Sis is going to jail

Hi, my sister is going to jail tomorrow. Not sure for how long. Will have to go to court. She takes 60 or 80 mgs of methadone per day. Is this going to be dangerous for her to detox from cold turkey?

[FassFeat]

It is going to suck.. it is doable, but not fun. If she has any underlying health issues it could be dangerous. If she is healthy it isn't necc. dangerous, just tough. Good Luck and God Bless.

[Jaybay]

Most prison systems do offer detox assistance, even if it's only in the form of clonidine.  It all depends on the jurisdiction and the local/ state/ federal policy for addicts in withdrawal.  You might put in a call to the jail/ prison or the judge's office who is handling her case to get more information on how jail detox is handled.  I'm really sorry to hear this news about your sister.  :-(

[Cookie41]

I totally agreed with fass feat, only if she has an underlying illness, nobody i know or ever heard about died from methadone withdrawals in itself, overdoses yes, withdrawals no I was locked up and on methadone maintanence 90mgs at the time it just felt like i wanted to die for a while, but for some reason, or MAYBE ITS JUST ME  its mental too, meaning i seemed to kick easier in jail cuz dope or morphine was either hard to come by or way too expesive to maintain a habit even if you have the means i can remember crawling to the dope house literally, and as soon as i got my bags in my hand i could dance home. Good luck with your sis, god has a plan, and maybe this will be the kick in the butt to straighten up and accept help Gotta want to stay clean more then you want to get high, thats what helps me.

[Zulli]

My daughter (who is addicted to Roxicets and is on Suboxone treatment and the reason I am here) had a friend who had a serious addiction to Loracets. She took 50 or more tablets a day. She was sentenced to five years in prison for trafficking because of the amount she was caught with, even though she wasn't selling them, she was really using THAT many (I think she was caught with about 600 tablets).

She detoxed in prison without any help whatsoever and she told my daughter and me that it was torturous and that she never wanted to go through that again.

There is a lesson to be learned here. My daughter's friend wouldn't admit her addiction and go through drug court because she didn't WANT to quit. So, she faced a tough judge who sent her to prison for five years. Although she detoxed and got clean for five years while in prison, she immediately got back on the pills once she released because her addiction was never addressed.

I am making sure that my daughter attends her counseling sessions and NA meetings and doesn't abuse the Suboxone. I understand I can't make her do anything she doesn't want to do, so I suppose I should rephrase that I am encouraging her to stay on her doctor's plan, see her counselor and attend NA. Although my daughter was getting her medications legally, it was getting out of control and I do not want to see my daughter go to jail or ruin her life or worse, lose her life.

I would encourage your sister to seek any help available to her in prison for her addiction. Unless she comes to terms with her addiction and gets the necessary treatment, she may never get "better". She will always be an addict, but she can live a clean and happy life if she chooses to do so.

[Wolfmedicine]

Hopefully your sister is on Methadone under a legal program in which case the clinic may be able to intervene and bring her meds.  If so, contact them and let them know what's going on.  If not, the medicos at her facility need to be aware of her situation.  Per Jaybay, at least they will likely prescribe her Clonodine which will likely make her sleep all the time (not a bad thing).  It of course depends on location, jurisdiction (State/Fed), length of stay and lots of other legal BS.  I have detoxed from heroin and 120mg Methadone daily in jail and it's no fun.  But hey, I'm still kickin' around!

[FassFeat]

How did it go today? Was she able to find out how long or if she can get help? Let us know.

[Wolfmedicine]

Checking In.  Any news?