Heroin Does heroin addiction last a lifetime no matter what??

[Cane2theLeft]

^very true.

Thanks for the kind words: they're always appreciated.

Since you are currently studying addictions counseling, I'm wondering how you feel about "Moderation Management" programs?

I think that for any substance there will be a certain number of people who are incapable of using it responsibly and who need to avoid it. But I also think that many others will be capable of learning how to use said substance responsibly and safely. And unfortunately 12-Step/Abstinence has become the One Size Fits All approach to substance abuse issues.

In my classes you pretty much nailed the consensus that we're taught. They often describe the 1/3-1/3-1/3 phenomenon... these groups aren't exactly 33% of the population each but they use that for concision. Essentially about 1/3 have virtually no interest in drug use and will only partake in very limited experimentation, very limited social drinking, etc.

The next third can have quite an extensive use history but the natural consequences generally create a border for their use and they learn how to use responsibly and stop/moderate when necessary. This group is rather elusive since they rarely every come into treatment unless they are coerced to legally/professionally.

The last group are the typical-junkies so-to-speak. They've lost control, can not moderate their use, probably will never be able to and will likely require SOME form of assistance when the consequences of their use eventually become severe enough.

Given the above construct that I believe is largely accurate (but probably more along the lines of 5/10-3/10-2/10 or something), some people can certainly benefit from moderate management. This can be effective for people in the middle group who do not have serious problems but maybe are pushing it and times and would actually be able to follow MM guidelines.

Trying to utilize MM principles for most of the third-groupers I think while providing some harm reduction in the interim, can be very damaging in the long run and give people false senses of security and maintain their problematic use under the surface... I believe this is evidence by Audrey Kishline (founder of MM) getting shit-faced after years of successful moderation and killing two people in a DUI accident.

I fully agree with you, most of the treatment world is ridiculously rigid in their views and 12-step groups exemplify this. I think one-size fit all approaches may help a lot of people (if they are properly designed) but likewise will leave A LOT of people behind. I've been working on ways to develop more personalized strategies for figuring out why people use and how they can get better based on David Keirsey's temperament/personality psychology which shows fundamental and demonstrable differences in personality types, intelligence types, roles/motives, etc.

 

[VerbalTruist]

Addiction is considered a lifetime disease by the medical community, that has no cure.

There is quite a bit of debate among addicts as to whether this is true. My opinion is that this is subjective and dependent on the person. We have a discussion about this over in Drug Culture.

 

[DexterMeth]

The myth of the "Soldier's Disease" claimed that many Civil War soldiers were given morphine for wounds, and were then then sent home with a syringe and some medicine to dose themselves. This, of course, led to a whole generation of wastrels and drug addicts.

One problem with this myth is that syringe use was not widespread in America until the late 1870s/early 1880s at the very earliest. Another is that the physicians of the era were well aware that morphine and opium were addictive, but did not report extensive addiction among soldiers: neither do any contemporary accounts of "Soldier's Disease" exist, nor was there an enormous spike in the demand for opiates after the Civil War. The first mention of "Soldier's Disease," in fact, comes in a 1914 article which was intended to promote the new regulations on Opiates. (Jerry Mandel has done a great article on this).

You are of course correct in stating that ethnicity and race play a large role in drug laws. Chinese opium smokers and African-American crack users are dangerous thugs, while white users of laudanum and later cocaine were treated far more leniently.

very interesting. thank you for that.

 

[-Guido-]

If any person who was at one time addicted to opiates tries to tell you that they don't still think about opiates sometimes, they are lying.

This. I was heroin addict for seven years. I finally stopped because when I fell in love with this girl, I managed to learn how to love myself in the process and promised her I would never use heroin again. I have been clean a year and on Methadone. I still think about it from time to time, fleeting moments of remembering the warmth, the deep thoughts, the care free veil that encompasses ones conscious. Usually the thoughts come early in the morning just as the sun is coming up.

Anybody who says different is not only lying to you, but lying to themselves.

 

[laCster]

i would say it is hard to forget how quick the heroin crosses the BBB and gives you an almost instant and intense euphoria...i would say it is hard to forget about any substance that was once injected....sometimes i think about having a fake panic attack or seizure or something just so i can get that blissful valium IV again... or maybe purposely get into a car wreck so i can have demerol pumped directly into my bloodstream....

 

[modkiller]

4 life nigga 4 liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife. maybe not everyday all the time. not saying you are doomed to relapse. but yes it is for life.

just like if you were raped. that shit is with you for life. doesnt mean you will be in fear forever or be crying every night but you will think about it from time to time and it will fuck with you maybe once a month once a year but its FOR LIFE>

should note that with H addiction it depends how bad you got. if you sniffed and went to rehab and stopped, well still for life but whatever. if you ended up on the street, ODed, stole from your fam......its gonna be more in your memory. fuck, dont listen to me. im totally biased, DUH, we all are. but yes its a snatchaholiccocksucking fuck shitting assfucking dick of a life. a nice one too!

 

[oxyhydro]

According to my doctor, the addiction will never go away if left untreated. Treating an addiction does not mean just stop taking drugs, you need to treat the reasons you used drugs, your triggers, basically you need to rewire your entire brain. That is why an addict can go years without using but as soon as they start again they'll be back to where they were before they quit in a matter of weeks. I was treated with a drug called Naltrexone and it successfully erased my addiction. It works by completely blocking your opiate receptors and sensitizing them. Its like covering your eyes in a movie, and when you open your eyes everything is brighter because your eye cells have been sensitized. The naltrexone does this plus it erases the addictive "circuit" formed in your brain from when you were using. The idea is even when you stop using drugs, your opiate receptors are still stimulated by endorphins and such, which is pretty much unnoticeable but it is enough to keep your addiction alive. The naltrexone blocks the receptors and the addiction slowly goes away. This is a completely off label use of the drug, but it has worked for me and every other person my doctor has treated. He even uses it on people with other addictions (alcohol, other drugs, gambling, bad relationships etc...) and it has worked! It shows just how powerful our opiate receptors are and helps explain why opiates are the most addictive drugs.

If you are interested in this drug, look up "low dose naltrexone" people are realizing that many things from cancer to depression can be treated by using naltrexone to block opiate receptors.

If you do get treated with this, go for the shot that lasts a month. The pills only last 24 hours so if you miss a dose you can get really set back and if you want to get high you would just need to wait 24 hours...once you get the shot for the next 4-6 weeks its impossible to get high unless you have access to highly controlled drugs used only in hospitals, and fancy equipment! This was a life-saver for me, its easy to decide on a whim to get the shot and then you are safe for the next month. I started on the pills but couldn't resist the urge to use so I eventually asked for the shot.

Oh! I forgot to mention that it can be very hard to find a doctor that does this, im pretty sure my doc basically invented this treatment because I can find any info on the internet about it. But since naltrexone has absolutely no abuse potential and has no noticeable effects whatsoever, if you talk to an addiction specialist about this im sure he will have no problem giving it a try. It worth the research. I'm gonna try the low dose naltrexone method and see how it treats my depression. For Low dose nal. you need a compounding pharmacy to make the pills especially for you, or do what I do and dissolve a 50mg tablet (the dose they are manufactured in) into water to dilute it to about 4mg per dose.

One last thing! I typed a detailed report on this method of treating addiciotn, I believe its titled "Naltrexone- know effects plus what they dont want you to know", never the less just search Naltrexone and you'll find it