Skayda

I'm on methadone too, (waiting to hear back from the Suboxone Doc to make the switch), for opiate replacement therapy and I attend N.A. meetings. I've only gone to a few so far and haven't felt comfortable enough yet to open up and share with anyone there that I AM on methadone but I don't think they'd judge me or kick me out if they knew.

~Skayda

Gmoney

Welcome Skayda,

We certainly wouldn't at my group. Keep coming...it gets better.

jenisout2

Hello, my name is jen I just now joined the group. I have been on methadone for about 2 yrs now and I have gained 60 lbs. and have been seriously considering getting off. I seen that u posted that u were on meth and now u r off it. I was wondering if u would mind telling me how u did it and how u felt?

archiecat

Have you seen the new revision of In Times Of Illness booklet. It addresses these issues much more fully.
BIG HUGS!
Archiecat

LadyGrimm

I was seriously considering going back to NA for some added recovery help while on the Methadone Treatment program, but after reading these replies I do not think I'll do it after all. I do have a desire to quit using and do not think I should be judged for putting myself on a treatment program to avoid being violently ill while trying to maintain my job, modeling, and music careers. It makes me sad that people would judge me for doing the best I can and not allow me to share what is going on in my recovery. That does not seem right at all. We should have the same rights as anyone else that goes to the meetings as long as we have the desire to get clean. Methadone does not "alter" the mind in any way. All it does it physically and mentally reduce the craving for opiates. If taken properly people do not get "high" or anything of the sort. Oh well, I'll just go about my recovery the old fashioned way. Me and my immediate family's support will just have to be enough I suppose.

Gmoney

The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop using, and in NA you are a member when you say you are. Yet, there is a difference between having a desire to stop using and having actually stopped. DRT's (drug replacement therapies) are viewed as drug substituiton in NA, not abstinence from drugs. Our groups adhere to the 12 Traditions of NA and carrying the message that recovery is possible is their primary purpose. NA groups have the right to govern themselves and this may include restrictions on who participates in meetings and how. Verbal participation (sharing) is not a right. Here's a link to the NAWS bulletin on Methadone Maintainence and DRT's (check it out):

Bulletin #29

G

Missybuns

In our group we welcome any addict who asks for help in achieving freedom from active addiction.

We want to help people get better. Each has their own steps to take, we just help support them as they do.

Peace,
Missy

bcsister

I cannot post the link he left, site restrictions. But it is called
"WORLD SERVICE BOARD OF TRUSTEES BULLETIN #29
Regarding Methadone and Other
Drug Replacement Programs"

Gmoney is absolutely correct.
I DO encourage those who are quibbling to READ OUR LITERATURE, as it is VERY clear. We treat Addiction through abstinence. Anything ELSE being treated by a physician is an outside issue.

Try the IP on Medication And NA Groups

Drug Replacement
"By definition, drug replacement is used for a different
reason than prescribed medications for mental or
physical health. This distinction makes drug replacement
a separate issue for us in NA." And Later:

"It may be helpful for all of us
to remember that many addicts on drug replacement
eventually do get clean, stay clean, and find a way of life
they thought was unobtainable before coming to NA.
This process doesn't always occur when an addict attends
his or her first meeting—getting and staying clean
is often a decision that’s made after attending many
meetings over a period of time."


H & I Service Bulletin #3

"Our program approaches recovery from addiction through abstinence, cautioning against substituting one drug from another. That’s our program. That’s what we have to offer the addict that still suffers... Our only purpose in addressing drug replacement, and it’s use by our members is to define abstinence for our selves."

In short:
YES! people on Methadone are welcome NA members.
No, NA does not consider those on Methadone to be clean YET.
NA members on methadone have been able to GET clean, and Stay clean!
Keep Coming Back!

bcsister

You would be welcome in my home group! We have many members still addicted to methadone (an opioid). We would support you in the goal of getting a clean date to start the 12 steps of NA, and the Freedom that comes from it!

Kappy

I believe that the bulletin on this issue badly needs to be updated considering suboxone wasn't prescribed in the USA until after 1996 and methadone is also a prescribed medication and should be included in times of illness bulletin because they can help with harm reduction not just addiction they should at least let these members of NA share so as not to go home hurting. This information is almost 20 years old things do change. I would like to start a petition to change this bulletin and would appreciate the help

NoelleR

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Bulletin 29 is just fine the way it is; it does not need updating. The pamphlet 'In Times of Illness' was updated in 2008, copyright 2010, and the only mention of 'drug replacement' is referring to taking medication for pain.

Bulletin #29
http://www.na.org/admin/include/spaw...%20Illness.pdf

(o:
NoelleR

mfanch

I started going to NA in my town when I quit the needle in '09. EVERYONE seemed to be on replacement therapy. Then, what about the folks like me who were seeking complete abstinence from all mind altering drugs? So I quit going and did some soul searching.

I found a local lady who was a crackhead and had 21 years CLEAN AND SOBER. Abstinent. I asked her what I should do and she sent me to AA. AA is where she got clean and where ended up getting clean. Before that, I was offered subs and I didn't want maintenance or harm reduction. I wanted to be C.L.E.A.N. So I went to AA.

I don't fault or judge those on maintenance therapy but I don't relate. At all. It isn't my program. My program is complete abstinence, so I found a group who espouses that - all the AA and two NA meetings in my town.

HonestlyTrying

Really learning alot by reading all the opinions on drug replacement therapies. In this world of so many opinions it is difficult to sort through them and decide on what is best. What works and is ok for one may be totally unacceptable for someone else.
I have a sponsee who is on methodone and I truly want the best for her, and am willing to continue working with her as long as she continues to ask for help. I have no opinion on using methodone. If that is what is needed and prescribed it is an outside issue. When she wants to serve in a position of leadership in NA however, there is a problem. That breaks our 4th tradition in that having someone in a leadership position that is using drug replacement therapy, according to bulletin #29, is affecting NA as a whole. Groups are NOT autonomous in this instance.
On the one hand we want to help those who ask for help, but NA IS a program of COMPLETE ABSTINENCE. I remember what Dr. Bob said about allowing an addict in their midst in AA's early days...his reply to this was,"What would the Master say?"
I think it needs to be handled with compassion and patience. After all, we would all like the same consideration. The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop using.

Kappy

If NA does have no opinion on outside issues then why do they get to have an opinion on medication that people take for any reason what so ever I feel it's their way to limit what certain members can say and do in the fellowship they say the only requirement is the desire to stop using so how do they get to limit your membership by prescribed medication

HonestlyTrying

As an addict I know I personally never want to follow rules of any sort. I have gotten to the point that I can admit that I don't know what is best and I am willing to surrender my opinion and learn why NA has Traditions that we follow. A program that has been saving thousands of addicts for many years now must be doing something right.

If I were taking medication for anxiety under a doctor's supervision, and and taking it as prescribed, that is not considered using. No one in NA should judge me in this instance, and if they are, it is an outside issue and none of their business.

It is up to me to be honest with myself (and my doctor) that I am not secretly abusing prescribed medication.

What if I am NOT honest with myself or my doctor and I AM secretly using prescribed medication to get high? What if I am lying to everyone at meetings and I am hiding the truth? Who am I hurting then? How can I talk about living clean when I am secretly NOT? How can I tell a newcomer how great it is when I don't have the EXPERIENCE of being honest about my own using?

Addiction is a sneaky disease and wants us all dead. NA has guidelines that are meant to help us learn to live without using. It isn't easy to follow them sometimes when we don't understand why they are in place, and there are people involved and people make mistakes.

AncientHighway

You really can't can you? Yet this is something that definitely happens in meetings. How can I know for sure where someone else is coming from? Is it useful to enact a ton of rules to try to keep this from happening? The result seems to be that people who are sincerely seeking recovery can be made to feel like their path to recovery is somehow "less-than" yet the people who are just looking for a loop-hole to "the rules" will still find one. Regardless of how many or how few rules there are someone is gonna break 'em.

Let's say someone just quit opiates, crack and alcohol and is working on their gambling addiction which funded the whole mess. They go on methadone because they don't know what else to do. The counsellor at the methadone clinic suggests they attend NA meetings. At the NA meetings they are told that they aren't really clean because they are looking for a softer, easier way. The methadone isn't doing anything to make it easier to not smoke crack, drink alcohol or gamble, is it? They have been struggling like crazy to stay clean from all of this and yet... they are told they "aren't really clean" and only after they get off the methadone can they start acknowledging their progress in staying clean by collecting keytags and participating in meetings. Some might be ok with this and wait, some might say to themselves "these meetings just aren't for me" and find a different path and others might say "to hell with this, I might as well have a couple drinks 'cause I'm not really clean anyway."

I hear all sorts of kooky messages when people share in meetings. Fact is, I can't control these people. It's not for me to say who can and can't share. It's not for me to say what they can and cannot say when they do share. It's not for me to judge someone else's path to recovery or how far they have or have not progressed on that path. It's not for me to judge who I should or should not have to listen to before I even hear what they are going to say, is it? Sometimes even the kooks have something to teach me. Every experience can be a learning experience if you choose to be open to it, right?

HonestlyTrying

You got that right. It is not for me to judge. There are many treatment programs out there for drug addiction. Everyone is free to choose what works for them. No one program fits all, I am sure of that!
Methedone treatment is a drug replacement therapy, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is one of the choices we addicts have.
There is also a program where you can quit being an addict altogether. We are free to try that and see if that works. If money is tight this one might not be an option. Don't know if there is an expiration date on how long it works.
Then there is the 12 Step program of NA. Any addict is free to learn about that and see if that works for them. All I can say about this one is that it takes time to find a new way to live without drugs, and it is very much a learning process.

Guess what? I have time to learn...
To get the benefits of any treatment program, I think the individual

cleanone

Methadone saved my wife's life and mine, before that she used H all the time and loads of it and then she got pregnant so if your strung out and pregnant you CAN'T quit opiates coldturkey so they put her on methadone so i decided to try it and we are in a place we could have never imagined. We are clean and not on the streets anymore. I have a job and I don't understand how people "say" that my wife isn't clean in NA's eyes because she had no choice other than use an illegal street drug every couple hours or be on a state run program that changes people's lives and just fights off withdrawal. So what I've seen is if she wanted to be fully active or even get a chip for being clean in the first place, that she can't because of our unborn child and a decision to keep it instead of going though a miscarriage/stillbirth (which happened to her 4 years ago when she tried to kick while 6 months pregnant) and get clean on methadone? It sounds very flawed in that sense. Methadone has saved OUR lives and gotten us clean when nothing else had worked(NA,AA,Inpatient,Outpatient,Medical detox,Jail,psych hospitals,Church,regular detox,Suboxone,everything else) I like NA and would like for people to understand that methadone isn't legal H or a crutch. For some people it's methadone or death and I wish some people understand that.

Db1105

Narcotics Anonymous offers a Spiritual solution to addiction through the 12 Steps. DRT offers a chemical solution to addiction. As long as one has a desire to stop using drugs, they are welcome into the rooms of NA. IMHO, as long as they are in the rooms with a desire to stop using, the have a right to share.

Nanouzz

I agree with you METHADONE AND MEETINGS saved my life. Thank God my recovery sisters and brothers did not judge me and I was able to have service position. But a few ppl in our meetings looked at me as not clean. I did not let it bother me but if everyone judged me like they did I would of left thw rooms and who knows I may not be here and clean today.