Aa
how to help my son
My son has taken Lortabs on and off for 3 yrs now ..he is 20 ..just found out he is takin 6 a day now ..and he really wants to stop ..but doesnt want to go to the dr..I dont know who to turn to ..and i am afraid he will overdose ..
http://www.bing.com/health/article/mayo-125963/Bipolar-disorder?q=bipolar+disorder&qpvt=bipolar
Has he been treated for bipolar disorder? The above article should be helpful. If you look at the symptoms, alot of them also coincide with drug abuse. I went down the list and almost every one I personally experienced. I never could understand that when I used it made me feel really euphoric, then a few hours later I was really pissed off for no apparant reason. I would pass by people on the street and wanted fight when two hours prior I would talk their heads off! Drug and alcohol abuse just compounds bipolar disorder.
Something that may help if you want to try is to make a list of consequences how his addiction has affected you. It's really important for him to do one for himself, but if you start the ball rolling, he would see things from an outside perspective.
Example, Your addiction has affected me negatively in the following ways: Make a different list for each aspect of your life; physically, spiritually, financially, emotionally, and so on. Documenting it will help you see also how damaging it can be not only to the addict, but his family as well.
There are many people here that have come off of higher habits and more potent ones myself included. I don't think that is of any consequence though. An addiction is an addiction. Everyone should be treated with the same care and respect whether its codeine or iv heroin. One thing to note, tylenol is much more dangerous physically than the hydrocodone contained in lortab. It can easily damage the liver. A dose of over 4000mgs a day is considered toxic. I'm assuming that he's taking 7.5/500.
Has he been treated for bipolar disorder? The above article should be helpful. If you look at the symptoms, alot of them also coincide with drug abuse. I went down the list and almost every one I personally experienced. I never could understand that when I used it made me feel really euphoric, then a few hours later I was really pissed off for no apparant reason. I would pass by people on the street and wanted fight when two hours prior I would talk their heads off! Drug and alcohol abuse just compounds bipolar disorder.
Something that may help if you want to try is to make a list of consequences how his addiction has affected you. It's really important for him to do one for himself, but if you start the ball rolling, he would see things from an outside perspective.
Example, Your addiction has affected me negatively in the following ways: Make a different list for each aspect of your life; physically, spiritually, financially, emotionally, and so on. Documenting it will help you see also how damaging it can be not only to the addict, but his family as well.
There are many people here that have come off of higher habits and more potent ones myself included. I don't think that is of any consequence though. An addiction is an addiction. Everyone should be treated with the same care and respect whether its codeine or iv heroin. One thing to note, tylenol is much more dangerous physically than the hydrocodone contained in lortab. It can easily damage the liver. A dose of over 4000mgs a day is considered toxic. I'm assuming that he's taking 7.5/500.
He lives with my parents and they dont know but they see his mood swings .. They do help him and do not realize what they are doing .. They are the best and are big worriers like me and i really dont wanna tell them .They are 74. He has a sweet girfriend ..who is pregnant and trying to help him .But his mood swings are pushing everyone away ..I know he has took up to 10 -7.5 mg before at once .. do you not think this is alot .. He has already had one kidney stone and i swear its because of this . He is like bipolar ..so sweet sometime and the next like a raging bull ..Im so scared he will take too many and not wake up
Hey, it's not your fault. Keep telling yourself that. There were so many nights and thinking about it now just kills me, where my wife cried all night for me. So many nights she found me passed out somewhere. I passed out many times at my computer with my face buried in icecream. I had the balls to deny it straight to her face when she saw this! So many times I should be dead, and just keep doing the same things over and over. I won't get into how much I used because I believe an addict is an addict whether it's one pill or 100.
Please understand I'm not being insensitive when I say this but remember that you can't change him. He will stop when he wants to. I tried to quit a few times with the idea that it would shut my wife up, but always failed. Does he live with you? Sometimes you can enable him and not realize it. I'm not saying you are, sometimes you can care so much for a person that it just accidentally happens. Addicts can be master manipulators also. Maybe he needs a little tough love.
Addiction just escalates. Tolerance for the drug goes up quickly and the user has to take more to get the desired effect. I just don't know that his reported use is accurate.
Please understand I'm not being insensitive when I say this but remember that you can't change him. He will stop when he wants to. I tried to quit a few times with the idea that it would shut my wife up, but always failed. Does he live with you? Sometimes you can enable him and not realize it. I'm not saying you are, sometimes you can care so much for a person that it just accidentally happens. Addicts can be master manipulators also. Maybe he needs a little tough love.
Addiction just escalates. Tolerance for the drug goes up quickly and the user has to take more to get the desired effect. I just don't know that his reported use is accurate.
Thank you both for you're info ...it is heartbreaking to watch someone you love and not know what to do and any info i get helps me to cope .I am gonna try and get him to look at this site and maybe at least have someone to talk with ..I know im crying my eyes out right now but its glad to know people care
In rehab he will not be able to use anything and when clean has a chance to continue that way. You can not make him stop at home. Nobody that abuses drugs and still enjoy,it want help to stop.Contact a local drug rehab that is on your insurance and speak with someone about steps you can take. If your son was older and had used drugs most of his life and had been in rehab several times I would recommend you go to Alanon and let it go. He deserves a chance at sobriety and is not in a frame of mind to do it himself.
6 lortab (hydrocodone0 is not excessive You can take 1-2 every 4-6 hours if prescrobed by an md. I doubt that your son is honest with you about how much he takes and or anythong else he uses.
I took 30-40 hydrocodone 7.5mg (brand name vicodin or lortab) for 3 tears and detoxed at home, I was ill for 3 weeks.
If you are concerned about your sons drug use you can have him comitted to rehab despite his wishes. I was several times by my parents as a teenager.
Go with your gut instinct and educate yourself.
I took 30-40 hydrocodone 7.5mg (brand name vicodin or lortab) for 3 tears and detoxed at home, I was ill for 3 weeks.
If you are concerned about your sons drug use you can have him comitted to rehab despite his wishes. I was several times by my parents as a teenager.
Go with your gut instinct and educate yourself.
It's just so heartwrenching seeing loved ones post for someone they deeply care for. It really reiterates the fact that addiction affects so many others around the addicted individual. I hope your son is as serious about quitting as you are of helping him. Is he really taking 6 a day? I'm just asking cause we tend to minimize things. Those around me would have had a heart attack knowing the true amount.
Alanon is a great place for those with loved ones suffering from addiction. I don't know about your area, but the ones in my area are located in alot of the AA buildings. It would help you out to be educated on addiction, and others will be able to offer advice from experience. I can't speak from your point of view, but I hurt many people and never realized it until I became sober. Our minds our so clouded up during use that we don't realize how negatively we affect others. I've been sober close to a year, and I'm still trying to correct all my past mistakes. My wife still doesn't trust me; I don't know that she ever will.
With the support of a loving mother, I believe your son can get clean. Many people safely detox at home. It's not life threatening. He just has to make the decision to put them down. It's not easy. Withdrawals typically last a week or two. Symptoms would be flu-like accompanied with restless legs, lethargy, sleeplessness, depression, and anxiety. NA is free, anonymous, and he would meet many others like him to help. Most overdoses happen when a person relapses after an extended term of sobriety. Tolerance reduces and the individual will try to pick up where they left off.
If your son doesn't want to go to NA, or seek other counseling, atleast have him come here. There's a plethera of knowledge in this forum, and all of it is experience based.
I'm going to go apologize to my wife again. LOL
Alanon is a great place for those with loved ones suffering from addiction. I don't know about your area, but the ones in my area are located in alot of the AA buildings. It would help you out to be educated on addiction, and others will be able to offer advice from experience. I can't speak from your point of view, but I hurt many people and never realized it until I became sober. Our minds our so clouded up during use that we don't realize how negatively we affect others. I've been sober close to a year, and I'm still trying to correct all my past mistakes. My wife still doesn't trust me; I don't know that she ever will.
With the support of a loving mother, I believe your son can get clean. Many people safely detox at home. It's not life threatening. He just has to make the decision to put them down. It's not easy. Withdrawals typically last a week or two. Symptoms would be flu-like accompanied with restless legs, lethargy, sleeplessness, depression, and anxiety. NA is free, anonymous, and he would meet many others like him to help. Most overdoses happen when a person relapses after an extended term of sobriety. Tolerance reduces and the individual will try to pick up where they left off.
If your son doesn't want to go to NA, or seek other counseling, atleast have him come here. There's a plethera of knowledge in this forum, and all of it is experience based.
I'm going to go apologize to my wife again. LOL
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Addiction: Substance Abuse Community
Is treating glaucoma with marijuana all hype, or can hemp actually help?
If you think marijuana has no ill effects on your health, this article from Missouri Medicine may make you think again.
Julia Aharonov, DO, reveals the quickest way to beat drug withdrawal.
Tricks to help you quit for good.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
