Yeah. I had to move an hr and a half away and get away from everyone I knew. The "people, places, things". That is also the possible reason I had thought gary was staying with Chris...if he was on hard drugs maybe he went there to be around family that supported him and kept his mind busy working on cars.
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You're right. ANY method you choose, be it Suboxone, Methadone, Vivitrol, Zsubsolv.....it works if you're ready to do it. Addiction is physical in the sense that your body tells you that it's going to get sick without it, but your head will always be the thing that does most of the driving. When you're truly ready to put it down and step away, you can. Basically, you're taking medicine to ease off those horrible physical symptoms (restless leg, body aches, chills, vomiting, those weirdo temperature fluctuations that feel like you're in menopause on steroids!).....while you're busy getting your thinking straight. Once you get to a place where your life seems NORMAL again...which takes different amounts of time for different people....you ween yourself down slowly and, eventually? You're free. There's definitely some struggle when it comes to letting it go at the end, but it's nothing like sitting down your "fun" drug of choice! I tried it cold turkey. Call me a pansy, but I just couldn't do it. If not for Suboxone, I would most likely be spending my days in a pine box right now.
I've wondered if maybe Gary was down that way to get something of the Methadone/Suboxone variety. I looked it up, and they do have clinics down there for both, though I'm not familiar with them. I know there is a Methadone clinic, as well as a couple Suboxone clinics, in Ashland, which is about a thirty minute drive straight down 23 from South Shore. The same is true for Ironton (right across the bridge) and Portsmouth, which is pretty close to South Shore. He might have had trouble finding a place close to Greenup because the waiting lists at these places are unreal...sometimes MONTHS...to get an appointment. Maybe he went down there because he found a place and had an appointment that next morning? Believe me, I've met people who happily drive a couple of house to get to these places, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that he would go down there where family is close by if he had a place to stay.
Methadone is usually dosed daily. You get up, go to the clinic, and take your meds there every single day. I know after a while they'll let you start taking some of it home, but I'm not familiar with how many days worth they send? I know I've heard people say they made it to weekend take homes....and I knew a guy who got it a week at a time...but other than that, I'm not sure about it.
Suboxone works under stricter guidelines, and different clinics work different ways. I know where I went it was done in two week prescriptions, with mandatory group meetings. You see a doctor every two weeks and attend either weekly or biweekly group meetings for a LONG time and, once you've established yourself with clean drugs screens for X amount of time, some places will let you come monthly for your medicine, so long as you attend regular meetings and continue to screen clean.
Granted...this is all absolute speculation on my part. When he was busted shooting up in the parking lot at Dunhams, he did three days if I recall. Basically, he was in there just long enough to feel REALLY, REALLY bad-we're talking full swing withdrawals. I would say that by day 3...and I am speaking mostly for me....you'd be ready to run right out of there and find the first thing that will take the WD's away! No doubt the guy was feeling horrible.
Part of me wishes he was getting some help. There is a true hopelessness you carry with you when you're on drugs. You feel stuck....it's like quicksand. Your head is so full of the when and where the next time will come from...you have zero room for anything else. When you make ANY move to get away from it....you find that, for the first time in months or years or however long it has been...you have a little hope.
On that note...has anyone seen a RECENT picture of this guy? I've looked everywhere and I swear they all look like they were taken forever ago. I can't find him in any of the family pictures, just a couple of him by himself that look like they were taken earlier than even his FB profile picture, which tells me nothing about where he was on April 22nd. He was thin, and sobriety tends to make you a bit fluffier :shame:.....so I was curious if he'd put on any weight.
