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970581 tn?1248407961

I need to know!!!

Can anyone tell me of your experience quitting opiate pain pills.  My mother has been taking for 15 years now. She has been in and out of Methadone clinics for lortab overdose and has just been checked into a residential rehab center.  She is the best mom a family could ask for.  She was put on a suboxone taper over a 10 day period of time where they took her off 2mg a day until down to nothing.  Now she has been off Methadone and Lortab for over 2 weeks and Suboxone for almost a week.  She seems to be losing control of her mind and emotions.  She seems to be going crazy and the rehab center is having issues with it.  She has always even when she was on the meds for severe Fibromyalgia and surgery pain, she has always been very sane and very loving, and caring to everyone.  Will she ever be who we have always known and loved if she continues to stay clean or have we lost the person we all cared about so much forever.  I don't see how it is possible for her to be back to the person she was 3 or 4 weeks ago.  It is tearing our family to pieces.   The therapy from the councilors seems to be really tearing her down emotionally.  I just hope we did not make a mistake by taking her to a rehab house.  This is starting to feel like a huge mistake.
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Avatar universal
You gotta understand that right now she is absolutely overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions, from pain, frustration, guilt, anger, anxious and probably ashamed. My mom has also had problems with all kinds of drugs and during the brief moments during detox she was very defensive and angry, lashing out at things that happened year ago, things that just didnt make sense. The fact that she is only a week of suboxone means that she is definetely not gonna be herself, but be patient and allow her to find out who she really is without the drugs. Trust me you didnt make a mistake by sending her to rehab, shes probably still in denial about how serious her addiction was, when strong minded people know they have made huge mistakes they tend to get very defensive about their behavior. All I can say is remain patient and allow her as much time as she needs to get her mind right, but dont expect her to be the exact same person she was because going through this kind of experience changes people, but as long as they stay sober thats really the most important thing. Currently my mom is not sober, shes a severe alcoholic, take fentanyl patches, xanax, restoril, sonata, along with a bunch of different anti-depresant medications. As sad as I would be I would give up my relationship with her if I knew she would get clean, this disease kills people, so Id much rather have her alive and not talk to her, than using until the day she dies. I hate to sound so negative because my mom has some serious mental issues, so I dont like to compare the two but her getting and remaining clean has to be the number1 priority right now, then you can work on rebuilding the relationship and trust. I wish you and your family the best of luck, try to give it some time before you jump to conclusions. You should have a reasonable idea of how she will be after about the 90day sober mark, even so it can take up to a year for an addicts body/brain to get back to normal. So be patient, take care.
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970581 tn?1248407961
Thank you so much,  she is also on Fentynol patches also. She has been on 2 different anti depressents,  sleeping meds, wake up meds and a sleep apnea machine and oxygen.  All of this has been legit prescribed by doctors.  Even the opiate and the mixed opiates were all legit prescips.  She has done nothing illegal just got into a very unfortunate pattern that almost did kill her a few weeks ago.  The rehab center seemed until a few days ago that she was so happy to be there but you are right, she has become very defensive yet she knows how severe her problem is.  She wants to be clean but I hope not at the expense of her mental stability.  I would rather have a mentally stable supportive mother on opiate drugs then one that can't function socially ever again and be clean.  It is a tough spot.  This is a 45 day treatment facility and she has 30 days left so I will just be patient. Thank you again for letting me know.  I am so sorry to hear about you mother.  I know how painful it is.
Helpful - 0
970581 tn?1248407961
I made a mistake,  she is not on a Fentynol patch it is Clonadine, it is used to control her breathing and blood pressure.  Sorry about that.
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Avatar universal
Well clonidine is much better than fentanyl, I used clonidine myself during opiate w/d's and for blood pressure purposes. Again be patient with her, its a tough process but hopefully she will learn alot and come out the other end happy to have her life back. After being an addict for so long we lose our sense of reality, but the feeling of waking up and knowing that you dont need a particular drug in order to function is a feeling of absolute freedom and independence. Gotta keep the faith my man, in the mean time you take it easy, see ya.
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