No2Methadone. Sons Addiction. A Mothers Story

I wished my son's addiction had just stopped with Heroin, but sadly it didn't.   He so wanted to be clean and free of drugs and did try many times to abstain from using, but the power of Heroin always reeled him back in.   It was the vomiting, cramps and sweats of detox that usually got the better of him in the end.   My son, like most addicts are good people from good homes, they just make some really bad choices in life.

My name is Diane, I am a mother of 3 and grandmother of 6, and we live in New Zealand.   It is our second son Shane and his years of addiction and drug abuse that I am going to blog about.   Shane's battle for drug freedom was long and painful, taking some years, and it even became life threatening in the end.   His battle was also mine, and it took every ounce of love and strength a mother could give, but I never gave up hope.   I decided to share my story and knowledge in the hope it may be of some help to all those inflicted with an addiction and their families.   Please feel free to contact me or leave a comment (good, bad or otherwise) anytime through out my blog.   The following piece is purely my theory on Addiction.

Addiction, whatever it maybe, alcohol, drugs, food or gambling, draws you in slowly.   It loves you to have fun or feel comfortable, that's all part of the bigger plan.   The web of deception closes in though, once the desire and need has taken over.   Now addiction has done what it set out to do, made you reliant on whatever it handed you to have fun or feel comfortable with.

Shane was born in 1966 and grew up in a lower North Island rural town.   He had a loving, congenial personality, and an adventurous, carefree spirit.   He left college and took on the trade of Automotive Spray Painting and gained independence at 17 years old.   Shane's early twenties were spent living and working in Sydney Australia.   He returned from Australia to his hometown, where he obtained casual employment, and than at 27 years old he moved up to Auckland to reside with his dad and I.   This move to us was at the time a surprise, but all the same we were delighted to have Shane close within our lives again after so many years.   Shane had been living with us for over one year when his serious drug addiction problem was disclosed.   Shane's story and drug abuse history is probably similar to millions of others out there, it all starts so innocently.

Shane unburdened and told us that he'd had established drug problem for some years, starting with Cannabis use in his teenage years.   But while living in Sydney, his drug addiction esculated to the intravenous drug use of Heroin.   He maintained his drug habit with Home-bake and Morphine when he returned from Sydney, which he stated, was relatively easy to source in his hometown.   Realising his addiction had got out of control was the real reason behind his move to us in Auckland.   He hoped the move would help him abstain from further drug use.   However, this had proved difficult and he'd been using prescription drugs to supplement his addiction when he was unable to source or fund his intavenous drug habit.   The habitual and over powering impact addiction now had on his life was all to encompasing, so he'd sought help and was entering The Methadone Maintenance Program for his addction problem.

It was an emotional, heartbreaking declaration, and one that left us, as parents, sad and bewildered.   It was really hard to believe what we were hearing, as Shane's appearance, physique and demeanour weren't that of an addict.   His financial resources were extremely modest with not being employed, so the disclosure of his addiction, and of how habitual it had become, came at the time, a real shock to us.   To be confronted with substance abuse, whether it's alcohol or drugs is a parent's worst nightmare.   Shane's age of 28 years old was irrelevant.   It took Shane a lot of courage to admit all this to his dad and I, and as as blown away as we were, we did appreciate that.

The power of drugs verses the power of a mother's love start's here, the battle commences.   My blog will be continued like your reading a book, in kind of small chapters, and I do promise to keep my blog updated every 2 or 3 days.