I am so sorry for your pain. Heroin is a very difficult drug to detox from. The detoxing will cause depression. I would suggest inpatient detox and a minimum 90 day rehab. At 17 years old my best guess would be he is self-medicating and not dealing with "life's issues." Please try Al-Anon meetings.
Stay Strong.

Thank you. The state in which he resides, unfortunately, will only accept voluntary inpatient treatment and he refuses.

ouch!!!! maybe the option is he either goes to that, or goes out on the street. Doesn't sound like he has hit bottom yet. Sometimes, as difficult as it may be - the best thing we can do is help them hit bottom faster.
I know you pain. The hardest thing I ever did was on October 3 of this year, I handed my son the telephone number of a rehab center. My son had been on a 28 day crack binge and come home because he had run out of money. He told me he needed to sleep. I told him "No."
You cannot stay here anymore.
I will feed you, let you shower and call to make arrangements to go to a rehab home - but you cannot live here anymore. I was surprised how firm I was on this. It pains me everyday to see what is happening to our youth but my prayers are with you.

i agree .. inpatient detox is best..and anything over 30 days.. also find meeting in your area for him so he will have something to help after he is out..**hugs**

What a bummer. My brother was a Heroin addict for 20 years so I know what your going thru. You have to get him help as soon as you can. The longer they're on it the harder it is to quit. My 16 year old son is a Meth addict. And I put him in a out of state Boarding school/Program. Against his will. Maybe you can do that. Anyways I'll pray for him and you. GOD BLESS

So far it appears that my son is doing what is supposed to do. He is going to outpatient rehab 3 nights a week for 5-1/2 hours each. He is also going to school one night a week and has asked to see his former psychologist. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one. He is also asking to try to work again for a few hours a week.

Littlewing, I am so sorry to hear what you are going through.
Addiction is a very powerful disease and unfortunately heroin is the most powerful drug out there. I have never seen any heroin addicts truly recovered unless that work a very strict and serious program. And that starts with a detox, rehab, etc. Your son is really young and probably very scared. You cant prossibly know what his path is in this life. What you can do, is love him and be there for him, as long as you are also taking care of yourself. Addiction is a disease of the family and it affects not only the active person, but also their loved ones.
It sounds like you have health issue yourself. Try to take care of yourself first. YOu can't be there for him unless you take care of yourself first. I learned that the hard way. Try going to some Al Anon meetings... they helped me a lot.
And remember - you cant control your son and you can't fix him unfortunately... no matter how much you want. PLease take care of yourself. You and your son are in my prayers...

Cory...Thank you so much for the support. It felt like you were really speaking from your heart and it meant a lot. Yes....I do have to take care of myself so I can be there for him. I did have a mental collapse about 2 weeks into this and was hospitalized for 4 days. Am seeking therapy and am also going to attend Nar-anon in our area of town. Was going to go this week, but unfortunately, we had a bad ice storm and everything was cancelled. And YES I do believe he is very scared even though he hasn't been on it long....he has heard the statistics and thinks he is doomed to fair. All I can give him is encouragement and that I will be there for him. Thanks again.

I am sorry for your pain and the current situation. I,m kinda new to this myself and am in more in a postiton to ask for advice than give it , but I will remember you in my prayers. God bless.

I stopped after 10 years of using Oxycontin and the withdrawals are much the same. Now, in addition to dealing with my own illness (I have liver cancer) I am on the other end as my my sister has od'd twice on Fentynal patches, and my nephew is addicted to OC's. I really wish I could talk to your son to tell him how easy the meds like Suboxone can make it. The pain of withdrawal is the biggest fear we have. These meds allow us to stop using without those terrible withdrawal effects and after that the mental stuff is easy to work on. I am sure your son has the same fear that i did though...we don't believe it works. i looked at others and said, "There is no way they are not using something and doing that good". If he could only believe how good life can be ...here is a video link for a Suboxone commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o8BwTn38QI
and a link to one that I made
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0dERqyCiHQ
I will pray for you and your family. God Bless.

He did do the soboxone treatment for a week and is being seen by the doc for this. He is also going to his rehab 3 nights a week, going to go see a therapist and was told to get some extracurricular activities and get new friends. He is going to try pottery. Thanks to everyone for the support and I am going day by day keeping my fingers crossed. But not matter what happens, I will always love him and support him.

Yeah !!! I will be praying for you that it works. Happy Holidays. You are to be admired for sticking by him in treatment. I would let him know the reason why you are there for him is because he is seeking treatment. My parents were very "on guard" when I started treatment but after so many failed attempts & broken promises who could blame them. Oh, one more tip then I will shut up..HeHeHe...With the Suboxone therapy there is a slightly higher rate of abuse at first in some people because they are given a supply of meds. With the way we think IE...if one works well 10 works great this can be dangerous. I really wish they made patients come get their daily dose every day at first like Methadone clinics because of this. However, I hope I didn't misunderstand and you weren't saying he stopped Suboxone after one week. Regardless, I will be praying for you & yours. God Bless!

Yes...the doc only had him on soboxone for 8 days and he seems to be fine without it. As for dosing, we kept the bottle and gave him his dose. That was the docs orders.

yah I agree with all the comments about being firm. Either he goes or he can't stay there. Trust me I was dealing with an addict for months and yelling and trying everything except leaving. As soon as I left he checked himself into rehab.

Well my son failed the first try at getting clean. The doc only had him on soboxone for 1 week. Now he is on it for maintenance for at least a month. After that the doc will decide what to do. He is also attending rehab and seeing a therapist. Hoping for a better outcome this time.