NA And suboxone treatment??

[jess8487]

What should i expect in the days to come on suboxene and what happens at NA meetings..Really nervous and would love to get some advice! Jessica

[theeagle]

Please understand my humor forst of all........in the days to come you will grow hair on your toes much like a hobbitt.....you will develop a fondness for smoking a good pipe and eating elfen bread.......and perhaps you will be given a strange and dangerous mission by a white wizard!

But, more seriously, you will remember what a 'normal" life was like before things revolved around pills. You will find time for friends and families and you will truly enjoy them again. You will reconnect with the world and fully appreciate sunrise and sunsets.....and all the beauty of nature. People will like you for yourself and you will also like other peoples company. At NA you will find many other people just like you (thought that you were unique, didnt you?) and you will listen to their stories and perhaps share your when you are comfortable. And you will learn that you must deal with yourself and sobriety one simple day at a time.......just as you live life..........best of luck!!!

[T_J_33]

Congrats on your decision to get help. Speaking for myself, it's a major thing and very hard. Suboxone worked really well for me. It's takes a few days to get the right dose to make you feel "normal". Then, you just feel like you did before drugs took over. I started working out again, and getting my relationships back, getting my life back. And meetings are very important to keep you on the right track. It's impossible to do this alone.
Please feel free to write and ask me anything, I've been through it and I'm happy to share.
Good luck and be proud of yourself, your giving your kids their Mommy back! :)

[nicole179]

jess, congrats on moving towards getting your life back!  i am over 3 yrs clean with the help of both sub. and NA.  i don't know what meetings are like in your area, but here in maine they helped to save my life. not to scare or discourage you in any way but also here in maine na members have strong oppinions about suboxone.  many believe that you are not clean if taking it!  others are more understanding and are there for support.  NA believes in abstinence from ALL drugs!  but if you have a headaches are you going to take an asprin? if you are suicidal should you take an antidepressant? and if you have terminal cancer would you take pain killers?  these are all personal choices that should be made by an individual and their doctor!  not members of a support group.

that said, this is my personal experience on sub and going to meetings:

i quickly

[outotown]

It too a week or so on sub to get my dose right, but after that, I felt good, cept for sweating, I would feel cold to the touch and be ringing wet with sweat. And if you smoke buy extra I smoked like a frieght train, but after 13 months and following my Dr im clean since 3-9-09 I did have a short relaspe in apr for 4 days, but im here and alive and free. It was a life saver for me, some people dont like sub and say well your still using and so on, dont listen to them, I consisdered myself in recovery on sub cuz i was working towards cleandom, be good and good luck

[nicole179]

oops, i didn't mean to send that yet!

So i quickly realized that people were there to share hope with newcomers that they could live their lives w/out using, and as a newcomer i should listen to what they had to say.  i found someone that i could relate to and approached her she became my sponsor.  i shared with her my feelings and struggles with the suboxone and really didn't bring it up in meetings at all untill i had put together some time. people i was close to knew and some felt that i ultimatley was not clean, that was tyheir opinion and they were intitled to it.  i suppose that if i got clean with replacement therapy i would probably feel the same way they did, but that was not my story.  as i said before NA's goal is abstinence form all drugs, and i hope to be there one day, but the truth is i take a pill everyday that allows me to be an active participant in my life, it has helped become a reliable person and employee, allowed me to be present physically and emotionally for the passing of both my grandparents, who i was very close to, given me the ability to buy a home on a piece of land that i own! and a chance to become the mother that i never thought i wanted to be.  so if some people want to think that i am still an active addict, so be it.  

in my experience at different NA meetings around the country people have different oppinions on sub. so good luck and what ever you find in your area don't be discouraged!

feel free to keep in touch if you need anyone to talk to

[worried878]

what was ur dose and doc jess?

meetings rock...the first one u go to may not be the one for u..but u will learn lots while doing the circuit finding the one right for u..where u fit in best..na down here in the deep south is 90% junkies//and i do not feel any better than them..cos i am not..but the language and cussing was foreign to me..dont get me wrong..i will curse too on ocasion..but these were mostly people outa prison like yesterday...so found an NA ladies group and stayed for a while...never go to say much cos there was a group who kinda hogged the whole meeting..and still had not much in common with them

finally i found an AA group..a ladies group..nurses and professionals..some cross addicted to narcotics as well but drinkin had got them in more trouble than the pills...felt at home and stayed there...but i learned sumpin at each meeting i went to and none were a waste...so if u dont like the first one or feel as if u dont fit in..keep going til u find one...na/here/ is not real hip on suboxone....but there r groups of subbers who meet in this area as well..like their own na group...if i were on sub i would go to that meeting and ur dr should be able to tell u..or the na hotline..for a group like this in ur area...be careful on the sub...less is best with sub...it can become another doc so be safe and hit the meetings hard!

[mtgoat911]

just a bit of advice, when you goto na meetings do not feel like you have to tell everybody that you are suboxone, try to find an na member who has been on sub and has been clean for a while, people at meetings are told not to share their opinions, we are encouraged to share our experiences, when it comes to matience drugs alot of opinions come out\

i was on sub, been clean with the help of na since august of 04, most people in na will meet you where you are in life, and right now thats matience but i have also seen matience patients get the cold shoulders, its really not hard to pick out people who are following the principals that na stands for!!!

like nicole said suboxone is a hot topic, no matter where you turn for help

as far as meetings in the "deep south"  i actually got clean in south carolina and did not have the same experience as worried, but i do   NOT   have a problem with people who are straight out of jail, infact those are the people i like to help, i find them to be more willing to change than some lonley house wife waiting for her monthly prescription,

here is what i used to tell people that came through the tx center i worked at, when you cannot decide which program to goto read the first chapter of both books, na and aa, after than you should know where you belong

also people who have been around long enough start to live by certain "rules" or "traditions" as stated in these traditions we are to place principals before personalities at all times,

that mean i am just as responsible to carry the message to the junkie crack ***** as i am that bored house wife, it took me a while to realy understand what my role was in na, the first couple of years i was there to help myself after that it was service time, and if i am truly of service to my fellow addicts it doesnt matter if they cuss, or served time, if they live in the country club or trailor park

for example my new sponsor had a rough life, quit school to work on her families farm, grew up in a border town in mexico, she has been in prison, and in a gang, now i have never been in prison, and i grew up on a golf coarse, i went to a great boarding school, and spent summers at my families beach house, i was attacted to this lady and asked her to be my sponsor because she had totally changed her life around, she is raising her grand daughter, been clean 20yrs, started her own compant, went back to school, takes meetings into "juvie", never turns her back on anyone, she knows the steps and practices the traditions in all her afairs, sometimes you gota get over the outside, its east to go from a to c, but to go from a to z is truley a miricle

""Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions,
ever reminding us to place principles before personalities"""

""For me it means that I need to filter the personality out of the message.......including my own. It doesn't matter who's mouth my message is comming out of, if I have issues with a person and close my mind when they share, I may be closing my mind to the one thing I may need to save my life today. It reminds me to stay open minded.""

[nicole179]

hey thanks for the correction, if you want to get technical:

"In Narcotics Anonymous, members are encouraged to comply with complete abstinence from all drugs including alcohol. It has been the experience of NA members that complete and continuous abstinence provides the best foundation for recovery and personal growth. NA as a whole has no opinion on outside issues, including prescribed medications. Use of psychiatric medication and other medically indicated drugs prescribed by a physician and taken under medical supervision is not seen as compromising a person's recovery in NA."

taken from http://www.na.org/?ID=Home-basicinfo

i'm not disputing perscriptions under a dr's supervision, if you read my comment i take perscribed meds

[worried878]

I do think it is important to go to a meeting where u feel comfortable..and if u r not comfortable//for whatever reason..u need to find a place where u r..or there is a good possiblity that u will stop going to meetings if u dont feel u r a part of the group..everyone is different..and an addict is an addict..be it alcohol or drugs..makes no diff..AA and NA have much the same principles and the 12 steps...looking forward to meetings is a much better motivator than dreading them cos u feel out of place....and u may find urs on the first meeting..but here there r literally tons of groups..every crack and crevice of the city has a NA or AA meeting at almost any time u wanna go...just do what is comfy for u..keep posting