Season 10, Episode 10
Michelle
Age: 30
Location: Williamstown, New Jersey
Addiction: Methadone, Xanax
What’s memorable: The way her young daughter and grandfather treat her is pretty horrifying, and while deserved it to a certain extent it’s still hard to watch and seems like a bad way to behave. And the weird relationship with the 75 year old boyfriend, yikes. I really like Michelle, I hope she got her shit together and her family is nicer to her.
Official Synopsis: Michelle, 30, looks like an aging mother of two who takes a daily concoction of methadone, Xanax, and blood pressure pills to keep her identity as an edgy party girl alive, while her family begs her to wake up to the harm that her addiction has caused them. Now the family has had enough, and they’re finally ready to confront Michelle at an intervention.
Original Air Date: August 2011
Interventionist: Candy
Anyone know if she is still doing ok?
I’m on methadone and it has helped me stay clean for much longer periods than rehab ever did. So I have mixed feelings on this episode. Obviously she wasn’t using it to get help, but to get high.
Old post but I hope you’re not taking methadone still lol..what people like to make true that’s not is that it as well as subs is a long term medication when in fact it’s only supposed to be used to get threw withdraw. Last treatment I was at years ago kept patients on it 2-4 weeks and wheened them down in that time. Only takes about 30 days to get physically better,taking it after that is abuse. And methadone and subs are both powerful narcotics that cause an altered state of mind. And she was definitely abusing them,taking it long term keeps that mindset alive
This is not true for everyone. Yes, people do abuse these treatments, but it has also been lifesaving for many. I was on suboxone for 4 years. I started on a high dosage and gradually went down over the course of several months. I never once felt “high” because I was taking it for the right reasons, and I never took more than I was supposed to. I finally got down to such a low dosage I couldn’t even cut the 2.5mg strip small enough to go lower. I told my doctor I was ready to quit. He trusted me enough to give me another prescription, which I kept in a safety deposit box. I didn’t need it anymore, and I never filled that prescription. It’s unfortunate that so many people abuse these treatments because, those of us who are really trying to do better are frowned upon. I am thankful for my treatment plan because I wouldn’t be alive today without it. I have been suboxone free for 1 year and have no remaining mental desire to EVER do drugs again.
Ok I loved her I really hope she’s doing ok and her kids she is vary pretty after the help.
January 23, 2016 she was charged with drug possession and was being sought for skipping a court date.
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2016/01/woman_sought_for_skipping_court_on_drug_charges_pr.html
No!!! That’s really upsetting. She was like a completely different person sober and her combination of the methadone Xanax and blood pressure pills Is extremely dangerous. I have had alot of friends pass away from this combination.
I didn’t care for this episode. People like Michelle give methadone a bad name. Shame on her clinic too for not kicking her out with all the benzo use. That’s the real problem taking all the pills with high doses of methadone. methadone Taken right and taken for the right reasons looks nothing like this woman. It saves many lives done right. What a shame that methadone will now be attached to that stigma for people who don’t know what it is. The show should explain more about mmt.
Yes it is a shame. There are way to many people out there who get it from the clinic and sell it on the street or mix it with other drugs like the benzo and blood pressure combo. I’m from Baltimore MD and this is huge in my area and killing more people than heroin right now. These clinics have to tighten up and become more aware of who they are giving it to.
I seriously doubt that methadone is killing more ppl than Heroin!!! Especially in Baltimore!! There are always that percentage of people who get really high doses, and still do herion and benzo’s and crack/coke. They are the Zombies!!! Though there are many more people who are using it how it was meant to be used, It’s a Maintenance Medication not a Get High Drug, and not a Cure.
I agree that they should explain methadone tx. I don’t think that the clinic where she goes to get the methadone should kick her out–should a diabetic with a blood sugar reading over 250 get kicked out of the medical doctor’s office?? Treatment with punishment is so messed up in my opinion! Why not delve into the patient’s condition and reason for using?? And work on solutions that work for them!
Doctors have blame to, people tend to think it and subs are long term meds when in fact they’re only for withdraw. 30 days tops..after that you’re just pro longing a problem
she was just arrested two days ago…. come on michelle! i hope she hits rock bottom real soon though and can get her life back on track.
http://newjersey.arrests.org/Arrests/Michelle_Maculewicz_28275178/
It was just so, so really sad. She has so much potential.
She is doing that, that her mother did to her: abandon the kids. And I totally understand that little girl, I would be also really angry if my mom wouldn’t care for anything outside pills. The girl needs help too. It’s also sad to see, that the grandparents can’t get some rest and has to raise kids on their own. I wonder what will happen if they die…
And that old man… I mean my stomach turned… How sick is that?! Someone with 75 using an addict to get sex and who knows what.. And Michelle using him to get it… It’s disgusting.
I’m sorry to read that the cops have found cocaine/heroine on her. I hope the family is keeping their bottom lines and she’ll hit rock bottom and change. Or get clean in jail if that is the only way.
Someone please give those children of hers a proper family. The redhaired child was so deeply affected by her mother’s poor decisions. I am sickened by the thought of that redhaired child getting into drugs and giving up on life.
by the looks of her facebook page she had another kid, a baby boy. It also looks like she had been good and sober even off of cigarettes up until around the time of the drug arrest. her full name is Michelle A Maculewicz
She look way better when she went to treatment she should of never done that she going to kill herself and After treatment she stayed sober I’m so proud of her
Michelle appears to be doing well. She posted on FB yesterday saying she was 8 months clean. Looks like she’s straightened up since her last arrest.
Her last arrest was October 28, 2019. If you click on the link in the previous comments it’ll show all of her arrest… And the one in 2019. She looks horrible… It looks like she’s doing meth (her face is sucked up)… she’s 42 in the picture but to me she looks much older… Such a shame. I hope her girls don’t follow her path. And I hope that Michelle finally gets sober again… It’s never too late!
https://www.facebook.com/michelle.maculewicz.94?ref=br_rs
She looks like she’s doing well!
There is no way she got off an 8 year methadone habit from a high dose. Nevermind a benzodiazepine habit on top. In 8 weeks.
I quit suboxone 16mg after a year and kicked for 105 days nonstop.
Methadone technically bas a shorter half life.
But still at 2.5 months she should be lucky to have a solid bowl and eat solid food. Nevermind yoga and watching deer.
Im calling fake news on this episode
I think Michelle relapsed. She didn’t post anything for almost 8 months and one thing I’ve noticed is when she’s using she doesn’t post. In December she posted saying how she was glad to be back with her family and that she was on house arrest. Makes me wonder if she was incarcerated recently.
She has 4 Facebook profiles and she’s jacked up in every one of them. Those poor girls didn’t stand a chance.
Wow I’m surprised this page mentions how her young daughter treated HER poorly?? That little girl was abandoned and literally never had a mother. I think her anger is entirely justified! I felt horrible for how deeply this has effected her.
Ikr?? I couldn’t stand Michelle’s selfishness and I’m just a random person, I can only imagine how her daughter felt. The girl’s rage and her behavior is MORE than justified imo. Wouldn’t be surprised if both of her daughters cut her off completely once they got to adulthood (which would be around now since this aired ten years ago). I really hope her daughters won’t end up on drugs as well.
How old would her daughter be now?
She got arrested AGAIN on January 22
Damn. I was really hoping she would make it but it seems she’s still struggling.
the old guy is SO creepy…”she’s everything to me…a friend, a daughter, a lover………….”. daughter AND lover?? yeah, that’s a great combination. oh boy. and the grandfather, wtheck. he can’t say “i love you” ?? i really like michelle, i’ve been reading above she’s had some issues over the years but hopefully today she’s doing better.
oh yeah, i meant to ask what happened to michelle’s mother? her grandparents raised her bc her mom abandoned her but where is her mother today? did they say and i missed it?
She was arrested in January of this year. https://m.facebook.com/westdeptfordpd/posts/2185831131473472
Her most recent photos were from her and her daughters back in July. Hope she’s doing okay.
She has 8 profiles, 6 with profile pics. This girl has been screwed up since birth and unfortunately she is continuing the cycle!! I hope her kids break away from her. I hope they don’t want to try what she tries. The kids should not be living with her at all. Method one doesn’t work for everyone tbh. It’s complicated, it worked great for my brother to not use, but he drank on it and ended up in a right mess. Then went back on, unfortunately things didn’t work out, but it’s not about me or him. Why she would choose smack over those kids I’ll never know. I even take oxy after my multiple back surgeries and I’d never abuse it and gave weaned down by half my dosage. It’s like an unwritten rule, do smack and you’ll never look back, it’s so addictive. I could never do that my kid. I agree trying to wean off an 8 year high dosage method IBS snd Xanax addiction is a very very long road, but not impossible. But, you cannot go back to your old stomping ground and stay healthy. Those poor kids and grandparents.
I wonder how she got sober from Xanax and Methadone so fast. A miracle detox? I work in a recovery center and I see how much people struggle to get off Methadone. Benzos are hard to kick as well. It would be great if the show didn’t try to fool us. 😉
I went to rehab in 2015 after 6 years on subs and almost 9 on xanax… and it was pure hell. I thought I’d die there. stayed 35 days and was sick the entire time. came home got back on subs but managed to stay away from benzos. this episode stuck with me for these reasons. when they showed her 7 wks later and fine as can be I was stunned. thrilled for her but stunned. I hope today she is doing ok!
Methadone isn’t like heroin where you have withdrawal for a few days, if you cold turkey someone that’s been on it for as long as she has they are more than likely going to relapse from how bad it is. It should be titrated slowly enough that they aren’t too uncomfortable which at max is around 5mg a week I believe, even that is going to be too fast for a lot of people. If someone is relapsing over and over on opiates through multiple treatment centers replacement is better than them dying on the streets from fentanyl. It also allows people to get their life together until they’re ready to come off, at the very least they’re not having to steal to feed their habit. That’s not even to mention the amount of xanax she was taking, 7 weeks seem way too fast for the amount she was taking every single day and It’d have been a miracle if she didn’t end up relapsing.
They should be screening for drugs at her clinic so I have no idea how she was allowed to continue to be on xanax while on methadone though, that’s an issue with her doctors and clinic. If someone has bad enough anxiety that they need a benzodiazepine why would they even give an addict the one that’s abused most often and not one like ativan for panic disorders or a longer lasting one for general anxiety? Antidepressants should be the first line medication for anxiety but it doesn’t sound like her doctor even started with that.
Also, I don’t know how her methadone clinic let her get on methadone when she was only on heroin for two months. At my clinic, you have to be on opiates for two years, and you have to have proof (previous treatment centers, arrest records, Dr. shopping prescriptions). And I’m sure they were drug testing her. At some clinics you would get kicked out after multiple negative UA’s and then at some clinics you just lose your take homes. But it looks like she took a bottle one morning at her grandparents, so she seemed to have at least one tech home. But maybe she also had a prescription for Xanax so then they have no way of knowing how many pills she’s actually taking, or her clinic is just crazy and it gives proper clinics a bad name. Well according to her arrest record and the link for the news article about her being wanted, she’s moved on to heroin and back on cocaine. But her arrest pic from 2019 looks like she may also be doing meth. I hope she gets clean… It’s never too late for sobriety.
Does anyone have a update on Michelle?
She’s NOT doing well. Several arrests since, all drug charges, she looks AWFUL. It’s sad.
https://newjersey.arrests.org/Arrests/Michelle_Maculewicz_28275178/
Sadly, she looks to still be very much in her addiction, lots of arrest records here. Very sad! I thought she was very likable, just completely lost. I pray that her daughters are doing well. From one Jersey girl to another, I’m praying for you, Michelle! Xo
Oh my gosh. I just recently started watching from the current season back and just got to this episode in season 10. This episode was crazy! The grandparents having to take on raising their children, grandchild and then great-grandchildren? I cannot even imagine how tired they are. Then the creepy old bf… come on dude. Friend, daughter and lover? PUKE. Anyways, I come to this site after every episode to see how people are doing (this is the first time I REALLY felt compelled to comment) and the photos of Michelle at the bottom of the link you posted…. how much she changed in arrest photos in just 2019. That is insane and so sad! I hope the children were able to move on and eventually break this horrible cycle.
Omg WHY the pouty lips in every pic. She passed that to her daughter. Hope that’s the only thing she passed. Seriously what a train wreck. Yeah I get her mother abandoned her and she had issues with grandpa…but what about all that “I don’t want to be my mother”….yet she was worse. She should have left those poor girls instead of letting them watch her be a mess. Sorry, I know she had an addiction but it seems to me that she wanted to be more of an attention seeker than anything.
I hate to cast aspersions, but is her aunt on something? She seems kinda out of it.
This link has a lot of her arrest from 2016-2019
https://newjersey.arrests.org/Arrests/Michelle_Maculewicz_28275178/
I will be amazed if her daughters somehow don’t end up addicted to drugs. I worry the grandparents will pass while they are young adults and that could really affect them. Wish some of Michelle’s aunts and uncles who all seemed young could’ve been parents to those 2 little girls. Unfortunately this family dynamic is exactly how the cycle continues. I wish somehow doing drugs prevented pregnancy. To think how many children could be spared.
I commented before I even got to the part about the 75 year old boyfriend. How disgusting. How does that family allow this creep around Michelle’s young daughters? When Alyssa rode with Michelle and the old man to the methadone clinic and she stayed alone in the car with him – my alarm bells were going off. I hope these children were spared. I hope they have somehow managed to be happy and successful in life even without a mother.
https://share.newsbreak.com/7jjgtiiu She was arrested just last week. She stole a car and left her ID in the car. Oopsies!! She looks like a completely different person in her mugshot and not in a good way wither. This is very sad. I don’t know where she’s buying her dope but if it’s in Philly (the area in NJ she lives in, people typically go to Philly and/or Camden), apparently there has been a major attempt to shut down the open-air dope market in Kensington. I’m a recovering addict, on methadone maintenance and I remember back in the late 90s…they did the same thing. It was called “Operation Sunrise”. You were risking getting arrested every single time you tried to cop and I did end up getting arrested during that whole thing. So now would be a great time for Michelle to get back on the clinic…or if she’s still on the clinic, now would be a great time to stop the benzos and whatever other substances she’s using. I’m the same age as her and we’re not spring chickens anymore. It’s a very startling and sobering reality to get clean at the age of 45 and realize you’ve done nothing with your life but destroy it. Sometimes it feels like it’s just not worth it, you don’t even know where or how to start…but I got to a point where the pain of continuing to exist like that was greater than the fear and pain of trying to move forward. I hope Michelle can get there bc only then will she change. And BTW, about the whole methadone thing…I noticed comments above saying that methadone is only meant to be used for a short period of time and you’re not “supposed” to stay on it indefinitely. I disagree. I’ve been on/off of MMT for years. There were periods of time that I was definitely not clean, benzos, shooting coke, smoking crack, etc. and I never earned take homes and was “chained” to the clinic. For the past 2.5 years, I’ve stayed clean of all other substances and have earned 6 bottles/week. I pick up on Wednesdays and do my group on Wednesdays. I don’t feel chained to the clinic. I was at 150 and came down one mg/week until I got to 104 and I started to go through it a little so I stopped the taper 2 months ago. If I have to stay on this for the rest of my life, so be it. MMT has given me life. There was NO WAY I would’ve gotten clean and STAYED “CLEAN” without it. That’s it, rant over Lol.
https://x.com/News12NJ/status/1807428956645113923
just yesterday. JULY 2024. so disappointing
at this point, I don’t know how she’s going to turn it around. I know we should always hope, but realistically I don’t know if she’ll ever get clean and stay clean.