Parent of a heroin addict

[CASEY]

My 19 year old has been using heroin for a year. Right now, he denies it but then he will ask for clonodine. Until he admits he has a problem, what should we do? Wait around until he crashes? He suffers from severe depression and is on Wellbutrin. He attributes all of his problems to depression and is very angry if I suggest it is the drugs. I am trying to go on with my life but it is hard when he is falling apart at 3:00 am, crying and lamenting about having no hope. I am going to Alanon. I have told him we will get help for him when he is ready but his meltdowns are killing our family. How direct should I be about the evidence he sometimes leaves around plus the raging? I am so worn out. Help!

[tom to Dan]

thanks for your words on rapid detox. I think it is grotesque and more appropriate as a scene from a Frankenstein sequel.

[Brighty to Dan]

Thanks for a very important and informative post !!! I am wondering if the problem is due to the rapid detox itself or the naltrexone. If you know more about this please share it here. And do you know if the medical community or the govrening boards have placed any warnings or restrictions on this procedure ? Thanks again for sharing your information.

[Frankinscense]

Rapid detox is a horrible and very dangerous procedure that has taken lifes. There are people who have survived the very expensive procedure only to relapse and had to actually surgically remove the naltrexone pellets the doctors put under the skin. It is a very conterversial procedure that has relapse rates in the 99% catergory. I think it is a terrible way to detox opiates! (IMO)
Sincerely, Dan

[CASEY]

Janet 26, You are so sweet to take time to care about my plight with my son. I am sorry you have had to go through so much but congratulations for pulling yourself up from the depths. You have touched my heart. Here's to hope. Genie

[Brighty ... a PS to my post up above]

I think it would be good to know if rapid detox is for all opiate addicts or just heroin addicts.... I am wondering if they adjust the dosages of the rapid detox "cocktail" for those whose opiate use is not as heavy as that of a 10 bag per day heroin addict as opposed to a 10 pill per day vicoden addict. I hope someone will be able to answer this. By the way, the specific name of the Investigative Reports I saw was titled "The Junkie Next Door" and it was aired sometime last winter... a year or a bit less ago. I do know that Investigative Reports" has a web site for anyone who is interested.

[Brighty to Cindy]

I basically know what you know about the rapid detox and have no personal experience... that is... my daughter never detoxed that way. What Cindy said is what I have learned from TV shows and sites on the net. Investigative Reports did a show on heroin addiction and one component was the rapid detox. The information was that it's useful because it gets the addict past the main reason they do not quit... because opiate withdrawl is a horror... so my understanding was that if it were an easier detox addicts may get clean. The other issues mentioned were that it's only a first step. The addict will still have to utilize recovery programs and relapse prevention and work at staying clean just like the addict who had a 7 day withdrawl. In this particular documentary a doctor was interviewed and he is someone who is well known in the south Jersey and Philadelphia area. He is or was also on the net under rapid detox or similar search words. I mentioned his name once on this board and my post was removed so I assume my doing this was inappropiate. Anyway, one of the things that was highlighted was that this doctor reported he had done something like 3,000 (?) of these rapid detoxes. Patients were tracked and there were something like 8 deaths later on. Now what I got from this documentary was that he was asked to stop the rapid detox by the state until the safety of the procedure could be examined. He complied. It seemed that the procedure was safe but that most of the patients had naltrexone pellets implanted under their skin after the procedure and did not heed the warnings that using heroin with these implants could cause death because the naltrexone prevents the person from getting the high from the opiate... and since they cannot perceive the opiate to be working they generally overdose and die. Now... it is incredulous for me to imagine that anyone would go ahead and use an opiate, particularly heroin, knowing full well that the naltrexone would prevent then from getting high... but evidently there are a number of cases where this has happened and death resulted. This makes me think that naltrexone does not prevent cravings and acts as a psychological barrier so the addict decides not to use because they will not get high. I am not sure if this is correct so maybe someone will post here and clarify this for me. I have always been curious about this. Personally I think it may be better not to use naltrexone if someone is going to try to "skirt" it and die in the process. Also, I have no information if this doctor in NJ is back to rapid detox now and if it's still considered a worthwhile endeavor. Seems to me the rapid detox would be excellent but maybe not the naltrexone. I hope someone will post some good information on this. Love, Brighty