Letters Page #969

Subject: RE: #920, Is Anybody Out There?
From: Anonymous
Date: Apr. 16, 1999

Though every situation is different and every person's particular response to a detox/withdrawal is different, I can say that from my experience methadone has given me my life back.

I am not suggesting that the "fast" detoxes such as naltrexone aren't suitable or successful, but I am saying that after my many years of narcotic abuse the physical aspect of withdrawal is the "easy" part. I have endured a number of withdrawals, whether by choice or by lack of supply, and as unpleasant as I have found these episodes, I have come to realize that for me my problem isn't in my ability to get clean, it is to stay clean.

In your situation, addicted to hydrocodone, methadone is as suitable for you as it for any narcotic addict.

I also have children, 2 boys. Though they have been one of the greatest reasons I've had to get drug-free, it has taken the methadone for me to learn how to do this.

I am aware that methadone doesn't work for all people. However, I would hazard a guess that for the majority of these people it has been because their commitment to become drug-free hasn't been completely solid. I am not suggesting that these people enter the program knowing this, quite often it can take a return to the yo-yo of drug-abuse to realize that this is where they don't want to be (occasionally this is almost necessary).

When I finally realized that I was unable to get clean without outside help, the methadone was a literal life-saver. It has allowed me to function normally while adjusting my life-style accordingly. It has given me the chance to break free from all the old cycles of abuse. It has taken quite dramatic life-changes, but with the approach of "one step at a time", I have achieved it. There also comes a time with methadone when you realize that the greatest drug of all is "freedom". I have been enslaved so long to narcotics that while the hardest changes were realizing that I couldn't do it alone, and that the physical withdrawal was just the start of the long-road to a drug-free life-style......I can safely say that for me, methadone has given me the chance to achieve this.

In short, I believe that quite often the approach to getting drug-free (particularly for the long-term addicts), is back-to-front. Starting with the withdrawal first is simply (in my humble opinion), the wrong way to go about it. It is like asking someone who has forgotten to swim to jump in the deep-end. I have found the adjustment to living and functioning in society without the crutch of a narcotic very difficult and it has only been with the constancy of the methadone that I have slowly learned how to do this again.

I wish you well in your pursuit to get drug-free. I sincerely hope that you find a path that leads you back to healthy living.