why is it so hard to get into a detox program???
hubby finally decided after meeting with substance abuse counselor that inpatient detox was what he wanted, he went into work to wrap things up and talk to his boss while I get things setup to go, it has been 6 hours since my first phone call to detox hospital and still nobody has called him, and I have called back 3 times.
Meanshile I am terrified he is going to change his mind while we are waiting for this nurse to call and assess him for treatment.
Jeez, is it really this hard to get help????

just got off phone with hubby and after assessing him said they will see him as outpatient next wednesday,
WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT??????????? I am absolutely appalled and I know he will go get oxys with the withdrawals he is going through-

Sandra . . . when my husband decided to go to inpatient treatment he made all the arrangements himself so I don't know how long it took someone to get back to him.

If your husband has talked with his boss and is ready to go, I doubt he will change his mind. That's great news that he's opened up to those close to him. His addiction is out in the open now and he can stop playing that game of hiding it from everyone.

Your husband will need to focus 100% of his energy on himself and getting clean right now. Please take care of YOURSELF too!

I know it's very stressful and worrisome right now, but him deciding to get professional help is GREAT NEWS for you and your husband! Good luck to you and may God bless you both.

the doctors told him to get a RX for vicodin and wean himself off, this from an addictionologist!!!!!!they won't admit him into detox, after the nightmare this weekend and his oxy source close by I am ready to scream-

serenity prayer, serenity prayer

The doctors told him to get an RX or gave him an RX? I find it hard to believe they just told him to get a script for Vicodin and wean himself off. If so, have him give the bottle to you to dispense to him.

Just keep on saying that serenity prayer. I'm probably up to close to 1,000,000 times myself!

they said get his doctor to call in a script for vicodin and wean him off, i just cannot believe this is happening, now I have lost faith in the medical profession as well as law enforcement. I feel so lost, like all is lost, I cannot and will not live through the horror I saw this past weekend. Even though the drug counselor this morning said inpatient was the way to go they said no, I know he cannot tell them everything about this past weekend because he doesn;t remember his actions. But I told the nurse what he was taking and how his bahavior was and how he has been without drugs for 3 days. So I guess we will go to the ER tonight but now he keeps saying well I am working late,,,I know its not going to end tonight, he will end up not going and tomorrow he will feel worse until he breaks and gets some oxys, then I don;t know what I will do.
Right now I feel like I have been hit by a bus.

Sandra,
I am so sorry you are going thru this. Don't give up. Doctors (even addictionologists) can really be ignorant when it comes to the disease. Try to get the doctor on the phone and tell him that your husband will use if he's not in inpatient detox. If that doesn't work, take him to the ER and tell them he's threatened siucide because of the withdrawals. In most states, they have to admit him for at least 72 hours. Make sure you take him to a hospital that has a drug abuse center/wing, whatever.

Alternatively, Is he willing to go a long way from Maine (i.e. Conn, Mississippi, etc) to get treatment for an extended period? Let me know.
verylucky

hi, thanks for posting, called hospital and they told me he doesn;t meet the opiate dependence criteria for the inpatient program, when I finally got it through this thick headed nurse how nuts he was this weekend she said go to ER, but I am afraid all they will do is send him home with vicodin and tapering instructions, I don't know if this is something he can do and after seeing how he was abusing this weekend I seriously doubt it and it will be me in charge of the pills and if he gets to acting the way he was last weekend towards me because I won;t give him more pills someone will end up getting hurt, because the police in this redneck state don;t do anything. And lastly he cannot travel far as he is worried about his job, that I do know is legitimate, although his boss just wants him better. If I am rambling I am sorry, I am very distraught right now.
BIG HUGS

Sandra,
Try to stay calm but firm with the intake nurse. Tell her that he has to go inpatient or he will end up hurting himself or someone else.
verylucky

I had a terrible time finding a place to help my son detox from oxycontin. I finally made arrangements for him to go to a local detox center after we did an intervention on him. The night we did the intervention I was supposed to have my son call them so they would know he wants to go because it would be voluntary. He was willing to go and called them. He was nervous and asked the woman a few questions. She said she wanted to leave work at 8PM and we had to get him there fast because it was already 7Pm after we did the intervention. He wanted to know what it would be like and how long it would take. Sha says, it sounds to her like he doesn't really want to go and he should call back when he does and hangs up on him. That's when he said he would never go there. After this I didn't know what to do. I made many phone calls the next day to find help for him. Many of the detox hospitals didn't accept his insurance. I didn't know what to do. One thing I knew for sure was that I was losiong my 21 year old son fast.. I called Human services in town. They sent me back to the detox place he now refused to go to. Finally someone told me about an outpatient place. We took him because we had nowhere else to go. Fortunately he did want to stop. They gave him the meds he needed to help with withdrawal. He also had to go there every day. I also had to have someone with him 24 hours a day for the first week. I own my own business and had to be at work but I found people to stay with him. It was hard for him but he succeeded, thanks to the doctor(they call him the king of sobriety) who helped my son. It's been almost three months and he is still clean. I still get afraid sometimes when he says he is going to a party but so far so good. But I will never forget that no matter who I called I never found the help that I was so sure was out there until I finally found the King of Sobriety.

joan, god bless, happy to hear about your son.
unfortunately here in maine things move at a snails pace, doesn;t look like hubby will be going anywhere tonight,and what scares me about that is the fact he can get oxys so easily.
just when i thought things were getting better i get kicked in the pants. i just pray he stays sober and wants treatment still tomorrow and i can find somebody who will detox him.
i don't know if i can taper him with vicodins, addicts are so cheeky, i wouldn't trust him.

*serenity prayer*

Doesn't it just blow your mind how easy the drug is to get but how hard help is to get?!?!?!? Geez! It's ridiculous IMO......If he was taking the oxys did they even mention tapering him off on darvocetts instead of vicodin......the reason I ask is because Darv.'s are supposed to be the mildest strength of opiates and that is what alot of hospitals use in detox...he would have alot less of a chance getting "high" off the darv. also(which is good for you to!)just a thought....I hope so mch things start going in the right direction for you and the kids!
Take care
Okie

i sometimes feel as though this state is back in the dark ages. nobody mentioned darvocet, i do agree it would be better than vicodin because i don't want him getting high. he says he doesn't want to use anymore and tomorrow we are going to start fresh and try to find someplace else for him to be admitted, 20 years ago when he was hooked on coke he had a great counselor who is now friends with his family, we are trying to get a hold of him so he can pull some strings and get him admitted somewhere else. i keep telling him, don't cave, stay strong, hopefortoday gave me some great words of wisdom, i will help him 100% as long as he stays clean-
hugs and thanks for all your support, it means so much to me.

Sandra,
That is awful about your husband and the struggle to get him into detox. I remember when my family first found out about my addiction, they immediately called our local hospital, and was told that I didn't need inpatient detox since opiates weren't "life-threatening" as far as detox goes. i also think that they didn't take my insurance, or my insurance didn't cover their services, so they weren't all that interested in me! love our nations health care system...
they told my parents that my detox would just be "a cases of the flu." well, as we addicts all know, withdrawal feels a lot worse than the flu.
would you be willing/able to look at programs outside of your state? If your husband was willing to go inpatient for detox, would he also be willing to go inpatient for a full 28-day or longer program? Maybe you already pursued this, but if not, it might be worthwhile to look into 28-day programs that also offer a medical detox. I went to Williamsburg place in Williamsburg, VA, and although I didn't detox there, having done it cold-turkey at home, I'm pretty sure they do offer medical detox. plus, it was a great program.
i can understand your frustration, and of course it's based in reality, since even when we addicts decide we need to stop, often the physical and psychological pain of that first week in withdrawals sends us right back to using.
but don't give up, and try to keep working with your husband so he doesn't give up either. i wish i could give better advice, but I really hope you can find an alternative program that will take him asap.
from my personal experience, it seems as if places are more likely to take you in for detox if alcohol is also a factor, as withdrawal from alcohol can be life-threatening.
Keep us posted, and although it may sound cheesy, pray for help and guidance!

Hi again...I just did a quick internet check and found a program at Mercy Hospital in Portland...they have a program called the Recovery Center and it says they do medical detox. might be worth a phone call if you haven't already tried them. good luck!

thankyou for your help, they are the ones who said he doesn't meet the "opiate dependency criteria" so go get some vicodin and good luck!!
tomorrow we try st. marys under the advice of his old drug counselor who has since retired(god love him he just turned 80)

staying strong

Sandra421,

Just a thought here. Try to get him to a NA or AA meeting maybe someone there could help him find a way to get into a detox or treatment facility asap. I have been clean and sober over 20 years and have helped many people in dire straights to find a shortcut to getting a treatment center in my area. As for finding a meeting just look in a phone book for one of the AA or NA hotlines. Best of luck to you and your hubby and hope it works out for you both.

Sandra,
Living12 (love the name) had a real good idea. The folks at an AA/NA meeting will be able to point you in the right direction.

I've got to hit the sack. You are in my prayers. Keep us posted on how things go.
verylucky

sandra-
the only way my husband got into detox was through his dad pulling strings with a friend of his at a private hospital here. we have a major med school here and they are so overloaded with addictions patients that the only way you will be admitted sometimes is if you have tried to commit suicide(i heard this from friends in aa who tried to get in there).
i hate the frustration of knowing that he can easily get those demonic pills. i used to compulsively check the caller id and redial after i got home. i agree with everyone's advice about getting him to inpatient especially in light of the past weekends actions.
just remember that detox is NOT a cure. my husband looked at that way and went right back to using until about a week ago. this really twisted my life since i was consumed with what he was doing etc. this is a lifestyle change that he will have to deal with for the rest of his life. it all depends on how badly he wants it. for you, please build yourself a support group so you don't get caught up in all the s****! i am not saying ditch him by any means. just make it clear that he matters to you but his actions can destroy everything you and he have together. this is very hard for me to do on a daily basis.
serenity prayer back at you!!!!!
love & hugs,
laney

laney, hugs to you.
i told him this morning if he uses again we are done, there will be a protection order and his kids will probably have to go live with their mother who is not a fit parent but she isn't a junkie. he knows what is at stake, lets see what it means to him, i will help him all the way as long as he stays clean and he knows this. he has appt tomorrow to see about getting a patch or some other drugs, and then appts next week with addictionologist as well as his doc again, his drug abuse counselor said each day he stays clean he is detoxing himself but that is the easy part, it is not giving in to the temptation of the oxys that is going to be the test.
i will stay in touch, good luck to you in your battle, i am thinking of all of you
god bless

i am so glad to see that you get it! my husband told me that the detox sucked but the cravings after being released are unbelievable. probably why he relapsed. i think now, he might see a change in me and maybe wants it. he is working really hard from what i can tell but i try to stay out of his stuff for the most part if that makes any sense. like yours, he does know that i will not tolerate him messing our lives up again. i feel like the blinders have been lifted through my own recovery!

i am so glad to see that you get it! my husband told me that the detox sucked but the cravings after being released are unbelievable. probably why he relapsed. i think now, he might see a change in me and maybe wants it. he is working really hard from what i can tell but i try to stay out of his stuff for the most part if that makes any sense. like yours, he does know that i will not tolerate him messing our lives up again. i feel like the blinders have been lifted through my own recovery!

Very good posts Lane.
Thank you,
verylucky

Monday morning I will be admitting myself into a detox center to get off of 80 mg of oxycontin. I had no problem at all getting in, I dont understand why they said he didnt fit the profile or whatever. If youre addicted to oxycontin, you should be able to go in. I called a bunch of places and found a place that sounds the best for me. I'm scared but am anxious to get off this poison. It's only a 7 day detox but I took 3 weeks off cos it sounds like it takes a while to feel human again. there are a few things I dont like about this place, no private rooms, no phone, I cant even bring in my favorite drink but hopefully I'll be so sedated I wont care. I just dont like the idea of having a stranger in the room with me while I suffer from the hell's of withdrawals. I cant even sleep with my boyfriend in the room with me, much less a stranger. but whatever, its only 7 days and if they keep me sedated enough maybe it wont bother me.
Call lots of different places, usually there are many to chose from unless you live in a small town. Some of these places wanted me there 28 days which is too long, and another one used buprenorphine which I dont want either, I'll just have to detox off of that eventually. It will be so wonderful not to have to watch the clock anymore. I think I'll be ok, I dont crave the drug now, I hope when I get off of it completely that I dont crave it then. but cravings I can deal with, I quit crack years ago, talk about cravings.
so good luck finding help, maybe call the place again, and you might get a different person who will be more reasonable.