Could he be withdrawing from something?

My brother was admitted to the hospital on Monday 20th of December for pneumonia. They are saying that he is also withdrawing from drugs. He has his left lung is full and it seeped into the side wall where the surgeon had to pry open his rib cage and put her hand in between and scoop out the flem (phlegm) that was in there. He is in icu at the hospital in an induced coma because the doctor and surgeon both said that he is having dts and until he kicks whatever is in his system they can't bring him out. He has a breathing tube, iv feeding him, they tried to see if he can breathe on his own and he only lasted an hour. He is needing high doses of the adavan because his immune system is so high. His girlfriend said the only thing he has been on is Methadone but the doctors are saying he has something else causing his dts. Please give me your input

[tired_of_oxy]

Withdrawls from methadone would definitely give him the "dts" methadone is a very strong opiate used to treat opiate addiction and abruptly stopping it would make him very sick.

Can't the doctors test him to find out if anything else is in his system?

I hope your brother pulls through ok. I know how helpless you must feel. I have been through that myself and it was by far the worst experience of my life. My mother was in the ICU for her liver shutting down and all I can say is to pray a lot and be there for your brother. If he is into other drugs he obviously needs help. Hopefully he is ready to make some life changes and get treatment. Please post and let us know how he's doing. Stay strong. You might want to check out an al-anon meeting. You can get support from people who are in your shoes. Often the addict and his problems are at the forefront and the suffering family doesn't get the help they need. Please seek out some help for you. This has got to be a very hard time for you and your family. God bless and hang in there!

[IBKleen]

Haven't they done blood work on him yet so they can narrow down whatever he was taking?

[Wolfmedicine]

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused.  Your ID is Sisterof......yet your profile shows that you are Male?

Anyway, it sounds to me like the Girlfriend is going to have the Rosetta Stone to answer what's going on and you need to press her.  That set aside, Methadone is a respiratory depressant and could be a factor or cause of your Brothers situation.  This combined with alcohol and/or other drug abuse is bad news for the body.  If the Drs. are correct and he he's experiencing DT''s (how do they know if he's in a drug induced coma?) they only come from alcohol abuse.  I have had auditory hallucinations and other bad mental stuff from opioid wd but nothing that a Dr. would call Dt's.

Are the Drs. maintaining his Methadone dosage while in coma?  Depending on duration of same and if they are or are not maintaining his dosage, this could be a real blessing to him or a bad a** situation.  I'm sorry for your stress and difficult times.

WM

[Wolfmedicine]

PS:

If by DT's you mean Detox's as opposed to Delirium Trememolos, that is an entirely different story.  Your Brother could be and likely is detoxing from Metahdone.  Press the Girlfriend.  It's past time and important to come clean in order to properly treat your Brother.  Confidentiality be damned...........

[vicki595]

This sounds a bit odd. Who is the family spokesperson? You? Start asking more questions. And I agree,push the girlfriend for the truth. Does he drink? It sounds like it. Ativan is the drug of choice for DT's.  Also,the drug induced coma would be to give his lungs a rest because they're so infected now and he'd probably respiratory arrest without the ventillator.  I'm almost positive they did a tox screen when he was admitted.
Ask what they found out.   The odd part to me is the description of the surgeon scooping out plegm from his lung with her hands!  That's not effective and I'm sure they suctioned it out. Just keep asking questions and good luck with everything!

Let us know...

[dominosarah]

I would ask to see the tox report......

[Ballgame]

What is"DT"?

[hellc@mst]

Hi there/ My experience with methadone and its associated withdrawals suggests there is a lot more going on than methadone alone. There are specific symptoms of opiate withdrawal that most doctors are well aware of . If they also suspect another cause i would be inclined to agree with them. If the doctors used the term DTs, then that suggests they suspect alcohol cessation. DTs is a term specific to alcohol withdrawals which can be life threatening if untreated.

I cant remember anyone,in the nearly 20 years of opiate abuse, ever having to have flem (phlegm) scooped out of a chest cavity or have to be comatosed, or have a breathing/feeding tube inserted as a result of opiate withdrawals. Just saying, no way methadone can be the sole culprit here. If it were, a simple dose of methadone would have had him up and running within the hour as though nothing had ever happened.

Hope he recovers soon. Not much of a Xmas for your family.
All the best, regards Jeremy

[sisterofabuser151]

Thank you for your help, I went to see him today and he is still on the breathing tube, iv for feeding tube, draining tube from the surgery,  I talked with his nurse and he said that my brother has two infections going on besides the pneumonia, he has Staphylococcus and Streptococcus Intermedius with Many white blood cells. He is still in an induced coma and they said he will probably be that way for awhile. They have him on two differant antibiotics and also pain medicine for his surgery. He has also left Empyema which i think is his pneumonia??? Anyway he seemed to know we were there but I really feel helpless so i have been reading to him. I'm not sure what pain med he is on but he is given the drug that you won't remember anything afterwards also. (sorry not sure of the name) Prayer is the best thing at this point.

[vicki595]

Oh...he's a sick guy but it's great that you read to him. That's the thing that's better than any medicine!!  It gives him spirit and hope which will make him fight. Keep that up!
Ask if you can bring in a radio so he can listen to it. It does wonders for his sensory loss!  He needs to stay connected and reassured!  You're doing geat by being there for him. Keep it up. Talk to him about everything...sports,weather,etc...and tell him he's getting better!

Keep us informed and take care of yourself!!

[Ballgame]

If I'm ever in a coma my wife better hook up the 30 gig iPod and hit random!

[sisterofabuser151]

I talked with the Surgeon today and she said she has never seen anything like what is going on with my brother. She said that he had something foreign in his lung that he might of either snorted or inhaled something. They couldn't get a tox report because they gave him narcotics when he was first admitted. He is still on the ventilation and they are still inducing the coma because everytime they try to let him breathe on his own he gets very angry and disruptive. She said this is a case she hasn't seen before because she said everybody else she has dealt with when they have have taken them off the ventilator and woke them up was cooperative. Anybody have any idea what would make him this way?

[vicki595]

Okay...I'm not a doctor BUT I've seen this before, or think I have, based on what you say.

It's very possible he is exhibiting "ICU Psychosis".  This can happen to folks of any age
when they've been deprived of sensation/senses. In the ICU,there is not any mental stimulation for patients. Day turns to night,everything is quiet,funny noises,crazy drugs,and a person begins to "lose it".  They become agitated and frightened. People need to be oriented to the day and time. They need to be spoken to and reassured. It
becomes a very basic,simple need.   Ask the surgeon about it. In the meantime,it wouldn't hurt anything to get the family to keep talking to him and allow him to participate by blinking. Tell him where he is and what's happened. I'm sure he's really confused and scared and needs to hear familiar voices. I hope this is all it is.

I recently read where a chest xray showed a tree growing in a man's lung! Unbelievable!

[Melissa_1982]

My husband acted similar to this a few years ago after being unconscious in the ICU for a few days & then waking up.  He had taken a lethal dose of my hydro-morphone by breaking the capsule open & snorting it & if it wasn't for my oldest daughter (only child at the time ) finding him not breathing on my bed when she did he would've died.  He spent 3 days completely out of it in the ICU.  I spent as much time at his side as I could but with a child at home it was hard.  He woke up when I wasn't there & apparently went crazy, so much so in fact that they had to sedate him heavily & then called me to get there immediately.  To this day he doesn't remember any of it.  He doesn't remember the hurtful things he said to me, the threats made or even proposing to me.  He doesn't remember me having to have security escort his 1 brother away as he came in trying to take charge & pinned me against the wall screaming it was my fault.

The best thing I can suggest for when you are not there is mix tapes of music he enjoys & the voices of the family that love him.  When you are there as hard as it is not to be sad or scared you need to act as if nothing is wrong & talk to him the same way.  Chances are he won't remember a thing, but he does hear you & it does help him to have you there talking to him.

Good luck & plz keep us updated

Melissa

[sisterofabuser151]

I went to see my brother on New Years Eve and again on New Years Day. He is sitting up now with the oxygen tube in his nose. And yes it is true he doesn't remember anything. He looks like he is around 95 years old very week and shaky. But Praise God he is out of the induced coma and the breathing tube and iv to feed him. Thank you all for your input. And i agree with you Melissa that i think he probably did snort his Methadone because the surgeon had brought up that he snorted or inhaled something. We probably will never know the truth. But he has agreed to go to counseling when he gets out so i will take to that once a week. And i think it scared the hell out of him so maybe he will stay recovered. Thanks for the prayers and information, it really helped me out alot.

Thanks again,
Kathy

[vicki595]

Kathy--I'm happy to hear he's better!   You're a wonderful sister!

[Melissa_1982]

I'm so glad to hear that he's getting better & has decided to get some counselling.  It may help for you to get some as well & make sure he knows exactly how this affected you too.  Let him know how scared everyone was & that may help him from doing something like this again.  He'll feel & look old for awhile as his body starts to function again.  Make sure he does the rehab (physio) they suggest for him to help strengthen the muscles again, but don't let him over do it.

Good luck to both of you :-) & he's lucky to have a sister like you around to help.  Many don't have that support.

Melissa

[sisterofabuser151]

My brother went home on January 3rd and now is off of oxygen during the daytime. There is a recovery counseling at a church in GJ so we will start taking him and his wife starting the 25th of this month. The prayers have done wonders and he even is starting to look better. They have brought him down from 80 mg of methadone to 40 already so God is Awesome.
Thanks again for your support.

Kathy

[WantToBeNormalAgain]

Hi Kathy,
I am so very happy that he is home and on the road to recovery in every aspect of his health. He is so very fortunate to have a sister like you to support him and make sure he follows through with his recovery. So did he tell you what happened or what he remembered happening? Is he in any kind of denial that he's an addict who needs help? I hope this woke him up at any rate and that he knows that without you caring as you do he might not have pulled through or gotten the proper help. I'm glad to hear that they already brought his methadone down - is he planning on cutting it out totally eventually? And everyone is right in  saying that you need help as well. This disease effects not only the addict but everyone around them unfortunately. And more often than not, those around the addict get fed up and angry and then give up. I know that it must be very hard for those around the addict, especially when relapse occurs, but it's so important for us to have continuous love and support from those we don't intend on hurting. It must be frustrating and angering to keep supporting us addicts, but we are thankful for those who love and help us. Without people like you who don't give up on us we're able to make it through to the sober side. God bless you and your brother, and please keep us updated on how things are going. Don't forget to get yourself some help and support too. Take care!!!
Hugs and Prayers, Alison

[sisterofabuser151]

Hi Alison,
Thank you for your words of wisdom. I think he is still in denial but his dr isn't so eventually she will be cutting out his methadone completely. We are going to start on the 25th to take him and his wife to the vinyard in GJ for counseling. I have alot of support through my church and my other members of the family. I once was an addict also until i got so tired of the life. I went to church and was completely delivered from it. I also was on Methadone for my fibromyelgia and was able to cut it all the way out with the help of my dr and new medicines that aren't narcotics. I know what it is like to be an addict and to have people support you and love you. It's not the person but the drugs that make them angry and out of control.  Prayer is the best thing because God does hear and does give us all the strength to continue on. He is now completely off of oxygen and is doing better. And it will be really good to get to the root of what was causing him to abuse himself all these years.
I may never know but God does and that is the one that matters.

Hugs and Prayers to you also, Kathy

[Melissa_1982]

I'm so glad to hear that he is doing so much better.  You may never know what caused him to use in the 1st place or what caused him to over use that day, but you have been an amazing sister who has done so much to help pull him through.  You are VERY lucky to have ppl behind you for support & to have 1st hand knowledge of addiction yourself.

I will continue to pray for both of you & keep you both in my thoughts.

Melissa

[sisterofabuser151]

Hi Melissa, Thank you for praying for both us. We have been going to celebrate recovery which is christian based. We have been going everyother week and he tends to like it. My husband and I also go, they split the men and women in separte groups. The first time i went i thought  i was just going to support my brother but when they asked what group i wanted to go in i told they i was there because of my bro and they took me in the codependency group. Imagine that, I thought was over that but guess not. Anyway, it has been helping all three of us. If you ever know of anyone that needs help with anything have them go online to celebraterecovery.com. It is free and it works.

Take care and bless you.

Kathy

[Melissa_1982]

I'm glad to hear that he is enjoying going & that it is helping not just him but you & your husband as well.  Sadly addiction is something that ppl suffer with lifelong so having a trigger like a family member using & almost OD'ing almost never ends well for the recovered ppl around.  I think they probably seperate the men & women because yes addiction is not sexist, but it does effect the sexes differently.  Men tend to use for different reasons then women do & vice versa.

I will continue to keep you & ur brother in my thoughts & wish you both the best.  TY for updating :-)

Melissa