Families & Friends Of Addicts Support Group
Addiction affects more than just the individual. This community is dedicated to the families and friends of individuals suffering from any form of addiction. Mental health professionals are increasingly considering alcoholism and addiction as diseases that flourish in and are enabled by family systems. Family members react to the addicted person with particular behavioral...
I joined today because I am hoping to connect with people in a similar situation who may have some new ideas. My son is at the end of his 4th inpatient treatment for heroin. He should be on his way to a halfway house any day now; the same halfway house he was at before his most recent relapse.
He is living in another state 2,000 miles away. This is where we sent him over a year ago because they had what seemed to be the most appropriate place for him. He came home after his first 27 day stay and relapsed within weeks. I sent him back to the same place. After 28 days, he did not come home. He moved into a sober house near the treatment center and continued treatment in their outpatient program. He relapsed again after two months and ended up homeless. I flew out there to convince him to go back to treatment which he did. He was inpatient for about two months and then moved to the halfway house. His 90 day stay at the halfway house was nearly up when he got kicked out for getting involved with another client. He went to a sober house for a week but the new relationship got in the way of treatment and they both relapsed and ended up homeless. The relationship was toxic and he suffered a couple very traumatic episodes while living on the street . After two months he checked himself into the hospital psyc ward because he was suicidal and experiencing PTSD from the physical trauma he experienced on the street. He ended up going to treatment at a new place where he us now.
I am so frustrated with his insurance. They never pay for enough time. It has become apparent that he may very well be bipolar and needs longer residential treatment but the insurance is cutting him off. I cannot pay out of pocket for treatment so his only option is to move back to the halfway house because they will pay for that.
I am extremely concerned because if he is bipolar, I understand that having a serious mental health disorder along with addiction greatly reduces he chances for recovery. I don't know how to get him the help he really needs, if the insurance won't pay for it. I'm sure there are others who have been through this situation. Are there other options for comprehensive but affordable treatment?
He is living in another state 2,000 miles away. This is where we sent him over a year ago because they had what seemed to be the most appropriate place for him. He came home after his first 27 day stay and relapsed within weeks. I sent him back to the same place. After 28 days, he did not come home. He moved into a sober house near the treatment center and continued treatment in their outpatient program. He relapsed again after two months and ended up homeless. I flew out there to convince him to go back to treatment which he did. He was inpatient for about two months and then moved to the halfway house. His 90 day stay at the halfway house was nearly up when he got kicked out for getting involved with another client. He went to a sober house for a week but the new relationship got in the way of treatment and they both relapsed and ended up homeless. The relationship was toxic and he suffered a couple very traumatic episodes while living on the street . After two months he checked himself into the hospital psyc ward because he was suicidal and experiencing PTSD from the physical trauma he experienced on the street. He ended up going to treatment at a new place where he us now.
I am so frustrated with his insurance. They never pay for enough time. It has become apparent that he may very well be bipolar and needs longer residential treatment but the insurance is cutting him off. I cannot pay out of pocket for treatment so his only option is to move back to the halfway house because they will pay for that.
I am extremely concerned because if he is bipolar, I understand that having a serious mental health disorder along with addiction greatly reduces he chances for recovery. I don't know how to get him the help he really needs, if the insurance won't pay for it. I'm sure there are others who have been through this situation. Are there other options for comprehensive but affordable treatment?
1. many here have people with bi polar or other disorders, it has long been a discussion of if addiction caused or expanded their conditions, or if the conditions caused their addiction by self medicating.
2.my son got his best treatment when he had lost everything and didn't have any insurance...he was put in a hospital that processed his papers for medicaid and from there went on to wonderful places for homeless men, and finally a halfway house and sober living. Yes, he spent 1 month in hospital, 3 at the shelter, 2 at a rehab, 2 in the halfway house, and a few more at the sober living. the last place was probably the hardest for him...there are many sick people living together with the owners taking advantage of their food stamp money..etc. Anyway, one day the system might be the only way to go.
3. I am so happy he is still open to your input. Many have lost all communication with their addict
4. anything you feel, we have shared it...so feel free to discuss, ask, or vent. It is all good.
My son was in NY state (we were living in the midwest, but he had moved to get away from things and start over...which really doesn't work) He went to St. Christopher's Inn in Garrison NY.- in case you want to find out about it and see if there is something like that where you are.
and you can't pay for stuff forever...we had to stop.
I agree with blueviolet about the bipolar issue. I also think that addiction tends to cause behavior that mimics bipolar disorder. Did they screen him for it while he was sober at in patient treatment?
My son is also a heroin addict, age 23. Although opiates are his drug of choice, he has used just about every drug under the sun. He has been to in patient treatment twice. The first was 45 days at the age of 17. He was back on opiates 3 days after release. He went back to in patient about 3 years ago and was kicked out after making connections with another heroin addict who was apparently bringing drugs into the facility. He has also been through multiple rounds of intensive outpatient therapy, which helped some, but were not enough.
In his case, he was unable to make it by simply following a 12 step program. Heroin cravings can continue for up to 3 years. It's unrealistic to expect someone to "white knuckle" their way through that period of time without relapse while living in the real world. That's why the relapse rate is so high.
For my son, he was on methadone from February, 2013 to December, 2014. He stayed off opiates and made some improvements in his life, including getting a job and an apartment. He always had a hard time actually getting to the clinic for his daily doses (4 hour round trip bus ride) and they wouldn't let him take doses home because he always had marijuana in his system. This January he switched from methadone to Suboxone. I've seen an improvement in his personality on the Suboxone, but that could be his personal reaction to it. Other people are trying a shot called Vivitrol that is given monthly.
All of these are opiate replacements. Would any of these be covered by insurance? At this point, an opiate replacement along with sober living and possibly outpatient treatment could be more effective than further in patient treatment.
For Suboxone, we're paying $150 for a monthly doctor visit. The drug itself is covered by insurance, so the cost is just the co-pay. Without the co-pay, I think it's $300 per month. Methadone clinics would charge about the same amount. A Vivitrol shot I heard was still expensive--$1,000 per shot.
There are still no guarantees, but this gets them off the heroin and able to live a normal life. They will be addicted to the opiate-replacement just as they are with the heroin. When and if they decide to come off the replacement, they still go through withdrawal, but it's supposed to be tapered and under a doctor's supervision. This would happen when they have made enough progress to become completely sober. That said, I've heard of people who have been on methadone for their entire lives.
I don't know if your son has tried any of these, but that could be the answer. Intensive outpatient treatment can also be helpful and is less expensive than in patient.
I wouldn't worry about the bipolar issue until he is sober. I used to suspect that my son was bipolar, but the symptoms disappeared when he stopped using opiates.
We sent him from Seattle to Minnesota for treatment and made him stay there after his first relapse and OD; thinking he'd be better off away from his friends. Now all of his friends are people he met in rehab a lot of whom have relapsed, too. Obviously, he can find drugs anywhere. I'm starting to think this was a mistake and he should come home so he is closer to his family for support. He is desperate to come home. I told him last night if he completes the 90 program with the halfway house and finds a sober house and an outpatient program in or around Seattle, I will buy him a plane ticket. I told him he can't live with me and the consequences will be the same. If he relapses and gets kicked out of the sober house he will be homeless. At least if he is close to home, I can see him regularly and he can spend time with his siblings as long as he is sober. All of this made him happy but very emotional. My gut is telling me that this is the right thing to do now but I'm really not sure. Any thought on whether it's better to be close to home or have some distance?
He is starting Suboxone again. He had tried it before but stopped taking it. He also tried Naltrexone a couple of times but didn't like the side effects. Hopefully, the Suboxone will work this time and he will take it.
Hopefully, suboxone will work for him this time.
It is great that you have boundaries and just keep sticking to them!
So I've tried for years to get him help. I couldn't understand what other people were doing to get treatment and we couldn't.
Well he became of age and had no insurance under my plan. Rehab took him immediately. Medicaid to the rescue.
The system is broken. Why should we buy insurance?
And don't get me started about suboxone. I will start a new post on that