xanax addiction family member

[maggiemaybe]

is my daughter addicted?  went to a party tonight.  my friend said afterward her bottle of xanax was missing.  my daughter denies.  do i believe her?  what can i do to help her?  she is on xanax 2xday and klonopin at night to sleep.  she says she is good now.  she is 23 years old.  what do i do to help her?  

[hatgal]

Why would she have to steel it?  Doctors prescribe that dosage amount, I believe. But could she be taking way more than you thin?  If she is taking more than the two per day the pharmacy will not fill it early b/c it is a controlled substance.  Good luck to you and I hope your daughter is alright.

[maggiemaybe]

but what do i do?  

[maggiemaybe]

but what do i do?  any suggestions from anyone who has been addicted...what should a family member do?  ignore?  believe?  intervene?  how?

[MOTAH]

I don't think you personally can do anything.

You need to refer that person & these fears to whichever doctor that person is following up with & they should know how to deal with that problem.

Any move from you could result to bad results if your family member is really addicted to xanax. A specialist dr should know how to communicate with that person in the best way if they were really addicted to it or not.

[hatgal]

If you believe that she took the medication then I would also suggest informing her doctor of this situation - maybe they are already aware she has an addiction (if she does).  She will need help to recover from the addiction and that is out of your hands - you can only guide her in the right direction.

Best to you........

[maggiemaybe]

thanks to you all.  we had a long talk today.  her doctors are aware of the problem, and she is willing to work on it.  I don't think people are aware of the HUGE dangers of this drug.  Thank you all for your encouragement, though it is a really bad feeling to not be able to 'do' anything to 'fix' this problem.

[debaser23]

So she did take it?  That's a tough spot.  Looks like her doctor would put her on Klonopin full time, but hey, what do I know...

[SerenaMarie]

Maggie, I sincerely hope that your daughter got help for her Xanax addiction and was able to kick it. I need to tell you, to educate you, about the scare I had tonight that hopefully will help.

So you know, I am 25 - only two years older than your daughter. I have never smoked, I do not drink, and have never done drugs. I was brought up in the prime years of the D.A.R.E. program - back when it worked to keep kids away from drugs instead of making them more curious. My younger brother went into a residency program last year, after an alcohol-fueled stunt got him into hot water with the law. He was 17 at the time. He came out clean and sober after just under two months - he was supposed to be in for at least three, but problems at the center resulted in the residency program being shut down. Anyway, he came out clean and sober and motivated about life. He started working with my dad at the auto shop, learning the trade. He stayed home at night and on the weekends when I visited (I live with my fiancee now), and he was generally the little brother I had always known. My mother proudly proclaimed that she'd gotten her son back. But after a few months, he started getting lazy. Not showing up to work, saying he was 'tired'. He hung out with his old friends more and more, starting to drink again, until eventually he just stopped going to work altogether and spent all day - and most nights - with his friends. None of us knew he might have been abusing drugs. My mother's pain pill counts starting getting lower, but only a few at a time, so that none of us really knew whether my mom just forgot that she took one and took an extra.

Tonight, we got a major scare. I went over to my mother's to pick up some papers, and went into my brother's bedroom to kick out the loser friends that apparently had been sleeping there between Xbox bouts for the last two days. I got up two of them and was ready to throw them out, then tried to wake up my brother, who was clearly passed out. Except for two problems: he was very pale, almost pure white, and wouldn't respond to our cries to him to wake up and talk to us. Almost immediately I called out for my mom, and we called 911.

My brother overdosed tonight - on Xanax, marijuana, and some stolen rum that had been stored in my mother's room. It was nearly fatal. The pot I don't know where he got - but the Xanax came from a younger friend of only 12, who I know now has been completely traumatized by the fact that he almost killed his good friend, and likely will never even touch an aspirin, let alone anything else. My brother was almost pure white, totally unresponsive. His pupils were ok, but his heartbeat was slow though solid, but his breathing was shallow and very ragged. At some scary moments it was only from the pulse in his neck that I knew he was even still alive. Luckily, we got to him within only an hour or so of him taking the drugs, and the paramedics arrived very quickly. The friends that had been with him saw how serious things were and gladly gave up both the drugs and information about how much they thought he had taken. He did go to the hospital, where he ended up throwing up most of what he took, though some did make it into his system. Everyone - from my parents, to his friends, to the EMTs, policemen, and hospital staff who came into contact with him tonight - say he is very, very lucky to be alive - as is his girlfriend, only 17, who took 2 Xanax herself and was very pale when I saw her last but who is otherwise ok. I sent her home with orders that if she felt sick later at all to go to the hospital. Better safe than sorry.

My mother, who has enough troubles of her own, suffered a great deal tonight. She was hysterical with anguish, terrified that her only son would die in front of her eyes, and in my arms. It was especially bad for her considering that only two hours before - probably when the symptoms of overdose were setting in - they had had a fight. Had I not gone in to see my brother when I did, he could have died and she never would have known why. My father was scared, too. I have never before seen the look of pure anguish and fear in his eyes, and I hope to G-d I never have to see that again. Hours later it's only now hitting me just how close we came to losing him. Now I am so, so scared that because Xanax is so addicting, that he might overdose again - only next time we might not get so lucky as to catch it in time. I do not want to lose my baby brother.

Please, share my story with your daughter. Even if you think she's over it, and she insists she's no longer taking Xanax at all, share my story. If hearing about how one family nearly lost a brother - a son - a friend - a boyfriend - changes the way she thinks about Xanax and encourages her to get help or to stay clean, then sharing my story has been worth it.

Good luck, and G-d bless.