mandamonster’s Profile

Close Heroin Addiction & Recovery

Starting smoking heroin when I was 28 years old, two years after I graduated from college, and after an extremely traumatic experience. I thought smoking it would be no big deal....WRONG! Now, eight years later, I am on methadone and still using. I have a really good job, and a regular routine. But, I still use, go figure. I want to stop. I have tried so many things, none of which have worked, which is why I'm giving an online support group a try. It can't hurt, right?

Treatments

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) Not Working

My experience with this - also tried AA - was ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! God this and God that, even though they 'say' step 2 can be whatever you want it to be, ugh. There are so many things wrong with this program (FOR ME-NOT THE MANY PEOPLE IT HAS ACTUALLY HELPED TREMENDOUSLY) that I can not even describe all of them here. Hence, not only did it NOT work, it was actually detrimental. But, it has made me seek out other avenues of treatment,.

Residential Treatment Center Not Working

They used AA - see my description of NA, same thing.

Suboxone Working / Worked

This treatment worked wonderfully for me - for about two weeks. I couldn't remember a time I felt so great (pre-heroin days). But, my doctor wanted me off the medication a.s.a.p. The result, a quick reduction in my dose made me feel like crud, and did not give me enough time to establish a routine without drugs in my life, so I ended up using again. I really think that if I was on this medication for a longer period of time, I would have had a great chance at success.

Methadone Somewhat Helpful

Actually it is VERY helpful in maintaining a somewhat normal life like holding a job and maintaining a regular routine However the side effects are at times quite unbearable. Also the fact that I must be very secretive about this subject due to the serious misconceptions and huge amounts misinformation regarding methadone is hard. Also the fact that I am still using after 4 years of being on this stuff seems to show that it really isnt working that well....