How do I know if someone is addicted?

[feewee]

Hello everyone- I am knew to this but I had a friend refer me to this because I think my husband is addicated to prescription drugs.  I guess the main question is how do you know for sure?  Or what can I do to find out for sure?  I have been keeping this bottled up for awhile now and just need to find out the truth.....  What are some signs I should look for?

[trinity555]

Hello, You made a very wise choice coming on this forum. The people here are well informed and kind. No one will judge or tell you what to do, only make suggestions. I personally don't know too much about hydros, but I can tell you the longer he takes them the worse it's going to get. If I were you I would calmly approach him and tell him your concerns. Note his reaction. If he comes out with it, he knows he has a problem and wants help. If not, or he gets offensive, back off. He might not feel there even is a problem if he is still functioning normally in his everyday life. Pill addiction is hard because it can happen to anyone. In this case I think the taper method would probably work best but know that mental addiction comes with the physical. It's unavoidable. Your husband may never had a problem with drugs in his life, but after taking pills for awhile his brain chemistry is begining to change. Whatever you decide we will be here and always feel free to ask any questions. I wish the best for the both of you. Blessings

[Greatgreebo]

ps...he may actually believe he isn't 'taking that many' because he's only taking what the doctor prescribes......and everyone knows doctors would never harm us right? That's the problem, docs do prescribe drugs at large quantities for long periods of time so people who are following the rules still get sucked down into a quagmire of dependency or addiction.

[Greatgreebo]

I hate to be all doom and gloom...but 120 pills in a month is only 4 pills a day....doctors prescribe them at this dose all the time. So, if he isn't running out early and is only taking what the doctor prescribes he may just be PHYSICALLY DEPENDENT...which is not the same as addicted.  If you take opiates regularly for 5-7 days there is a good chance you've got some physical dependency and will feel bad if you stop. Believe him if he says he has pain. Opiates, even when taken as prescribed, lower our tolerance for pain and makes what pain is there much worse. Plus with a dependence the pain can become intolerable if you stop the pills cold turkey and go into withdrawal. So.....Time for some technical talk... One of the things which increases "dependence" is a spike in drug blood plasma levels. Addicts do this on purpose to get a "high". They do it by Snorting (Very fast delivery), IV Injections, Chewing up meds and taking on an empty stomach.

The above all produce the most amount of drug in the blood in an attempt to get a buzz. These spikes are one of the reasons we addicts get hooked faster than a COMPLIANT Chronic Pain Patient.

Being compliant means they take only as directed. The goal of compliance is to maintain an even blood plasma at the minimum amount to treat PAIN and NOT to produce euphoria (a high).

Since the blood plasma levels are lower, the levels of dopamine at the synaptic cleft do not spike so the receptor sites do not downregulate or decrease in number in response to the initially MUCH higher level of dopamine released as a result of spiking.

Addictive dosing behaviors, the large doses associated to Spike the blood plasma level, vs the lower low dosing and more often which is the KEY factor to the physical changes the brain makes which cause dependency.

Dependency is the actual physical changes to your body which cause withdrawal. Addiction is the BEHAVIOR of taking the drugs to get high, not as prescribed, and when not needed for clinical reasons. It is the un-manageable behaviors associated with lack of control.

Lying is a BAD sign....could be a sign of an impending addiction or even an active addiction. It could also be a sign that he's tired of the meds, is scared of the WD's and doesn't want to get nagged at by someone who doesn't believe he has pain AND is angry because he lied about still taking the pills (as you should be...lying is never acceptable.) Do some reading on both addiction and dependency. Sit down and talk to him about both of them. Don't minimize his knee pain...until you really know what is going on. Like I said, he may very well have pain that is made worse by the drugs the doctor is prescribing. He may only recenctly figured out he is dependent or even addicted and is embarassed and scared. Maybe have him come to this website. Have him PM me...I'll talk to him. I'm not here to judge---only to help.
You do need to talk to him and ask him for some honesty and in return you will give understanding and be supportive of him.
Let him know that he's gonna feel more pain and sickness while going CT.....he could always try a taper program....and have you hold the pills and dole them out to make sure he's being honest...but he needs to want to do this or it won't work.
Let us know how it's going after you talk to him.
Remember, addiction or even dependency on opiates is a dirty, little secret....we've all been told that forever. Approach him with understanding and love...he's probably embarassed and upset and overwhelmed. Give him the benefit of the doubt to come clean and talk to you.

Stay strong,
Greebs

[jenny06xx]

hi and welcome!!
i was in your husbands position not long ago.
if he is telling you he is tired of taking painkillers then he really is but is scared to death of what will happen when he stops...... you see you get to these ridiculous high doses that dont take away your pain anymore but you have to keep on at that dose just so you dont get sick if you stop.........i bet your husband is scared to death of what hes doing, how he will stop etc but he doesnt know what to do about it!
if my husband approached me about "wheres all your tablets gone " i would lie through my teeth to keep it from him even though i wanted to stop soooooooo badly!!
your husband needs all the support he can get right now no nasty ultimatums like im leaving if you dont stop etc he needs to know you are there to help him through show him this site or leave it on on (accident) if he is ready to stop he will already be looking into sites like this about withdrawals and stuff .....

with him saying to you im tired of taking pain killers i feel he is reaching out for help but doesnt know what to say or how to say it.
stay strong an be calm and try to talk to him quietly about his "knee problems" and if hed like you to look for alternative meds anything for him to be able to speak you about this problem .
jen

[feewee]

Thank you.  He has been taking them for awhile so i don't know if the *high* feeling is still there?  He has told me before he is tired of taking pain killers he has knee issues but I sometimes wonder does he really hurt?  So, do I let him do what he wants to do and me just live my life as normal?  I just worry and love him so much I have two small children I dont want my family torn apart because of this!

[GA Guy]

Honestly, there isn't much you can do. If he's in active addiction, the consequences have to catch up and pass the high he feels. The only truly thing you can do is to not enable him. Tell him you know what's going on, and if he doesn't seek help, you will leave. Sometimes that will jolt someone into seeking help. Other times, especially when we're in the middle of full blown addiction, the drugs are more important than anything in our lives. Good luck...you're in my prayers.

[feewee]

I believe my husband is addicated to hydrocodone?  He's been taking them for awhile now and will go through a lot, he swears he is not taking that many but just this morning I found another bottle of pills that he had gotten and I didn't even know he had taken them.  So he went through 120 hydrocodone in the month of December?  He got a refill on Saturday of 100 and only has 45 left?  What to do?????