Spouse may have relapsed with Vicodin

[concernedloveone]

My 3.5yr relationship recently came to an abrupt end, after working on an at home recovery to a Vicodin addiction. My partner was  on a third relapse but thought was staying clean for 6 weeks but I am not sure. To end the relationship now after all that we have been through seems very sudden. He moved out and has a new apt. and making a lot of very compolsive decisions. Spending lots of money and seems to be forgetting things also. I know I have to let go and accept the things I can not change and want to support him, but I am still very worried that this is all related back to the Vicodin Addiction, and may be a relapse. He never got professional help of any kind, not AA NA Etc. I recently realized while he was taking the Vicodin he was also taking FUROSEMIDE to I think reduce the water retention. He now suddenly has high blood pressure and now is taking Toridal for that.I am very torn I do not want accuse him of using but in the past he would never tell me I had to figure it out and prove it. I do not want to push him away especially if he is clean. But nothing really seems to add up. I want him to be happy with or with out me but really want him to be healthy and Clean. I am also concerned about the Furosemide and Mixing it with the excessive amounts Vicodin and the health risks. I know that the success rate of stopping the addiction is very low especially with out help. The other thing is that his stressers or triggers have not changed. I do not know if I should tell his business partner who has no idea of the risks he may be in. We had kept it a secret. No one has any idea he could have this problem. I am very concerned and scared for him.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I hear what you are saying, and understand you have a very difficult situation to deal with, but not sure what question you are asking. I have two suggestions.  First,  you should think about telling your partner exactly what you said here, maybe even a copy.  It sounds like a very well balanced version of what you sincerely believe, and its exactly what he should here, including your doubts about telling him. IN this case, truth is your best approach.

The other is to get a consult from a specialist  in addiction, and ask him or her about the different ways they have been able to handle this kind of problem. They will ask you more questions, and your answers may suggest other approaches.

[OxyM22detoxwithMethadone]

I am posting my post on here regarding my addiction to oxycotin. I have been on oxycotin off and on for almost 2 years. Right now i have been clean off oxycotin for 4 days using methadone. I am 22 years old and I was taking nearly 6 80mgs a day = 440 mg. I would take them whenever I would be bored, depressed, confused, going out, about to sleep at night, and waking up in the morning. I have been trying to quit for a long time and now I took the chance to travel to France I am going to be here for another month. Methadone has been a life saver for me thus far, as I have experienced minimal withdrawls and depression compared to what I would get going cold turkey. I have been through the cold turkey method many times when I could not get oxycotin or when I felt I wanted to quit. My question is this, how many days of methadone should I keep doing before I should stop to prevent methadone addiction. I dont want to experience the terrible withdrawls with the depression that I have become accustomed to, I hope the methadone for another 2 days will be enough for me to stay clean, even after i go back home. The oxycotin is free for me, but for the healths sake I dont want it! My sister of age 20 recently died of an oxycotin overdose, for the sake of my own life, what should I do to further prevent me from going back to the /partying with oxycotin/ i used to do. Any comments will be appreciated. Thank you.

[caregiver222]

Hey oxy guy. Stop looking for excuses. Get off the stuff. Yeah, you'll be sick as a dog and won't be able to concentrate, but that's how it goes moving west. The oxy is easy to get addicted to, but switching you to methadone was plan stupid. Just remember, if you relapse, that when you are off oxycontin for a while, the receptor sites clean out. Thus, if you were taking 40 mg a day and tolerating this dose well and then STOP taking it for three months, 40 mg can then put you in respiratory arrest - especially with a little alcohol.

[cuda 1]

i live in so cal and lots of people do oxy it will kill you if u dont stop the longer your on it the harder it will be to stop talk to your parents about a rehabe or talk to a minister there is help out there if u love your sister u should do what it takes to quit and live the life your sis could have lived if she would have quit thers so much more to life then oxy good luck brother ill pray 4u....

[tntalia07]

Hi I just had to respond to this. I am a recovering oxy addict myself, and I know that from self experience that it is never easy to quit. YOU would know if he quit, just ask yourself... did he go through the withdrawals? I have a question for you actually... I was wondering, do you think he did START to quit but then relapsed or did he quit at all?? And another concern of yours should be his liver.. when you take vicoden you are putting so much tylenol into your system that it starts to mess up your liver horribly. If he went through the withdrawals you would know! It is one of the worst experiences of your life when you are withdrawaling. HE wouldn't have been able to sleep or eat, he would've been vomitting and been really irritable, perhaps have some leg pain and bone pain, that wasn't a problem before. You would know that after 6 weeks his withdrawals should be over and his mood increased dramatically for the better.

But to be perfectly honest, it is really hard to quit doing this. I am thankful that my husband put up with me and was there for me through all of it! He was so patient and understanding. I had been doing Oxycontin for about 8 years, and it took me about 12 tries to come this far. It is really hard to get out of the habit, and not to mention it is hard if you don't want to change. It took me two years and a horrible marriage for me to wake up to the evils of the drug.
I guess you are doing the right thing in sticking with him, and I understand why you have your doubts, but you have to have been there to understand what it is like.
My advice would be to try and show him that his life is worth living. I would say take a vacation with him and talk to him about your concerns. It really helps when someone shows you a little tough love too. My husband actually relocated everything to another city to get away from the old life I had,(which isn't always possible for everyone, but I would reccommend it).
What he really needs is something to change in his life, because if he didn't like how his life was going before and he thought that vicoden was the answer, he is not going to want to change unless he has something to look forward too. But all in all, some people don't want to change so that is a problem, and one person can only take so much, so if it gets too bad, I would leave and rebuild your life. But until then have some faith in him, he was a good person once in his life or else you wouldn't have married him!
Just remember he is still that person inside but he needs to get rid of his demons to realize that his life is worth it!
TAke care and good luck!

[tntalia07]

(I know that I wrote once already but I really feel strongly about this topic)
I also wanted to say that mixing drugs is really stupid of him, and that you should be concerned. And if you really do ahve doubts about his soberness, then you are probably right!
It is a hard habit to hide from your loved ones, especially if you share a bank account! You are right to be worried, especially if it has to do with your money.. I didnt have to pay for my oc at first but when that ran out I was spending up to a dollar a milligram to get by (which was about a 240$ habit for me a day) at least, and that was just to get by! sometimes i would spend even more than that!
I was able to hide this from everyone for about 6 years, before people really started to notice the difference in my moods and the fact that I wasn't achieving anything at all. I used to be the most outgoing motivated person in the world, and I think that it was just sad that I turned out like this.
I would recommend trying to get him to a
SUBOXONE CLINIC ASAP!!!!!!! JUST LET HIM KNOW THAT IT IS THAT OR NOTHING!!! I WAS ABLE TO GET OFF OF OXY EASILY WITH THIS DRUG.. THE TRANSITION WAS SMOOTH, AND UNLIKE METHADONE, YOU DONT WITHDRAWAL FROM MONTHS AFTER....
THANKS TAKE CARE I WISH YOU LUCK!

[LAURIEL]

please stop if you can.My brother died 2 weeks ago from oxycotin. He stayed away from family gatherings for 2 years. Now I know why. He was taking 80 mg tablets. I heard upto 5 aday. But his coroner report came back like he had about 30 in his system and they called it accidental. How can that be. You never know when your body will give up. Save your life.