Son that needs help-Houston,tx

[loukasp]

I have a 30 year old son who is addicted to painkillers. He denies being addicted to them, but his dad & I know for a fact that it has gotten out of hand. He took a weekend trip with us a couple of weeks ago & became sick on Sat. nite (I think because he didn't take anything). We are planning on having a very serious talk with him in the next week & we are trying to plan what to do to help him. We are trying to find an outpatient detox facility in Houston, Texas for him to go to. He has a great job & makes great money, but he's always broke. We don't give him any money. I have seen a place online called Detox Houston.com. Does anyone know anything about it? Any type of information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[loukasp]

I just appreciate all of your help, certainly do want you to remain anonymous. I wish you all the best! and I absolutely KNOW that you will be successful in your kicking this terrible disease! One day at a time in the right direction is what you have to do. I will give him this website & hopefully he will see the light. I can only pray & try to guide him in the right direction. I will give him all of the information, tell him to check it out & let me know what he decides to do. I'm not sure what my ultimatum will be at this point.

I did see the detox houston website - but just not sure how good they were. I had been reading about some places that people were not satisfied with. Not sure how long they recommend being on the Suboxone.

[ImDONENoMore]

Just wanted to mention I googled detox houston and they have their own web site, detoxhouston.com - not sure if you've seen it yet but just thought I'd let you know!!  Good luck to you - your son is very lucky to have such a great Mom and such great parents.  :)

[udoschoices]

I got tired of spending thousands of $$ a month on pils and the bad outweighed the good. And doesn't matter what environment you are in.. I'm a successful business owner with plenty going on- just got out of control and was tired of being a slave to the pills

He can contact me on here but I prefer to remain anonymous

I went 32 days ago to the clinic.. 18 days on the Subutex, 13 days off of it now... No more cravings like before an no more drugs or alcohol of any kind..

I tried everything for years to quit on my own- it's not easy and in Houston it is too easy to get pills

[loukasp]

I feel so very HAPPY for you! What do you think it was that made you want to quit? Was there something that motivated you? How long has it been since you made the trip to Fla? Also, he has a high pressure office type job, lots of meetings, etc. Is it possible to do what you did with that type of environment? I'm sure he's taking that many pills every day also, probably for a long time. I wish I could put you in touch with him.

[udoschoices]

i took quite a large amount.. upwards of 35 pills a day which is a pretty big habit.. and yes, outpatient detox is usually for someone that really wants it, otherwise you're wasting your money. I researched the drug Suboxone/Subutex and found that doctor because he only recommends short term usage and i also wanted to motivate myself by flying out there, spending all that money and going somewhere away from my environment so i would be committted to quitting.. after that time and money, i followed the doctor's program to the letter and went to daily AA meetings and have been focusing on staying clean no matter what. But that's because i WANTED IT SO BAD. That is the key. You can suggest help, but if he doesnt want it - he'll go right back after the detox and you will have wasted all that $$$.  The detox houston place is right... he has to want help.

The 3 days was in a hotel, i only spent an hour each day or less visiting with the doctor.. it's just office visits not rehab as i told you. Flew in sunday, flew out Wed... saw doctor mon/tues/wed...

[loukasp]

Thank you so much for this info..$2000 I was expecting a lot more and only 3 days there, that sounds like something that we could offer to him as help. I guess it all depends how long & how much stuff someone is taking, right? I tried to call Detox Houston before but the guy really didn't want to talk to me, just my son & if he wasn't ready for help at that time, told me there was nothing I could do. Had you researched them or do you know someone in Houston that you could recommend or do you highly recommend the place in Florida. Were you on stuff for a long period of time, just wondering how hard it's going to be for him.

[udoschoices]

no i was there 3 days and outpatient means he sees you, prescribes you medications and a plan -and you go home and stick to the plan.. i followed up by phone calls and checked in with him and he told me what to do...  you don't follow the plan, you don't get clean. So you have to be motivated to do it...  his cost was $2000 plus meds.  He basically tells you "i can get you off the pills, but you have to stay clean". He doesn't BS around.. you have to want it and he'll help you... if you mess up you don't get second chances with him, he tells you go to inpatient rehab. One shot only, make it count.

there are lots of clinics all around the US doing the same stuff.. but the ones i researched in texas (i live in Austin now) wanted to keep me on for 3 months or more at a high dose and i wasnt down with that. I didnt want to swap addictions... as you can abuse the Sub also. It is not a quick fix, it is a tool to help get clean if you do what it takes...

[loukasp]

I'm hoping that after we talk to him, we can convince him to get some help. I think that he has been on this stuff for a long time. So you stayed in florida for 21 days & it was outpatient? Can you give me a clue when you say expensive? Is anything covered on insurance? I wish that I could find more info on DetoxHouston but I haven't been able to, not even any recent reviews. I would appreciate any help.

[udoschoices]

i flew to Boca Raton florida to see a specialist who only does quick 21-day detoxes with Sub combined with 12-step programs.. www.pbod.org  Dr. Steve Scanlan... not cheap but worked for me, i was on tons of pills from those houston clinics for about 5/6 years and couldnt quit.  I had to quit, was killing myself and spending too much money... i started going to AA/NA meetings on my own, got a drug therapist, and when i just couldnt quit i did the Subutex route.. but you have to be VERY careful not to get hooked on it either... so i did lots of research and used it as a TOOL for getting clean, not some miracle drug.  That clinic in houston does the same thing, same medicine - just talk to them and ask them how they do things... if they say they want to keep him on for years and that its "no big deal to come off the Subutex" - be careful - it is VERY hard to come off of...  my doctor is a recovering addict himself and used Sub also to come off painkillers so he knows exactly how it works.. a lot of docs have never suffered addiction so just go off what they were taught in a class...  

this was outpatient detox i went to, not some rehab place.... he has to do the work, you can't make him as i said

[loukasp]

Thanks so much! Can you tell me where you went? Do you anything about DetoxHouston? I just want to make sure that if we convince him to get help, we'll be sending him to a great place & SOMEHOW we have to convince him to stop.

[udoschoices]

i'm from houston and the pain clinic scene is ridiculous there.. too easy to get whatever you want from tons of clinics over there. He has to want to get clean, unfortunately.. you can't make him do it - he has to get to that place where he has had enough and wants to quit...  DetoxHouston offers Suboxone/Subutex treatment to get off of painkillers which is what i used (not there, though)... Which is effective but also carries its own set of problems - you can swap addictions...  it is best when combined with therapy, AA/NA, etc...

if you can get him to voluntarily go.. you may have a chance... if you try to force it on him, most likely he will go right back to using and you wasted a bunch of money...  

hang in there