Thanks everyone for your loving messages.
I think what I'm struggling with (and my entire family too) right now is that all of this is so new. She's been an alcoholic for years and years but has managed to keep a job, buy a condo, and otherwise be functional. It's in the past 6-12 months that her mental illness has really plunged and it's not until this summer that we found out about heroin (although I'm quite sure she's been using for at least 6 months or longer, same deal with abusing prescription meds). We confronted her for the first time in July and she went to a rehab (which she got kicked out of) for the first time earlier this month. She hasn't stolen from us. And she lives across the country. My parents are a 6 hour car ride away, I'm a 2 hour plane ride. And she has moments when she crumples and cries to my mom or my stepmom, "please help me. I don't want to die."
Recently we are seeing less and less of the fragile and crying girl that we know and love. Instead we see more and more of the stubborn girl who claims she is not a drug addict and it's just her mental illness that is the problem. So because she waivers back and forth, and it's our first time truly confronting this, we keep having hope that she will decide to get sober. It's like she isn't completely lost (yet).
She's a binger. With alcohol she could go a week without drinking (she even has gone months in the past). But then when she does drink she can't stop and drinks until she blacks out. So she may actually not be using drugs every single day. I just have no idea.
Is it possible for someone to use heroin 5-10 times (as my sister claims) and NOT be an addict? Or is she completely bullshitting us? Do heroin addicts have to use everyday? Or can they use other drugs in place of the heroin to get their fix? I just don't know how it works.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here with me and helping me understand.