by: Debbie Wicker

Dear John,

I don’t have a lot of information about your wife and your situation but I’ll do the best I can to answer your question.

Your wife likely has an opiate addiction that probably started with her using pain pills. People get VERY strong pain pills for almost everything now and MANY of them get addicted to them. Once addicted they switch to heroin because it is MUCH cheaper to get on the street.

Heroin addiction is a disease of the brain, which means the drug has completely taken over your wife’s brain and she will do anything to get the drug her brain has convinced her she needs.

Almost everyone who tries to stop using heroin relapses because the brain’s need for the drug is SO strong.

Relapse on heroin can often lead to overdose because the body’s tolerance for the drug lowers so quickly. Your wife has a VERY serious problem that if left untreated is likely to be deadly because of overdose.

She likely needs inpatient treatment to go through detox and to go through treatment. She also should be attending NA or AA meetings daily to begin the process of learning how to avoid using and build a new sober life for herself.

It sounds like you may have been through this before, making this all the more difficult for you. You should start attending Al-anon meetings in your area ASAP to learn what resources are available to you and to understand the demon you are fighting.

Your wife is still in there if you can figure out how to help her to stop using.

You should also make her go with you to a doctor for a complete medical checkup and ask the doctor for a referral to a GOOD opiate treatment center that he/she would recommend.

Many opiate addicts have used Methadone or Suboxone successfully to end their addiction and treatment centers can help your wife get proper access to these transitional drugs. She MUST stop using heroin to survive and these drugs my help her to do that.

Good luck and I hope you can figure out the best way to help your wife to end this terrible disease.

Debbie