Have you ever known someone who overdosed?

Yes. My roommate overdosed on March 23rd 1998. My husband (boyfriend at the time) and I woke in the morning to find his dead body in the living room. He had been doing speedballs, a combination of heroin and cocaine.

The good news is that it was a serious reality check for my husband and I. I had already stopped doing dope a couple weeks before because I got pregnant and my husband had been trying but the lifestyle is very hard to turn away from. We have both been clean for more than 12 years now. We never entered a rehab program or took methadone but our drug use was staggered and often changed depending on what substance was available and our bodies were not as depend ant upon it.

Heroin can be extremely hard to kick. It is not only a mental addiction but a physical one. Heroin replaces the dopamines a body naturally creates to fight pain. When a person comes off heroin the dopamine takes a long time to kick back into gear making it an EXTREMELY painful and sometimes deadly process. It’s good that he is in rehab, they can help him.

If he was shooting up then it can be even harder. My veins still itch thinking about that high. Rehab is a good start but if he can do it without methadone – or use methadone in very small amounts and taper off quickly that would be the best. Methadone stunts the regeneration of the dopamines but it also takes the pain away. Also, the methadone clinics people have to go to are filled with drug users and it’s not the best atmosphere. Not to mention methadone is potentially dangerous too. It’s synthetic heroin given in prescribed doses and can be abused -and create a new addiction- if not used properly. On that same note, he will forever need to avoid opiates of any kind – no cough syrup with codeine or morphine after an injury. Especially in the next 2 years.

When he gets out of rehab he needs to find a new environment. Get away from the dealers and friends who did it with him. If he has a willing relative in another city or state send him to stay with them for awhile. I think that is what really saved my husband. I was stronger than him and he is so kind and such a junkie that he makes friends with anyone and can’t turn down drugs. We moved to my home state so I could be around my family when I had my daughter. If there is no one around to hand them out he is fine and doesn’t think about it.

Life can get better but he has to work really hard. It will be a year or two before the cravings go away. He needs to find a new passion, or a “healthy” addiction like working out or playing the guitar – maybe something he used to like but forgot about when using.

Good luck. Don’t give up on him yet. I was 20 when I stopped after 5 years of increasingly heavy drug use – my husband was 26. Since then we have both gone to college, bought a house w/two car garage and live a pretty average middle class life. Sometimes things seem really dull compared to the fast paced party life we lived before but at least I am alive and have my wits about me.

If you want a really good movie to explain where his head is at watch Requiem for a Dream, it’s about speed but it is very realistic. Also Christiane F if you can find it – it’s an 80s movie with David Bowie but really good.