Need substance/alcohol abuse help for my brother, please help!?

It is really great that a sister eagerly wants to help her brother get rid of his alcoholism.Kindly stop all kinds of drugs and please switch over to natural ways of therapy.Initially it may be tough for you but believe me it works if you have the patience and the inclination to help your brother.I can read very clearly that you do want to help your brother.After stopping all the drugs make sure that he eats a proper nourishing diet.If he has gone through certain traumatic conditions,then meditation techniques are quite effective in the curing process if continued everyday.Audio tapes are quite helpful in mellowing his bruised ego which may have been hurt by somebody and which he may not want to tell the family.For initiating all this keep him away from the family for a few weeks or months so that the other members of the family are not traumatized due to his behavior.

Good Luck and God Bless you.

It doesn't sound like his problem have anything to do with the methadone but with the alcohol. It is very rare for people who attend methadone clinics to be addicted to methadone. They will become physically dependent, meaning that they get withdrawal symptoms if they don't take the methadone as they should, but that's not the same as addiction. Addiction is a set of behaviors. It's very important to understand the difference.

What your brother needs help with is the alcohol. If he were to stop drinking chances are good that he could function well on methadone but as it is now he will just get worse and worse until he stops drinking. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it. Talking to him is not going to help. He already knows that he's an alcoholic and that it's ruining his life. But his brain is not functioning properly which causes him not to have full control of his actions. With help he can gain some control but in order for that to work he has to want it himself. Until then nothing is going to work. All you as a family can do right now is to lessen the effects of the alcoholism and wait until he's ready to get better.

If he's really bad you could look into getting him committed. I do believe that Florida has the Baker Act that allows a family member to have someone committed.

There is a medication that works very well for alcoholism called Naltrexone. It reduces the cravings to help people remain sober. The problem is that you can't take Naltrexone with methadone. But if he tapers the methadone that may be an option. Whatever you do please do not force him off the methadone or put him somewhere where he would be forced off it. That could have devastating, even fatal effects. Methadone has to be tapered slowly over a year or more depending on the dose. But that should only be done if he's ready.

I've had problems with alcohol and drugs myself..including oxy. Thankfully I stopped that fairly fast, tho it was hell to come off!

Unfortunately all that is happening sounds fairly normal for someone struggling with any sort of substance abuse problem. It's horrible for the families too.

I don't really know much of what u can do other than look into treatments available in ur area and talk to someone that can advise u properly. I'm in Australia but I just googled Orlando drug detox centre and this search result came up with a couple of places. Not sure if it will be of any help.

http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/treatment-centers...

Pretty much all you can do is make up a list of phone #'s and detox addresses and give it to him. Ultimately, HE has to be the one to make the calls and show up at the detox/rehab/behavioral health center. HE has to want the help to get cean and sober. All YOU can do is PLANT THE SEEDS, hope and pray HE makes them grow. There are svcs through you community that will go and pick up a person and take them to detox-but pretty much that person HAS to be falling down drunk on the sidewalk somewhere, or is putting himself or others in 911 danger. You can call his methadone clinic, and tell them what is going on w/him, and maybe they will investigate the issues and get him some more help that he may need.

gooogle help in your area.

Other then committing him legally to a detox place where he has to live there is not much you can do. Addicts need to want to kick it, if he doesn't truly have a reason or a want to stop no once can make him.

They generally need to hit rock bottom before they get to the point that they want to stop. As long as he has a place to live and food to eat he has no reason to change it. People that help like that are called enablers.