I'm so sick of this

[wantoquit]

I have to vent. My husband and I have been taking lorcet/lortab and soma for a couple of years. This year it has caused alot of problems financially and family wise. A couple of weeks ago I found this forum which has giving me more hope to quit. I've talked to my husband about it but he said he can't do it without help like sub or something. Anyway I started tapering down on them. Well 2 days ago he went and bought more which they way I was tapering should have lasted at least 2 more days. Well I get home last night and about 3/4 of them are gone and almost all the soma's. So I called him to find out how many he took and what the deal was (he works nights). well I'm fed up I told him that was it we don't have no money for more and we are done we are not getting anymore this weekend. We have done borrowed money from everybody and I'm sick of it. I know that some how this weekend he will find a way to get more either by borrowing money or have them fronted to him until payday. I'm just so upset that he don't even want to try unless he gets on the sub. He had to stop taking them when he went to jail 4 times this year so why can't he just bite the bullet and just say I'm done. Well that's all I have to say for now just needed to vent alittle bit.

[wantoquit]

I really appreciate what you had to say. I don't find it harsh or what have you. I'm just trying to cope with this w/o being resentful to my husband for not wanting to do this with me. Him of all people should want to because of all that it has done to him jail, lost job and license suspended. Not to mention financially. i mean right now he is at probation for this ****. I just want him to realize that we can do. We had a life before the pills. We didn't need the pills to get out of bed or to get through the day or to help with the motivation. I really appreciate the support. I'm going to do it anyway with or w/o him. I have to for my kids. Thanks all

[seriouslyscared]

First of all, I am an addict of 16yrs. and I can tell you only about my experience.  That being said, I would continue to taper your dose no matter what your husband is doing..If you have decided to quit, then only you can do that.  Worrying , wondering, keeping up with, etc. about what your husband is doing will only create another problem.  Is this easy?  NO, but I am telling you if you honestly are ready to quit, then you have to decide who you are going to fix.  I wish I would have tried to quit after 2 years, but I did not.  The reason I say this is b/c the longer you use the harder it is to come off.  I personally do not recommend metthadoneor Suboxone to either of you.  I know that you think 2years is a long time, but it isn't when you talk about the need for an even more addictive opiate.  If you think it is hard to come off tabs, honey you are taking a walk in the park compared to detoxing off Methadone or Suboxone.  Trust me when I tell you this.  I am sure I am not the only one who will say this.  Tapering for me, as an addict was impossible, if they wqere there I took them.  If you can do it, go for it, but do it the way you should then on the last day start taking a multivitamin, eating well, excercise, other herbal remedies are available at your health food store.  Thw withdrawal from s shortacting opiate, such as Lortab is usually from start to finish, 21/2 weeks.  On the other hand, to go from Lortab to Suboxone, it will take much longer, and the posibility of getting addicted to it ih highly possible.   A long acting drug(Methadone, Suboxone) to come off of Lortabs is not recommended unless you have been an addict for 10years or longer.  It was originally designed for Heroin addicts, and the health care profession unfortunately, at clinics that is will do it for Tabs,        percs, etc.  because it a billion dollar corporation, and quite frankly transition you from a mild narcotic to a severely addictive drug, then they got you were they want you, b/c it is almost impossible to come off of Methadone or Suboxone, if you have been on it for a while.. i know everyone is differentbut the most part an addict is an addict.  Please try to get off now ehile there is a lot of hope left, b/c once you get on something else it is alot harder, and in Memphis where I am from, Methadine or Suboxone is $350.00-$650.00 a month.  I am cuerrently coming off Methadone, and it is very hard, and the withdrawls are uncomparible to Lortab withdrawal.  I hope I am helping you and not being too negative, but if I would have had someone to be brutally honest with me , I would have NEVER got on Methadone, and Suboxone is close to the same, I would have toughed out the nausea and vomiting, diarrhea fro acouple of days or so and been done with it, but I didnt I am 14long years long later, a husband and 3 children trying to do next to the impossible, for me.  I know it can be done and I am going to do it at whatever the cost, but it is no fun, it hurts terribly, and it is going to take a;ot ;onger than Tabs.  OH and another thing to keep in mind is My Dr. told me the other day that the longer you use, the possibility of your brains ability to kick back in when you quit feeding it opiates, for it to produce it's own, sometimes more than do, is unable to.. The reasom being, it has been overidin fro so long that it has become paralized and can not start the natural eudorphin process up agian.  Kind of like if you were to not use your arm or leg for a long period of time, and i am talking 10 years or so, it would not be able to pick itself back up fromwhere you left it and propewrly function.  He said this generally happens if abuse is constant,everyday, for at least 8-10 years and longer.  The possibility forme is slim b/c I used for 16yearsand what I thought was going to be a detox program off Lortabs, has been two years later and I am having to do this on my own.  The clinic I go to is all about the almighty dollar instead of one's health.. my private family Dr.  Is helping me throught the n/v, pain, irritablity, etc. along with a counselor to prepare mr for what if my brain does not produce naturally.  This means that you stay in a constant state of withdraweal..  Life is better than years of the heartache for all involved.  It is my prayer that you will consider all that has been said, and really try hard to ggo ahead, without or with your husband, and save yourself years off agony.. It \only gets worse thru the years of you using if you do not quit now.  I will pray for you and your family everyday.  I got into a church and it has helped me alot.  God knows literally that without him I am unable to follow thru this pain and suffering.  He did it so am I.. One day at a time, sometimes one second at a time.  With much hope, Jennifer

[dove3053]

I was wondering when you husband went to jail how long he was in jail? The reason I ask is I knew a man that had a drinking and drug problem and he went to jail for 3 weeks and they took him to the hospital and detoxed him. When he came out he went right back to his old ways. Which is sad, but he was clean for 3 weeks.

Dove

[imanaddict]

the subs help with pain. I have a bad back (torn disk and facet joint syndrome) and every morning when I wake up, I am in tons of pain. I take my sub and hop in the shower, and by the time I get out I feel GREAT! I know this is hard on you, and you are right, it will be cheaper in the long run to get on sub. I bought a new car for the amount of money I was spending on pills! LOL! It will take some time and money planning though.

Will he let you hold the pills to taper him down? Or maybe entrust someone else to do it if neither one of you can?

[wantoquit]

He says he knows we need to quit and that he wants to. Just like yesterday he asked how many I took since he knew I was tapering he was going to do the same but instead he took more than that. I know the sub is not cheap I've been checking into it. But when we think about how much we spend per week for the pills it would probably be cheaper the only problem that if he gets on it than I will want to so I don't have to go through the wd too. And of coarse you can't get a 2 for 1 special. Every time that I start talking about it he talks about the pain he gets from doing his job the bending and squating and so forth but to me it's like he is just trying to make excuses for it. Which believe me I know that it is hard to quit I'm trying to do it myself but if he keeps getting the pills instead of trying to wean off of them or something untill we can get the sub I'm afraid that I will not be able to quit.

[imanaddict]

Hello! First of all, your husband has to WANT to quit in order to do it. It sounds like you are stuck betweena rock and a hard place because you want to quit and he doesn't.  Is he supporting your decision to stop? If he says the only way he will quit is to get on the suboxone, then he needs to do it. I believe sub is a miracle drug! It has worked wonders for me! The only problem is getting up the money to do it because it wasn't cheap for me, and from what I understand, anyone else either, but it IS worth every penny!!