mother with a pill addiction! please help!!

[outofmymind82]

Hi, my name is Melissa, this is my first time here and Im not sure where to start. my mom is addicted to pain pills really bad, takes well over 20 pills a day. She has been doing this for over 3 years now and has decided to get off of them. She wants to do it herself at home, cold turkey and Im VERY affraid for her, I am here with her to take care of her and keep watch but I dont know what to do for her to help relieve her pain, if I can at all. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to help make her more comfortable. Keep in mind, she is a very stubborn woman and likes to do things her way!! Thank you in advance to anyone that may respond!!!

[ochooked]

Outofmymind --- You get the point - - tough love is the only way.  Keep the pills under lock and key and then dispense them to her --  -- It will be tough on you and everyone around her but it is probably the only way - -- in time, she will thank you ---- be strong -   You must control her intake as she comes off this horrible stuff.  She is likely to do or say anything when the going gets rough.   you MUST just remain in control and not give an inch.  IF she insists then offer to take her to the hospital but DO NOT give in.  Best of luck to you    - - - keep posting and let us know for about 3 or 4 days.  She WILL get better unless you falter - --

[lady67]

as a mom who has been there, I did feel bad and was terribly mad at my husband for not trusting me at the time.  Now that I am of my right mind, I totally understand why he did what he did.  I think after your mom gets clean, she will be in a different frame of mind and be thankful for your concern and help.

[outofmymind82]

That does help, a great deal acctually!! I hate to do that to my mom, seems like she will feel bad that I dont trust her but right now she is not herself and thats what I have to remember. She will thank me for this when its all over, even if she hates me now. Funny thing....she is the one that tought me tough love and now im giving it back to her!!

[lady67]

Is there a way you could get a small safe and keep them locked up?  We bought one at walmart (for papers stuff--would have been good if I had it 6 months ago).  I have heard that you should something that requires a combination because people can't concentrate on that when they are high.  Unfortunately, the hydros made me feel on top of the world and I would have had no problem opening it.  Buy a safe that you open with a key and let your grandmother keep it on a chain around her neck.  That way your mom couldn't sneak the key.

Just a few ideas, hope it helps.

[outofmymind82]

Well, my mother always tought me that family comes first before anything else in this world and now I swear by it, Im just lucky that I have an understanding boss that let me have some time off work so I could be here for her. I realize that she is not herself and there will probally be times that she gets mad at me and she probally will be searching for pills in everything she has, Im ready for that. The problem is...she has tons of access to pills. she lives in the same house as her mother and husband which both have big prescriptions of them and she can get to them whenever she wants, i just realized that. I will have a talk with them and have them hide them so she cannot get to them. My nana absolutly has to have her pills, she is an old lady and is in ssooo much pain, she would probally not live without them so its not like she can give them up.

I got her some immodium and some vitamins that were in the Thomas Recipe, I also got her a bottle of just magnesium and just took them down to her and gave her one, I hope that helps. I have to come home at night since I have 2 small kids of my own so I am not able to be with her through the night, but her husband will be.

She has posted on here many times, she just hasnt been on here in a while. She said this site has helped her more then anything in her life!! She would get on here now but she says she isnt ready to sit on the computer yet, she will be on here as soon as she starts feeling better. Her nickname on here is Sweetchecks if anyone is interested in looking at her posts in the past, maybe she has explained things better than I have. I havent read what she has wrote.

Im hoping her liver has withstood all of this!! She has high blood pressure anyways and thats why I am afraid of her dying, I told her that when she is at her worst i will be checking her blood pressure and if it gets dangerously high then I will call the ambulance, is this the right thing for me to do? Her heart could explode!!

[lady67]

I have heard that the sleepy time tea does help to relax.  If she has difficulty sleeping, I would recommend the Rapid Sleep PM.  You can get it at wal-mart and I swear by it now (used to use Ambien). I think it is great that you are there for your mother.  My oldest daughter (16) helped me too.  I thank God for my husband and girls everyday.  I would not be this far in recovery without them.

There will be times where she goes through everything she has trying to find pills and it is no telling what she will say to you, but just remember, she isn't herself during the withdrawls.  Those pills take over our lives and cause us to act like a different person and when we stop them, it is worse.  I don't know how my family put up with me during the process.

I will be praying for you and your mother.  I do think it would be wonderful for her to post on here.  It makes me feel so much better to put my feelings down on here and have the friends I have made comment on them.

Good Luck,
Susan

[GoingToMakeIt]

That was very nice of your daughter. You must feel very blessed for her to have shown you that kind of love.

[broknbck]

my daughter helped me while i was weaning off the hydros. she would say come and spend the night and make me dinner and she gave me this herbal tea called sleepy time and it did help calm me down. if i drank 2 cups it put me to sleep. she found some really cool videos and movies about ghosts and stuff like that. it really helped to keep my mind off of everything going on with me. she was so sweet, checking on me in the middle of the nite and stuff. just having her there by me was such a big help.
you are so sweet to be helping her. you might want to get some immodium- most people do need it when going through this. you will have to let us know how things go.

[GoingToMakeIt]

Either way, the dose of hyrdro is about the same. BUT the tylenol is double on the 5/500s when she takes 6 at a time! This is very dangerous for her liver. She is lucky that she is quitting and lucky to have you helping her. I like 'Natural Calm' with calcium. It is a magnesium and calcium supplement that you dissolve in water. Epsom salt in the bath helps too. Pour 1-2 cups in the bath water.

[mosaicsjo]

u said she was taking 5-6 pills every 2-3 hrs of the 5/500s, then you said shes taking 3 pills every 2-3 hours of the 10/500s....it would help if u knew what shes takign

[outofmymind82]

oh, I forgot this, she takes the 10/500's also and when she takes those she has 3 pills every 2-3 hrs.

[outofmymind82]

wow, i have heard this site is a good one, a God send really and you guys have really shown me that!! Thank you for all your support!! I think I am the lucky one to have such a wonderful mother. she has been the most amazing person in my life, she would do the same for me!!!! She has already been on here alot acctually, she has gotten alot of advice from here but it has been a while and she has forgotten alot of it. She was the one that told me to get on here. The magnesium is really helpful!!!! She has been complaining about leg cramps the most and I wasnt sure what to do about it!!! I think the bottle says 5/500. I know that in street terms those are the 500's. and she was taking 5 or 6 every 2-3 hours a day. Its really hard to wrap my mind around the fact that stopping this cold turkey isnt going to kill her. I just recently had a friend that died from taking xanax and methodone (not sure how to spell them) together. So, you can imagine why im so scared. Plus, on top of this, she is already taking blood pressure meds for her high blood pressure, that is what scares me the most!!! I have a thing where I can check her blood pressure and Im going to keep a very close eye on it!!! im going to the store right now to get some magneisum and ill get back on here when I get back!! Thanks again for all the help!!!

[ochooked]

Your momma is one very lucky lady to have you.  You just need to know that there will be times when she will hurt so badly and feel like she is crawling out of her skin - - she may not be able to communicate well during these times but that is when you are needed the most - be there for her - especially when she feels so rotten she can't even speak.   Just get stuff for her and comfort her - -- - What a daughter  -----  Best to you and mom.  

[wannabefree330]

I would get magnesium seperate.  It is going to help with her muscle cramps immensley!!!  The restless legs get pretty bad day 2-3 and having bananas for potassium and the magnesium supps will be a big help.  It is safe to stop all at once, it's going to be a rough road, but she's really lucky to have you to help get through it.  Should suggest she get on here and post questions or read some herself too.  

[GoingToMakeIt]

What does the bottle say? Is it like 10/500s or 7.5/500s? The second number is the amount of Tylenol. Which is also scary since 1000mg per dose is the max and 4000 per day is the maximum per day allowed. When this is all over, have her liver enzymes checked.

[outofmymind82]

I will definatly be here whenever she opens her eyes until the day she is better, and even after, that part I can handle, this woman is my life!! I read the thomas recipe and I have gotten alot of it for her, the only vitamin i could find didnt have very much magnesium in it, should i buy that seperate also? Is that an important part of the recipe? I would say she is taking 3,000mg of hydrocodone every 2/3 hrs. is it safe to stop this all at once??

[LONESOME]

Hi Melissa and welcome your mom is very brave and you are too, at the bottom of this page there is something called Thomas recipe you may want to read it I know that a lot of ppl here have done it when going ct.
Good luck and just be there for her she will need you.
GS

[GoingToMakeIt]

Look at the health Pages, near the top right of page. Look for the Thomas recipe. Get what you can in there to help her through this. Force fluids and bananas help too. Hot baths with Epsom salts will help the chills and forces magnesium into the muscles too. Walks in the afternoon will help, even if she doesn't feel like it.
    What kind of pills was she taking 20/day of?