Heroin addict what help is available .what can we do?

my grandson is a heroin addict he has a 4 year old daughter who he has not seen for the past 6 weeks he has just been hiding out for weeks he has now been to see his mum (my daughter) and asked if he could see his daughter at christmas she dose not know what to do witch way to turn what will his daughter think when she see him ,we need help as to what help we can get to help him come of these drugs it is breaking my heart to see my daughter & grandaughter so upset ,& to see my grandson the way he is & how he is living (on the streets has anyone been in this situation & what did you do

i have been there myself & no offense lady, but your grandson will never quit unless he really wants to. hopefully, he does. i think every addict has a little part of them that really does want to quit & live a normal happy life. and they try, but then somethin makes them think that they are failing at life anyway, so why not just be high? you know what i mean?

what i would do is tell him exactly what you wrote here. the whole "rock-bottom" theory is bs cuz all too often rock bottom is death. you have to give him a reason to care, remind him of his daughter who misses him. do some research into good rehabs like the betty ford clinic & tell him those are an option if he decides to change his life around for himself and for his family. there's always time to change.

i do not like interventions either. cuz often the addict needs like a week to prepare themselves and want it. it's better to get that 1 last high then to be tempted for the rest of your life to do it just 1 more time...

most importantly, if he does change encourage him. don't act like it's out of the ordinary or like you're waiting for him to go back to his lifestyle. that's what my parents did to me and it triggered me to relapse because i'd be fine & they would act like me living my new life wasn't normal or sumthin.

the first thing to do is see your gp he will be able to help and will be able to refer you to the right people
good luck

i know this sounds lame but go to frhttp://www.talktofrank.com/home_html.asp... website
number 0800 77 66 00
they will help you sorry if the link does not work if not- www.talktofrank.co.uk

call the police they should be able to give you resorces not 911 look up there regular number in a phone book

I am a recovering heroin addict. I have been clean for 15 months. The best thing that got me clean was my family and my consequences. My family went to Al-Anon. It is for the familys of alcoholics and addicts. It tought them how to handle me. It helped them to understand and to be with others who were suffering just as you are. They learned to set boundries and what boundries to set with me. This helped me a lot. I didn't realize it at the time. But it did. I also had to suffer the cconsequences of my actions. When my consequences were so horrible, I sought help. And my family got me into a treatment center. You are welcome to e-mail me if you would like or if you have specific questions or if you need someone to talk to. My best wishes. Marty

he can try methodone. its a blocker of the opiates. it stops the cravings for heroin. it is also a dependant. so you can become addicted to it. you can slowly ween yourself off it.

my brother was a heroin addict he was in and out of prison all the time he stole of the family and when i was pregnant he stole all my baby stuff. he stole of the whole family but for some reason we all stood by him no-one turned their back on him. he used to live with my nan when he was on drugs and she went through hell with him, so she called up rehab centre's, spoke to doctors, got info of the net and even asked the policse what she could do. what none of us realised was that when your an addict all you care about is when your next fix is you dont care about people ,about life ,or about what help there is for them. Basicaly there is nothing you can do for him im afraid he has to want to do it for himself thats why when an addict has done cold turkey in prison and they come out, they go straight back on it because it wasn't their choice to get of the stuff. if he is willing to do this for himself then there is so much help out there for him he can have one on one counselling or he can do it with a group. my brother moved away in the end away from the people he knew and we never heard from him for about a year now he's back he has a baby with my best friend and he hasnt looked back(or so i know) but he's a healthy weight and has a clear head so i pray for you and your family's sake he does what's best, but he won't do it for anyone but himself and he HAS to hit rock bottom and that for my brother was not having the family by his side. so i suggest your daughter tells him if he makes the first step to get some help and get himself into a rehab centre then yes he can see his daughter. good luck.and be cruel to be kind

www.betel.co.uk, not for profit organisation, no fees, no waiting lists - all I can say is he really must want to do this for himself - if he does it for those around him or feels nagged into it, it just won't work. I know just how hard this is for you!

hi there, tthis is a very bad time for u all , and the mother off the addict,at least u av the family sticking together and tryin to help u. i wish u good luck as no1 knows the future ov how our children will grow up and which path they will take.i hope it works out.x

I've noticed the majority of unemployed people are drug users. I used to use heroin till one day I thought thats enough. I went to the doctors with a false statment saying I need pain killers for tooth ache. I told him I fear dentist, after about a month started to get back again and I haven't touched heroin for 4 years
If you find it easy to say no, your a man.
If you find it hard to say no, your a mouse

first, send me an email if you'd like to talk privately.
second, yes, I've been there. I went from owning my own home to living in an abandoned house in the worst part of town. Unfortunately, the addiction and need for drugs (especially heroin since it's a physical addiction versus psychological addiction) sets priority over EVERYTHING else in an addict's life - including his daughter. Believe me - he doesn't want to be this way. He doesn't want to be out of his family's life, but the heroin has control right now. A heroin addict cannot function at all without the drug. Without the heroin, his body goes through withdrawal (aka dopesick) and he's probably willing and able to do nothing at all until he gets his fix. It's a horrible and exhausting way to live, but many many people have become clean and sober. I've only been clean for 5 months so far, but it's a start - and he can do it too. Help is definitely available and covered under medical assistance if needed. He'll have to actually want the help for the help to work, so you can't really force him to do anything. Just encourage him to go to rehab, remind him of the things he's missing out on - and whatever you do, don't give him money. He'll come up with all sorts of reasons why he needs it, but believe me, it's just for more drugs. Good luck to you.

I have experience of this: 5 yrs helping a friend on heroin/crack get into rehab.

Only your grandson can help himself I鈥檓 afraid. It鈥檚 a long hard road coming off drugs. Look for support for yourselves, some drug agencies do offer support groups for partners and families.

Your city will have drop in drug agencies. They will offer a daily methadone substitute and initial counselling over the first few months to see how he does. Many addicts go on 鈥榯he meth鈥?because it takes the pressure off them to not have to buy heroin every day, with the associated run-ins with the law that brings. It takes a few months for them to reach a level of Methadone that will stabilise them.

(As methadone is also an opiate and dangerous the NHS starts at a low dosage and builds it up to the level the body needs; that depends on how much heroin he鈥檚 taking. In the meantime they鈥檒l probably still be using heroin until they reach that point. Some addicts are on Methadone for life.)

This daily methadone ration is then reduced until they can then attempt a difficult detoxification stage at which point they鈥檙e given another less addictive substitute, usually Subutex, or can go into rehab. It鈥檚 one of the catch 22鈥檚 of rehab that to enter a rehab to come off drugs you have to be drug-free first. Some will take a patient in to do the detox as well, but their meth script must be very low at that stage.

Other problems come if your grandson is using other drugs as well as heroin (many addicts do) and with the lifestyle and people he鈥檚 mixing with.

I鈥檓 afraid with his mum it鈥檚 difficult. Addicts usually want money too and many steal even off family, they also can be psychologically unstable because f the drugs. You also have to think of the little girl. You don鈥檛 want her exposed to that lifestyle and the people that come in its wake.

It鈥檚 up to how you feel. If something feels a bad idea it probably is. Many families do cut addicts off to protect themselves. If there are strong feelings however it could be a lever: he gets himself clean then he can see his daughter etc. It鈥檚 not easy, but don鈥檛 give money. My heart goes out to you.
Addiction is an absolute curse.