methadone, xanax, and vivanse

[ineedinfoplease]

Hello to all. I have not posted in a while, but I'm having additional problems with my 32 yr old son. He is on 130mg of methadone and has started taking 2 to 3 bars of xanax daily and when he is awake he is a walking zombie. He went to a psychiatrist a little over a week ago and convinced him he is ADHD and got a prescription for vivanse. The police called me last Tuesday and had him pulled over due to someone calling in on him for his driving. The officer said he gave him a sobriety test and said he didnt really seem intoxicated and had me take him home and had his ride impounded due to no insurance. Well he got his ride out on Thursday and yesterday the police had him again, but let my husband go get his ride, but instead of charging him with a dwi he only got a pi, due to him being at a gas station when they found him and he was not driving. He lives with my mother and my brother and my brother told him he cannot live there any longer and my husband will not let him live here with us. My son says he does not need any rehab help and that he can put the xanax down because he usually pulls about an 8 day zombie state and then usually goes almost 2 weeks pretty sober and then repeats the cycle again. My question is how dangerous is this mix of the 3 drugs? The sherrif duputy told me on Wednesday to prepare for him to be dead in the next 2 weeks if he does not get any help. The only free rehad here does not accept anyone on benzos because they said it takes too long to detox and of the liability. Any feed back would be helpful. Can we force him into rehab? He has a 9 yr old son that he gets every other weekend and this scares me to death. We did not let him get his son yesterday which is a blessing because he got picked up yesterday, but of course because if was only a pi he was realased around 3 this morning. I hope this is not too confusing, i know i'm rambling, i apologize.

[seattlemom2plus]

JayBay is right about the one-size-fits all--- recovery isn't like that you have to find out what works for you and what works for your family members.  Everyone has their own time too, but I do know that when you start taking steps towards your own recovery too and people start seeing positive changes, they are going to want a little bit of that.  Keep us posted.

[Jaybay]

Glad to hear that he's taking steps in the right direction.  That's good news!  Is he willing to go to NA or AA?  That's the best free rehab available.  Obviously Debbie knows more about your situation than I do so maybe you've already covered this topic elsewhere.  

I hope and pray you'll find an Al-Anon meeting you can be comfortable with and then get a sponsor of your own.  Will your husband go with you?  It's kind of like starting a gym program.  Getting motivated to walk out the door is like pulling teeth but once you're there you're glad you did it.  We all wish there could be a one-size-fits-all roadmap to recovery, but there isn't.  We can only learn as much as we can and do our best with that information.  Don't give up on yourself!

[atthebeach]

ok great so maybe he had a little wake up call that is a start. he asks to be tapered that is really great. i said slow and steady. a usual taper is a few mgs a month. so that sounds about right.
he did things on his own,another step in the right direction. deb they do eventually come to the realization that their life su cks. some it takes 1 yr some 15 yrs but they finally get sick and tired of the roller coaster and get sick and tired of being sick and tired. they have to first admit it then they act on it. we will keep praying, the LORD'S arm is not to short to reach him and not deaf to our prayers. keep on storming the gates of heaven.
he didnt become an addict over night and will certainly take awhile for him to recover. lets pray that he continues to take baby steps forward.
my family is doing much better by the grace and mercy of our LORD and SAVIOR. it has been 18 months since my husband stopped using and there are repercussions of his use, and consequences of his sins but we are healing day by day.
thank you for asking
sending hugs,blessings and prayers
debbie

[ineedinfoplease]

Debbie, I'm so sorry that I didn't make myself clear. When I said 2 days sober, I only meant from the xanax and that he was not in a zombie state. He did put in a request at the methadone clinic to start lowering his dose and they did agree to it. He told me they agreed to go down 1mg a day for 3 days and maintain that amount for 3 days and then go down 1 mg a day for three days and maintain again for 3 days and keep doing this and see how it goes. Do you think something like this would work?

How are you and your family doing?

Hugs,
Deb

[atthebeach]

he started the methadone in nov right? he has been on it for 9 months. cold turkey from the dose would definitely make him very sick. the withdrawal from methadone doesnt start until 36-72 hrs from the last dose

[atthebeach]

deb if he is taking 130mg of methadone he cant just stop. he will be deathly sick. methadone has to be tapered very slowly. it would take him almost a year to detox off of it. he told you he hasnt taken anything?