Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Help!!! Painkiller addiction with alcohol and ephidrine and prozac
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.
 |
Help!!! Painkiller addiction with alcohol and ephidrine and prozac
by Snoozer, Dec 21, 2003 12:00AM
I am a 31 yaer old wife with a loving husband and 4 year old son. I have had 4 surgerys in the past 2 years and have become addictided to pain killers. I have been in treatment for alcohol once and it didn't work. I also am taking 40mg of prozac a day for my depression. Then I ended up having all these surgeries and now I'm addicted to both. I want to quit but I am so afraid! I have lost my job and my husband has no idea about my addiction. My husband has a cripling disease called Ankylosing Spondalitis. He will be paralized later in life and right now he suffers daily with back pain. I have been using his pain killers and have been calling in prescriptions for him only to use them myself! I am so ashamed!!! I can't seem to do anything anymore unless I have something in me to get the day going! I've taken everything from oxycodone, hydrocodone, tylenol 3, morphine, and I've even resorted to some duragesic patches that were given to my husband and they were to strong for him. I like the way they make me feel when I drink with them. I want to quit cold turkey but I'm afraid of the withdrawls. How long does it take and am I in danger If I do it myself? I've tried to quit for 1 day and I was so irritable and I couldn't sleep. I felt like my skin was crawling and I was sweating really bad. I always say that tomarrow is the day I will quit but it never happens. I am running out of oxy and I'm terrified! Please help me!!!
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Dec 23, 2003 12:00AM
, Dec 23, 2003 12:00AM
I doubt if you can do this alone, and it is dangerous, and very serious. You have to have professional help, and you should come clean to either your family or your husband or both. This is the best time for you to do this...don't wait. Either start with a psychiatrist or start with a detox and rehab program that your doctor recommends.
God Bless you both. I am a 33 year old single male athlete who got hooked 2.5 years ago on hydrocodone from a shoulder injury. I have read both of your posts and I cannot tell you how much you are not alone. Go to a detox unit and get yourself clean. Do not try cold turkey as it will not only make you feel horrible. Tomorrow at 7:15 am I go will undergo ARODS. I am medically getting help and having all of the codone taken out of my system. I know this is the only way and I cannot tell you how you two should do the same. We know what a vicious cycle this is. Physically and mentally. But you cannot go any further until you get the opiates out of your body. Please please follow my lead. I am scared. I am though hopeful that when I get this out of my system I can control my life. You are not controlling your body, the drug is. Get it out and then start your control. THe process will take 6 hours under anethesia. No physical symptoms and a clear mind to make "clean" decisions. Please go to a detox unit. Please and God Bless you both.
Snathan
I guess the best way to start is from the beginning. About a year ago i began taking hydrocodone, i slipped into the habit rather fast. It started just taking 1 just like prescribed, then slowly and thru out the year i have goten to the point of taking 3 or 4 at a time. up to about 10 pills a day! Its amazing how easy it is to get a script filled, and the doctors that are so willing to give them out! Lately i have been taking them and im not taking them for the pain nor the high, im taking them because i feel i need to, that if i dont, nothing will get accomplished, and i honestly feel very bad. The things that are concerning me at this point is how hard i hear it is to stop! Im looking for answers concerning my health i have begin to get symptoms which im not sure if anything has anything to do with the pills, but it scares me to death that im slowly killing myself! In the morning when i wake up, i feel like ive been hit by a truck, my stomach is weak, and thats when i take that first pill, then i get to the part where i think im gonna be ok, but no matter what ive had to eat nor drink (sorry if this is gross) i then begin to vomit what is a very thin bitter tasting bile, and thats it. After that im ok for a while, but my head feels like i have a head cold, and my vision is a lil off. i wait about and hour and thats when i take the rest of my "mornin dose". like ive said i dont really get anything outta it but the release of tension in my head and the nausea submits itself for a while. Im beginning to see that the amount of time this happens is becoming less than about 2 hours and the cycle begins over again, with the added of sleepiness to it, until i then take my "afternoon" dose.
Im gonna leave at here for now i think ive opened up and gave enough info for someone to suggest a few things for me, i completely appreciate anything that anyone has to say! Im looking for the brutal honesty of this all. Im scared, and thats the bottom line!! Thank you so much for listening, and to those others in the same boat i wish you all the luck and best of health to ya all!!!
beach-***@****
and thanks!
deb
I'm not sure why your included with someone else's original question, but if this gets through to you, I guess it doesn't matter.
I have been an addict since the age of 17, I am now 53. I am currently getting over the ephedra era, and it is going pretty well. I have a dual addiction, alcohol and any kind of drug. I have not had a drink or illegal drug since 1984. However, due to a very serious spinal condiditon, I continue to struggle with prescription pain killers. In fact, when I went into treatment in 84, I was taking an average of fifty daravon a day. Obviously, to some that would sound like an impossible thing to do, and how could I possibly get that many. I had numerous doctors and pharmacies in different cities, and I even got desperate enough to steal script pads to make my own. With today's efforts, it is not as easy to get away with.
I have had numerous withdrawals in my life, some under medical supervision in treatment centers, detox centers, and some I did on my own. Isn't it amazing that you and I, and people like us can be in such denial, that we wait until we are so desperate to rid ourselves of incredible fear, and the number one thought we are trying to rid ourselves of is death. The fear is overwhelming, and yet there were times that I think I was just trying to get someone to tell me how to safely stay on the stuff I was taking. Your tolerance to the drug has finally caught up with you, and as you said, taking it now is just a matter of survival.
Ok! here it is. We are all going to die. You have made a choice that will cause you to die sooner than you should. I have attended many 12 step programs, and in 95% of them, I am reminded of consequences that will occur if I didn't stop my drug of choice. These three consequences have been proven for years, and years, and they are, ending up in jail, a medical or mental institution, or dead. Think about it.
Please remember that you are not a bad person because you are in the position your in. "Normal/GOOD" people, whatever that is, make terrible decisions everyday. You are a good person that needs to forgive yourself, and start the process of saving your life. If you are reading this now, you must realize that tomorrow never comes. So STOP whatever you plan on doing after reading this, call the person you trust the most, and tell him/her that you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. You must forget about the embarrasment, the unsympathetic family member or friend that wants to judge you, or worse yet try to take care of the problem for you. You and your trusted friend must go to the nearest emergency room, and you must do that now.
Please understand that you are not unique, and what you and I are going through, and have gone through, affects thousands upon thousands of people every hour of the day.The fact is, addiction has no prejudices. It affects all lifestyles, ethnicity, color, the rich, and the poor. The only thing that is stopping you from getting better is you. Your next pill may be your last. Someone loves you very much, and the pain of your death would be overwhelming for that person(s). I know your scared and that's ok, your human. The first step is to be accountable to yourself and admit you have a problem, and the second is to do something about it. Stop waiting! This will not go away unless you make it. You are a very special person, and you will remember what that feels like when you rid yourself of the fog that you wake up to each morning. What I remember was how great it was to just FEEL, instead of being numb every day.
Now, I will do my very best to prepare you for the mental and physical stuff you're going to face. First, I want you to remember this. The withdrawal, and symptoms that come with it, are all temporary, and whatever residual affects are left, will be dealt with by the great people there to help you. You will feel physical aches and pains, something simular to the flu. You WILL be in touch with your emotions very quickly. You will cry very easily, and start to feel sorry for yourself, (The Pity Pot). You may find yourself easy to anger, but you can expect the fuse to lengthen in a short period of time. It will take you some time to be joyous and happy again, which will be greatly affected by outside influences. That is why it is so important to be in a facility that has people you can confide and trust in. The important thing is you are going to be in touch with REAL FEELINGS again. You can probably expect to feel this way for a week or so. Don't visit with people that upset you right away, family or friends, particularly; those that may be in the same situation you are. Get all your faculties about you first. Above all, trust the people of the facility you are in. Do not be afraid to approach them about anything. Temporarily, they will take the place of your parents, husband, or anyone else that you confide in. Remember, your therapist is only as good as you allow he/she to be. Remove all the walls, and be honest as you tell he/she EVERYTHING about you. You will create a bond, and your recovery will be helped trmendously by your cooperation.
I feel compelled to share a litle history of myself with you. I was agnostic for 17 years, to a point where I was very angry with God. When I hit my bottom in 84, my relationship with a higher power returned, and I choose to call power Jesus Christ. We need him, and prayer.I promise I will pray for you.
Finally, I have probably done 95% of illegal drugs that are out there, and I've shot up, snorted, smoked, and took pills. The miracle of all of that is, with the exception of my spine, which is not related to my drug abuse, none of my internal organs were permanently damaged, and my health is excellent. Please, get help before it's to late. Won't it be great to live again, instead of waking up to misery and worry everyday?
God bless you.