felt great , without anything. All these classes he has to attend they are all on suboxne, I do not know if this is the right choice, and I just learned he and his girlfriend are expecting a child, I do not believe that she shares his problem, I am just concerned for all involved. I am sure some one can answer my concerns thank you stalion

[Jaybay]

Did I read correctly that your son was clean in jail until he got out and some recovery program doctor decided to put him on Suboxone?  If I did read that correctly, then I definitely share your concern.  There was absolutely NO good reason to put him back on an opiate if he was already clean.  None.  In my opinion, that doctor is doing great harm.  Unfortunately, there are many "doctors" just like him.  The motive is money.  They have captive patients who are guaranteed to come back every month or even more often and there is zero motivation to ever get their patients off the addicting Suboxone.

Suboxone was studied and FDA approved for a 21-day detox.  As atthebeach explained, those 21 days are intended to stop the roller coaster of getting high and crashing and to allow the patient the stability to begin to put his emotional house in order.  Suboxone was never intended (or studied) for long-term maintenance such as methadone programs.  Once a medication is approved and on the market, any doctor can prescribe to whom and for however long he wants to.  It's a real beast to detox from as well - usually far worse than the addict's original drug of choice.

I don't see that there's really anything you can do to change this situation.  Your son is going to have to reach his own conclusions about his life with or without Suboxone on his own.  There's just no way to predict how anyone's life will play out.  For now, just try to enjoy your son, celebrate his achievements and your coming grandchild.  :-)

[atthebeach]

hi and welcome to the forum.has your son attended any one on one counseling?  has he been attending na/aa meetings?  there are different opinions for and against suboxone.
yes it is another addiction, but one that the user now has control of their lives,and can be more productive. the problem is how long is he going to stay on the subs? he is still on pills and now addicted to subs. they are supposed to work a recovery program, to learn how to live independent of any pills. that time frame for the sub program greatly varies. we have had members who had done a 21 day program and some that stay on for years and years. there are many schools of thought.
how old is your son? is the meetings he is attending mandatory? there are other meetings that are run through churches, overcomers,salvation army,celebrate recovery. these are chrisitan based groups and i am sure they wouldnt promote the subs. how long has he been on them?
i know you are concerned. that is natural as a parent. a girlfriend and a baby, definitely add to the mix. relapse is very real for addicts, the road to recovery is a long and winding one, it is a marathon not a sprint.
my husband has been clean for 17 months. the LORD is a huge part of his recovery and our familys healing.
sending hugs and prayers
debbie

[stalion]

                                                                                                                                                                             Thank you for responding, I respond yes to all you have asked. He just stated suboxone and is under the care of a doctor who deals with addiction, I do not know how long he will be on this tx, all I can do is hope and prayer he can recover and live a productive life thank you again Stalion

[Jaybay]

Did I read correctly that your son was clean in jail until he got out and some recovery program doctor decided to put him on Suboxone?  If I did read that correctly, then I definitely share your concern.  There was absolutely NO good reason to put him back on an opiate if he was already clean.  None.  In my opinion, that doctor is doing great harm.  Unfortunately, there are many "doctors" just like him.  The motive is money.  They have captive patients who are guaranteed to come back every month or even more often and there is zero motivation to ever get their patients off the addicting Suboxone.

Suboxone was studied and FDA approved for a 21-day detox.  As atthebeach explained, those 21 days are intended to stop the roller coaster of getting high and crashing and to allow the patient the stability to begin to put his emotional house in order.  Suboxone was never intended (or studied) for long-term maintenance such as methadone programs.  Once a medication is approved and on the market, any doctor can prescribe to whom and for however long he wants to.  It's a real beast to detox from as well - usually far worse than the addict's original drug of choice.

I don't see that there's really anything you can do to change this situation.  Your son is going to have to reach his own conclusions about his life with or without Suboxone on his own.  There's just no way to predict how anyone's life will play out.  For now, just try to enjoy your son, celebrate his achievements and your coming grandchild.  :-)

[stalion]

                                                                                                                                                                                     Thank you for your response, the reason he was put on suboxone was he was using it with out a perscription, he would of gone back to jail, personally I think it is a cope out, he say it makes him feel normal and not dope sick, he is a weak person , he is my son,  and I love him ,but he does not have my will power, I have quite many addictions myself, unfortunatly he gets addiction from both sides of his family, and his father is an alcoholic.

[seattlemom2plus]

Ok so he was not working with a doctor that prescribed him suboxone, but rather he obtained this through his own means?  Is he involved in any aftercare programs?  Is he going to meetings or anything like this to help him outside the ones he attended while he was in prison?

[stalion]

                                                                                                                                                                               THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT, HE STARTED USING SUBOXONE AFTER ATTENDING THE REQUIRED MEETING AT THE SUBSTANCE COTROL CENTER WERE HE LIVES, THEY ARE ALL ON THIS SUBOXONE. HE WAS HAVING A HARD TIME ATTENDING WHEN THEY WERE TELLING HIM HOW MUCH BETTER THEY FEEL ON THIS MEDICATION, IT PREVENTS THEM FROM FEELING DOPE SICK, ATLEAST THAT IS WHAT HE IS TELLING ME. HE WAS ADDICTED TO HEROIN.

[Jaybay]

Of course it prevents him from getting dope-sick.  It's an opiate!  It sounds like this group is more geared toward harm reduction than true sobriety.  There's a lot of them out there like that.  They use Suboxone maintenance therapy in the same way as methadone maintenance, and some people never get away from the junk.  The idea is to allow patients to live a stable and productive life and put a stop to the harmful behavior associated with illegal drug abuse - lying, cheating, stealing, etc.  At least the naloxone component of Suboxone will inhibit your son from supplementing with other opaites.

Until your son is ready to get away from the chains of Suboxone there just isn't anything you can do.  At some point, he has to be responsible for his own actions.  I can easily see how this happened.  He's in a group with people who are in a position of authority (in his mind anyway) and confused about life and how to live it.  He respects these people and emulates them thinking he's doing the right thing.  You can't fight this.  It's all up to your son.

[seattlemom2plus]

Jaybay is right about certain meetings gearing towards this concept.  Keep in mind not all meetings are like this and there are some "old school" ones that believe in veering off of alternatives like this.

I could easily see how this happened as well, you go into a room thinking you can trust everyone and then find out you were steered into a direction you may not have wanted to take.  arch, keep us posted my heart goes out to you

[stalion]

                                                                                                                                                                              He has to attend these meetings, because he is on parol. He has said it himself he would be better off not going, but he can,t. He only has a few more meetings to go to. We do not have a NA in the area, only AA, I think he would feel more like opening up at NA meeting, were there are people like himself. I know drug and alcohol addiction fall into the same, addiction like any other, but some off the meetings I have attended, because my ex, his father is an alcoholic, do not reach the young people on their level of thinking. Thank you for your responses, they are helpful to me Stalion

[seattlemom2plus]

We had sort of similar issue with my mother when she first entered a recovery, she is an alcoholic but also a drug addict and NA meetings were very hard to even find at the time in the area.  So definitely understand the predicament.  But let me ask so I understand this right  you mentioned that all the drug addicts that are in recovery are all taking suboxone?  I am surprised that you would find this in an AA meeting, usually they are all or nothing.  Some of the old schoolers are even against anxiety and anti-depression meds.  But again every meeting is different.  Can he alter the AA meetings he attends or are there not that many around your location?

[stalion]

                                                                                                                                                                           No this is a mental health group that they are required to attend, he goes to an AA meeting once a week, to me it is a racket between the state and the New York Penial system. He was staying off the drugs until he started these group sessions, and you know the old addage if you can not beat them might as well join them

[seattlemom2plus]

Ugh this is certainly probably a frustration to watch indeed especially if your son was doing well with his sobriety without the additional drug.  This is definitely one of the those situations where you are powerless over there results, your son like JayBay was mentioning will have to come up with his own conclusions on how he wants to lead his sobriety.  Keep us posted though.  How are you through all of this?

[dar1956]

I am currently on suboxne program, dr started weening me to 2mg strips which i found to be too big of a drop - I was doing well on 8mg and cutting in 4's and taking as I felt the need. I guess that is where i was making my mistake - because if I go too long without or cut down to lower dose, i feel anxious, pain and dpresssion. I'm now getting more serious about starting to keep better track of when I take thse as I would go by my own feelings. after reading on so many people here's experiences, realize I need to have a set dose. This has been huge for me getting off of pain medicine, while also helping pain (no high, never was high with pills either). I want to get life back to where I'm not so up and down. my depression dictates everything I do or don't do (I've been unemployed for a year after working at a dream job for 22 years) that was a big hit right there, so I'm just trying to deal with changes, taking care of household (33 years married!) gobs of bills and many anxieties over keeping cobra insurance to take care of many health issues including asthma, high blood pressure, depression, and current program of suboxne. it is late, I didn't plan on coming here and tapping away at these keys, but I do want to get more involved with the members of this site who have shared so much. There's more substance to me than this paragraph (good stuff, I mean), its just late and I was checking in before I turn in for the night. I hope to check back tomorrow to find some of the earlier people had very briefly spoken with. have good night to any who read this.
dar

[stalion]

                                                                                                                                                                               Thank you for sharing, I too am on meds for a spinal injury, lucky for me I am on nonarcotics. I live with pain 24/7. It is a different situation, when it is pain caused from injury. My son's pain is from a different source. Thank you again Stalion

[Jaybay]

Hi dar, and welcome.  Can you please copy and paste your post into a new thread just for you?  You'll get more responses that way.  Just click the green "Post a Question" button at the top of the page.  I'll check back later and tell you about my husband's experience with sub.

[seattlemom2plus]

We have a great Pain Management forum that helps for members on managed pain medication.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Pain-Management/show/53

How is your son doing though and progress this week?