Dependant or Addicted?

Hi.  I need some opinions as to whether you think my friend is dependant on narcotics or addicted.  A little background - she has chronic pain issues and has been on various narcotics for the past 5 years or so.  Started out with 3 vicoden a day in the beginning and has escalated over the years to 280 mgs of methadone daily and 7  10/325 percocet per day.  Before methadone, she was on 160 mgs of oxycontin plus 8  10/325 norcos per day. Has been seeing pain mgmt doctors and her pills are all prescribed.

Reasons I think addiction:

1.  Always takes more than prescribed much of the month and then is forced to cut way down the last week in order to make it to refill day and will often run out completely 2 to 3 days before refills or have only 1 or 2 perc a day the last week (when she is prescirbed 7 per day).  This pattern is only done with the percs (and also same pattern with norco and oxycontin when she used to be on those), but has no desire to take extra methadone.  In fact, she takes less than prescribed of those some days claiming that methadone doesnt work on her pain hardly at all.  She is going to ask the pain doc to put her back on oxy.

2.  when was on oxy, chewed her oxycontin pills a couple times and would break some of them in half so she would have extra doses.

3. I hold onto her percs and dispense them so I know the count. I believe if she had them in her possession they would be gone alot quicker.  


Reasons I think dependance:

1.  has chronic pain issues and pain meds are prescribed by doctor (doesnt get them on the street)

2.  requested a med switch to the pain doc so he switched her from oxy to methadone.  she states she gets no pain relief from methadone, just makes her tired.  and now is going to ask doc to put her back on oxy.

Please let me know what you think.

[Marce4]

This is just my opinion, Ihave back pain also and I think there is a very fine line between dependence and addiction! If she is chewing oxys, wants back on oxy's and off methadone, takes more than prescribed, she is more likely addicted.  Even though she is not buying off the streets and they are prescribed, she is running out early. Just an opinion but you obviously know her.  Has she tried alternative methods to help alleviate her pain?  Taking so many opiates for an extended period of time can also cause rebound pain when we do not take them.  I hope things work out for her.
Marcie:)

[pofdog]

  Being physically/chemically dependant is the worlds nice way of saying your an addict.  The bottom line is that some people take stuff to get high, some to releive pain.....the bottom line of needing it to stop withdrawls is the same.
  Just that the word "addict" is normally refered in a bad light to those that want the high and do illegal things to get it. Again...they are the same except the person that got addicted because of pain issues didn't start with the same physchological approach and may never have them.