Prescription Drug Abuse Support Group

yeah something definitely's not right. He really shouldn't be drinking. But you can still abuse heroin on methadone maintenance. IT sounds like from his behavior, he's trying to augment his addiction from other sources. Take care of yourself though. That's the most important thing.

Hi! Iknow what u mean about the mood swings. My brother was addicted to pain pills and decided it would be a good idea to start Methadone treatment...a few months later his modd was good, helpful a different person alltogether. Then his dose kept getting higher and higher. Come to find out the reason his prescription was increased due to the drug tests that the clinic were giving were coming back postive for marijuana. Losng story short he is back in the same state of mind...cranky, self centered. Honey this is my brother and I can't walk away from the situation. You have to really understand that your fella is the only one that can change what he has going on. No amount of advice or love will help if he is not ready to help himself. Honey you have to ask yourself is this worth the heartache. You can only answer that yourself. If he wants help, help him, if he doesn't...let him know you'll be there when he is ready to take those steps and that you will take them with him. I know this sounds harsh but it is the reality of addiction. I am going through this with my mom also (Pills) and it can cause alot of wear and tear on the heart. Here to talk anytime. I friend once said this to me and it rings so true.."It's what it's worth to YOU!". Good Luck.

What does his clinic say about his abusing his methadone? This kills me because there is such a vast difference in the way clinics operate and the bad ones are the only ones people hear about. His clinic should be drug testing him no less than once a month randomly. Then if he is positive for other drugs they should be initiating consequences such as removal of take home doses, etc. Of course by using extra methadone, and drinking he is eliminating being caught by most clinics methods. The clinic I attend now gives breathalyzer tests for alcohol, and looks at the level of methadone in your system to determine if you are taking extra but this is rare and my clinic is extremely concerned over people dying from abuse. You might be able to call the clinic and report him. Tell them that the combination of alcohol and methadone is deadly and if he dies they will be held responsible. No clinic wants that so they would address the problem then. However, I am sure you don't want him to be mad at you for calling either so maybe the clinic could keep it anonymous and act as if they discovered it on their own,,,ie smelling alcohol, etc. It is hard to say but this sort of abuse makes the whole system look bad and reinforces people negative opinion of the clinics. Good Luck Better to have him alive and pissed off than dead and happy...LOL