Good morning

[GingerLilly]

Good morning all. I have found Bluelight in my quest to understand addiction. My husband is currently in rehab and I am looking for sources of support and knowledge on how to best support his recovery. After reading through this site I thought it would be better if I could participate too so I signed up.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Welcome to BL!

 

[Nurse Ratched]

Hi Ginger. Welcome.

What was your husbands drug of choice? We have threads in Health and Recovery that might be helpful. As a matter of fact the 3 forums with the most support are The dark side, H and R and Mental health. Lots of good info in those 3.

Any questions or problems pop back in here and ask away. Enjoy the forum and all the best to you and your hubby.

 

[GingerLilly]

Hi Ginger. Welcome.

What was your husbands drug of choice? We have threads in Health and Recovery that might be helpful. As a matter of fact the 3 forums with the most support are The dark side, H and R and Mental health. Lots of good info in those 3.

Any questions or problems pop back in here and ask away. Enjoy the forum and all the best to you and your hubby.

Hi Nurse! Thank you for your reply. I have been reading through the recovery sub section quite a bit.

He was on opioids for almost 10 years. He is at his 2 week mark in rehab. Finally starting to feel a little better.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

Hi Nurse! Thank you for your reply. I have been reading through the recovery sub section quite a bit.

He was on opioids for almost 10 years. He is at his 2 week mark in rehab. Finally starting to feel a little better.

Good for him. When he gets out he will probably be on replacement therapy ( subs maybe ) and I hope you two can move on and live the life you both deserve. It took strength to ask for, and get, help and good on you for standing by his side.

 

[GingerLilly]

Good for him. When he gets out he will probably be on replacement therapy ( subs maybe ) and I hope you two can move on and live the life you both deserve. It took strength to ask for, and get, help and good on you for standing by his side.

Thanks. They have him on suboxone and gabapentin. He plans to stay on the Gaba but is having them wean him off the suboxone. He doesn't want to take it once he is out. They keep trying to force anti depressants but we both are afraid of that because the dependency and withdrawal that comes with it down the road. I am definitely learning a lot and this forum seems to be a great resource so far. Scary but enlightening at the same time.

 

[simstim]

Hello and welcome to bluelight.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

Gabapentin can be a good mood stabilizer and anti depressant in it's own right so maybe an SSRI isn't the answer. I hear that rehabs give people subs to get them over detox but I don't understand why they wean people off before sending them home. I would think the smart thing to do would be to send them home with a script with a referral for a refill from their PCP.

I mean rehab is all well and good to detox and get our acts together but coming out with no help is kind of silly. We can't take 10 years of getting high and expect that it's all good now because we did some rehab. Your husband will absolutely crave when he gets out and although the gabapentin will help ease it a bit I don't expect it's going to help a whole lot. His mind will play tricks on him and he absolutely will relapse if he doesn't have therapy ( both talk and medicine ) because our addictions are very powerful. They consume our mind and every waking moment. Our bodies have healed during rehab but our brains are still very sick. We are very susceptible to relapse and severe cravings.

I would really recommend your husband not wean off the subs but continue taking them until he feels stable and stronger in his recovery. I know it's a personal choice and I respect your right to choose. But rehab is only as good as the after care that we get. Sending people back out with no support system ( subs or methadone ) is just asking for a relapse. Smokers ( ciggies ) get locked up in jail for a month and they have no choice but to quit. The first thing they do when they hit the street is light a smoke. Even though they just spent the last 30 days not smoking. Not saying your husband will want to get high right away after he gets home but if left to his own devices he is going to struggle really hard. Maybe he is really strong and committed and I am way off base here. But if he is anything like other opioid addicts he's going to need a lot of help when he gets out. Just don't think the gabapentin is going to cut it. And SSRI's aren't going to help at all. When the brain wants to get high the brain will win out every time. Unless we are ready and prepared and have the arsenal to fight back. Subs and methadone have their own sets of problems but it does help keep people on the right path until their brains can heal.

 

[GingerLilly]

Gabapentin can be a good mood stabilizer and anti depressant in it's own right so maybe an SSRI isn't the answer. I hear that rehabs give people subs to get them over detox but I don't understand why they wean people off before sending them home. I would think the smart thing to do would be to send them home with a script with a referral for a refill from their PCP.

I mean rehab is all well and good to detox and get our acts together but coming out with no help is kind of silly. We can't take 10 years of getting high and expect that it's all good now because we did some rehab. Your husband will absolutely crave when he gets out and although the gabapentin will help ease it a bit I don't expect it's going to help a whole lot. His mind will play tricks on him and he absolutely will relapse if he doesn't have therapy ( both talk and medicine ) because our addictions are very powerful. They consume our mind and every waking moment. Our bodies have healed during rehab but our brains are still very sick. We are very susceptible to relapse and severe cravings.

I would really recommend your husband not wean off the subs but continue taking them until he feels stable and stronger in his recovery. I know it's a personal choice and I respect your right to choose. But rehab is only as good as the after care that we get. Sending people back out with no support system ( subs or methadone ) is just asking for a relapse. Smokers ( ciggies ) get locked up in jail for a month and they have no choice but to quit. The first thing they do when they hit the street is light a smoke. Even though they just spent the last 30 days not smoking. Not saying your husband will want to get high right away after he gets home but if left to his own devices he is going to struggle really hard. Maybe he is really strong and committed and I am way off base here. But if he is anything like other opioid addicts he's going to need a lot of help when he gets out. Just don't think the gabapentin is going to cut it. And SSRI's aren't going to help at all. When the brain wants to get high the brain will win out every time. Unless we are ready and prepared and have the arsenal to fight back. Subs and methadone have their own sets of problems but it does help keep people on the right path until their brains can heal.

Thanks Nurse. I brought this up to him in our weekly conversation last night. He said he would think about it but then a bit later was talking about how they are going to start weaning him from the subs this week. I think he has his mind set on it.

I do have a weekly therapist set up for him once he comes out. The facility also has a healthy out patient program he will be participating in. I will be taking a couple weeks off when he first gets out as well and will keep a close eye on him. He may come out and find that he still needs that extra help and need to go back on the subs. I am trying to gently encourage him to take it one step at a time.

 

[Robi]

Good morning all. I have found Bluelight in my quest to understand addiction. My husband is currently in rehab and I am looking for sources of support and knowledge on how to best support his recovery. After reading through this site I thought it would be better if I could participate too so I signed up.

and so glad you did sign up, you can ask any question and get great advice, what a great spouse to be so supportive, my best wishes for his recovery, and your own healing

 

[Robi]

Thanks. They have him on suboxone and gabapentin. He plans to stay on the Gaba but is having them wean him off the suboxone. He doesn't want to take it once he is out. They keep trying to force anti depressants but we both are afraid of that because the dependency and withdrawal that comes with it down the road. I am definitely learning a lot and this forum seems to be a great resource so far. Scary but enlightening at the same time.

im grateful i didnt get on anti depressants for more than 2 weeks, but i know they have been life savers for many, yeah BL scared me off about everything, especially benzos, thats a good thing, i do take them but i would have eaten my script in one week if it wasnt for BL