Treatment Suboxone program, failed test

[touchdown]

I am new to a sub program. I have been on it 3 weeks. I have had 4 heroin addictions in 7 years and 4 rehabs. it has ruined my life. I have not moved forward due to my addiction. so I decided enough is enough and got a sub doctor. I have to go to group 4 times a week as part of this treatment.

I have been soooo much better since I started. I feel great. however, I just failed a test, actually 2 tests, one from the doc and one from the treatment center. my therapist told me the doctor seemed understanding. I see him again next week. I am SOOOO scared. I am afraid I will be cut off, which will send me into WD and it will KILL me since I can't live on heroin anymore. I will seriously hang myself.

I think she told met that to calm me down. but she knows I am genuine about treatment, I put myself there, I was not ordered there. I WANT sobriety and to move on and I FEEL the best I have felt on the suboxone than I have in 7 years.

anyone have advice?

 

[DogLover123757]

Hey if I may ask what did you test positive for? I sincerely hope the people helping you will be kind and understanding and let you continue the program. Especially if you sought out treatment. If you are still having problems with some substances just be honest about it and tell them what's going on. I know that might seem like a bad idea but in my experience being up front and totally honest with doctors and therapists it will go a long way. So I truly wish you the best and hope that you can overcome and stay clean in the recovery program and let it run its course. Hang in there!

 

[Jabberwocky]

I am new to a sub program. I have been on it 3 weeks. I have had 4 heroin addictions in 7 years and 4 rehabs. it has ruined my life. I have not moved forward due to my addiction. so I decided enough is enough and got a sub doctor. I have to go to group 4 times a week as part of this treatment.

I have been soooo much better since I started. I feel great. however, I just failed a test, actually 2 tests, one from the doc and one from the treatment center. my therapist told me the doctor seemed understanding. I see him again next week. I am SOOOO scared. I am afraid I will be cut off, which will send me into WD and it will KILL me since I can't live on heroin anymore. I will seriously hang myself.

I think she told met that to calm me down. but she knows I am genuine about treatment, I put myself there, I was not ordered there. I WANT sobriety and to move on and I FEEL the best I have felt on the suboxone than I have in 7 years.

anyone have advice?

Yes! This thread works

It sounds like you have a reasonable team of folks working on this with you. Be direct with them about what you have expressed with us here, how important it is for you to continue with this treatment.

It should be pointed out that you've only been on this three weeks, so you're just really beginning to stabilize. That means a lapse like this isn't unexpected, and I doubt you'll get forced off buprenorphine for this. If you do, which again is highly unlikely given what you've told us about your situation, you can always find another buprenorphine provider who is more aware of what ORT can be like.

Try to approach this with an open mind. If, knock on wood, you end up discovering buprenorphine isn't working for you (or has ceased to), you have other options as well.

Try not to worry to much about this. Your concern is totally understandable, but I really don't think you have anything to fear other than, at worst, an uncomfortable conversation or two.

 

[touchdown]

Dog lover - thanks, I tested positive for opiates. I used Friday and sat, 3 buns, and got tested tues and thurs. I think I failed because of a missed shot, but I can't discuss that here.
I only used because I had a family reunion all weekend and it was REALLY stressful. I had bad anxiety and it helped me cope. I now DEEPLY REGRET IT!

Toothpaste - thanks. like I said, it was a stupid slip up and I'm mad at myself for it. I already told the nurse and my therapist it must be a false positive, the nurse mentioned that the Benadryl I take every night for sleep could cause a FP. I already lied, I don't want to go back on it and make it look worse. if I could go back I may have told the truth because I thought would be kicked off.

I signed a contract with the doc, but I looked and it actually doesn't say anywhere that if you test positive once, you will be cut off.

and I have really told my doc and therapist A LOT about how much this is helping me, about how this time I feel MUCH better after being clean as the PAWS aren't bothering me and I am ready to move forward with my life. so there is that. but I am still worried like hell, I have to work tonight (overnight) and this is distracting me so much that it is affecting my performance.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Lots of patients are uncomfortable being frank and straight forward the first time something difficult like this comes up. Any doctor worth their salt in this will understand why you weren't comfortable right off the bat telling them what happened, and will only think very highly of you for coming round to tell them what actually went down (if you're comfortable with this).

The second test you took probably was only positive for metabolites of heroin, so if they were looking at it and the levels were measured then they'd see you weren't still actively using it. You don't need to worry about the why, just whether or not you want to tell your clinic staff what happened. And that is totally up to you.

 

[simco]

I just wanted to reiterate TPD's suggestion that A) a slip up in the first few weeks of ORT shouldn't come as a surprise or disqualification to a respectable ORT doctor and B) if you can show your doc the kind of enthusiasm and commitment to cleaning up that you've show here, supplemented with honest dealing, you'll gain a lot of good will from them.

TPD is also right that you have options if for some reason this doc turned out to be a bad actor.

I wonder if some of your anxiety over this issue might not simply be a matter of being upset by the slip up. When we're cleaning up from a serious habit, mistakes can be profoundly upsetting. I hope you can keep this in perspective--obviously we want to avoid using during recovery. But it does happen to many people, and they usually get right back to improving their lives.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I wonder if some of your anxiety over this issue might not simply be a matter of being upset by the slip up. When we're cleaning up from a serious habit, mistakes can be profoundly upsetting. I hope you can keep this in perspective--obviously we want to avoid using during recovery. But it does happen to many people, and they usually get right back to improving their lives.

This is a very good idea.