Could Use Some Help

I am new to this, I just found the web site. Here is my issue. I have a family member that has a problems with sleeping pills, pain killers, and antidression pills. She has gone to rehap once a few years back and was doing very well. Well, I just found out about a year ago she has been going to a methadone clinic to help with her problem, however she is still taking the pills. I have tried to talk to her about it but she is always out of it. She seems fine in the morning, but by the evening she is gone. I have caught her sleeping at the sink, stove, standing up, on the computer, you name it and she has fell asleep doing it. My biggest concern is she is a single mother. She has now shut me out, and I am scared. What can I do, and how bad is it to take her methadone and still take pills on top of it?
Dear Plesant x
Bottom line is, if she doesnt want help then there is nothing you can do, you can educate her but it is down to the addict to help themselves x
saying that, if you think there is a child at risk due to her actions then this is another story, has she got any family to help her?
with regards to her using ontop of meth, its not a good idea but it can be done, i use to always use on top of my meth all the time, thats why I switched to subutex x
I'm not sure how you'd tackle helping her child? anyone got any thoughts on this?
love
Gabbs
How is it possible for her to feel anything from the other pills when she takes the methadone I thought that it blocked everyhthing after a perod of time of taking the doses your suppose to from my unerstanding thats what its suppose to do but please if I am wrong let me know........
my understanding of methadone is that its a synthetic opitate BUT if you used on top then yeah you feel it!!! it'll put your tolerance sky high, but i used to always 'top up' while being on meth, thats why I swapped to sub x
I think how the meth works is it does block everything, but she takes the pills all through the day and when her meth finally wears off the pills kick in, I could be wrong, I really don;t know a lot about it. I think this is why she is good in the moring but by 6- 7 at night she is gone.
all I know is, that when I was on meth, I could use on top of it and totally feel it!!
there isn't any kind of blocker in meth unlike sub x
She lost her mother last year, and all of her sisters ignore the signs, they know, they just don't want to deal with it. I am her cousin, but we grew up like sisters. I am her oldest sons God Mother. I use to live with her but I had to move. The school tried to step in, but there wasn't enough evidence to support anything.
What is Sub X? Where can I get some information on it?
Soz Plesant, the x is a lil kiss, its like a bloody reflex i have, I put kisses at the end of nearly every sentance x
you could do a net search on subutex or suboxone BUT if she doesn't want help then theres nothing you can do, thats one of the nightmares of addiction, our loved ones want to help, but they can't only the addict can help themselves, and sub is certainly no miricle cure, she needs some tools to be able to get and stay clean, have you suggested NA to her??
Goodness I really don't know about subx but it sounds like to me somewhere deep down she probably is crying for the help she may need a wake up call though it will be tough for you but you will have to be strong my grandmother helped me go cold turkey off of pain killers and she had to use tough love and it probably brock her heart but I loved her even more than I did before for it and my journey is farely new into it 12 days ........sometimes it will take a tragedy to wake people up or just a person that loves them to much.........
NA?

What's that?

I have offered to help her by keeping the boys and letting her try rehab again, I just don't think she believes that she can do it. She thinks she is all alone. All I can do is be there for her, but I get so mad. I won't give up, I can't, her boys need her, they need someone. I think she is going to end up losing them, the school is thinking that there is something going on. She fell asleep at the last basket ball game as the coach's wife was trying to talk to her. I feel like they might be better off but I don't want to lose all of them.
Thanks, I hope you stay with it. My prayers are with you.
Plesant, dont give up on her whatever you do, could you have a good talk to her? voiceing all you concerns? maybe give her a rude awakening?? she needs help, but with addiction if the addict isn't ready to recieve help then they won't do what they need to to get clean, and it is a daily struggle for most of us to stay away from our drug of choice x
I wouldn't advise you to just advise sub to her cos I would say go down the sub route when all other avenues have failed
NA is Narcotics Anonymous, she would be able to meet with other recovering addicts who help and support each other x
I have three myself and they are 6.5.4 and believe me if someone talks to those kids they may let all the dirty laundry out and some people will say oh my kids don't know well they do they know.My five year old came to me shortly after my detox and asked me are through taking those pills now mommy I didn't like those pills she says to me they made you not my mommy and that is what keeps me strong today just plead with her tell her to look at her kids and think if she could imagine them stuffing a bottle of pills down there mouths because that is the reality it will be so rewarding to her and to you if she does reallly want to it will take alot of time addicts don't want to put there crap on other people they would rather just be numb from reality rather than deal with it
Welcome to the board.... First I want to say that methadone really doesn't block anything... I took methadone for 2 yrs 8 months. I could smoke weed on top of it, take vicodin in between doses, snort coke whatever. I still felt the "buzz"... Methadone will take you from one extreme to the next... One minute I could be mopping floors on hands and kness and the next sleeping while sitting up smoking.. My ex husband took it for years also and he almost burned down my house more than once..

Now the detox from methadone is the most brutal pain most anyone will ever experience. It seems like everyday that passes the withdrawl symptoms got worse not better. It took months for me to feel "normal again". So they day she decides to stop taking the methadone she won't beable to care for herself very well. I had to tell my mom a few days into my detox to please come get my children cause I couldn't cook them meals. Hell I could hardly sit in the tub.. I survived it but it was very painful... I would highly suggest suboxone when she is ready to stop the methadone. She would need to get down to about 30 mgs
before starting the sub. It is expensive but would stop her withdrawls. She would also need to withdrawl from methadone for about 3 days before starting the sub. So if she took her last methadone on a friday she could start the sub on a monday...

One more thing like everyone else said she will have to want the help before she will ever get it. Weather she goes to Na, rehab,quits cold turkey, tapers down whatever... You maybe able to show her this message board and she will get some support here. It is important for her to get some face to face support as well... Talking to her doctor and asking for help would be a good option too..

Good luck to you and your friend! Rae
Thanks for all of your advice. I really do appreciate it, and I am really happy I found this place, I added it to my favorites!!!! I am going to e-mail my cousin right now and let her know about it also, maybe it will help.

Good luck, and God Bless everyone here.
her oldest sons God mother...
those that know me on here know that I am most addicts stonches advocate most of the time... with one exception... when there are kids that could be in danger.... if she is nodding and in a house where kids could be put at risk ... you have a duty to see that those kids are protected.... dont forget that....

just something else to think about... talk to her frankly in a non judgemental fashion.. give her the information the situation as you see it ... then you must protect those kids... how are you gonna feel if something happens.. she wrecks while nodding.. or burns the house down.. (forgets she is cooking..) there is more at stake here than just her.... she needs to see that....

I will keep you in my prayers....

Teresa
How can I protect the kids, child welfare has been called and they say there is not enough evidence to support any claims.

I just e-mailed her this site, and I left a message for her to call me, but she has shut me out right now, you see I am the only oone in our family that doesn't want to ignore this problem we have. I want to see her get better, and God as my witness I don;t want anything to happen to the boys.

Any ideas?
Pleasant, it would be nice if you could say look you have a problem, and she'd get help, but that won't happen. All you can do is be supportive and understanding, until she herself gets tired of falling asleep like that, and seeks help on her own. I too fell asleep doing things like that and that is when I realized I had a serious problem. Hopefully in time, she'll feel the same and ask for help, until that day, help with the little one to keep her or him safe. Good luck, and keep on being there for her.
One more thing I am going to move a post to the top of the page. It was an article in last saturday's paper here in Florida about methadone.. You may want to print it and let her read it.... Look for it on the board " methadone info"... maybe if she gets a little educated then she will be willing to do something about her addiction if she feels the need to!! Rae