IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Dear Anna,

I'm not an expert on this, but wanted to give you some reply. And I am sure you will get more replies on this forum. If not, post again in another more general place on HP.

As you may know, there is a substitute for heroin which doctors can prescribe. Methodone I think is the spelling. It isn't a magic way out since you can get addicted to that too, I understand. But at least it helps, and you don't then have to go to a pusher, but are under the wings of the NHS.

Your boyfriend is a victim, and deserves all help he can get. Good fortune and keep in touch. At the end of the day, though if might seem a bit distant right now, your boyfriend is a superb being, and just needs assistance to get out of this very difficult situation. Then he can be himself. And I do not of course mean that it will be easy - but it can be done.

Edited to add: So in my opinion at any rate, it would be important to get the addiction legit. Which means being free from pushers and under the NHS on methodone. By the way, it is yourself posting here; an awful lot will depend upon the will and motivation of your boyfriend, and not yourself - that is nothing you can do anything about, and if he has it, the motivation, then a lot is possible. But that is up to your boyfriend, not yourself...

Love and Light,

Venetian

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Just a quick few ideas:

Many detox clinics use auricular (ear) acupuncture that may help or there's the full Traditional Chinese Medical Acupuncture. Hynotherapy and there are various forms of detox foot spa systems nowadays.

Andrew.

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Thanks your advice is very much appreciated....

Blessings

Anna

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi Anna
I wonder if your boyfriend has any outside help, if not then
UK National Drugs helpline is a good place to start

freephone : 0800 77 66 00

with best wishes to you both
astra

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi moonbaby, hope you are well.

Firstly, I understand how difficult it can be having a partner that is addicted to heroin. I hope that you feel you have someone to talk to about this too.

A really good place to visit is
They also have a helpline 0800 77 66 00 (Oops, Astra already given you this) - You can call up and find out about what support is available for you and your partner in your area.

There is quite a lot of 'treatment' out there and its really your boyfriend needs to take some time to talk to someone and work out what will suit him. Methadone script means that he wont have to go and commit crime, but it is addictive and you can still overdose on it. I know people that it has really helped come off heroin. Others wish they never started on methadone and now use both methadone and heroin and have a 'double habit'.
He could get a subutex script which I have heard good reports from; In brief, it acts a bit like methadone, However, it blocks the receptors in the brain and if you use heroin on top it may send you into withdrawals, and you just wont get any effect from the heroin.

There is NLP & Hypnotherapy, ear acupuncture can help with some of the symptoms of withdrawing.

But really and truely your boyfriend needs to want to stop then I would advise seeking professional help. Overcomng addiction takes time, some serious soul seaching, hard work and good information from someone who knows.

He can access keyworking, counseling, group therapy, day programmes, detox, rehab. The help is out there in abundance for someone who seriously wants to stop

NA(Narcotics Annonimous) is a nationwide organisation that also supports friends and family.
They have meetings everywhere and its free and offers good support

Good luck and if you want any more in depth info just ask, or email me

take care

Nev
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RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Knowing people who are addicted to this or that, another piece of advice I hear veterans give to them is about who you (rather, in your case, your boyfriend) mixes with.

Addiction inevitably usually means that one hangs out with others the same, or those who supply, etc. It's just making it far harder to stop if one carries on socialising with these people, even if they are real friends. During the period of seriously trying to stop, it's important not to meet up with similar friends witht he same problem, hard as this may be. A need for a clean break, and finding new things to use one's time on, new friends. The 'old' friends are likely to have it available, and habits die hard. Meeting them can be associated with a fix in the mind. So at least until a person is clean, it's good for a complete break from friends involved in the substance....

Venetian

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi

Thanks for all of your responses and advice....he has had this problem before when he was younger so knows quite a lot about what can be done in terms of conventional medicine so he is thinking of just doing it his own way which he has started by cutting down the drug and just taking a few days worth of methadone(which he will gradually reduce) followed by subutex and vallium...

I think that you are really right Nev when you say that other things need to be resolved it is a lot of grief that made him feel like doing this so there is a lot to get over I think but he says he wants his life back and just feels happier in himself than he ever has so those are a good starting point i think....

Also we are expecting a baby so he really wants to sort this ASAP....

Do you think that the doctor can prescribe any natural treatments on the NHS, like accupunture etc?

Thank you all once again for your kind advice,

Anna

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi Anna,

I am sure there are many people on HP who have better info than me since they are in the field of healing. In the meantime, acupuncture from a GP so far as I know may depend on the GP. If necessary fish around. I know that one local to me could and would do it. But in the past I had GPs who scoffed at it.

As to restarting the habit due to stressful happenings, this is of course understandable. But from what I hear, any long-time 'cured' person would say "Life is always going to have its stresses. That's a part of life itself. So the real test is receiving these unexpected blows or stresses in life, yet still facing them, or not being affected by them. Not resorting to that way out."

So far as I can see, having had such a problem, and truly overcoming it in the long term, would actually be a soul-strengthening experience perhaps.

Good luck to you both,

Venetian xxxx

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hello Anna,
You might also like to check out Emotional Freedom Techniques (does what it says on the tin!) at . There's a free manual which you can download

This is a very simple technique which involves tapping on acupuncture points with your fingers and is based on the idea that all negative emotions are caused by an imbalance in the body's energy system. You can learn to do it yourself, or work with a practitioner, which can even be done over the phone.

In particular it can help with dealing with the stress triggers and in your chap's case the grief that kicked it all off.

It may also help with the desire to take the drug - it's certainly brilliant with nicotine and food cravings. There are lots of EFT practitioners who hang out on the Mental Therapies forum on HP, if you need to ask any questions.

All the best to you both
Jonathan

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Dear Anna,
I was up until 18 months ago a heroin addict of 8 years so I know how difficult it must be not just for your boyfriend but to those close to him as well.
This might sound like a bit of a 'cliche' , but nothing will work unless he wants to give it up,and if he has come to you and asked for help then that's a real positive start.
It took me 7 years to tell anyone that i was an addict ( including myself), which is basically 7 years of lies and deceit to those close to me. Anyway, everything is going great for me, i moved away from my so called 'friends' and came to live in London with family where i am studying to become a Sports Injury Masseur.
Please,Please dont let him go on Methadone as this is not a solution it adds to the problem. Methadone has far worse withdrawal symptons than heroin and takes a lot longer to come off. I am by no means a doctor, but being a heroin addict you become very knowledgable in all Opiates so i am just giving you my personal experiance and that of my friends.
There is a relatively new drug called 'subutex' which is what i am prescribed by the doctor,and it is the best and only thing i have seen work for my friends and more importantly me!!!! This is a mild opiate which also has a blocker ( stops heroin working). I have been able to function normally ever since i took my last hit of heroin August 9th 2003. Ask your Gp if he will prescribe and if not then he will refer you to a clinic which will.
I hope this helps the both of you and i wish you all the luck in the world. If you need to talk about anything please reply, in private if you wish (though i dont know how to write a private message).
Best Wishes Nick.......

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

hi

been working with addiction for many years now, yes scripting is a very important part of withdrawal, but somtimes it only gives the fighting edge, your partner will really need to work hard on his belief system around his usage and his identity.

he has been clean before, what happened?. his responses didnt change! somthing happened that convinced him that to go and use was the only option available to him at that time. he will need to work on this so much harder.

he will need to create an identity that is so far removed from heroin that it ould never be an option.

we will need to reprogramme his brain almost, his brain will always try and stop the pain, unless it knows another way it will revert to what it knows, ultimatly, brown.

if you would like to go in to this further or need some tools around cravings and triggers please ask.

little secret for when he feels the meth isnt holding or a craving kicks in, strong chocolate, the kind that has 80% cocoa, this can suppress cravings.

and well done nick

safe

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

If he really wants help tell him to go to N.A try the rest but in my experience N.A works if he says it is not for him i believe he is not ready he will get all the help he needs in N.A.I am 6 years clean from a 5g of heroin and £300 of crack a day the only thing that worked and i tried everything was N.A.Nobody can help an addict like an addict.

I have alot more experience about recovery on a deep emotional level however for now he needs to keep it simple and get clean.Please e-mail me for anymore help.GOOD LUCK

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi,

I wanted to reply to this and I also didn't but I will.

My ex of five years was a heroin addict, I didn't know this at first, because i had no previous experience of this and he didn't mention it to me, I discovered though and now could smell it on someone's skin. I haven't taken it myself but I guess have exprience of all this from living with it all.

I wanted to help my partner of course and he wished to come off heroin, yet I suspect in some ways he didn't entirely or couldn't.

he didn't inject but chased the dragon, ie smoked off the foil which is just as unhealthy, for a long time he had been convinced as many others are that this is a safe way to take heroin...sure it does slow things down a bit i think but is dreadfully bad for you. Like many of his mates, he would enjoy crack as well from time to time.

I would find the crack would make him aggressive and dangerous if I am honest, the heroin didn't make him unpleasant unless he ran out, things could get pretty nasty, Iwasted time, loads of money and lots of self esteem on al of this.

he did want to be a clean and good person and go to work etc and be responsible, as a drug addict he never quite did this which is a terrible shame for him and he always knew he wanted to be off drugs but coyuldn't stick it. He would get up to all sorts as a result of being addicted to hroin.

He tried on numerous occasions to get of heroin, he tried cold turkey and subutex which doesn't do much as far as I can see, it would be a week of hell and then he'd get off the herin and seem to recover but soon go and take some again. I would be hugely disappointed, especially after all we'd go through to get him clean.

The trouble is that sometimes addicts think the biggest hurdle is coming off the drug, ie the withdrawel, this is hard but nothing compared to what needs to be done afterwards, ie learning to live a happy life without the drugs.

He would say that life after drugs was like a grey day every day, he had lost the ability to just be happy naturally, for addicts, the brain loses it's ability to produce happy making chemicals which allow us to feel pleasure. The use of the drug takes over this job, so when removed the addict feels bad and after al the pain of with drawel feels disappointed and loses confidnce and it is easy to go back.

He was advised that exercise helps to repair this problem but didn't give it a try sadly.

Also, as others have said, so called friends and who he hangs out with is crucial, my ex would find the sight of a mate or a smell or anything that could be assosiated with taking heroin would remind him of enjoying taking it and that life and send him back.

I feel that someone may need to be very recovered before being exposed to any sort of a trigger.

Things got worse, we tried every sort of help and no good, he was keen to get on methadone, the Dr wasn't as it is very addictive, however, finally he gave in as there semed little alternative, things were dreadful and he risked trouble with the law constantly and tended to get into trouble quite easily, also we couldn't afford his drugs.

The methadone programe was supposed to stabilise his life so he could have some routine and optimism and make positive changes to his lifestyle to prepare him for life without any drugs...this can work wonders for some people if they are determind to use methadone well.

My ex admitted he tended to view it as a safety net in case he had no heroin, and it meant more spare money for other fun, ie crack. he had to visit a counsellor for drugs each week and have urine tests, he'd cheat and then take in other people's unrine.

Ultimately we split up as a result of drugs, I may sound selfish but I realsied there was noting I could do to help him, he'd not help himself in a hurry and I was ruining my life...selfish I guess but I decided to leave an unsafe and bad partnership.

I do not wish to put you off and wish you all the luck there is, and your BF, I hope you get this sorted, it is possible

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi

I have just been searching through this forum for some other information and was drawn to your message as I always am when it comes to addiction in general and Heroin addiction especially.

I am a recovering Heroin Addict like several others who have posted a reply to your message. I will be 6 years clean in April this year from an 8 year addiction that took over my life like it does for the majority of Heroin Addicts.

I just wanted to add my experiences and thoughts for you.

I was fortunate enough to get funding from my council to go into residential treatment for my addiction this was a 6 months program that was in a new city many miles away form my home and regular friends, for me personally this was a vital aspect in my recovery. I was on a gradual methodone detox over the first 3 months with the following 3 months to get back into feeling normal before being released back into the outside world.

I was not prescribed any of the other drugs mentioned above and presume that they are fairly new, methodone worked for me but only once I was taking it under tight supervision when I was prescribed by my GP at home it just became a back-up in case I couldn't get my hands on anything or something to selll to pay for the heroin.

This worked for me but everyone is different, as mentioned by the reply from clearmind NA is a very good option I know many people who have used NA successfully although for me it never helped, I did attend occasionally before my residential detox and did 3 months after returning to my home in London, this was a promise I made my counceller in treatment, but I hated every moment of it and as soon as my 3 months where up I never returned and haven't been to a meeting in over 5 years.

What I did have was the support of a local Drug Agency and Drop in Centre in my area that supplied many alternative therapies and support.

Ear acupuncture was something that was offered and I use to have regularly, but I am not really sure if it helped with the recovery or just gave me a purpose for being in the drop in. The agency also offered Reflexology, Shiatsu, Bowen Therapy (Brilliant) and chinese Detox Herbal Teas.

I really hope your boyfriend finds a way out of his addiction it is a really horrible place to be for him and those who love him. As you have read here from other people it is possible to get clean and stay clean but it needs to be his decision to do it and it will be hard but worth every droplet of sweat in the end.

All the best.

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi Sota,

I am so glad you got off the heroin, it is so good to hear of people getting off the stuff,

Hal

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hello

Im sorry for not replying before, havent been on here for a while...

Just wanted to thank you all for all your heartfelt replies....

My bf has been clean for about a week now which he did himself with the healp of a few days worth of meth....im very proud of him but i know its early days yet...i have had a brief fling with the gear myself after i lost my baby but have managed to leave it alone...

Thanks again from the bottom of my heart for your advice and care about all this

Bless

Anna

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

He will need to get some support around the emotional stuff he will now be experienceing, and some way to replace the 'positive' things gear did for him. He will be able to get auricular accupuncture free from his local drug project (hopefully daily) as well as be offered some good relapse prevention stratagies and councelling and I strongly recomend he seek support, What area are you in? (I am a drug worker and will be able to point you in the right direction feel free to email me)

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

I read your reply to the post and just wanted to say a HUGE WELL DONE to you. I have not directly been affected by the drug myself but have someone very close to me who is. I admire your willpower and your strength to overcome this. It is so nice to hear of one of the few 'sucess stories'.
Then you get someone like me who finds it impossible to give up smoking!!
Well done...
xx

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Heroin users should contact their nearest Community Drug Team (via Talk to Frank)

From there, they'd undertake an assessment for either substitute prescribing eg, methadone (Reduction or mantainance script). They'd also be assessed for withdrawals. There are two drugs, Lofoxidene and Subutex. Naltrexone is prescribed for relapse.

not sure about the auricular acupunture. Thats usually only used for crack cocaine withdrawals here in London. (Out in Switzerland they are scripting medical cocaine, i cant see why a substitute like Ritalin cant be prescribed here in the UK)

They are also conducting diamorphine trials @ The Maudsely here in London. Users would have to IV 3 times a day and its £18.00 per hit as apposed to methadone £3-4 and its holding power. But why cant they formulate a powder version?

pps, Do they do Heroin withdrawals @ the Blenheim? i thought it was crack?

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hi Moonbaby,

This has helped people I have treated in the past, but I suggest seeking professional advice before taking on any of my suggestions...

Here is some practical advice. Forget Methadone, it is more difficult to get off than heroin.

Your boyfriend wants to come off that is the main thing. You will have to focus on the outcome, no what he is going through. You will have to be firm.

Have you got an NLP practitioner who is a qualified hynotherapist, my friend has actually worked on a friend of her's daughter who actually came off with minimal side effects.
If that is not feasible. Here is a do-it-at-home treatment that has worked for some friends.

You can get Buscopan from the chemist for the stomach cramps,
You need something for diarrohea
You also need Ibruprofen for cramps.
Night times are the worst, go to your GP together get them to give him sleeping tablets for one week, on the grounds that you will look after them. If they think that someone responsible will be in charge of the tablets they should help you. After that Nightall two a night is very good. I find that Clary sage, ylang ylang and lavender, 2 drops of each in 3 tables spoons of carrier oil, wheatgerm etc, gives me a fantanstic night's sleep no matter how stressed I am.

See if you can get someone to give him aromatherapy massages, he is going to be bad tempered with you but may accept it from someone else.

First day, he will be ok until the evening when he probably will suffer from leg cramps, get a liquid form of calcium and magnesium give it to him, over a short period it won't hurt. It will also help to break down the heroin in the system and help to flush it out. Ahot bath with epsom salts will also help. If you can get the homeopathic Opium tablets they could help with withdrawal

It will be like a very bad dose of flu for about five days and then he will feel miserable. He will need to go to the sauna as soon as he can, stay in for about 15 minutes, then have a shower and really good scrub and go back in. He will need to do this every day for a couple of weeks. He will need to take the calcium magnesium and a really good vitamin mixture at least 4 times the reccommended dose for the next couple of weeks. If he can take vitamin C without it causing too much upset stomach, that should help with the detox. Drink plenty of water, forget coffee and colas. If he is into computer games, rent some new ones, anything to take his mind off things (not first 3 nights) plus films etc.

I hope that helps. It has helped people I have treated in the past. Buscapan is available off prescription and was a godsend.

Think of you both
Hazelwood

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

well done all thoughs who have overcome thier addiction

a pat on the back keeps the motivation going

brian

xxx

RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

The Blenheim clinic/project also offered the bowen technique, i understand that has been helpful to addicts in the past. Helpeing them feel better about themselves and more positive, working on an emotional level apart from anything else.
Goodluck and well done!
Blessing,
Penelope
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RE: IS there any thing that can be taken to help overcome a heroin addiction?

Hello Moonbaby,

If you are interested in more information please feel free to PM or email me.

Nick, Well done sweetie and good luck with the course!

Rebecca xxxxxxx