If you are a recovering addict, what worked to get/stay clean?

[concernedsister]

My 16 year old sister has been using Heroin for 2 years now. It's gotten progressively worse over time. She's in a 14 day rehab detox program now. Can this work if she wants it too? Can a Heroin addict that is using 3 to 5 bags per day get and stay clean on her own or after a very short rehab? She was in Daytop for 4 months, got out and started using again.

I'm just curious to hear other's experiences, if you are a recovered/recovering addict, how did you get clean? Is it possible to do it on your own or with a short term rehab?

My sister will be returning the same town and friends where almost everyone she knows is an addict. I'm tryiing to persuade her into a long term rehab, but she doesn't want to go away until she's 18 (she'll be 17 in January). I know she won't get clean until SHE is ready. I completely understand that, but I'm hoping that we can help somehow. Just curious to know what motivates an addict to get clean and when they decide to do it, is it possible to do it without long-term rehab?

[gratefulgal]

Hi concernedsister,
you said some key words in your post - "if she wants it to." The answer is yes, people do recover from addiction all the time. I am a recovering addict and the only thing that has worked for me is a 12-step program. When your sister wants to be clean more than she wants to be high, then the program can work. When she has had enough pain, problems and consequences, then she will be ready to get clean. Everyone has a different "bottom" and she may need to go further than you think to hit her's. As far as being able to recover without a long-term treatment center first, people do it all the time. I went to a 28-day rehab and highly recommend some sort of substantial time in a treatment center, but that depends on the person too. When AA first started, they did not have treatment centers like they do today, and alcoholics came into the rooms of AA right off the streets. They did not go to detox centers, etc. So it can be done. Don't give up hope and keep praying for your sisiter.

[Cindi R]

As an addict/mom I'd do whatever it takes to get her into a long term treatment away from the people who she's been using with. Of course she doesn't want to be sent away from her friends at 16...that's her connection to the stuff. When my brother was 16 we put him into treatment for his 16th birthday...he didn't get clean until he was sent to club fed for conspiracy & distribution charges for selling meth. He continues to drink.
I've been clean & sober since 8/15/01 when I almost lost my job...after a 25 year history of drinking & drugging...
I've put my 14 y/o son into treatment for smoking pot & drinking alcohol (who's now 16)...and I had to divorce my AH of 25 years and make my home a zero tolerance zone.
If it were my sister or my child...I'd do whatever I could to break the cycle NOW!
But even then, those efforts may not give you the payoff you're looking for...
However once she's 18...then the chance for an intervention is much more difficult.

[dochypnos]

In short yes, but that's being optimistic. Understand that addiction has 2 components. The physical and the psychological dependence of Heroin. These short term detoxes don't work for everyone and it sounds like your sister has already tried something like that. Maybe you should consider an alternative to the 14 day detox.

[Done-With-It]

You are one awesome sister,
Let me tell ya.

Of course this is all just my opinion.
But, From what I have learned
IT TAKES 30 DAYS TO
MAKE OR BREAK A HABIT.

Your sister has so many odds thrown her way
right now. First her age. There is a
lot of proven research that a teenager
will do and think the way that they do,
because their brains are not formed fully
until after they are 18 years of age.

One of my best friends who is majoring in
pyschology explained this to me along
time ago, and since then I've read
a bit about it. Therefore my point
being is that they don't have the ability
as an adult would to understand things
the same way that they will be able to
understand them in 10 years from now.

It has nothing to do with how smart they are,
or what kind of person they are. It's one
of the main reasons why teens think
Nothing Can Really Hurt them.
For example my friends and I used
to play
"The Choking Game"
all the time.
Nowadays,
it's a huge deal and people are dying.

I even have pictures of us
"choking"
each other.
We thought it was the greatest thing in the world.
But now the thought of my
neices doing it, scares the heck out of me.

Another thing is that teens have a concept that the
friends they have now are going to be the friends
they will have for the rest of their life.

So looking at this from "HER" point of view,

She may want to get better, But
to get better she has to give up
the one form of
"~PURE HAPINESS~"
(HEROIN)
that she has.
She has to give up her friends,
She is being asked to give up
everything that makes her,
Her
Who She Is.

DON'T GET ME WRONG.
THAT IS NOT WHO SHE IS.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT,
But I'm just looking at it from her view.
And this is just a guess.

Today is my
"TWO WEEK BIRTHDAY"
from being clean from
Crystal Meth.

I have never tried heroin, but I hear
the effects can compare to crystal.
You feel content,and like everything is OK.

So I look at it as give her a few more days
ahead of me being in a rehab and then being
let go. THAT SCARES ME, for your sister.

Rehab is A SAFE PLACE. YOUR WORLD STOPS.
But nothing being different when she gets
home. The world isnt safe anymore.

This is SOOOO SOOOO HARD for me right now.
I'm happy one minute to have 2 weeks to my belt,
and then a minute later, I can't think of anything
but doing another line.
It makes me feel crazy, sad, horrible, angry, etc.

The only way I know to make those feelings go away,
the only thing that works is my powerful friend,
CRYSTAL METH. It is hard for me to think that
she wouldn't experience the same thing.

And I wasn't sure (by what you said)
how much she wants to recover,
But I can tell you I am aching like I never have
to be clean. To get this stuff out of my life once
and for all. I have sat at home, with an off an on
fever for two weeks, dreamt of using, been in physical
pain, gone through feelings I have never experienced
before in my life. And one would think that would be
enought to make me never want to do another line.

But it doesn't. I can't tell you even the rush I feel
when I think of even calling my dealer for Just
one more bag. Just one more time, before I actually
get a whole month. Cause then I won't feel like such
a loser if I only have 2 weeks and fail, but I can't have
a whole month and fail, Cuz that would be bad.

I'm just giving you some insight into my head, because I know a lot of the stuff going on, is what my addiction is about.

It's the drugs that tell me these things.
And It's nothing I even like to say, write, or admit,
or TELL ANYONE,
BUT.
If it will give you any kind of insight into
how your sister may feel, then it's worth it.

Knowing what I am going through, If it were MY sister
and she was in the same boat that yours is in.

I'd get her into a long term facility.
I'd do whatever it took to do it.
If I had to go to a judge and do it,
I would.

Look at Hugh O' Conner's son.
Not to scare you, but it's the truth of what this
stuff does to someone.

I will be thinking of you both, and I hope you she is doing okay.

You are doing the most important thing you can do though.
I will tell you that right now.
Your not giving up on her, and you are doing what you can
to help her. My family is all about "DENIAL".
People throw tough love around like there is no tomorow,
Yea, sometimes it's needed, but sometimes
when you are going through something like this,
There is NOTHING more powerful than the love of
your friends and family.
No matter what she tells you or how she acts.
Don't forget or let her try and convince you that she doesn't
need you, cause she does.


YOU ROCK