Matt: What’s up everybody? This is Matt and Greg with Project Unbroken. And today we wanted to talk about the three things that you should look for in a good maintenance program. First off, I want to say you should definitely do your research. Get on Google, look at local clinics or doctors in your area. Check reviews, see what experiences other people have had with them, if they have been positive, if they have been negative. This will help give you a good idea of what you’re getting into before you dig in.
Greg: Yeah, anytime you find a doctor, go to Google, type in the doctor’s name and review. You’ll find reviews on Yelp and Google Business and all places like that. You got to look at the reviews though.
Matt: It’ll kind of cut all the slack off the top. Greg and I had a really terrible experience with the first doctor that we went to try to get suboxone, and the guy ended up losing his medical license because it was a complete scam and he was ripping off a lot of people that were trying to find recovery. But you can avoid potholes like that if you just do a little bit of research online. It’ll save you a lot of time and money in the long run.
Greg: Yeah, a lot of times people are just in a rush to get in, and they just go to some random place, and it ends up not working out.
Matt: Not a good experience. And that’ll only set you back in your recovery. Look, the three things we think you should look for in a good maintenance program, I want to start with number one, and this is a program that works with a therapist. This was really big for me. I took the suboxone route, and I worked with a doctor who ran his practice with a therapist. So it was mandatory, in order for me to get the suboxone, I had to meet with this therapist as often as I met with the medical doctor. And this was really great because the therapist was kind of holding me accountable for the way that I was living my life when I was trying to find recovery, which it saved me a lot of time after I found these guys. And it was stuff that Greg and I talk about now. It was a lot of the mindset maintenance. He was making sure that I was doing meditation, practicing gratitude, stuff to get my mind and set everything in a positive perspective on things, and it really, really helped me save a lot of time. So, if you can find a program with a therapist, I think it’ll be a huge benefit to your recovery.
Greg: Number two is check on the timeframes. So what we mean by that is the first doctor we went to, that Matt was talking about, it was a 10-day or 14-day, something like that, detox program where he basically gave you enough pills for 10 days, you get rid of the physical symptoms, but it’s not long enough for you to be away from heroin because all the mental stuff starts hitting you, and 99.9% of the people who just do a 10-day detox, 14-day detox without everything else are going to go right back into addiction. So you need to check on a program, and we recommend something that’s long term. Check with them to make sure that you’re allowed to stay on it for at least a year or two. It’s really important that you’re away from that life for a year or two because once you’re there, you get used to a life with no heroin, and it increases your chances of staying sober exponentially. It’s really, really important. So, check with them on the timeframe, make sure you can do long term.
Matt: And that goes right into step three, which is you want to work with a doctor or a clinic that will help you strategize your recover in general. So, you want to have something where you can talk to your doctor about the timeframe. You can talk to the doctor about your goals and how you’re trying to get off. And hopefully, if it’s a good clinic, or a good doctor, they’ll help you navigate those waters because it’s really difficult, as somebody who’s trying to accomplish so much by getting out of their addiction or off opiates, that it’s a lot to a lot of times know what’s reasonable and what’s not. So, like Greg said, a lot of times we know we’re kind of stuck in something, and we’re really eager to get out of it, but if you rush it, you can find yourself relapsing pretty easy. If you have a doctor that’s willing to work with you, set up a blueprint and set some goals and timelines for you, it’s going to increase your chances of success dramatically.
Greg: And part of that strategy’s also your detox. I was on a methadone program that offered liquid, and because I was on liquid, I was able to come down one milligram at a time. A lot of people, when they’re on pills, you can only come down five milligrams at a time. So make sure, as part of that strategy, you also have a detox strategy in place where you know that they allow you to slowly detox. Because the quicker you detox, the more of a chance you have to going back into your addiction.
Matt: So I think those are the three things that we would suggest that you look for when you’re looking for a good maintenance program, be that suboxone or methadone. But number one, do your research. Find something that you think is going to work for you, and it’s really going to increase your chances of recovery.
Greg: All right. Hope you all enjoyed this video. Subscribe, and we’ll see you all on the next one.
Matt: I think those are going to be really good.
Greg: Yeah.
