please help my wife understand my addiction

[dscom]

Hello ive been addicted to percacet for 10 yrs. ANd i am ready to quit I recently told my wife everything and we planned on me quit cold turckey on weds this week. CAn any of you help her understand what i am going to go through. Also I am a long time member but lost my user name .

DAn

[usarmymedic1]

You may be hooked emotionally and psychologically. You may have a physical dependence, too. If you have a drug addiction — whether to a legal or illegal drug — you have intense cravings for it. You want to use the drug again and again. When you stop taking it, you may have unpleasant physical reactions.
While not everyone who uses drugs becomes addicted, many people do. Drug addiction involves compulsively seeking to use a substance, regardless of the potentially negative social, psychological and physical consequences. Certain drugs, such as narcotics and cocaine, are more likely to cause physical dependence than are other drugs.
Breaking a drug addiction is difficult, but not impossible. Support from your doctor, family, friends and others who have a drug addiction, as well as inpatient or outpatient drug addiction treatment, may help you beat your drug dependence.

[usarmymedic1]

look at my journals there is alot of info in them also have a few web pages that might help you and your wife what you are about to experience.. good luck  

[dominosarah]

Have her come on the forum and ask questions too....we have many here that are not addicts but have loved ones that are........sara

[benevolentlaughter]

I agree with some of the comments here on this topic. There's really no way to describe what someone else is going through and why they are or are not addicted to a drug, whether it be a legal or illegal one, if you know what I mean.

She loves you and I can tell just from the small excert you mentioned above in this forum. If she didn't, I truly believe that by this time, she would have been out the door by now of being fed up with what she has seen you go through with this "disease" of being addicted to a pain pill.

Tell her what we all know in going through this together on the forum.. That this is a disease, and it should be treated like one. With care, honor and respect when one is in attempt to get better and beat this disease! Good luck to the both of you, and please keep all of posted and let us know how things are going for you!

[Kate1266]

While I don't advocate this approach at all, I can tell you I understood my ex-bf's addictions a helluva lot better once I went down that road myself.  My ex had problems with benzo's which seemed to have an opposite reaction on him; they made him quite manic.  And I never knew a time when he didn't start abusing benzos that it did not lead to a week-long crack binge.  Again, I don't blame anyone but myself, but he coerced money out of me and I was trying to live a "normal" life, with my corporate job and my family who knew nothing of the times I was in the most dangerous drug infested areas of the city at 4 in the morning looking for him.  After 12 years of this, I ended up in another one of my life threatening situations.  At this point I had started to hit the vics pretty hard to escape the stress of what he was doing and  that coupled with the stress of one of the worst binges he had been on ended up with me in the hospital with weeks old untreated pneumonia (that I didnt' know I had) and a collapsed lung.  Once I came thru surgery and off the ventilator 10 days later, I just let my mom know everything, I pretty much had nothing left eventually had to file Chapter 13.
  I look back now, from an addict's standpoint, and I almost laugh at how naive I was.  I used to do everything, read books attend groups with him whatever I could (goes without saying I was about as codependent as I could get.)  I never understood when he had big ol' rock of crack, why he couldn't save some for later when he would be out instead of continuing to smoke it without getting any higher.  HAH - and now I know, when I have 9 pills left, wouldn't it make since to maybe take 3 a day for the next 3 days?  Of course it makes sense - to the non addict.  I don't know why I am compelled to keep talking and keep taking even when it doesn't make me feel any better and lots of time worse.

   Another time I suggested that when he felt a bad craving - to do some intense exercise, like running.  Yep I can see know why he looked at me like an idiot, if I'm in the throes of a pill crave, I probably couldn't walk to the mailbox - unless of course there was a bottle of vic's waiting for me there.

  Bottom line, the people in your life will support you whether or not they understand the process.  Just as I would support a family member with terminal cancer, although I could never imagine the pain, fear, panic they are going through.  I used to get angry when my ex would say "you just don't understand" and of course I'd say something smart a$$ usually.  I say I understand now, to a point.  Not that I'm looking for any medals, but there were lines he would cross that I never would no matter how bad it got.  I never stole, and  my dad has ES's and Fentanyl patches for crippling osteoporosis - I have never once helped myself to them.)

  So try to explain that to your wife, you're going through something that she has no frame of reference for but you would still appreciate her support.  I don't know your total situation and I really hope she does provide you support, but I know after 12 years of ups downs, binges, recovery programs, etc. etc.  I had to say enough and walk away.  I wish you a happier ending.

Peace,
Kate