Is my wife Addicted to her Pain Meds ?? - Al-Anon Family Group

Bry27 · Member

Is my wife Addicted to her Pain Meds ??

sad_dog_mommy · Veteran Member

Hello Bry27,

Sometimes addicts 'change' their addiction from drinking to another abusive behavior. My ABF stopped drinking without AA or meetings but he gained 150 pounds, started doctor shopping to get pills for his knee pain and he shops online. He spends money he doesn't have on sports memorabilia instead of chipping in for his portion of the bills. He takes no responsibility for his behavior and is in total denial as to how it is counter productive to his life. I got tired of talking to him about it so I just focus on the things I can change (me) and formulating my exit strategy.

Work on getting your thoughts and feelings straight and do what is best for YOU. Living with an addict is exhausting.

((( hug )))

Bry27 · Member

Thanks, My exit has started. After 12 yrs of marraige . I just know nothing about these meds. Reagrdless if she is addicted or now. I am taking care of me.

Just need to know more info on this stuff???

hotrod · ~*Service Worker*~

Hi bry
Welcome I would take that list to pharmacist and ask his opinion. It does seem a little excessive but I am not the professional .
I also suggest that you search out alanon face to face meetings in your community and attend The understanding, support and wisdom that is available is priceless
Please keep coming back here as well

grateful2be · ~*Service Worker*~

Welcome to MIP. Meds can be researched on-line. I wouldn't be able to tell you if your wife has a drug addiction or not. I guess only she and/or her physician would be able to say that for certain? My x used illegal drugs, but his underlying issue was really alcoholism. I was affected by that disease after living with him for 8 years. Al-Anon has been a wonderful resource for me and although I've been divorced for more than 35 years and have been able to focus on myself and my issues - some that were developed in childhood in a family also affected by alcoholism even though my parents didn't drink - and have grown in ways I couldn't have without the tools Al-Anon gives us.

Bry27 · Member

well does anyone have any idea about these meds ?

PP · ~*Service Worker*~

My husband was addicted to the oxycodone, it is dangerous. I support all that has been said so far and hope you reach for help for you.

Bry27 · Member

i wil reaach out for help ... i am looking for meetings close by ...

PP · ~*Service Worker*~

I am glad to hear you are looking for meetings. Your wife is taking a dangerous mixture of addicting meds and, even though it may not appear as such, you can't escape being affected. My husband also used alcohol and vicodin. There were many sad years in our household and he is fortunate to still be alive with the amount he was ingesting. He not only put his life in danger, he put many lives in danger with the work he was doing. Take good care of you and keep coming back.

Debilyn · ~*Service Worker*~

Is she getting them from the same doc? They are very, very addictive drugs, however if she is taking them as prescribed, the doc would know more.

Are they addictive, of course they are. Fentanyl is a very strong pain med for extreme pain. Clonazopam is also very addictive. But if she is taking them for a condition...

Seems like a lot of med to me.

Could she go off them tomorrow cold turkey, no.

Not sure what would make you want to know.

I am sorry your marriage fell apart! Keep coming!

Bry27 · Member

i want to know to make myself right, but I already know teh answer... she is an addict and yes , 2 different docs prescribe this stuff.

I am so sad .

grateful2be · ~*Service Worker*~

I understand that sadness. I have watched more people than I care to count unable to stop this compulsion without help. And I have also known others who did get help and are still living to tell the story of their lives. I have had to learn to take care of myself because there was nothing I could do to help them other than to get help myself. Please keep coming back. We are or have been there.

maryjane · ~*Service Worker*~

Wow, that is some long list of drugs. It reminds me of a hippie song from the 60's where one pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small. Some of her pills lift her up and most calm her down.

Remember, alcoholism is a disease and drinking/drugging is only a symptom of that disease. Her main problem is in her mind where the disease is speaking to her. If it wasn't the booze or the pills it would be some other addicting thing.

KennyFenderjazz · ~*Service Worker*~

I don't trust any doctor any more about whether my wife (or I for that matter) should be on any med or not. Wife is in recovery now, so I mostly trust her. Doctors prescribed clonazepam for her for years for anxiety. Bad stuff. they made her get off it when she went in her first inpatient program, she used vistaril for awhile, but now since she has been so strong in AA she doesn't take any anti-anxiety at all. She deals with it all naturally, mainly by meetings and sponsor. Another doctor said she was bipolar, put her on all kinds of crazy stuff much of which was off-label. It took months to get her off much of it when we found a new psych, which are damn near impossible to get these days, at least around here.

Wife had some back pain and the doc wanted to prescribe her some oxycodone. Wife just looked at doctor and said "you realize I'm an alcoholic, right?" Wife doesn't go to that doctor anymore. She won't take anything stronger than flexeril, even that she won't take more than a couple days if she can possibly help it.

I am not a professional, but that list seems like a long list of antidepressants, opioids, muscle relaxers, and even a post-shingles pain reliever. Much of this is the kind of stuff that my wife was on for quite a while, about the same time she was becoming alcoholic.

Bry I'm sorry to hear this about your wife. This is affecting so many people these days, as far as I'm concerned the medical establishment is dragging a lot of people into this. Doctors just prescribe pills without a second thought.
Both the rehab centers that my wife went to in the Midwest had a large number of people who started out small, got bigger like this, then found out it was cheaper to just go to a single drug - heroin. I hate that all this just leads to devastation of families.

I would recommend you go to NarAnon or Al Anon, this has obviously affected you, and you can find folks in similar situations that you can learn more from.

Kenny

pinkchip · ~*Service Worker*~

Yep. That sounds like standard opiate addiction. The fentanyl in combo with the oxycodone is pretty much the equivalent of being a heroin addict. The clonazepam dosage is massively high - that is for anxiety which I don't see how she could have if she is doped up on pain meds all the time. The Vyvanse is for ADHD which is also pointless because how can you concentrate when on a mega dose of opiates and sedatives? I'd suggest a detox and complete medication overhaul. So you have 3 different categories of drugs she is addicted to 1. Opiates, 2. Benzodiazepines, and 3. Stimulants (ADHD meds that do not need to be stimulant form because there are others which are safer for addicts to take). Sounds like a real mess. Sorry Bry :( I used to work in Rehab and we had people in from this combo of drugs often. They might eventually admit they had an opiate problem, but would then scream bloody murder when we took away the benzos and ADHD drugs too.

deramam · Veteran Member

Vyvanese is for ADD or ADHD but they can give you effects of energy or like speed and meth. she's def in addicition with those opiates (oxy and fentynal) I am a recovering addict from opiates and that combo is VERY strong and someone with a back injury should not be taking those together. Those together should be for dying people or people with SEVERE pain like cancer patients and such. are they all from same dr and pharmacy? if not call them and say youre worried shes taking all these meds from different people or places and they will flag her so she can't get them.

deramam · Veteran Member

pinkchip wrote:
Yep. That sounds like standard opiate addiction. The fentanyl in combo with the oxycodone is pretty much the equivalent of being a heroin addict. The clonazepam dosage is massively high - that is for anxiety which I don't see how she could have if she is doped up on pain meds all the time. The Vyvanse is for ADHD which is also pointless because how can you concentrate when on a mega dose of opiates and sedatives? I'd suggest a detox and complete medication overhaul. So you have 3 different categories of drugs she is addicted to 1. Opiates, 2. Benzodiazepines, and 3. Stimulants (ADHD meds that do not need to be stimulant form because there are others which are safer for addicts to take). Sounds like a real mess. Sorry Bry :( I used to work in Rehab and we had people in from this combo of drugs often. They might eventually admit they had an opiate problem, but would then scream bloody murder when we took away the benzos and ADHD drugs too.

You hit the nail on the head!

Debilyn · ~*Service Worker*~

This is one time I would be letting the docs know. They are responsible for their patient, if she o.d.s believe me they will be questioned.

She is in deep trouble. I feel so sad for her. She is not even the person she is meant to be right now.

Newlife girl · ~*Service Worker*~

The more important issue is if it bothers you. When we don't like how much a person drinks, we don't have to decide if they are an alcoholic, all we know is that it bothers us. That's why we go to al anon. We are bothered by another persons drinking. If it bothers you how many pills she takes, then you are entitled to those feelings.

The material presented here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method to exchange information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal level.